Pizza in Paradise: Beach Road Wines Cellar Door & Restaurant Review 2014

In prime position on the high side of the road, in the old Settlement Wines site, now sits Beach Road Wines. It has quickly become one of our regular haunts.

Tony (the vine wrangler viticulturalist) & Briony Hoare (the winemaker) – plus often at least some of their tribe of kidlets – are the friendly faces and hard working hands behind Beach Road. 

Always ready with a smile they welcome you, outline the pizza specials for the weekend, and take you through their line up of boutique wines with love.

There is much to keep the adults happy too. 

The wines at Beach Road focus on alternate and emerging mediterranean varieties, which are so well suited to the climate of McLaren Vale as it changes.


Beach Road Greco 2011

This Italian varietal has a briney, oily nose. It is mouth coating, savoury and has gentle acidity.

Beach Road Fiano 2011

This drop is the first Australian wine to be included on the menu at Jamie’s Italian restaurants Australia wide. Nice to see Jaime supporting the little guy.
Pawpaw dominates the nose, and it has a clean acid finish.

Beach Road Pinot Gris 2011

Smells like conserve on croissant, which gets the mouth watering. 
On the palate there is a soft mouth feel, it coats your mouth.

Beach Road Primitivo 2009

Meaty, black pepper & blackberry aromas.
Savoury juicy, tanins at the end.
Medium body, and subtle oak.

Beach Road Aglianico 2010

There is more red fruit on the nose than the Primitivo, but still meatiness. On the palate it has dried spice and white pepper with a nice tanin and acid balance.

We sometimes pick the Aglianico to go with our pizzas.

Nero d’Avola

Aromas of sweet red fruit lead into a well balanced medium bodied palate with sour cherry flavours. 

This is usually our choice when we come for pizzas. 

The second time, we opted for the deck which has protection from the sun & wind. It still has a beautiful view of the vines and the Mt Lofty Ranges. 

Everything Tony & Briony do, and indeed their staff, especially Andy the chef and head maitre’d Kirsten, is done with love. You can tell in the little touches, like the fresh flowers on every table, and cute reserved table markers with your name.

It’s in the mix of seating options to suit groups, couples, solo diners, those who seek pure outdoors, or a little protection from the elements, lawn or deck.

And of course it’s in the wines and local produce driven pizzas, salads and dip platters.

The Salami pizza is laden with local McLaren Vale olives, roast capsicum, mozerella and spicy salami, all in just the right proportion to savour each individual flavour.

The pumpkin has pumpkin, pesto, caramelised onion, gorgonzola, and rocket. It’s sweet, salty and peppery perfection.

The Bacon has caramelised onion, bacon, sage and mozzerella. It’s an indulgent one but still pretty light.

Having worked our way through most of the pizza menu, we make a beeline for the specials. Most recently, it was a confit garlic, field mushroom, pine nut and pesto creation that was perfectly crisp, light and deeply flavoured. Delicious!

You don’t have to go far to visit the source of the tasty bottles of wine. The vineyard extends right up to the restaurant and cellar door. 

Spring time sees the dormant vines burst to life and send forth shoots and baby leaves. 

No wonder the wines taste so good when the vines are spoilt with such a vista!

Beach Road should be on everyone’s list when visiting McLaren Vale!

What is the biggest drawcard for you to visit Beach Road wines? Answer below in the comments!



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