McLaren Vale Wine Tours

How it goes down. We collect you from your Adelaide accommodation around 09:15am and drive forty five minutes South into McLaren Vale, picking up other guests along the way. You'll visit three wineries in a day — with a large focus on small, family-owned or boutique producers, never the coach stops — and the three change daily depending on the weather, your guide, and which wineries have great staff and wine. Some of our regulars in the rotation include Yangarra (home to the largest holding of old bush-vine Grenache found anywheere on the planet), Samuel's Gorge, Lino Ramble, Inkwell, Kay Brothers, and Oliver's Taranga. Sometimes we visit bigger wineries like d'Arenberg if our guests request it, but we'll often just stop out front for a gander and a photo opportunity. Lunch is a seasonal selection of shared dishes (a very common format across quality South Australian restaurants) with a glass of local wine or beer at Harry's Deli - Wirra Wirra. You get a proper fedd at a real restaurant, not a platter at a cellar door or a limited choice from a second-rate menu. You're back in Adelaide by about 5pm.

Why the price. You are splitting the cost of a luxury vehicle and a knowledgeable guide across six guests but we will leave with just two. Most other cheap tours will cancel on you a day out if they don't have enough guests — not a fun time. Your lunch is a proper sit-down meal at a real restaurant, not a reduced menu at a cheap diner or pub, nor a deconstructed sandwich rebranded as a platter. Tasting fees at boutique cellar doors are all covered, not avoided — most other tours either expect you to pay them on the day, or they only visit the handful of cellar doors that don't charge. Those places don't charge because they're built for volume, and by mid-morning you're three deep at the bar being poured by someone who has said the same six sentences forty times already. This is the tour to compare us against a $200 bus tour. If it doesn't seem like a clear decision by now, choose the cheaper option.

What it isn't. It isn't customisable — you can't say we want to go here, here, and here and we just say okay. We have an agenda and other guests to consider. We do take the interests of guests onboard and will fit the itinerary to suit where possible. You're not going behind the scenes into the winery or barrel hall, or taking walks through the vineyards (a biosecurity issue we take seriously) — that is what makes the top tiers cost what they do.

How it goes down. Before you travel we'll have you fill in a short pre-departure survey — what you drink at home, what you're curious about, anywhere you already have on your list, etc. Matthew and the team then plan out your three winery visits from that. If you don't fill out the survey, we have a default shape that's a great cross-section of what the region has to offer: Journeying through scenic McLaren Vale countryside, you start with exclusive early access at Yangarra, one of Australian wine's biodynamic icons, tasting from their range of estate-grown wines. From there it's on to a quaint small-batch producer, Samuel's Gorge, famed among locals for its relaxed vibe and its position above the Onkaparinga Gorge. A long, relaxed lunch with wine at The Salopian Inn is always a highlight and a welcome pause mid-day. You finish at the iconic d'Arenberg Cube, where wine, art, and architecture collide.

Why the price. You have your own professional wine guide and vehicle to yourselves for a full day, with a personalised itinerary built around your interests. Our guides are also trained to pay attention to your feedback throughout the day, to help guide your choices at the wineries, and to look for itinerary tweaks that can perfect your tour. Your lunch steps up to a proper long lunch at one of the region's most-loved restaurants, and the wineries — including two that most visitors never get near — are chosen for you rather than for a group. The price drops per person as your group's size grows larger.

What it isn't. Much like the shared tour, you're not going behind the scenes into the winery or barrel hall, or walking through the vineyards (a biosecurity issue we take seriously) — that's what the next two tiers buy you. It also isn't a chauffeur service with a wine list attached. Tell us what you love and what you've already tried, and we'll build the day around it — but the judgement about running order, timing, and who's actually pouring on the day is ours, and it's most of what you're paying for.

How it goes down. You start with Hardy's Hidden Secrets tour at the historic Tintara winery — an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at one of Australian wine's founding names, tasting some of their rarest wines. From there it's the d'Arenberg Cube, where you'll savour a vertical flight of the iconic Dead Arm Shiraz, featuring both current-release and aged treasures straight from the cellar. Lunch is a relaxed, two-course seasonal meal matched with d'Arenberg wines at the iconic d'Arry's Verandah. Runs Monday to Friday, with a 10:15am pickup and a 5:00pm return.

Why the price. We're an associate member of Ultimate Winery Experiences Australia, a network of the country's premier winery experiences and an arm of Tourism Australia's Signature Experiences. This day pieces together two of those elite experiences with a meal to match. You're going behind the scenes at one of McLaren Vale's founding wineries and tasting a pre-aged vertical flight of one of Australia's most collectable wines.

What it isn't. You are visiting McLaren Vale's most famous names, not its hidden gems. If you'd rather taste the kind of wines only a handful of people ever get access to, the Pinnacle is the better fit.

How it goes down. Your day is built around exclusive access to the Hickinbotham vineyard — fruit that was once sold exclusively to icon wineries like Penfolds for their flagship wines, and is now, through a partnership between a well-known Napa Valley winemaker and a McLaren Vale local, making Hickinbotham's own wine. Absolutely not open to the public, you'll have exclusive access to this once-famous, now-being-rediscovered vineyard. A multi-course lunch matched with world-class wines follows at one of McLaren Vale's most well-regarded restaurants - The Salopian Inn. The second half of the day is spent in the realm of a boutique winemaker, available only via special arrangement drawing on our extensive networks across the region — Bekkers is usually one of the names we can call on. A true money-can't-buy experience: Pick up is from 9:15am Adelaide, and you're back by 4:45pm.

Why the price. This tour is positioned as the Pinnacle of McLaren Vale touring. The Hickinbotham vineyard access is not a publicly available experience — it exists only via special arrangement with Small Batch Wine Tours. The afternoon "meet the winemaker" sitting is the same: a genuine one-on-one with a boutique producer, not a tasting room queue. You're going behind the scenes with two of the region's most sought-after names in a single day.

What it isn't. It's not a "see McLaren Vale" day — it's two top-level, hard-to-access producers visited intimately. Because both are by special arrangement, this tour needs more lead time to book than the others, and dates depend on what our network can arrange. If you want more variety and don't need invitation-only access, Essential McLaren Vale or Ultimate Winery Experiences are better value for you.