Australia in pictures: McLaren Vale

Having waved the Adelaide Hills goodbye, we were soon on our way to the McLaren Vale. Our first port of call was biodynamic estate Gemtree Wines, run by Mike and Melissa Brown, where we were greeted by this adorable alpaca.

During our visit we were given a tour of the estate, where fellow wine writer Richard Hemming MW had worked a vintage while he lived in Oz.

Our next visit took us to gorgeous estate Coriole Vineyards, which is fast becoming a popular wedding spot. During our visit we spotted a bride dressed in bubblegum pink being snapped with her groom among the vines.

Coriole in full bloom

While we tucked into a decadent lunch and oodles of McLaren Vale Shiraz and Cabernet, it was business as usual at the estate, which specialises in Italian varieties, as chief gardener Melissa Crawford got stuck into a spot of weeding.

Pretty poppies painting Coriole’s gardens red

Hickinbotham estate’s faithful hound dutifully modelled its latest vintage.

Coriole’s owner Mark Lloyd is currently in charge of the estate, which was founded by his parents Hugh and Molly in 1967.

Coriole’s stunning waitress kindly posed for a photo in between serving delicious dishes like truffled buttered duck liver parfait; beetroot and goat’s curd; and Berkshire pork tenderloin with Granny Smith apples, cauliflower and boudin noir.

After our lavish lunch we moved on to d’Arenberg for a comparative Garnacha tasting hosted by the ever ebullient Chester Osborn. We were also delighted to meet his dad d’Arry, a McLaren Vale wine pioneer who can still be regularly spotted at the estate on the eve of his 90th birthday.

Work is almost finished on Chester’s ambitious Cube project, which he hopes will house Australia’s best fine dining restaurant.

Chester Osborn in all his glory, who is considering starting his own line of outlandish shirts.

and finally.. we were lucky enough to spot this cute pair of roos at dusk.