Eat & Drink
Wine, Dine, Celebrate
The best eat & drink in McLaren Vale
Everything edible on the Fleurieu - wineries, restaurants, cafés, breweries, distilleries, markets and makers.
The Fleurieu Peninsula is a genuine paddock-to-plate region, and eating your way around it is half the reason to visit. This is one of South Australia's most productive corners - vineyards and olive groves, market gardens and orchards, almond and citrus, cheese makers and small-batch producers all within an easy drive of one another.
It shows up everywhere. Spend a morning at the famous Saturday farmers market in Willunga, graze your way through farm gates and cellar-door kitchens around McLaren Vale, or pick up fresh fish, local cheese, olive oil and just-baked bread to take to the beach. The region's restaurants and cafés lean hard on what's grown nearby, and many of the best meals are had at winery and brewery tables looking out over the vines.
From long vineyard lunches and seaside fish and chips to country bakeries and good coffee in almost every town, there's something for every appetite and budget. If you're planning a trip around food, aim for a weekend so you can catch the markets, and book ahead for the popular winery restaurants - they fill quickly, especially in spring and over the summer holidays.
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123 places
Sew & Sew Wines
A minimal-intervention Grenache and Shiraz specialist sharing a boutique cellar door at Pennys Hill Road.
Shadow Creek Winery
A heritage-style cellar door above Turraparri Creek with luxury accommodation on the property - open Friday to Sunday 11am-5pm.
Sherrah Wines
$$Young-gun winemaker on McMurtrie Road
Alex Sherrah makes small-batch shiraz, grenache and left-field whites at this unpretentious cellar door on McMurtrie Road.
Shingleback Wines
$$Red Knot Shiraz & an 1800s barn
Family-owned winery at the entrance to the McLaren Vale township, based around a beautifully restored 1800s ironstone farm barn.
Shirvington Wines
A family-owned producer of powerful single-vineyard Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, with barrel-room tastings overlooking the estate vineyard.
Shottesbrooke Vineyards
$$McLaren Flat hilltop with Mount Lofty views
Family winery on Bagshaws Road, McLaren Flat - home to The Currant Shed restaurant and a large cellar door with sweeping Mount Lofty Ranges views.
Silent Noise Wines
Charlie O'Brien's alternative-variety wine project showcased in a shared tasting room on Stump Hill Road, McLaren Flat.
Smidge Wines
$$$Wine Spectator favourite on Tatachilla Road
Matt Wenk's boutique Smidge Wines has a Halliday five-red-star rating and has featured in Wine Spectator's Top 100 for ten consecutive years.
Somos Wines
A shared cellar door (with Seven Eves) championing climate-appropriate Mediterranean varieties crafted by winemaker Mauricio Ruiz Cantu.
Swell Brewing Co
A surf-inspired brewery in the McLaren Vale vines
An independent craft brewery and taphouse on Olivers Road, McLaren Vale - a surf-inspired brewery with a rotating tap list and regular food truck line-up.
The Currant Shed
$$$Restored currant shed, seasonal lunch menu
Lunch-only restaurant in a restored 1880s currant drying shed at McLaren Flat, run by Hamish Maguire and Emily Dowie since 2011.
The McLaren Vale Distillery
A premium single malt whisky producer on a 127-acre hilltop estate, with sweeping views over the McLaren Vale vineyards and a Barley to Bottle distillery experience.
The Salopian Inn
$$$Heritage inn with 600 wines and 250 gins
A mid-19th century inn turned modern Australian dining room with an epic wine cellar and 250-strong gin bar.
The Vine Shed (Conte Estate)
An Italian-heritage family cellar door on Sand Road with regular live music, a kids play area and a big deck overlooking the vineyards.
The Vineyard Retreat McLaren Vale
$$$$Boutique guesthouses on a working vineyard
Six elegantly appointed self-contained guesthouses on a 15-acre working vineyard at Blewitt Springs - plus a shared jacuzzi with vineyard views.
Thicker Than Water Wines
$$Home of Giant Squid Ink shiraz
A family-run McMurtrie Road cellar door famous for its Giant Squid Ink shiraz.
Tinlins Wines
A Scottish-heritage McLaren Vale wine institution since 1952, famous for the bring-your-own-flagon cellar door pouring bulk Shiraz, Grenache and tawny port.
Vale Brewing Taphouse
McLaren Flat brewery and restaurant
Vale Brewing's home base on Ingoldby Road at McLaren Flat - a full brewery, restaurant and bar with a long menu and all the Vale beers on tap.
Varney Wines
$$Heritage 1870s barn overlooking Onkaparinga Gorge
Alan Varney's cellar door sits in a restored 1870s limestone barn on the edge of the Onkaparinga Gorge at Old Noarlunga.
Vasarelli Cellar Door Restaurant
Family Italian and McLaren Vale wine
A family-owned cellar door and Italian restaurant in the heart of McLaren Vale, with authentic southern-Italian cooking and estate-grown wines.
Victor's Place
An 1870s stone shearing shed restored as an operational winery, brewery and kitchen, perched above the Onkaparinga River Gorge at the gateway to McLaren Vale.
Willunga 100 Wines
$$$The Grenache Room at Blind Spot Vineyard
Willunga 100's Grenache Room is a grenache-focused tasting space inside a restored 1920s cottage in the Blind Spot Vineyard at Blewitt Springs.
Wirra Wirra Vineyards
$$Heritage ironstone cellars
Heritage winery established in 1894, famous for The Angelus Cabernet and the award-winning Harry's Deli bistro in the ironstone cellar.
Woodstock Wine Estate
$$Family-friendly Douglas Gully winery
Family-owned winery with the Stocks Tasting Room, Coterie Restaurant, native wildlife park and extensive gardens on Douglas Gully Road.
Eat & Drink in Fleurieu Peninsula - frequently asked questions
What is the Fleurieu Peninsula known for when it comes to wine and food?
The Fleurieu is one of South Australia's great paddock-to-plate regions, anchored by the McLaren Vale wine district where Shiraz is the signature grape - it makes up the bulk of the crush - alongside increasingly celebrated old-vine Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon. Beyond the cellar doors it is a genuine larder, with olive groves, almonds around Willunga, citrus and market gardens, Jersey-milk cheese and small-batch makers all within an easy drive. Names like d'Arenberg, Coriole and Chapel Hill sit alongside breweries, distilleries and weekend markets.
How many cellar doors are there on the Fleurieu, and which wine regions should I visit?
There are well over 100 cellar doors across the Fleurieu, spread through four main wine regions: McLaren Vale, Langhorne Creek, Currency Creek and the Southern Fleurieu. McLaren Vale is the best-known and most concentrated, famous for bold reds, while Langhorne Creek and Currency Creek are quieter and reward those willing to explore a little further. You can easily build a day around a handful of cellar doors in any one of them.
Do I need to book to visit cellar doors, and are they family or dog friendly?
Walk-in tastings are common, but booking ahead is strongly recommended for seated tastings, long lunches and any group, and it is essential at popular spots, especially on weekends. Many McLaren Vale venues are very family and dog friendly, with lawns, playgrounds and kids' menus at some, and dogs welcome on a lead at numerous cellar doors - it is always worth confirming each venue's policy before you go. Most open daytime hours, roughly 10am to 5pm, with some restaurant and bar spaces running later.
Where can I find Fleurieu produce, cheese and craft beer or spirits beyond the wineries?
The Saturday-morning Willunga Farmers Market is the classic spot to meet local growers and makers, from Fleurieu Milk Company Jersey dairy to cheese, olives and seasonal fruit and veg. The peninsula also has a fast-growing craft beer and spirits scene, with breweries and distilleries offering taphouses and tastings, several of them family-friendly with outdoor space and lunch. Cheese lovers can also seek out local dairies and producers such as Blessed Cheese in McLaren Vale's main street.
When is the best time to visit the Fleurieu for food and wine?
Cellar doors are open year-round, but autumn around vintage (roughly March to May) is a beautiful time to visit, with the vines turning colour and harvest in full swing. McLaren Vale's long-running Sea and Vines Festival was retired after 2019, but the region's wineries and restaurants now run their own food, wine and music events through the year, with plenty happening across the June long weekend in particular. Summer and spring are also popular for sunny days spent grazing across multiple cellar doors.