If you follow me on instagram, you would've seen that I recently travelled to South Australia to experience winter, wine and some girl time. It was such a beautiful experience and with so many of you asking for details of the trip, I thought I would provide you with some highlights from our trip! 

We spent 3 days travelling through SA, mainly through the south coast, with just a brief stopover in Adelaide, the capital for a 'last hurrah' lunch. Here's a rundown of our stay:

DAY 1

After a quick 1.5 hr flight from Sydney, Stef and I arrived at Adelaide airport and checked into our first accomodation of the trip, The Vineyard Retreat in Mclaren Vale. A gorgeous boutique stay within a working vineyard, just 40 mins south of Adelaide, The Vineyard is the ideal check in for our first day / night in Mclaren Vale. 

Shortly after checking in, we got dressed and made our way to Down the Rabbit Hole Winery to check out Elise and Dom's incredible property, and meet all the girls who were joining in on the South Australian Winter Experience.

And what a way to begin our getaway! We spent our first sunset here at DTRH and it was truly magical in every sense. Elise and Dom have poured their hearts into their venture and you could truly feel the love in this space. With a beautifully renovated old bus as their wine tasting 'room', some exceptional red, white and rose wines, and the authenticity in their love for wine and the Mclaren Vale region, their wine was unsurprisingly some of the best I tasted during my time in SA. And we drank some incredible drops! With conversation was flowing, the vibe was just right, making our first day / night in SA truly special.

DAY 2

We had a yummy breakfast at our accomodation before heading out for our second day of adventure in the Mclaren region. 

With Elise Cook, Tara Whiteman and Lisa Danielle,  we headed to our first stop - D'Arenburg Winery. With over 100 years experience in wine making, D'Arenburg is renowned for wine excellence. All d’Arenberg estate owned and leased vineyards are NASAA Certified for organic and biodynamic processes which suits me perfectly :) When I drink, I drink moderately and my first choice is always organic or biodynamic. Why?

The organic wine process means that the grapes used are free of herbicides and pesticides and synthetic chemicals, meaning they are kinder to your body and the environment. This is true for both organic certified and biodynamic wines.

Not only do byodynamic / organic wines taste so incredibly alive, winemakers who use biodynamically farmed grapes do not make the common manipulations such as yeast additions or acidity adjustments in their winemaking process. For many people who react to wine (red wine in particular), due to sulphates, histamines or preservatives, biodynamic processing will generally cause less reactions due to the differences in processing.

We were treated to a custom wine-making experience at D'arenburg, where we trialled a list of their pre-blended wines to make our own blends. This was such a cool experience! We were like little scientists, tasting wines through straws and working out blend percentages for our take-home wine. 

We ended our D'Arenberg experience with a 3-hr lunch at their on-site restaurant, Darry's Verandah. We were treated to a beautiful 3+ course menu, with wines to match each course. So delicious!

Although it was winter in SA, the weather we experienced was way warmer than what you'd expect at this time of year. It was so mild, that we were able to take off our coats and head to the beach. We'd heard about the natural beauty of Wilunga Beach in the Fleurieu region so we headed there at sunset to experience it, and we weren't disappointed. We witnessed the sun go down, and got to take some sunlit shots as a reminder of our experience in this beautiful part of the world.

In the early evening, after a full day of food, wine and fun, we made our way to our next accomodation, The Summer House in Port Elliot. This was such a cute air bnb, we felt at home here for our next few nights. 

We had the chefs from Nido Bar Pasta waiting for us as we arrived, where they whipped up the most delicious Italian feast, we were literally so spolied  (and full!) with all their attention to detail. More wine, good food and chats with girls, and we were done for the day.

DAY 3

After a restful sleep, we rose to another incredible winter's day in South Australia. We had a light breakfast the Summer House before heading to Maxwell Wines for a wonderful degustation lunch in their mushroom-growing cave. Yes, I said cave!

You have to experience Maxwell's to really believe it. The food and wine here topped our gastronomic tour of the region, as did the mood and atmosphere of the winery, the lovely staff and the romantic cave-lunch experience. We had a personal tour of the winery, with a lesson on their oak barrels, exotic mushroom growing and family history by Mark Maxwell himself. An experience to cherish, we were on a high, grateful for our time together in this beautiful region.

After lunch, we headed back to Elise's DTRH property to catch one last sunset before heading back to The Summer House for a quiet girl's night in.

DAY 4

With our hearts (and bellies) full, we packed our bags and headed back to town for our final lunch with all the girls. We had tacos at Mia Margarita and caught up on the latest. A beautiful way to end an incredible stay.

I feel so grateful to have had the opportunity to visit South Australia and meet the inspiring girls that we got to share our days with. I feel a newfound appreciation for the exceptional wineries in our country and in the Fleurieu region, and I look forward to visiting again in the near future.

I hope our little getaway has inspired you to make a visit - with all the wonderful food, drink, natural beauty and slower pace of the region, you really won't regret it.

T x