Think you’ve seen everything in McLaren Vale? Well, a tour of Maxwell Winery is full of new experiences. Along with an overview of winemaking, you visit a limestone cave with mushroom tasting, then get an intro to that old Viking drink – mead.

I visited the winery with friend Carol, and we were both keen to try mead for the first time. This drink has been around for thousands of years; the Vikings loved a mug of it after a hard day’s pillaging. It’s fermented honey with added herbs and spices, and Maxwell Wines has been making it since 1961.

We met the owner, Mark Maxwell, and he started the tour by showing us their restaurants. After initially trialling different themes and menus, Mark decided that the only way to go was to offer the best. And the winery is now well known for its gourmet food with 6-course degustation menus from Michelin star chefs. But the cellar door also has a more casual eating area where you can drop in and enjoy a meal or share a platter with friends.

Around the winery, we learnt about the winemaking process and saw the fermentation tanks and oak barrels with a taste of Cab Sav and Shiraz along the way.

Next, we had a look at their limestone cave where they grow mushrooms for their restaurants. We sampled one, and discovered that fresh mushrooms have a lighter texture and are more flavoursome than store-bought ones. ‘They also have persistence’, Mark explained, ‘a taste that lingers for a while after you’ve swallowed it’.

When asked what motivated him to grow mushrooms, Mark said, ‘the idea just came to me one day in the shower’.

He’s a creative guy, always coming up with new ideas in the shower, and bringing them to life. These include a hedge maze next to the vineyards, and a beehive safely behind a glass window in the cellar door, which is fascinating to watch.

After the tour, we were treated to a mead flight paired with mini-desserts made by acclaimed pastry chef Jason Brown. Each sweet was a taste sensation and presented with creative flair, for example, tea cake on eucalypt leaves and blackberry marshmallow on rosemary sticks.

The desserts were well matched to the four drinks: sparkling, honey, spiced and liqueur meads. I thought fermented honey might be too sweet but it wasn’t at all. It was light and fresh with just the right amount of sweetness. I liked sparkling best with its honey and ginger flavours.

The spiced mead was a warm drink with the added zest of cinnamon and cloves. When Carol tasted it she said ‘mmm yeah,’ in a very satisfied tone. She’d found her favourite and later bought a bottle to take home.

We couldn’t leave without a wander in the maze, and it didn’t take long for us to lose our way. So maybe don’t try this if you’ve had too much to drink.

This was a behind the scenes look at an innovative and classy winery. And the verdict on mead? I was happily surprised and impressed with it. It’s definitely worth visiting Maxwell’s and trying it out.

By Carolyn J Wild

For more info: https://www.maxwellwines.com.au/experiences/