Winemaker for a Day with Shottesbrooke

Ever wanted to be a winemaker during the most exciting time of the year in McLaren Vale? Our exclusive ‘Winemaker for a Day’ experience at Shottesbrooke allows you to get up close and personal with vintners and find out what really goes on during vintage season. Learn the secrets of winemaking and go beyond the cellar door to see what takes place in a modern winery during vintage, with opportunity to get hands-on with unique vintage tasks.

Greeted by your host on arrival, you’ll take a guided tour through the beautiful Shottesbrooke vineyard property and state-of-the-art winery complex, whilst learning about how this company has become a truly sustainable producer and contributor within the McLaren Vale region.

After this, enjoy a short morning tea break with the team, before embarking on an expedition through the winery to immerse yourself in the excitement of vintage. Here, you’ll see fresh fruit being delivered into the winery direct from amazingly efficient Pellenc harvesters and find out how the fruit is prepared for winemaking.

Moving inside, you’ll observe and learn about various winemaking techniques used to bring out the best in various varietals, and have the opportunity to get hands on with some of the methods used to ensure the production of Shottesbrooke’s premium wine. From here, you’ll be taken through the fermentation process and what happens before the juice is ready to be placed into barrels.

After making your way through the winery, you will round out your experience with an exclusive tasting of raw, unfiltered and unrefined wines, alongside current and museum releases to truly showcase the progression of where a wine begins through to how it matures. This will provide a solid platform connecting the techniques you’ve learnt over the tour with the practicalities of how they influence a wine over time.

Once complete, you will take a short, guided walk back through Shottesbrooke’s native woodlot and vineyards to their award-winning, hatted restaurant, The Currant Shed.

Here, you will indulge in a regionally inspired six-course chef’s degustation lunch, matched perfectly with Shottesbrooke wines and an incredible view of the vineyards and surrounds. Between courses, you may treat yourself to a self-guided tour of The Currant Shed’s on-site vegetable patch and delightful Tahitian lime grove, or simply sit back, relax and take in the charming ambiance and long-lasting memories that only McLaren Vale can provide.