Australia's Best Wine and Golf Experiences
For such an enormous country, it is a happy coincidence that many of Australia’s best golf courses lie in close proximity to its finest wine regions . A growing number of golfers are choosing to turn their golf vacation Downunder into a tailored wine and golf experience.
Seek out Boutique Wineries
With wine produced in all 6 states of Australia and within 60 plus designated wine regions, it can be a daunting task working out which wine regions to include in your wine and golf holiday itinerary. Understandably most golf tourists to Australia target the cellar doors of globally recognised brands, many of which have been enthusiastically sampled with friends around dining tables in their home countries. However, it is well worth getting off the beaten track and sampling some of Australia’s lesser-known wines labels; the ‘hidden gems’ that are favoured by the locals and too small to produce for export.
Adelaide Four Reds
Wine can be incorporated into a golf holiday itinerary, through the inclusion of full or half-day tours to wine regions on non-golfing days. Alternatively, in Adelaide, the unique ‘Four Reds Golf and Wine Experience’, offers golfers the opportunity to seamlessly combine a gourmet golf and wine experience without having to go any further than the clubhouse. Play 18 holes on Glenelg Golf Club, Grange Golf Club, Kooyonga Golf Club and Royal Adelaide Golf Club, and after each game, enjoy a bottle of exquisite South Australian wine (valued at $100 or more), as well as a local, artisan tasting platter. This is a golf package dreamed up for golfers, who are equally as enthusiastic about premium wine, as they are about top-notch golf.
For the last 20 years, Australia has been refining its cellar door experience, resulting today in an unparalleled choice of beautifully located wineries, offering memorable, world-class dining experiences. The biggest challenge is choosing which wineries to visit, particularly when the best cellar door experiences are not necessarily at the biggest brand wineries.
At Golf Explorer, we have done the hard work for you. We have tried and tested these wineries and only include the best local wineries in our golf tour packages. So which Australian wine regions can be best integrated into a golf holiday?
Yarra Valley & Golf
Melbourne’s Yarra Valley is less than an hours’ drive east of the city centre and is synonymous with the production of some of Australia’s finest Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and sparkling wine. Escape the hustle and bustle of Melbourne and quickly find yourself in wine-lovers paradise, surrounded by lush, rolling countryside.
Home to Victoria’s first vineyards, planted in 1838, the Yarra Valley is one of Australia’s coolest wine regions with elevations ranging between 50 metres and 400 metres.
Today, the Yarra Valley plays host to over 100 wineries, each with their own individual character and sensory experience. Some of the regions’ best-known cellar doors include, Yering, Yarra Glen, De Bortoli and Coldstream and Domaine Chandon.
However, perhaps the greatest pleasure can be derived from unearthing the ‘hidden gems’ within a wine region, the cellar doors the locals frequent, the places with character and soul which you can’t wait to tell your friends about. For such an experience, it is wise to entrust the knowledge of a local tour guide to tailor an itinerary to include the ‘big names’, as well as the ‘quiet achievers’.
Golf Courses to Play
• Royal Melbourne Golf Club
• Kingston Heath Golf Club
• Victoria Golf Club
Recommended Golf Holiday Packages
• Sydney & Melbourne Golf Package
• Gourmet Golf & Wine Tour
• Ultimate Australian Golf Tour
Hunter Valley & Golf
The most accessible wine region to Sydney, is the Hunter Valley, located just a two hour drive north of the city. With two premium golf courses, The Vintage and Cypress Lakes Golf Courses, located within the wine region itself, the Hunter Valley is a dream destination for any golf and wine enthusiast.
Vines were first planted in the Hunter Valley in the early 1830s, making it Australia's oldest wine growing region. Today, it is best known for varietals such as Semillon and Shiraz.
There is no shortage of unique and memorable cellar door experiences in the Hunter Valley. Some of its famous brands include Meerea Park Wines, Brokenwood, Tyrrell’s and Audrey Wilkinson Winery.
Sophisticated, yet laidback dining experiences go hand-in-hand with Australian cellar door experiences and on this level the Hunter Valley does not disappoint. For a mouth-watering lunch experience, incorporate Muse, The Lovedale, Redsalt Restaurant or EXP into your Hunter Valley tour itinerary.
Golf Courses to Play
• The Vintage
• Cypress lakes
• New South Wales Golf Club
Recommended Golf Packages
• Sydney & Melbourne Golf Package
• Gourmet Golf & Wine Tour
Barossa Valley & Golf
Just an hour’s drive north-east of the city of Adelaide, the Barossa Valley is widely considered to be the powerhouse of Australian wine production. Home to more than 150 individual wineries, the region is famous for its intense, full-bodied shiraz grape, as well as globally recognised brands, such as Penfolds, Henschke, Jacobs Creek and Peter Lehmann. Unbeknownst to many visitors, The Barossa Valley is also a breeding ground for many young, innovative wine producers. For a less mainstream cellar door experience, these are the wineries to target.
As you would expect, The Barossa Valley also plays host to some outstanding premium restaurants. Award winning Vintners Bar and Grill has long been one of South Australia’s landmark dining experiences and continues to wow with its delicious locally sourced ingredients and matching wines. For a true cellar door dining experience, you would be hard pressed to beat Saltram for fine quality and outstanding service.
Golf Courses to play
• Royal Adelaide Golf Club
• Glenelg Golf Club
• Grange Golf Club
• Kooyonga Golf Club
Recommended Golf Holiday Packages:
Adelaide Hills & Golf
Famous for its production of cool climate wines, such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, the Adelaide wine region is conveniently located just a thirty-minute drive from Adelaide CBD. As the closest wine region to the city of Adelaide, it is a popular cellar-door lunch destination for Adelaideans looking to escape city life. With over 90 wine labels and 48 cellar doors, the Adelaide Hills wine region is less well-known internationally than other Australian wine regions, but offers some of the most picturesque cellar doors and beautiful views over the surrounding countryside.
In Adelaide, it is possible to play golf on one of Australia’s finest golf courses in the morning, and then take a half day wine tour into the Adelaide Hills in the afternoon. Cellar doors, such as Shaw + Smith, Deviation Road, Golding Winery, Nepenthe Winery are experiences not to be missed.
In addition to the Sauvignon Blanc and sparkling wines for which the region is well known, Adelaide Hills wineries are winning awards for some more unusual cool climate grape varietals, such as 'new wave' Chardonnays, crisp and zesty Pinot Gris and lesser known spicy Grüner Veltliner.
Golf Courses to play
• Royal Adelaide Golf Club
• Glenelg Golf Club
• Grange Golf Club
• Kooyonga Golf Club
Recommended Golf Holiday Packages
• Four Reds 72 Hole Golf Challenge
• Four Reds Cellar Door Experience
• Gourmet Golf & Wine Tour
McLaren Vale & Golf
If you are looking for as little time as possible between the end of your game and your arrival at a fabulous cellar door, McLaren Vale wine region should be added to the Adelaide leg of your golf tour itinerary.
McLaren Vale is the birthplace of South Australian wine and one of the oldest and most famous wine regions in Australia. Situated just half an hours’ drive from the centre of Adelaide, McLaren Vale sits between the elevated Mount Lofty Ranges and the spectacular white, sandy coastline of South Australia. Its unique location and the warm Mediterranean-like climate enable talented wine makers to produce an impressive range of Italian, Spanish and Portuguese varietals.
Through the ‘Four Reds Golf and Wine Experience’ package, it is possible to play a round of golf at Royal Adelaide Golf Club and afterwards enjoy a bottle of Clarendon Hills Syrah, before visiting the cellar door of the winery that actually produced the wine, the following day.
Golf Courses to play
• Royal Adelaide Golf Club
• Glenelg Golf Club
• Grange Golf Club
• Kooyonga Golf Club
Recommended Golf Holiday Packages
• Four Reds 72 Hole Golf Challenge
• Four Reds Cellar Door Experience
• Gourmet Golf & Wine Tour
There is no doubt that as a wine and golf holiday desintation, Australia takes a lot of beating. Let Golf Explorer organise the ultimate Australian golf holiday for you, taking in the best courses, wineries and tourism experiences in each State. The hardest bit will be choosing what to leave out!
