Out of Town Guide: Adelaide Hills, SA

The Adelaide Hills has long been praised both locally and internationally for its exceptional cool-climate wines. While the region has dozens of exciting old-school and new-wave wineries worth visiting, the past decade has seen a boom in new culinary experiences – many of which can be had right amongst the picturesque hills and vineyards.

At the foothills of Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens, you can check out one of 2024’s best new openings, with Loc, Noma and Summertown Artistologist DNA. Visit the German-inspired town of Hahndorf, where you can get a taste of Spain or pick sweet, natural berries. Or enjoy a dining experience in a stone hut in Mylor – if you can nab a booking.

Here are our favourite spots to eat, drink, play and stay in the area. All are less than an hour’s drive from Adelaide’s CBD – making this a perfect daytrip or laid-back weekender.

One of the year’s best new openings, Thelma is inspired by venues in Europe where you can have your morning coffee, grab a glass of wine and a snack, or pick up provisions and produce.

Thelma is run by James Spreadbury (service director at Copenhagen’s Noma), Loc’s Olivia Moore and former Summertown Aristologist chef Tom Campbell, with the trio sharing a similar approach to food, wine and hospitality, and a deep respect for produce and provenance.

The food at Thelma is best described as European country cooking, informed by what Spreadbury’s brother Tim is growing at his highly regarded small-scale market garden, Presqil. That might mean grazing-style breakfast plates – made up of bits and pieces like seasonal veggies, cheese slices, house-made sourdough and a boiled egg – or comte tarts, escargots and savory pizzettas. For lunch, expect nourishing, produce-led, French-leaning dishes alongside local and European wines made as purely as possible.

James Brinklow, (Auge, The Lane Vineyard) has transformed the former site of the German Village Shop into a contemporary cafe and deli (retaining the heritage 1866 frontage) with a light, bright fit-out, forest-green cabinetry and terrazzo flooring.

On the menu: four sandwiches served on his light and airy 24-hour-proved focaccia. There’s a deli meats number with mortadella and two kinds of salami, basil pesto, stracciatella and antipasto; chicken salad with poached chicken, mayo, cucumber, almond and oak lettuce; a meatball sub with pork and veal polpette, green salsa and Parmigiano Reggiano; and a vego option with soft egg, mayo, oak lettuce, kale pesto and avo. There’s also a lunch menu of relaxed, home-style Mediterranean plates like cotoletta alla Milanese, house-made pasta, salumi sliced to order, and snacky tinned seafood served with that house-baked focaccia, pickles and a coddled egg.

The Adelaide Hills is full of exciting food and drink pairings – and Ondeen is among the best of them. It’s inside a heritage Verdun homestead with spectacular panoramic views. The menu is by Topiary’s Kane Pollard, who’s bringing his locavore philosophy to the equation. And there are small-batch spirits by Full Circle.

Pollard’s à la carte and set menus embrace the bounty of the landscape. Opening menu highlights included brined tomato and smoked mussels on fried toast; pickled sardines served with cauliflower cream and sweet corn; and a honey malt crème caramel with fresh honeycomb.

In harmony with Pollard’s closed-loop cooking, head distiller and Ondeen co-owner Rose Kentish offers multiple Full Circle spirit tastings including vodka, gin, liqueur and whisky, as well as a non-alcoholic tasting.

The latest project by Masterchef alum Andre Ursini – the man behind the iconic (but now-closed) Andre’s Cucina & Polenta Bar, contemporary European bistro Orso and adjoining deli Willmott’s Gastronomia – is truly transporting.

Nuzzled deep within a valley on Ursini’s 20-acre property in Mylor, this tiny stone hut looks like something you’d happen across in the Italian countryside. It’s home to one of the most intimate and sought-after dining experiences in the state – you have to register months in advance for your chance to secure a booking.

That’s thanks to its ad hoc, largely veg-heavy dishes that are made from produce grown on the property. “There is no formula for this experience,” Ursini told Broadsheet. “It’s a whole educational culinary experience that taps into our passions.”

This Adelaide mainstay in Hahndorf, a small town known for its German influence (mostly in the form of pubs) 30 minutes east of the CBD, puts the spotlight on Spain.

Comida started out as a Central Market stall before evolving into this bright and airy restaurant with a lush kitchen garden.

Go for the Spanish-style breakfasts, which include a very impressive tortilla (omelette); buckwheat pancakes with mandarin and coconut pannacotta; and smashed eggs with crispy potatoes and pork belly. There’s a sizeable tapas menu including cheesy croquettes, plus Comida’s signature paella and other substantial proteins.

Just behind the restaurant is a deck that looks over the entire garden. If the sun’s out, grab a rug and a bottle of wine and pull up some grass.

Venture just off Stirling’s buzzing main street and you’ll find this one-stop shop for baked goods and booze. From the patisserie’s almost-always-stacked cabinet, grab flaky pies and sausage rolls, freshly almond croissants and tarts, and ready-made sangas and salads. Plus, Five Senses coffee is on pour.

Over in the well-stocked bottle-o, stock up on boutique wines, craft beers and small-batch spirits from the region’s top producers (including BK Wines, Mismatch and Adelaide Hills Distillery) and their European counterparts.

Nepenthe has raised the bar with its pinot noir and sauvignon blanc (which are both best-selling in SA), and is stepping things up once again with its architecturally elevated cellar door. With vines stretching over rolling fields and cows grazing in a nearby paddock, the bucolic setting invites visitors to take a load off before they’ve even had their first sip of semillon.

Tastings are $15 to $45 per person and are fully redeemable on any purchases and can be enjoyed alongside tasting plates of local meats and cheeses on the lawn of the Balhannah winery.

South Australia isn’t lacking in topnotch wine-tasting experiences, but this is something special. In the middle of The Lane’s rambling vineyards is a small building with 360-degree views of the surrounding Adelaide Hills – and you can make a reservation for a special tasting experience here with your mates.

The intimate two-hour tasting, which includes a gourmet picnic prepared by the winery’s head chef, could feature wines made from the oldest vines on the property or drops from the small-batch Provenance range (including a brilliant pinot meunier).

This Balhannah winery is known for its refined, exclusively Adelaide Hills wines, including sauv blanc, chardonnay, pinot noir and shiraz – varietals that suit the region’s cool climate. All grapes are hand-picked, and the wines are fermented, aged and bottled on-site.

Inside its sprawling tasting room with a view, try five classic drops (with cheese) for $25. If you want to delve a little deeper, go behind the scenes on a winery and vineyard tour.

LVN, the restaurant at Bird in Hand winery from chef Jacob Davey, has become a destination diner. Bird in Hand co-founders Andrew and Susie Nugent decided to open an extension of their family residence for guests for visitors to the restaurant. After a lunchtime booking at LVN, guests at one of O Quarters’ three suites can wander through the estate’s gardens and sculpture collection.

At these pint-sized off-the-grid cabins, the only people you’re likely to come across are the ones you bring with you.

In August 2024, nine additional tiny homes opened in Hahndorf on the historic property that once belonged to artists Hans and Nora Heysen, just 25 minutes from the Adelaide CBD.

The tiny homes offer showers, Weber barbeques, indoor wood-burning fireplaces and outdoor firepits. Some cabins are set up for couples, and some for solo travellers, while others have additional bunk beds and can sleep four.

While still having all the charm of a tiny home, the Cabn X houses are not exactly tiny, with a king bed, indoor and outdoor baths and a firepit. There’s also an attached sauna that – in true Scandinavian fashion – has a window looking out on the landscape Heysen made famous. It’s the perfect marriage of steam and stillness.

The modern eco-lodge attached to boutique designer hotel Mount Lofty House offers 14 panoramic, open-plan luxury suites with 180-degree views of the Piccadilly Valley.

Here you can take in the scenery from a range of enticing vantage points: the comfort of your king bed, while warming up in front of the stone-clad fireplace, or while soaking in the freestanding bathtub.

Guests also have access to a private lounge with a heated plunge pool and yet another stunning view. And to top off the experience, we recommend booking in at the estate’s on-site fine diner, Hardy’s Verandah Restaurant.

Thousands of cool-climate plants, sprawling gullies and a tranquil lake are the draw at Mount Lofty Botanic Garden. Set on 97 hectares overlooking the Piccadilly Valley, it’s a great destination for a picnic, a leisurely stroll or fully-fledged hike.

Arguably the best time of year to visit is autumn, when the leaves turn all shades of crimson, gold and russet. In spring the garden pops with magnolias, rhododendrons and camellias, and in winter it’s often blanketed in mist and fog.

Over summer, seek refuge from the sun in the dense Fern Gully – one of the richest fern collections in the country.

Based in Hahndorf, Beerenberg makes a range of first-rate sauces, jams, condiments and dressings. And you can shop (and sample) them all – as well as some products you won’t find anywhere else – at its homey farm shop right next to where the produce grows.

And if you’re of the opinion that fruit tastes better when you pick it fresh yourself, there’s a strawberry patch open to the public – usually from November to April – when the fruit is in season. Pick to your heart’s content, then pay by the kilo. It’s one of many places in SA where you can pick fresh fruit.

This article was originally published on 2 September 2020. It has been updated to reflect new information and remove out-of-date details.