The National Wine Centre Adelaide solves a problem that a lot of solo travellers encounter. I want to try out good quality local wines, but don’t need a full bottle or even a large glass. Often, single glasses are at a lower price point and lower quality. This isn’t a bad complaint! On a bus tour, I spotted the Wine Centre and decided to return alone for lunch and a cheeky glass!
National Wine Centre Adelaide: the Building
I think this building has a range of functions – housing representative bodies and industry specialists. I wanted to try out its reputation for good food and for wine tasting without having to visit the vineyards or cellar doors.
The architecture has quite a specific industrial charm.
Inside is like a giant convention centre and the cafe/wine tasting area is in a cathedral-shaped void in the centre of the building.
I decided to have something to eat and try a few wines. You get a card, which you use to choose very small tasting amounts (25ml), a decent slurp (75ml) or a full glass (150ml). As the photo says there were 120 wines. Now I have to insist that I didn’t try ALL of them!
Impressive wine line-up
They are arranged in a row from white to rose to light reds and I do go along and get little taster sizes of a typical white, rose and light red and got a full glass of a local Shiraz (for which the areas around Adelaide like McLaren Vale and the Barossa Valley are famed.
Water was served in a charming thick bottle.
The Food
Oh dear, what a lot of bread! I do love olive oil and balsamic for dipping bread into, though!
Mmm, peppery goodness!
My lunch was a corn and wild rice concoction with ‘roast chicken’ on top. That skin looks undercooked and flabby – I think it should have been crisped up at some stage of the cooking – but the chicken was tender and delicious underneath.
After that hefty meal and a couple of glasses of wine, I fancied a nap but walked out into the Centre garden, which backed on to a local park – I love these signs showing distances to other wine regions.
What a lovely way to spend a lunchtime!
Overall Impression
This is one place not to miss on your trip to Adelaide. There are so many great tours out of the city and speciality wine options. This gives you a great range of wine options at a sensible price.
You may like to try out one of my favourite spots in town. Read about the Apothecary Restaurant, Adelaide.
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