A taste of the Adelaide Hills

Eat and drink your way through autumn in the Adelaide Hills.

By Lauren Reid
Published: Tuesday, February 13, 2018

The Adelaide Hills makes a spectacularly scenic spot for a South Aussie staycation, and its food and wine scene is growing at an especially speedy rate. Here are some of our top tips for eating and drinking your way through the region.

The Adelaide Hills are bursting with unique food and wine experiences, so it’s worth dedicating an entire minibreak – and plenty of stomach space – to trying as many local goodies as you can.

Autumn is a particularly picturesque season for a visit, thanks to the abundance of colour and the crunch of fallen leaves underfoot.

In Woodside, Melba’s chocolate factory and Woodside Cheese Wrights sit side-by-side and make a perfect morning-tea stop – which is especially handy if you’ve had a long drive to the Hills.

The staff at Woodside can talk you through the many cheeses, chutneys and pastes on offer for tasting, and there’s a myriad of other local foodie delights and cookbooks to purchase too. For the real fromage freaks, Woodside also offers cheesemaking classes.

At Melba’s you can watch every step of the chocolate-making process, with plenty of tasters along the way. The shop is also jam-packed with every variety of lolly and chocolate you could imagine. From sour gummy worms to choc-coated almonds or coffee beans, there’s something for the whole family.

Woodside Cheese Wrights
Woodside Cheese Wrights

Save some room in that separate chocolate stomach of yours (come on, we all have one) for Hahndorf Hill Winery’s ChocoVino experience. This indulgent tasting is based on the concept of ‘terroir’, which is all about imbuing food and wine with the flavours of the location it’s from.

That means the cool climate of the Adelaide Hills is reflected in Hahndorf Hill’s sweet but fresh wines. Meanwhile, the palate-cleansing Cape Grim water gives you a taste of Tasmania, and the chocolates show off the flavours of Peru and Cuba.

Beerenberg Farm strawberry picking

Over in Hahndorf, Beerenberg Family Farm is a real SA icon, and its strawberry fields are becoming more popular by the year. The strawberry season runs from November to April, so the first days of autumn are your last chance to try your hand at picking a punnet for yourself.

However, the farm shop is worth a visit year-round to get your hands on the full range of Beerenberg’s jams, sauces, marinades, honey and more. On the Beerenberg website, you can even trace the provenance of the ingredients in the exact jar you take home.

Beerenberg Farm Shop

If you’re after a lunch pit-stop to break things up, options abound. Seasonal Garden Café in Hahndorf is a go-to for wholefood devotees, while at Prancing Pony brewery you can pair a beer tasting board with burgers, pizzas and plenty of other hearty options.

It’s also worth just setting aside some time for a leisurely stroll along the main streets of different towns, popping in and out of shops and galleries and cafés as you go.

Why not ask the staff at Matilda Bookshop in Stirling for their best recommendation for a holiday read; support a local artist by buying some wares from Hahndorf Academy; or pick up a bag of old-fashioned boiled lollies as a treat for the kids or grandkids – or just for yourself?

Whether it’s taken you four hours or four days to drop in at all of these spots, chances are you’ve picked up a pretty good range of picnic-worthy goods. There are plenty of parks and reserves through the Hills you could stop in at, but how about taking a look back into the past while you chow down on your cheddar or sip on your shiraz?

The Cedars is where local artists Hans and Nora Heysen lived and found much of their artistic inspiration – and it’s open to the public. Take a guided tour to get a glimpse inside their house and studios, which are meticulously preserved to look almost exactly the way the artists left them. Then set down your picnic blanket in the gardens for an afternoon of grazing in the cool autumn breeze.

Autumn is a delightful time to visit the Hills, as the air is that little bit crisper and the summer crowds have died down. So why not head for the hills this season and take some time to slow down and relish in the delights of one of our state’s most picturesque – and delicious – regions.

Book an Adelaide Hills staycation

RAA can help you save on experiences and accommodation in the Adelaide Hills.

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