In mid-2021, Skillogalee – one of the Clare Valley’s most enduring and best-loved family wineries – was sold to a private investor. You could almost feel the waves of anxiety rippling across the valley… But when a cellar door is this good, it’s hard to believe that anyone could really mess it up!
Set amidst rolling hillsides, Skillogalee is a truly lovely corner of the planet, just far enough from the highway to garner a sense of exclusivity. At 500 metres above sea level, it’s also possibly the highest winery in South Australia, working with low-yield, dry-grown vineyards to produce gorgeous sustainable wines (particularly sublime riesling and shiraz, in accordance with Clare Valley truisms).
But that’s just part of the appeal. Most people come here for lunch on the famous Skillogalee veranda, wrapping itself around an 1851 stone miner's cottage, which houses the cellar door. A long, laid-back lunch here, with the summer cicadas singing or the winter mists hanging like cobwebs in the vines, is a quintessentially South Australian experience. Look forward to adventurous renderings of SA ingredients (Port Lincoln sardines, Spencer Gulf prawns, Woodside chèvre) paired with the contents of Skillogalee’s best bottles. There’s a scattering of B&B cottages around the estate, too, if you like the idea of doing it all again tomorrow.
