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Sarah Cooks: Barossa's Table: Seppeltsfield Road
Accommodation

Barossa's Table: Seppeltsfield Road

4/11/2011 10:03:00 PM

For our Barossa trip, we were put up at Treetops, a lovely little B&B on the iconic Seppeltsfield road.  You may recognise the famous, palm tree lined road from tourism brochures and magazines.

Seppeltsfield Road


Seppeltsfield road was a great place to be based - only 5 minutes' drive from Tanunda (the 'German' town) and Angaston (the 'English' town).  However, with lots of great attractions actually located on Seppeltsfield road, it's become like a mini-destination in itself.  The famous Appellation restaurant and Maggie Beer's Farm Shop are both there, as well as quite a few other places I'd like to tell you about today!


Treetops B&B

We were hosted at Treetops by the lovely Joelene and Malcolm, in the "Downunder" suite.  It was a nice 2-bedroom apartment, with modern fittings and lots of light.
Some fresh fruit and sparkling red
We also got a bag of Food Barossa treats - mustards, olives, panforte - and some books on local history and cuisine.  (With thanks to the Tourism Barossa girls!)


The fridge was filled with breakfast provisions, (tomatoes, eggs, mushrooms, bacon), and on my first morning there Malcolm brought down a loaf of bread he'd baked himself!  Due to our busy schedule, we only had time to enjoy one proper cooked breakfast, ("You said bed and breakfast?"), made by Joelene.

We started with a little bowl of bircher muesli, full of freshly grated apple, yoghurt and nuts.

A nice strong coffee to wake me up for the morning!

2nd course (!!) of the breakfast was a little roast veggie frittata, with roasted tomatoes and Linke's bacon.  So delicious!


After she'd finished cooking, Joelene came out and ate her breakfast with us, which was very sweet of her.  (Can't imagine an owner/cook at a large hotel doing that!)  Interestingly, she much prefers the Linke's bacon over the Schulz.  Both are very famous Barossa institutions, and locals tend to choose either one and stay incredibly loyal to their favourite.  As a visitor, I'm allowed to say I like both!  But Joelene did let us know that Linke's cryovac their goods so you can take them home, so on our last day in the Barossa, I bought a big pack of lachsschinken and of mettwurst. So glad I did that!

One of my favourite things about Treetops was the spectacular view out of the driveway...

Gnadenfrei Church

Tscharke Wines

A mere 2 minutes from Treetops was Tscharke Wines, run by sixth generation Barossan vigneron Damien Tscharke.  At the time we visited, they were in the middle of building their new cellar door and B&B.  And when I say "building", I mean building!  Damien and his wife Eva bought a kit home from Germany (Eva is German), and were building it themselves.  Eva has even been up on the roof, doing the tiling by hand!

Eva is also a talented potter, and was making stained-glass windows herself.

They plan to open the B&B in July this year, and judging by their talents and hospitality, it's gonna be fantastic!

Of course, we were there to try the wine.  Tscharke wines has two lines: Tscharke and Glaymond.  The Tscharke range is younger and more modern, based on alternative varietals like tempranillo, graciano and savagnin (AKA albarino). The Glaymond range, on the other hand, is more classically Barossan - shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and so on.  Sitting neither in the Tscharke nor the Glaymond range is the "Eva" - a sweet Moscato-style frizzante wine made from Savagnin (Albarino) grapes.  Damien made this wine for his wife, and even wrote a love poem to her and had it printed on the back.  Awww...!



My favourite of all the wines was the 'Matching Socks' Touriga Nacional 2010, an almost floral red with light tannins. Too easy to drink!  Damien generously gave me a bottle of this (and a bottle of the Eva frizzante) to take home - I'm saving them both for a special occasion!



Damien and Eva were so cool; when I told them that German Sandra was joining me on the trip later in the week, they invited us to their home for a delicious dinner of handmade Käsespätzle, salad and tiramisu.  Thanks so much guys!!


Mmm... Käsespätzle


Seppelt Family Mausoleum

The Seppelt Family Mausoleum is around the corner from Treetops, and is the place to see some of the best views of Seppeltsfield Road...



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2 comments

  1. Looks like a superbly fun and wonderful time you had there!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow all the photos of the palms makes me think that you are in somewhere tropical. That Kasespatzle looks delicious as well. I have never tried it, but I really want to!

    ReplyDelete

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