6 essential Clare Valley experiences

By Samuel Smith
Published: Thursday, September 24, 2020
Updated: December 22, 2021 at 10:56 am

Just a 2-hour drive from Adelaide lies a land of winemaking monks, golden fields and sprawling 19th century manors. What, you may ask, is the name of this mysterious land? They call it the Clare Valley.

From the bold, rich reds of the Barossa and McLaren Vale to the Adelaide Hills’ crisp whites, we all know South Australia is spoilt for choice when it comes to wine regions.

But for some reason, the Clare Valley is often overlooked.

While most of us are aware of its world-famous Riesling and gorgeous cycling trail, there’s so much more to discover, bubbling away under the surface.

Boasting exceptional paddock-to-plate dining, boutique cellar doors, historic towns and stunning scenery, the Clare Valley offers so much more than many of us give it credit for.

Here are our top Clare Valley picks for travellers with an adventurous spirit and a discerning palate.

Dine

1. The Watervale Hotel

With a pumping atmosphere, stunning fit-out and some of the best food and wine in the region, the recently reopened Watervale Hotel is an absolute must-visit.

Run by life-and-business partners Nicola Palmer and Warrick Duthy, everything about the immaculately refreshed hotel is a labour of love.

The Watervale's stunning interior. Image: Dougal McFuzzlebutt

General Manager and Head Chef Nicola is a master of many trades, leading the Watervale’s interior and exterior design while creating a stunning menu that acts as culinary map of the region. The Watervale’s menu is driven by organic produce, farmed just around the corner at their own patch of land: Penobscot Farm.

Whether you’re dining off the menu or sitting down to an exclusive Chef’s Table Experience, the Watervale’s food is nothing short of phenomenal. Think plump Spencer Gulf Prawns wrapped in peppery broad bean leaf, succulent Greenslade chicken with Jerusalem artichoke puree and Tasmanian ocean trout topped with finger lime, mandarin and lemon.

Greenslade chicken with garden vegetables and Jerusalem artichoke puree. Image: Dougal McFuzzlebutt

Of course, there’s wine to match, and plenty of it. Just ask sommelier, Warrick Duthy. In his own words, “We are creating a showcase for all Clare Valley wines at The Watervale Hotel. We aim to have all Clare Valley wine producers and all varieties grown in the valley represented on our list to demonstrate the diversity of the region.”

What more could you ask?

The Watervale Hotel also includes on-site accommodation. Learn more.

2. Pikes Wines and Slate restaurant

Since its unveiling in late 2018, Pikes Wines’ Slate Restaurant has experienced success after success, earning itself a coveted Chef Hat from the Australian Good Food Guide in 2019 and taking home Gourmet Traveller’s award for Cellar Door with the Best Food earlier this year.

Pike, of course, is a famous name in South Australia.

Slate's delicious sourdough pasta. Image: Dougal McFuzzlebutt

The Pike family have brewed a smorgasbord of concoctions since 1886 when their first beer was created in the Adelaide Hills. Since then, they’ve created soft drinks, cordials, wine – which most of us know them for today – and since 1996, beer again.

Today, their stunning Clare Valley property houses a tasting room, a brewery (with its own separate tasting room) and Slate. Step inside, and you’ll be greeted by warm, airy décor with wood highlights and a stunning view of the vineyards. The menu changes with the seasons, featuring sumptuous regional cuisine and French-style cooking.

Pikes is home to a brewery with its own tasting room. Image: supplied

Current menu highlights include the silk-like sourdough pasta with salted lemon and goat’s cheese, lamb with yoghurt, cucumber and olives and Clare Valley chicken with celeriac, pear and tarragon.

Learn more and book a table.

Drink

3. Sevenhill Cellars

So much more than a winery, Sevenhill Cellars is one of the Clare Valley’s most fascinating historical sites.

You may have dropped into their multi award-winning cellar door as part of a wine tour, but the sacred grounds are also home to the St Aloysius church (completed in 1875), an underground crypt (the final resting place of 41 Jesuit priests and the only one of its kind in Australia), a huge hand-excavated cellar and a building that was once South Australia’s first Catholic secondary school (completed in 1886) but is now home to Jesuit priests and plays host to spiritual retreats.

Clearly, there’s a lot going on at Sevenhill, but it’s no surprise considering the property’s history.

Sevenhill was established by Jesuit priests who fled Austria and eventually settled in Clare around 1851. Named after the Seven Hill district in Rome, a community quickly grew, taking in a number of Catholic immigrants. In the following years, Sevenhill Cellars was established to provide emerging parishes around Australia with sacramental wine.

Today, Sevenhill wines are highly regarded around the globe, combining high-quality estate-grown fruit (sourced from some of the oldest vines in Clare) with creative flare and spiritual character.

The current range, which can be sampled at their imposing stone cellar door, includes Grenache, Barbera, Malbec, Shiraz, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Cabernet Sauvignon, and – of course – sacramental wine.

Experience Sevenhill as part of a Nomads Tour.

The stunning grounds of Sevenhill Cellars. Image: SATC

4. Sussex Squire Wines

Just a 5-minute drive away lies Sussex Squire Wines – the polar opposite of Sevenhill in many ways, and proof that good things can come in small, youthful packages.

Owners Mark and Skye Bollen spent years searching for a spot to make their dream – producing premium red wine in the Clare Valley – a reality.

After finding the perfect place in the Skilly Hills, they crafted their first Thomas Block Shiraz in 2014, before opening the Sussex and Squire Cellar Door in 2016. Small but mighty, today it’s a multi-award-winning Halliday 5 Star winery.

Sussex Squire Wines. Image: Sussex Squire and SATC

The vineyards of Sussex Squire Wines. Image: Sussex Squire Wines, SATC

Sussex Squire wines are produced from single-vineyard sites around the Clare Valley and are known (and loved) for their intense, highly concentrated flavours.

Head to the cellar door, perched overlooking iconic Clare Valley vines, and taste their flagship dry-grown Shiraz. Other equally delicious varieties include Malbec, Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Discover

5. Martindale Hall

Mystifyingly excessive, Martindale Hall is a 32-room Georgian-style, Italianate manor near the historic town of Mintaro.

Surrounded by gigantic palm trees, beautiful gardens and – in its heyday – a polo ground, racecourse, boating lake and cricket pitch, it was built for a wealthy bachelor – Edmund Bowman Jr in 1880.

Today, the hall and grounds are open to the public, 7 days a week.

Martindale Hall in all its glory. Image: SATC

Inside, you’ll find an astonishingly lavish collection of artwork, artifacts and mementos brought back from all corners of the globe by Jack Mortlock – son of the hall’s second owners.

Jack, born in 1900, was a keen explorer, travelling the world and bringing back the finest furnishings money could buy.

See Martindale Hall with Clare Valley Tours.

6. Canola fields

Every spring, the Clare Valley’s rolling hills transform into fields of gold.

In all corners of the region, you’ll see bright yellow canola flowers rear their heads, blanketing the hills with colour.

You can find a map showing top Clare Valley canola locations here.

Canola fields in the Clare Valley. Image: Samantha Lodge Photography, SATC

Explore the Clare Valley

There’s so much more to eat, drink and discover.

Browse our selection