5 Best Sights in The Barossa Wine Region, South Australia

The saltbush and scrub-lined Murray River floodplain 150 km (94 miles) east of Nuriootpa is an unlikely setting for a winery, but it is worth making the journey to this spot at Kingston-on-Murray. Within the eco-friendly rammed-earth building perched above the vineyard and wetlands you can select a wine to accompany an all-day grazing platter or lunch on the outdoor deck—try the baked Murray cod with seasonal quinoa salad. Afterward, you can take one of three self-guided walks (ranging from 2.5 km [1.5 miles] up to 8 km [5 miles]); trail access is by donation) to view the surrounding wetlands (which can be "drylands" during a drought), and learn about the ongoing restoration and conservation work funded by Banrock Station wine sales and walkers' donations.

Renowned cook and food writer Maggie Beer is an icon of Australian cuisine. Burned-fig jam, ice cream, aged red wine vinegar, verjuice (a golden liquid made from unfermented grape juice and used for flavoring), and her signature Pheasant Farm pâté are some of the delights you can taste and buy at Maggie Beer's Farm Shop. Treat-filled picnic baskets are available all day to take out or dip into on the deck overlooking a tree-fringed pond full of turtles. Book ahead for the paid cooking demonstrations.

Joseph Seppelt was a Silesian farmer who purchased land in the Barossa after arriving in Australia in 1849. Under the control of his son, Benno, the wine-making business flourished, and today Seppeltsfield Winery and its splendid grounds are a tribute to the family's industry and enthusiasm. Fortified wine is a Seppeltsfield specialty; this is the only place in the world where you can find an unbroken lineage stretching back to 1878. Most notable is the exquisite 100-year-old Para Liqueur Tawny. Book ahead for the Centenary Tour that allows you to walk through the cellar and taste it directly from the barrel. The Rosé Grenache and Cabernet are also worth tasting before exploring the rest of the complex that includes an excellent on-site restaurant, an art gallery and studios that you can visit, a soap factory that runs workshops, and a coffee roaster as well as the Seppelt family mausoleum that overlooks an avenue planted with more than 2,000 palm trees.

This is one of Australia's top estate wineries and a good representation of classic, artfully made Barossa wine. The modern and airy tasting room complements its original 1850s settler’s cottage cellar door, with subtle color tones and earthy textures. Taste the iconic Shiraz wines on the deck overlooking its renowned Descendant vineyard for A$20, or upgrade to the more premium experience with the renowned RunRig that is blended with Viognier to create a powerful, elegant wine.

Australia's oldest family-owned winery, the iconic Yalumba sits within a hugely impressive compound overlooked by an imposing clocktower. It's the only winery in the southern hemisphere with a functioning cooperage on-site, and that can be visited on one of the many tours that start from A$50. A range of tastings are available in the tasting room that is decorated with antique wine-making materials and mementos of the Hill Smith family, whose ancestors first planted vines in the Barossa in 1849. Try the award-winning Viognier and The Signature, a classic Australian "claret" blend of Shiraz and Cabernet. Private tours can be arranged upon request.