Eating Out with the Phoenician Trader: Coriole Vinyard
Created | Updated Jun 12, 2011
Coriole Vinyard, McLaren Vale
The title 'Food Capital of Australia' is claimed by many cities in the land down under but probably most convincingly by Adelaide. Certainly Melbourne has better formal dining and Sydney has many stand-out places, Hobart is the home of Organic but Adelaide has a range and quality of eateries at prices and locations that other places find hard to match.
The city has a very long west facing beach front fronted by a series of esplanades down its 100km length. These are spotted with glass doored cafés, that open their insides to the outside to take advantage of views of the setting sun in summer and keep their doors snugly closed in the winter so you can see storms raging over the sea. Immediately surrounding this provincial capital on the remaining three sides are wine growing regions, all of which have vines much older than anything in France or the rest of Europe. 20 minutes in any direction from the city centre will put you among the vines, hillsides and farming country. OK it it isn't perfect – there is the detritus of any large, massively spaced out semi-urban sprawl of over a million people – but it its not too shabby.
Which leads us to the question only asked within the most sophisticated societies and very often asked in Adelaide: where shall we have lunch? Heading south puts you in McLaren Vale and, depending on the time of year, in the mood for crisp white wines and outdoor eating or, alternatively, heavy, rich reds and roaring fires.
In the hot, Coriole Vineyard is an oasis of civilised green in a very bright, pale yellow sun-burnt land. If it is over 40 degrees, air-conditioned comfort may be more appropriate, but in the mid 30s there is little more fun than sitting in the shade with a large platter of local produced breads, farm grown olives, cheeses made in the shed across the way and meaty bits from the German butchers and small goods manufacturers that are the part of the cultural heritage from the Silesian migrations in the mid-1800's. There is more than enough on the board to keep two happy for hours.
For wine, the offer is anything sold at the cellar door at whatever price they are asking for it over there – the Chenin Blanc is a snip at less than £10 a bottle. They will provide glasses and open the bottle for you (at your table, no less) but this is farm house dining. Greasy fingers are likely and the world of fine linen is miles away. Toilets and hand basins are in a re-fabricated corrugated iron water tank across the car park the side.
So without snooty waiters, napkins, opera tickets or the other outward signs of the fine life, what is there to do? Well, you can pick mulberries from the nearby tree and get squirted with purple juice. You can sit there and talk to your companions for hours. You can look down the west down the valley to the sea, or south and east to the hills. The choices are priceless and Coliole charges such a reasonable amount for people like me to appreciate them.
Getting There: Grab a car in Adelaide and head down the Main South Road.
Who should eat there: Lovers of the long afternoon.
Dining Style Hill top grazing with a view.
Price: £20 with wine to share.
Quality: Farm produce from the farm eaten at the farm.
Would I go Back: Regularly.
