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A Day in the rolling hills of the McLaren Vale wine region, South Australia

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My mother and I share many personality qualities and when we spend time together it often feels like there is an overlap of our mother-daughter relationship with that of two best friends. When we are together we laugh a lot, often and easily, sometimes to the point of tears at things that others may not perceive as being quite that funny. Back when I was still at school, she was the “cool” mum that everyone else wanted as their mum. Now decades later we are separated by thousands of kilometres meaning our times spent with each other are more precious than ever before. Earlier this year the Boy and I headed back to Adelaide to visit her for a short weekender break. Mum is as much of a foodie as I am and so she organised to take us on a day trip into the McLaren Vale wine region. McLaren Vale is a short 45 minute drive from Adelaide’s city centre and is easy to visit on a day trip.

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With my stepdad at the wheel we spent the day cruising from winery to winery carefully choosing just enough wine to fit into our luggage home. Our first stop was Hardy’s Tintara, a picturesque old winery bought by Hardy’s founder Thomas Hardy in 1876. Many of the old historical buildings still remain. The cellar door staff were welcoming and friendly insisting we work our way through as many of their wines as possible. There was no charge for tasting.

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"The Currant Shed" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "Perth food blog" "Perth restaurants" "Perth gluten free" "Perth fructose friendly" "Perth food reviews" "restaurants perth" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "food photos" "gluten free" "fructose friendly" "gluten free cooking" "gluten free recipes" "fructose friendly recipes" "gluten free raw food" "fructose friendly raw food" "Adelaide Restaurant Reviews" "Adelaide food blog" "Adelaide restaurants" "Adelaide gluten free" "Adelaide fructose friendly" "Adelaide food reviews" "restaurants Adelaide" "McLaren Vale Restaurant Reviews" "McLaren Vale food blog" "McLaren Vale restaurants" "McLaren Vale gluten free" "McLaren Vale fructose friendly" "McLaren Vale food reviews" "restaurants McLaren Vale" "McLaren Vale" "McLaren Vale region" "McLaren Vale wineries" "McLaren Vale wine" "attractions Adelaide"

We spent a lot longer than we realised at Tintara chatting to the lovely staff and sipping away on a variety of their luscious reds. By the time we all jumped in the car I felt a bit light headed and keen for a bite to eat. Mum had booked us a table at The Currant Shed as she already knew they were gluten free friendly.

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The Currant Shed marinated olives ($7, GF)

"pickled octopus" "octopus" "South Australian pickled octopus" "sauce vierge" "The Currant Shed" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "Perth food blog" "Perth restaurants" "Perth gluten free" "Perth fructose friendly" "Perth food reviews" "restaurants perth" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "food photos" "gluten free" "fructose friendly" "gluten free cooking" "gluten free recipes" "fructose friendly recipes" "gluten free raw food" "fructose friendly raw food" "Adelaide Restaurant Reviews" "Adelaide food blog" "Adelaide restaurants" "Adelaide gluten free" "Adelaide fructose friendly" "Adelaide food reviews" "restaurants Adelaide" "McLaren Vale Restaurant Reviews" "McLaren Vale food blog" "McLaren Vale restaurants" "McLaren Vale gluten free" "McLaren Vale fructose friendly" "McLaren Vale food reviews" "restaurants McLaren Vale" "McLaren Vale" "McLaren Vale region" "McLaren Vale wineries" "McLaren Vale wine" "attractions Adelaide"

South Australian pickled octopus with sauce vierge ($13, GF)

The Currant Shed are very focused on using local produce and being situated on the Fleurieu Peninsula they have an abundance of choice available. Their head chef prides himself on cultivating close relationships with the food producers and our waitress proudly explained to us that they make everything in house from scratch. The pickled octopus is one of their specialities and it was so tender soft you almost wouldn’t believe it was octopus.

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A selection of baby beetroots with whipped goat’s curd, toasted pepitas and pumpkin oil ($16, GF)

The menu has a number of creative dishes many of which are suitable for dietary requirements including gluten free and vegetarian options. The Boy and I shared the vegetarian entrée which was a selection of baby beetroots with whipped goat’s curd, toasted pepitas and pumpkin oil.

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A selection of baby beetroots with whipped goat’s curd, toasted pepitas and pumpkin oil ($16, GF)

Such a simple array of colourful ingredients decorated our plate elegantly and every mouthful was a burst of flavours and soft textures.

"Smoked kangaroo loin" "green strawberries" "rye pilaf" "pepper berry reduction" "The Currant Shed" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "Perth food blog" "Perth restaurants" "Perth gluten free" "Perth fructose friendly" "Perth food reviews" "restaurants perth" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "food photos" "gluten free" "fructose friendly" "gluten free cooking" "gluten free recipes" "fructose friendly recipes" "gluten free raw food" "fructose friendly raw food" "Adelaide Restaurant Reviews" "Adelaide food blog" "Adelaide restaurants" "Adelaide gluten free" "Adelaide fructose friendly" "Adelaide food reviews" "restaurants Adelaide" "McLaren Vale Restaurant Reviews" "McLaren Vale food blog" "McLaren Vale restaurants" "McLaren Vale gluten free" "McLaren Vale fructose friendly" "McLaren Vale food reviews" "restaurants McLaren Vale" "McLaren Vale" "McLaren Vale region" "McLaren Vale wineries" "McLaren Vale wine" "attractions Adelaide"

Smoked kangaroo loin with green strawberries, rye pilaf and a pepper berry reduction ($33)

We had already all gone out to Bar 9 for a late breakfast so after eating our pretty entrées none of us were exceedingly hungry. Mum and my stepdad wanted to share a main so our waitress recommended that they order the smoked kangaroo loin as it was a reasonable sized serve to divide between two people. It was served with a rye pilaf, green strawberries and a pepper berry reduction. Being accustomed to Perth restaurant prices I was astonished at what a generous serve it was for just $33.

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Zucchini, orzo and feta parmigana with fresh tomato stuffed with black rice, pea and confit garlic ($28, V)

The Boy was ecstatic when he saw his vegetarian plate of amazingness arrive. Using locally sourced, seasonal vegetables such as zucchini and capsicums his plate was as beautiful as our entrée. Who said vegetarian food was boring?

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Zucchini, orzo and feta parmigana with fresh tomato stuffed with black rice, pea and confit garlic ($28, V)

On his plate were cheesy wedges of zucchini parmigiana, orzo stuffed peppers with feta and fresh tomatoes filled with black rice and peas. Scattered about his plate lay a multitude of fresh herbs, caperberries and edible flowers.

"Fish of the day" "Snapper" "roast pumpkin" "caperberries" "tomato sugo" "The Currant Shed" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "Perth food blog" "Perth restaurants" "Perth gluten free" "Perth fructose friendly" "Perth food reviews" "restaurants perth" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "food photos" "gluten free" "fructose friendly" "gluten free cooking" "gluten free recipes" "fructose friendly recipes" "gluten free raw food" "fructose friendly raw food" "Adelaide Restaurant Reviews" "Adelaide food blog" "Adelaide restaurants" "Adelaide gluten free" "Adelaide fructose friendly" "Adelaide food reviews" "restaurants Adelaide" "McLaren Vale Restaurant Reviews" "McLaren Vale food blog" "McLaren Vale restaurants" "McLaren Vale gluten free" "McLaren Vale fructose friendly" "McLaren Vale food reviews" "restaurants McLaren Vale" "McLaren Vale" "McLaren Vale region" "McLaren Vale wineries" "McLaren Vale wine" "attractions Adelaide"

Fish of the day: Snapper with roast pumpkin, caperberries and tomato sugo (market price)

I ordered the fish of the day; two chunks of crispy skinned snapper with a macadamia nut crust in a tomato sugo broth with Goolwa cockles and thick cut chunks of pumpkin. The tomato sugo was a little watery and not as flavoursome as I would have preferred but with the saltiness of the cockles and lemony acidity of the caperberries the dish was still balanced well.

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Sadly despite The Currant Shed having a very delightful looking dessert menu none of us had the room left in our bellies to squeeze in any sweets. Rolling onward and outward we piled back into the car to hit one more winery. We arrived at D’arenberg where we learnt the meaning of the wonderful word cenosilicaphobic: “the fear of an empty glass”. This is certainly something I suffer from at time to time.

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The cellar door is situated overlooking the rolling hills of McLaren Vale and would have been another pretty spot to stop for lunch. Their restaurant d’Arrys Verandah is a little more formal compared to The Currant Shed and offers a full degustation menu. I noted they are also gluten free friendly and glimpses of the food heading out to the tables definitely looked like they were worth returning for.

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After a few more wine tastings and a stroll around D’Arenberg’s grassy grounds we were nearly ready to head back home. It was late in the afternoon so unfortunately for us the first two venues that we dropped into for some dessert had already closed their kitchen. After nearly giving up, we found a gourmet café called Blessed Cheese that was still open in the town centre.

"Gluten free sticky toffee muffin"  "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "Perth food blog" "Perth restaurants" "Perth gluten free" "Perth fructose friendly" "Perth food reviews" "restaurants perth" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "food photos" "gluten free" "fructose friendly" "gluten free cooking" "gluten free recipes" "fructose friendly recipes" "gluten free raw food" "fructose friendly raw food" "Adelaide Restaurant Reviews" "Adelaide food blog" "Adelaide restaurants" "Adelaide gluten free" "Adelaide fructose friendly" "Adelaide food reviews" "restaurants Adelaide" "McLaren Vale Restaurant Reviews" "McLaren Vale food blog" "McLaren Vale restaurants" "McLaren Vale gluten free" "McLaren Vale fructose friendly" "McLaren Vale food reviews" "restaurants McLaren Vale" "McLaren Vale" "McLaren Vale region" "McLaren Vale wineries" "McLaren Vale wine" "attractions Adelaide"

Gluten free sticky toffee muffin

They had a couple of gluten free cake options and a massive selection of cheese and other local gourmet goods. We chose the gluten free sticky toffee muffin to share which was served warm with a caramel sauce drizzled over the top. It was not my usual type of dessert these days but it successfully satisfied my sweet tooth.

With the car boot clinking with a variety of bottles of wines that I had bought for our collection, I left the Vale knowing that I made the most of my trip. Thank goodness we scored a business class upgrade for our flight home otherwise our wallets would be burned with excess luggage charges!

Hardy’s Tintara
202 Main Road, McLaren Vale SA 5171 | (08) 8329 4124 | hardyswines.com/au/wines/ranges/tintara
 
D’Arenberg
Osborn Road, McLaren Vale SA 5171 | (08) 8329 4848 | www.darenberg.com.au

 d'Arrys Verandah on Urbanspoon

The Currant Shed
Ingolby Road, McLaren Flat SA 5171 | (08) 8383 0232 | www.currantshed.com.au

  The Currant Shed on Urbanspoon

Blessed Cheese
150 Main Road, McLaren Vale SA 5171 | (08) 9323 7958 | www.blessedcheese.com.au

  Blessed Cheese on Urbanspoon