Taste of Travel: Australia : Napa Valley, Down Under : A wine country sojourn to the Coonawarra, where the wines and the locals are friendly

It’s no longer a surprise that Australia turns out some good wines that are popular with Americans. And with more than 600 wineries scattered across all six of its states, Australia has many touring areas for the wine-loving traveler.

As California’s Napa Valley has turned from an agricultural zone to a prime tourist destination, South Australia’s Coonawarra wine region, southeast of Adelaide, is turning into something of an undiscovered Napa Valley. With roughly 24 miles of wineries clustered along Penola/Naracoorte Road near the town of Penola, and a host of B&Bs; and other friendly lodgings, the region is an excellent place to sample wines that are winning a number of awards.

Although less explored than some of Australia’s other wine regions--the Hunter Valley northwest of Sydney, and the Barossa Valley near Adelaide being the best known--the concentration of Coonawarra’s wineries in a relatively small area makes exploration easy in a couple of days. When I visited last spring, I took four days for my sojourn, exploring surrounding beaches and seaside towns, wildlife reserves and majestic limestone caves between wine tastings.

Here in the Coonawarra, on a cigar-shaped sliver of land only 1.2 miles wide and 7.2 miles long, 21 wineries (only 18 are open to the public for tastings) produce a mere 6% of the national vintage. Yet Coonawarra winemakers are walking away with a surprising number of awards. Thus far, most have been for reds (Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz), but the whites (Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc) also are starting to pull in a few. So often have they brought home one of Australia’s most important wine awards--the Jimmy Watson Trophy--that the locals like to think of it as their own.

It was not simple thirst that inspired me to take the four-hour drive from Adelaide--where I was visiting family--into the autumnal lushness of the Coonawarra last April. I was looking for the restorative country ambience of Australia’s southeast to savor a lifestyle I fondly remembered from past trips to the area’s small towns--where folks treasure their heritage, preserve their buildings and find time to stop and chat with strangers. Anticipated, too, were wilderness forays along wetland lagoons rich with bird life and afternoon walks on deserted beaches to sharpen my appetite for fresh country fare, superb wines and evenings beside a crackling fire in a stone-hewn cottage.

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As I drive into the Coonawarra along the main road between the two principal towns of Penola and Naracoorte, grazing country and pine-forest plantations give way to 6,000 acres of russet-colored vines marching across the rolling countryside. It is a sight that must have pleased John Riddoch, a Scottish pastoralist who sensed the agricultural potential of the area and planted the first vines here in 1890.

Riddoch’s dream of a viticultural mecca was almost snuffed out as the region languished in the years after World War II, due to the population’s preference for beer. But a 1960s wine boom came to the rescue, kick-started by European immigrants and an increasingly sophisticated and affluent middle class.

“In 1965 we had only 415 acres of vines in the Coonawarra. Today, booming wine exports have seen every available square foot planted,” said Greg Clayfield, southeast wineries manager for Southcorp Wines, which owns several wineries in the region. Not only is it popular at home, but overseas sales of Australian wine are up 40% over the last three years, according to wine-industry statistics, testament to its improving quality and competitive pricing.

As is the style in all of Australia, wine tasting in the Coonawarra is a relaxed affair with families welcome and none of the stiff pretentiousness sometimes encountered in other wine regions of the world.

Whether they are giants of Australian wine production--Penfolds Wines, Seppelt Wines or Mildara Wines--or small family affairs such as Zema Estate or Laira Wines, tasting rooms are usually functional in style and not intimidating.

At the small establishment of Highbank Wines, I attended a tasting in a tiny rustic field stone building with a corrugated iron roof, where the vintage was poured by the winemaker himself.

At Laira Wines I shared a glass of cold Chardonnay with two young German couples and their children, who were cooking a barbecue lunch on the winery’s picnic grounds. “Imagine doing this at a German winery,” said one of the men, laughing at the thought.

In the tasting room at Wynns (the oldest winery in the region, established in 1896) I sampled a delightfully smooth 1990 Cabernet Sauvignon amid the musty smell of the surrounding wine barrels. At $12 a bottle, it was too good a bargain to pass up, and I bought a few, adding to the three-dozen bottles already crowding the trunk of my rental car.

Wine-tasting lunches are offered at nearby James Haselgrove Wines, but I opted instead to dine across the street from Wynns at Nibs Bistro & Grill. There, in a courtyard beautifully framed by pepper trees, I dined on a grilled steak of local beef washed down with Coonawarra wine. Thus satisfied, I stepped back into Australia’s past, a few miles away at Petticoat Lane--a restored early 1800s pioneer settlement, just off Church Street, Penola’s main drag. Eucalyptus red gum-board buildings and stone-and-timber settlers’ cottages line the old lane, now restored and turned into galleries filled with interesting local crafts.

Also preserved on Petticoat Lane is the humble classroom where Roman Catholic nun Mary MacKillop, along with Father Julian Tenison Woods, set up the first Josephite school for poor bush children in Australia in 1867. In January, Pope John Paul II visited Australia for the beatification of Mary MacKillop, a pioneer who regularly clashed with the church’s male hierarchy in the last century and was briefly excommunicated by an angry bishop who disagreed with her work in the outback and in city slums. MacKillop is likely to become Australia’s first saint.

In and around the town of Penola, more than 20 country cottages have been turned into cozy guest accommodations. At Sarah’s Cottage, I sat with owner Anne Yates in her country garden, cracking walnuts that had fallen from a back-yard tree.

“The owners were going to pull down this cottage dating from the 1870s,” she told me, “so my husband James and I bought it.” The couple also runs Chardonnay Lodge, the only luxury accommodation in the Penola area, and restoring the tiny ramshackle cottage became a labor of love. What the pair created at Sarah’s Cottage is a glorious lodging in the style of a Victorian hideaway, where couples can enjoy the atmosphere of another era without sacrificing modern conveniences. A luxurious spa bath looks out over cedar windows, and a Welsh dresser in the kitchen hides a washing machine and microwave. A couple of blocks away is Naomi’s Villa, another historic one-bedroom cottage with the same owners. It’s larger than Sarah’s Cottage but decorated with the same attention to detail.

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That afternoon, I took the half-hour drive west to the rustic seaside town of Robe on the southeast coast and enjoyed a barefoot walk on Long Beach, a 10-mile-long crescent of white sand cradled in blue ocean. Twenty-seven miles north, in the seaside village of Kingston, the fleet of 40 fishing boats brings its catch of crayfish ashore. In the 1850s, however, it was a very different incoming cargo at Robe: During the gold rush period, 16,000 Chinese streamed through the tiny settlement on their way to the gold fields of Victoria.

For dinner, I headed to the restaurant at Chardonnay Lodge (in Coonawarra), which is set among the vineyards. Browsing the restaurant’s cellar of more than 100 Coonawarra wines, stashed in an alcove by the dining room, I settled on a Rouge Homme Cabernet Sauvignon, and it proved a fine match for a rack of local lamb.

A dozen fine restaurants in the area--including Bushman’s Inn Restaurant in Penola--one of my favorites--make the most of local products, including lamb, beef and delicate King George whiting (a local fish).

Next morning I headed for Bool Lagoon, the state’s largest freshwater lagoon, 19 miles north of Penola. Here, 140 species of birds can be spotted from the protective cover of blinds and boardwalks. European settlers drained many swamps when they began farming this area, resulting in a loss of wetland habitat. So crucial is Bool Lagoon as a drought refuge and breeding ground for thousands of birds and other wildlife that it is listed with UNESCO as a Wetland of International Importance.

Many migratory birds, such as sharp-tailed sandpipers, are pointed out by National Parks & Wildlife Service staff who conduct 90-minute guided tours along Tea-Tree Boardwalk, which is built out over the water. Amid gnarled tea trees, visitors glimpse the nesting sites of ibis, spoonbills and, if they are lucky, magnificent brolgas, a water bird larger than a crane.

The same limestone that underpins the Coonawarra wine region has created a spectacular underworld just south of the town of Naracoorte. There are 60 known caverns in the Naracoorte Caves Conservation Park, many open to the public. I joined a guided tour into Victoria Cave to see the dig where huge fossil deposits were discovered in 1969, shedding light on the evolution of Australia’s unique wildlife.

From a viewing area above the dig, guides explain how scientists discovered the vast bone beds, the remains of animals who fell into the cave or wandered in to die. On underground pathways in Alexandra and Blanche caves, I passed by galleries of fragile and beautiful limestone formations, some thousands of years old.

A day of caving called for a hearty early dinner nearby in the grand two-story, 1882 mansion of Padthaway Estate, set among Australian gums and vineyards. (The Padthaway region is one of Australia’s hot new regions for white wines, due to successful large plantings by several vineyards of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Rhine Reisling grapes.) Maintained in gracious style, the estate has six tastefully decorated double rooms.

After a meal of filet of kangaroo--deliciously tender in a light pepper sauce and served in the elegant dining room--I wandered over to the century-old stone Woolshed Winery where estate-bottled wines and 20 other labels from local wineries are on sale at the cellar door. Although the winery produces fine white Chardonnay table wines, sparkling wine is the specialty here, and during vintage time (February-March) visitors can watch 12 tons of grapes pressed each day in a traditional champagne press.

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GUIDEBOOK

Australian Vine Finds

Getting there: From LAX fly nonstop to Sydney on Qantas, Air New Zealand, Northwest and United. Round-trip fares start at about $1,650. Then connect on Qantas or Ansett to Adelaide. Round-trip fares start at about $225.

From Adelaide, take South Eastern Freeway to Highway 1 (Princes Highway) about 150 miles to Kingston; turn inland and drive about 50 miles to the Coonawarra region. Driving time is about four hours.

Winery hours: Many of the area’s two dozen or so wineries are open year-round for tastings and sales; in general, hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m., seven days a week; some are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on weekends and Sundays.

Where to stay: Chardonnay Lodge, Penola Road, Coonawarra 5263; 24 spacious well-appointed suites in brick and natural timber; $75 per night, double occupancy, includes continental breakfast; 011-61-87-36-3309.

Naomi’s Villa, 20 Riddoch St., Penola 5277; full kitchen (book several months in advance if possible); $100 double occupancy; tel. 011-61-87-36-3309.

Padthaway Estate, Padthaway, 5271 South Australia; six double rooms, $140 double occupancy; full-cooked breakfast, plus $35 per person for four-course silver service dinner; tel. 011-61-87-65-5039, fax 011-61-87-65-5097.

Sarah’s Cottage, 24 Julian St. West, Penola 5277; full kitchen facilities; $90 per night, double occupancy, includes full breakfast; book several months in advance if possible. To make reservations for both, write P.O. Box 15, Coonawarra 5263; or from the United States, call 011-61-87-36-3309.

Where to eat:

Bushman’s Inn Restaurant, 114 Church St., Penola; local tel. 37-2364.

Chardonnay Lodge Restaurant, Penola Road, Coonawarra; tel. 36-3309.

Hermitage Restaurant, Naracoorte Road, Coonawarra; tel. 37-2122.

James Haselgrove Wines, Main Penola/Naracoorte Road, Coonawarra; tel. 37-2734.

Nibs Bistro & Grill, Memorial Drive, Coonawarra; tel. 36-3006.

Padthaway Estate, Padthaway; tel. 65-5039.

Royal Oak Hotel, Church Street, Penola; tel. 37-2322.

For more information: South Australian Tourism Commission; tel. (800) 546-2155 or (714) 852-2270. National Parks & Wildlife Service Bool Lagoon, tel. 011-61-87-64-7541. Naracoorte Caves Conservation Park; tel. 011-61-87-62-2340.