The d’Arenberg cube

Take a midweek escape to Spicers Clovelly Estate and discover a relaxed haven with food at its heart North of Brisbane, beyond the arresting beauty of the Glasshouse Mountains, lies the charming hamlet of Montville. Like her sister towns sprinkled along the elevated hinterland ridges of the Blackall range – Maleny, Mapleton and Flaxton – Montville is surrounded by lush cooling rainforest that makes you feel like you’re entering a change of season.

The stunning Adelaide Hills region sits in the centre of South Australia’s famous wine growing regions, located only a short drive from the city of Adelaide. Famed for its premium cool climate wines, especially its distinct take on Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, the Adelaide Hills region is winning awards at a record rate. One of the largest geographic wine growing regions in Australia, there are over 90 wine labels and 48 cellar doors to choose from. Go for lunch or stay for the whole weekend, our cellar door guide will help you to get the most of your next visit to this spectacular wine lovers and foodie haven. Mt Lofty Ranges Vineyard The Mt Lofty Ranges 5-star Cellar Door and chef hatted restaurant are set at the one of the highest points in the Adelaide Hills. It’s not only the superb cool climate wines and fantastic food that attracts visitors from far and wide; the views sweeping down across the estate vineyards and taking in the stunning Mount Lofty Ranges, are spectacular too. In warmer months, you can take it all in sitting out on one of several level deck tables, or in a corner private room, with large windows and bi-fold doors opening wide to breathe in the fresh mountain air. An open fireplace heats indoors through frosty Adelaide Hills winters, while three split-level decks offer a multitude of areas for soaking up a little sun. An alluring menu shows off a delicious range of premium local produce, with tasting menus for vegetarians and vegans also available. 166 Harris Road, Lenswood Open daily for lunch and tastings 11am to 5pm Visit the Mt Lofty Ranges website K1 by Geoff Hardy Renowned for its stunning lakeside location, K1’s vineyard views are every bit as spectacular as the award-winning wine on offer. Sample delicious cool climate varieties, considered among the best single estate wines in Australia, while seated at Geoff’s wooden tasting bench, hand-crafted from 400-year-old red gum. For an extra special tasting experience stay on to try a selection of the museum or reserve stock for a small fee that is redeemable on any purchase. 159 Tynan Rd, Kuitpo Open daily 11am to 5pm Visit the Wines by Geoff Hardy website Shaw + Smith Shaw + Smith specialise in growing and perfecting the classic varieties that the Adelaide Hills region is known for: Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz. Grandiose in size and sleek in style, the modern tasting room operates like a restaurant, with table service and guided wine flight and cheese options starting at $20 per head. Lunch is available on Fridays only where groups are treated to a selection of wines matched with a delicious meal, and a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of the impressive vineyard. 136 Jones Road, Balhannah Open daily 11am to 5pm Visit the Shaw + Smith websit e The Lane Vineyard With magnificent views across the vineyard from the bright and stylishly modern tasting room, the Lane’s knowledgeable and friendly staff are on hand for table service style wine tastings. Wine flight options start at $5 for simple wine-only selections, or $20 for options that include wines paired with delicious treats from executive chef James Brinklow. For those in need of more than a bite-sized snack, enjoy a leisurely lunch paired with wines from the same single estate vineyard you can admire from the comfort of the beautiful restaurant. 5 Ravenswood Lane, Hahndorf Open daily 10am to 4pm Visit The Lane Vineyard website Howard Vineyard The beauty of the gum trees, terraced lawns and rolling vines that surround the family-owned Howard Vineyard impress visitors before they even sample the award-winning wines. Try cool climate Cabernet Francs, Sauvignon Blancs, Pinot Gris and Sparkling wines before settling in beside the roaring fire with your favourite glass. Active guests can take a walk around the manicured gardens or play a spot of croquet on the lawn. The family friendly Clover + Stone restaurant is open from Wednesday – Friday, with a special set menu on offer for Sunday lunch.  Head Chef and former MasterChef contestant, Heather Day creates a fantastic South-East Asian inspired menu, perfectly complementing Howard Vineyard’s best wines. Lot 1, 53 Bald Hills Road, Nairne Open Wednesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm Visit the Howard Vineyard website Bird in Hand Visit the Bird in Hand winery to taste some of the very best wines South Australia has to offer while dining at award-winning restaurant The Gallery for lunch. Relax at the gorgeous cellar door to sample a superb range of premium traditional varieties such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Shiraz, through to sensational alternate varieties such as Nero d’Avola, Montepulciano and Arneis. Wander through the original barrel hall, enjoy the carefully curated artworks and luxury retail experience, or linger longer to sample local cheeses and antipasti platters with your favourite glass of wine in hand. Bird in Hand Rd & Pfeiffer Rd, Woodside  Open daily (Mon to Friday 10am to 5pm, Saturday to Sunday 11am to 5pm) Visit the Bird in Hand website Deviation Road Husband and wife team Hamish and Kate Laurie are the owners of this divine boutique winery. The cellar door deck that overlooks the wine garden and home block vines is the perfect place to relax outdoors in the sunshine and sample their great range of wines. Taste from their range of artisanal premium cool climate wines; from Sparkling and aromatic whites to basket pressed red wines. Winemaker Kate trained at Lycée Viticole d’Avize in Champagne, no doubt helping them to perfect their award-winning Sparkling wine! Book in for a tutored wine flight or master class or simply sit and enjoy your chosen wine with one of the delicious tasting plates on offer daily. 207 Scott Creek Road, Longwood Open daily 10am to 5pm Visit the Deviation Road website For more cellar door guides, visit our dedicated Wine Regions section.

What makes Rutherglen so special? Rutherglen has a very unique climate. Our heat degree days are about in line with the Clare Valley , but we have more sunshine hours than any other wine region in Australia. This means our grapes get more exposure to sunlight so we can make our table wines earlier in the season. Also, we normally have nice dry autumns that enable us to get much riper fruit for Muscats and Topaques. Rutherglen is also a very unique region because we work very closely together as a group – we call it ‘coopetition’. We cooperate and work together when we’re out in the bigger scene and at joint promotions and when we’re at home, we’re competing with our neighbours. What are some of the winemaking challenges Rutherglen presents? Just this year we had not overly hot temperatures, but up in the mid-30s for 10 days in a row and that brought all the grapes on very, very quickly. We’re in some interesting times because as a winemaker you can’t foresee these things, you’ve got to deal with them when they happen. But I find it difficult to believe that the dramatic changes in vintages have been caused by climate change, because it’s too sudden. While I’ve got no doubt that our climate will change and it is, climate change is going to be a slow, developing thing that will happen over time. What have been some of Campbells’ proudest achievements in recent years? We’ve done a lot to promote our fortified wines, our Muscats and Topaques, including developing the classification system and repositioning them as icon wines. Our Muscats are highly regarded all around the world and in 2010 renowned wine critic Harvey Steinman gave our Merchant Prince Rare Rutherglen Muscat 100 points in Wine Spectator magazine. This was the first time in the magazine’s history that an Australian wine was awarded a perfect score. So if we hadn’t repositioned the Muscats and Topaques they would have probably become a bit of a curio. Instead, we’ve been able to turn that around to something that has been a growing quality market. Having said that, however, it can be a challenge getting people to try these wines because they just associate them with Christmas lunch. So we’re in the process of revamping our fortified range with the help of a mixologist to show people that you can drink these styles any time. The other thing that’s been very rewarding is our movement with Durif. We’ve had Durif in the area for over 100 years, and because we had phylloxera, no cuttings can be taken out of the area, so we’re really proud to have the original clone. However, nothing was ever really done with it until Mick Morris made a table wine out of it about 30 years ago. Then we made our Barkley Durif in 1992 and having recognised that it was a pretty special wine, we worked on it to develop a style that was more drinkable as a younger wine, but still with longevity. Now, every Rutherglen producer has Durif and I don’t think I’d be wrong in saying that it’s their most expensive wine and that’s been a real coup. Your world class fortifieds are obviously an incredible asset, but do you think the message is getting out there that you do fantastic table wines too? No, that’s something that’s developing all the time. We’ve been trying new varieties, we’ve got a lot of Rhône varieties grown here now and that’s only happened in the last 10-15 years and also we’re trying varieties from Portugal, Spain and even into Italy to prepare ourselves for what we would say is climate change. The Wine Selectors Wine of the Month for July is your Limited Release Cabernets 2012, which features Ruby Cabernet. This isn’t a variety that we hear much of, can you describe its appeal? Ruby Cabernet is interesting because the first wines were made down around the Riverland , etc., and they weren’t very smart, they were overcropped and Ruby Cabernet ended up with a bad name. But John Brown and ourselves planted it here and we found that at the normal crop level it makes a totally different wine. It’s just a lovely wine that holds its fruit very well and ages well We’ve matched it in our 2016 calendar with slow roasted lamb shoulder with Middle Eastern spices and cumin yoghurt sauce. What are your favourite food matches with this wine? I’m pretty basic with my food – just a nice steak would probably suit me very well.