Maxwell Wines, McLaren Vale: Winery tours, cave and maze
The Maxwell Wines winery tour in the McLaren Vale, South Australia, includes old shiraz vines, a mushroom cave, a beehive and a maze. On the way, tour guides explain how vineyards are maintained and wines are made.
McLaren Vale wineries in South Australia are world-renowned for their high quality red wines – particularly the shirazes. But some McLaren Vale wineries also offer an engagingly unusual visitor experience. Inkwell Wines has an on-site shipping container hotel, while d’Arenberg offers up the psychedelic, five-storey d’Arenberg Cube. The Woodstock winery, meanwhile, has a wildlife sanctuary, Hugh Hamilton Wines offers chocolate pairings and Mitolo Wines is all about Italian style.
Maxwell Wines, just to the north of the town of McLaren Vale, also offers up something different. There’s the usual cellar door and winery restaurant combo, but the visitor experience goes a little further. For $35 you can bring a picnic into the vineyards, and try to navigate around the Maxwell Wines maze. You’ll be served up some of the wines to aid your sense of direction through the maze.
Maxwell Wines winery tours
Maxwell Wines also offers winery tours. These McLaren Vale winery tours start at the cellar door, where guests are given an empty produce bag. The idea is to fill it with goodies over 90 minutes as the tour demonstrates how the winery works.
The Maxwell Wines guide leads guests through the vineyards, explaining how the wines are cared for. There’s also a crash course in telling the difference between different types of grapes.
The winery tour then continues to the oldest shiraz vines at the front of the property, which were planted in 1953. These shiraz vines are used to make the winery’s signature wine – Ellen Street shiraz.
Mushroom cave and maze at Maxwell Wines
Next on the itinerary is the 100-year-old Lime Cave. This is used as a venue space, but also for growing mushrooms. The guide explains why mushrooms grow so well in such an environment, before moving on to the beehives. Maxwell Wines also makes mead, and the honey from the on-site hives is what goes into it.
From here, there’s a talk about the wine-making process, from the arrival of the grapes to fermenting and blending. And, finally, everyone gets to have a go at the Maxwell Wines maze.
This McLaren Vale winery tour at Maxwell Wines does not come cheap, alas. It costs $120 per person, and can be booked online at the Maxwell website.
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Cycling between Barossa Valley wineries on the Barossa Trail.