The Battle of Barrosa took place on 5 March 1811 during the Peninsula War in Spain against the French. The Barossa Valley was named after that battle but was misspelled due to a clerical error that missed off one of the ‘r’s. Since then it’s never looked back and is now one of Australias foremost wine producing areas. We thought we’d better take a look at to raise a glass to the Duke of Wellington.
We started the morning at Jacob’s Creek winery and enjoyed a tasting and presentation.
Interestingly, Jacob’s Creek don’t seem to export their really top end stuff to the UK, preferring instead to dump us with a rather uninspiring selection of Chardonnays, so it was fascinating to see what we’re missing. The presentation was slightly corporate. Verdict: Okay, but could do better.
From there we moved on to Lambert Estate for further tasting and lunch. By now, the day had taken on a slightly rosy hew and there was a certain amount of wine-fuelled good cheer.
Lambert Estate was everything that you could wish for. The wines we tasted (5) were all varied and good and lunch was quite simply the best food we’ve had in Australia. Home cured olives to die for, chicken, salad and beef. I think the cow gave itself up. Verdict: outstanding
On our way back to the hotel we stopped at the small town of Hahndorf, a tiny outpost of Germany in Australia.
Tomorrow we have a very early start to take “The Overland” train to Melbourne.
TimOnTheTrain 