At Wirra Wirra it is all about fun. Fully in the spirit of the man who started the winery in 1969, the eccentric, locally very beloved Greg Trott (1934-2005). At Wirra Wirra you can do matches with throwing watermelons in front of a crazy big 'fence' of giant eucalyptus.  The annual Bell Ringing ceremony means the beginning of the harvest. But also for the world's largest wine bottle, made of thousands of corks, you are with Wirra Wirra at the right place. Every morning the cellar door is opened with the ding dong of The Angelus, an old church bell which now hangs in a tower next to the winery. The rest of the day, visitors themselves are freely to hang on the long bell rope.

Seriousness with wine
But with all this kind of fun winemaking is serious business at Wirra Wirra. ‘Think global, drink local' is shown on the T-shirts of the people behind the bar. Easily said, with that great selection of fine wines. The Church block, a Cabernet-Shiraz-Merlot blend, is domestically a one of a kind and rightly so: a mouthful of soft dark fruit!

Also with the fruity Catapult Shiraz-Viognier, the dark Woodhenge Shiraz and the robust great RSW Shiraz the soft taste is remarkable.

Not brilliant, but recognisable
The blue Wirra Wirra logo was originally designed by a designer of the BBC, involved in television series like Monty Python's Flying Circus and Dr. Who, says managing director Andrew Kay. "Maybe not a brilliant design," he admits. But in all its simplicity, it’s very recognizable. Even in grass.

Cellar Door open: Mon-Fri 10-17 hours, weekends 11-17 hours

This article was created in July 2010 by journalist Remke de Lange. For more wine articles: www.remkedelange.nl. This article is copyrighted