After a Covid-riddled Ben Shaw spent Christmas and New Year’s 2022 isolating in a caravan outside a 150-year-old shearing shed on his family’s property in Currency Creek, near Goolwa, he hatched a plan to transform the dilapidated building.
Late last year, it opened as Home of Plenty, a good-times-guaranteed cellar door for the wine label (of the same name) that he launched during a stint living in Sydney.
Ben comes from a long line of winemakers, under the Shaw Family Vintners banner. But instead of joining the family business, he spawned his own – with help from his dad, Phil.
“Fun, easy and approachable” – that’s what Ben wants his wines to be. Currently, there’s a sparking pinot noir-chardonnay (ideal for the spritzes the cellar door serves), a crisp pinot gris, a spicy sangiovese and a classic shiraz. They’re all made just down the road in the Shaw family’s winery, with grapes grown nearby on Phil’s personal vineyard.
The labels burst with colour, each emblazoned with psychedelic stick figures that “look like you drew them on acid”, says Ben, who designed them alongside some similar large-scale artworks and light boxes that have revitalised the shearing shed.
The original sandstone and red brick are still front and centre, but custom-made solid-concrete furnishings (like the bar and angular tables and benches), plus cacti and gravel galore, give the indoor-outdoor space a “Mediterranean-Palm Springs vibe”. The cellar door gained traction over the recent holiday period, as Adelaideans flocked to the coast to meet with the cellar door’s welcoming committee: Ben’s golden retriever, Manny (naturally, Home of Plenty is dog-friendly).
Drop in for a $10 tasting, grab a bottle of your fave, then sprawl out in the sun with some snacks. A Med-leaning menu is displayed on a ream of butcher’s paper at the bar, with dishes crossed off as they sell out. Expect plates (and sangas) draped with cold-cuts, burrata zhooshed up with honey and hazelnuts, and other bits and pieces grown on-site.
As well as an orchard and a veggie patch, the property has a pool, and tennis and volleyballs courts, which will open sporadically for events. “I want people to come down and party,” Shaw says. “I’d also love to do a small festival with campsites in the vines.”
Home of Plenty
261 Myrtlegrove Road, Currency Creek
Hours:
Thu to Sun 10.30am–4pm
