One of the delights of Adelaide is that it is the “Festival State”, and there are frequent events to visit. We went to Cellar Door Fest, which is on every year in the Adelaide Convention Centre. Our previous attendance for the event in 2022 did not go so well, and we were extra cautious this time. The Adelaide Cellar Door Fest is where wine producers from around South Australia set up a stall to provide free tasting to visitors. It is often attended by smaller and less well known producers, but some of the larger producers are also in attendance.
In our last visit, we did the usual rounds of tasting, and found that many producers give very generous pours of wine to taste, and sometimes the spirits were as generous as the wine, and almost an entire measure given. So, we lost track of how much we had to drink, and do not remember how we got home.
The hall layout is broken into wine regions, and the wine makers decorate and put signage on their little area so that you can remember them. Most winemakers had a range of grape varieties, and the wine is always different between stalls. For wine tasting, there is a process – you start with sparkling and light whites, and then when you move on to red wines, you start with the lighter grape varieties and then move to the more robust wines and finally to dessert wines or port (“tawny”). This is so that you don’t overwhelm you palate with strong flavours, leaving you unable to taste the more delicate whites. Unfortunately, when you are moving from stall to stall – your palate is already ‘ruined’ by the previous tasting.
Not all stalls are just wine. Some producers have a variety, such as additional spirits, or olives and other food. There are also stalls that are just food producers, and also food stalls proper.
The food options are a welcome break from drinking alcohol, and there were delicious smells of toasted cheese and grilled meats. We enjoyed some free food tastings, just enough to get something in our stomachs, before moving on to the rest of the wine producers.
We were very cautious with our drinking, and used the spitoons (although we just tipped our un-drunk wine in, instead of spitting it out). Some of the food vendors were clustered around some tables at the back, where people could sit and eat. Many wine producers were selling bottles directly, for which AusPost had set up a facility where you could get it mailed to yourself. Other wineries were able to deliver, or asked for subscriptions to their mailing list.
We were fortunate enough to leave the event in a stable state of mind, having been more careful with the drinking that last time.
