Warm up with the cool vibes of Cellar Door Fest Winter Edit
Don’t miss out on winter’s hottest ticket – a fun wine-tasting journey with delicious food and live music all under one roof in the heart of Adelaide.
It’s not always easy to lure South Australians out of their homes in winter, but Adelaide Convention Centre has hit on a winning formula with this boutique take on its popular summer Cellar Door Fest.
Winter Edit is a more intimate affair – think Persian rugs, a cosy atmosphere, a carefully curated line-up of some of South Australia’s hottest wineries, distilleries and food producers, some of your favourite food trucks and a live soundtrack provided by local musicians. It’s no wonder it sells out every year.
“Winter Edit focuses directly on the producers,” comments festival director Jasmine Pohl.
“It’s the perfect opportunity to sip, sample and savour the best of SA’s food and drink scene under one roof and in a relaxed setting. Festival-goers grab their tasting glass, tour the regions and mingle with producers, before they kick back and enjoy the live music. We like to describe the event as warm notes and cool vibes.”
Pohl says this year’s Cellar Door Fest Winter Edit, on July 11 and 12, will see the event move back to where it all began in a space in the Convention Centre’s east building.
“This year’s Winter Edit setting overlooks the Riverbank, providing a beautiful outlook with all the pretty lights for our evening sessions.
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“And the event’s running at the same time as the Rugby Lions tour (at Adelaide Oval), which provides an opportunity for those in town for the Rugby to experience SA’s great produce while visiting. It’s going to be an amazing hive of activity.”
Cellar Door Fest Winter Edit offers three sessions – 5pm-9pm on Friday, and 11am-4pm and 5pm-9pm on Saturday – with entry including a free Riedel wine glass for complimentary tastings. There’s also a Friday Wine Lovers option, which includes entry for two plus a bottle of Adelaide Hills winery Unico Zelo’s juicy Delta Blue.
Capacity for each session is strictly limited and, with tickets selling fast, Pohl advises getting in early to avoid missing out.
She says the festival will see more than 50 South Australian wineries represented, with just over 70 producers in total – including representatives of the state’s vibrant distillery scene and artisan food producers.
When it comes to the wineries, festival-goers can expect to discover a mixture of well-known, award-winning labels such as Taylors Wines, Unico Zelo, Claymore Wines, Dandelion Vineyards, Hesketh Wines, Tomich Wines and Forage Supply Co, as well as newer, young-gun producers like Avonti Wines, SØŪTH and Zolly Wines.
Cellar Door FestWinter Edit also highlights producers who are certified organic or sustainable, biodynamic and vegan-friendly, as well as minimal-intervention wines.
“We have a really good representation from all of the regions, from the Coonawarra to the Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, the Riverland and as far away is Mount Benson,” Pohl says.
“We carefully curate our winery list to ensure there’s a good balance of new wineries as well as more established brands… we’re really excited to see some newcomers at the festival this year.”
As well as tasting a wide range of wines – including niche varietals, small-batch wines and boutique brands you may not find at your local bottle shop – festival-goers have the opportunity to talk directly to makers about their products, and can take advantage of Australia Post’s “Pick & Pack” on-site service to get any purchases delivered straight to their door.
To fuel the tasting adventure there will be a smorgasbord of food options, including cheese platters, fresh paella from Paella Bar, Bao+ Asian street food, La Mia Luna pizzas and Caro Club burgers, as well as barista coffee from Saltbush Creations.
Pohl says the atmosphere at each Cellar Door Fest Winter Edit session is slightly different, with the Friday evening ideal for the after-work crowd or those who want to gather some friends and kick off their weekend in style, while the Saturday daytime session is laidback and Saturday evening a little more upbeat.
The excellent music line-up – which ranges from indie-folk singer-songwriter Georgia Germein and acoustic duo Hillier Music to Dojo Rise’s Adam Blessing (in solo mode) and DJ Ruby Chew – helps set the tempo. Rugs and other seating options invite festival-goers to relax front-of-stage with a bottle of wine and a bite to eat while enjoying the tunes.
“It starts with the folk and the blues and roots and the soulful kind of music, then it builds up as the session continues with DJ Ruby Chew finishing out each one,” Pohl says.
While the opportunity to sample so many different wines in one hub is the major drawcard of Cellar Door Fest Winter Edit, Pohl says it also aims to whet people’s appetite to travel into South Australia’s wine regions and visit cellar doors.
“Winter Edit proudly champions the Eat Drink Support Local message,” she explains.
“We hear that feedback from our wineries, that they get a lot of people to their cellar doors who say, ‘We discovered you at Cellar Door Fest’, which is fantastic to hear. From our survey results, around 90 per cent of our attendees travel out to the regions to visit the producers they discovered at the festival, so we know it’s working.”
To see the full line-up of producers and secure your tickets before they sell out, visit the Cellar Door Fest Winter Edit website.