Kelllermeister is one of my favourite Barossa wineries. Their Sable port (a chocolate flavoured port) is the port I give to people who claim they don't like port and more often than not it converts them to the dark side (or should that be the sweet side?). I'm also a huge fan of their Boots Cider and their Topsy Turvy Ice Wine.
So, when I saw they had an Autumn Friday night spit-roast, I knew I had to grab some friends and check it out.
A table of 8 for the Friday night spit-roast is a very reasonable $180 ($22.50 per head) and the menu of SchuAm Berkshire pork slow roasted over their charcoal spit, fresh garden salad, potato salad, Tanunda bakery bread rolls, spiced apple sauce and gorgonzola butter sounded so good that I was literally counting down the sleeps from at least 3 weeks out. You even get a glass of Boots wine or a bottle of Boots cider included in that price - how could you possibly go wrong!
The Friday night in question finally arrived and I ditched work early to make sure I was there with plenty of time. Pulling into the car park, you could see the sky glowing as tens of little braziers were scattered around the grounds of Kellermeister, providing warmth to the hungry diners. The Cellar Door was buzzing with people trying the different wines and selecting an appropriate bottle to accompany their dinner.
Outside of the Cellar Door was the charcoal spit, with a giant pig finishing up cooking - and I mean giant, this was the biggest pig on a spit I'd ever seen. Before long the pig was hauled off the spit and taken away for carving and now I was getting excited.
A few minutes later we were invited to head to the Barrel Shed where dinner would be served. I casually made my way over (ok, I ran) and we found our table. There was live music in the corner and a heap of patio heaters keeping us warm. And wine. Lots of wine.
We jointed the line and then the moment I'd been waiting for, I was served my pork. And what a decent serving it was, my plate was piled with hot slices of pork.
You know the let down you feel when you've waited for something so long and then you actually try and it it's not as good as you'd anticipated - there was none of that. This pork was glorious. So tender, great flavour and even the crackling was outstanding - and I'm not a huge crackling fan. The salads were nice but the pork was definitely the star.
Everyone on our table was impressed and there was nothing left on any plates despite the huge servings.
You could purchase a dessert, which was basically a Chantilly cream cake and despite being full, I ordered one. I can't remember what it was called (nothing to do with the wine I consumed, honest) but it was absolutely outstanding.
With the eating complete, we made our way outside to sit by one of the brazier and enjoy a few more glasses of wine and reflect on a magnificent evening.
I can't recommend this night enough, the next one is on June the 20th and I suggest you gather a group of friends and make the trip north yourself! read more