I was kindly invited to attend this event. All drinks and food were provided to me free of charge. All thoughts and views are completely my own, and are always 100% honest. See my disclosure policy here.
McLaren Vale has always done tourism well.
It’s an easy sell after all, just 40 minutes from Adelaide, the Mediterranean of Australia, best Grenache and Alternate Varietals in the country, the sea, vines, and (hopefully soon heritage listed) Mt Lofty Ranges.
But we haven’t tapped into the tippy top end of of the tourism market. The luxury end. Until now.
Enter the elusive, mysterious VALO program.
It is rare, it is exclusive, it is very, very sexy.
On a drizzly night in Radelaide town, movers and shakers gathered at the hallowed Adelaide Oval to learn a little more about VALO.
Distinctive Adelaide Oval. Photo: Willunga Wino
Past the entrance to Hill of Grace Restaurant (I’ll go in there one day soon!) and into the beautiful Cathedral Room, boasting floor to ceiling views of the North Adelaide St Peters Cathedral, as well as stunning modern architecture inside.
Jovial crowd in the beautiful ACO Cathedral Room. Photo: Willunga Wino
So what is VALO?
A not-for-profit luxury tourism program by subscription that offers an aspirational luxury wine experience for high-end consumers.
Tickets are capped at 500, with a tipping point of 50 needed to commence the program proper.
Tickets have already been sold and the program is close to the tipping point.
What will it set you back for a VALO ticket?
$8,800.
I told you it was luxury!
What exactly do you get in return for your investment in VALO?
- A ticket to the once only, invite only, ‘en primeur’ tasting of the barrel samples that will make up the 2015 Valo amphora wine this June.
- Four exclusive events, each designed to connect guests to the science, art and people of wine.
- Spring: fashion show
- Summer: VIP treatment at the Tour Down Under in January,
- Autumn: a drive for the auto-enthusiast through the Hills to the Vale with bonfire, Scarce Earth wine, and a gourmet BBQ,
- Winter: gala dinner hosted by a celebrity chef and made with regional produce. Guests will be presented with their amphora, taste the blend components for the next VALO vintage, and view the new vessel design.
How will Valo benefit the wider McLaren Vale community?
VALO is not for profit, and will return proceeds to the community in the form of supporting up and coming winemakers, environmental stewardship programs and more.
It will also undoubtedly raise the profile of McLaren Vale wine, food and tourism with the luxury consumer market.
Need to know more?
Have a squizz at this alluring video.
https://youtu.be/z6E7XgT8VUA
Finally, the Valo amphora was unveiled, by it’s creator, glass artist Nick Mount.
Designed to house wine blended by Olivers Taranga winemaker Corrina Wright, from the finest barrels in McLaren Vale, the glass vessel is shaped and coloured like a red wine grape, with a magnetic, titanium stalk as the stopper.
The Valo Amphora. Photo: Willunga Wino
Of course, it would not be a wine region event without some cracking wines.
To start the evening, we were offered a glass of Australia’s finest sparkling, House of Arras.
Nice toastiness and nougat aromas give way to a mouth coating drop with fresh acid that leaves you with the nutty toastiness as a lasting aftertaste.
To start proceedings, Australia’s finest sparkling. Photo: WIllunga Wino
Two of the Vale’s finest Fiano rounded out the white wine offerings.
Both are crisp and food friendly and firm favourites in my book.
Two Fine Fiano. Photo: Willunga Wino
It was a treat to try the Coriole Lloyd Shiraz 2006 – and with the patriarch himself, Mark Lloyd.
Rich leather, fine oak, cedar, blackcurrant, and a touch of rose and violet are the complex perfume. In the mouth there are fine acids and tanin that has softened out.
Legendary Shiraz. Photo: Willunga Wino
Yangarra’s Ironheart Shiraz 2012 was full of plummy fruit aromas and flavours, as well as leather. I has good grip, and warms the belly.
Willunga Faultline iron rich soil Shiraz. Photo: Willunga Wino
The ones that got away. Olivers Taranga HJ Shiraz 2009 and the d’Arenberg Dead Arm Shiraz 2010 were consumed too quickly for me to secure a taste!
Superb Shiraz. Photo: Willunga Wino
You can’t have wine without cheese.
Luckily, Kris Lloyd of Woodside Cheese Wrights is part of the VALO team, unveiling a brand new, VALO exclusive cheese. Semi-hard, pearly white goat cheese is marinated in grape ‘must’ – a leftover by-product of the winemaking process – essentially the skins, stems and pips of the wine grapes.
Cheesewright Kris Lloyd and Tourism Minister Leon Bignell. Photo: Willunga Wino
Yummed up on a wakame (seaweed) cracker it was delicious.
Unique Wakame Crackers. Photo: Willunga Wino
Other Woodside favourites likewise didn’t last long.
Didn’t last long. Photo: Willunga Wino
Always stunning, the flower and herb coated Monet was the first to go!
Must be the world’s most beautiful cheese, the Monet. Photo: Willunga Wino
Attendees didn’t just wine & dine though, there was also an interactive testing station, hosted by the charming Dr Patricia Williamson from AWRI. Read more about the AWRI taste and smell tests here.
Thank you to Dr Vince O’Brien and Marc Allgrove for the invite.
What kind of traveller are you? Luxury, budget, independent or something else entirely?
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