We visited Coriole Winery in the McLaren Vale specifically to dine at their restaurant Gather, already knowing their great wines and how beautiful the picturesque grounds are.

On a perfect summer’s day it was an absolute picture to walk towards the stone buildings surrounded by a riot of flowering colour in the gardens bordering the paths that direct you to the cellar door and ‘Gather’ restaurant.

We dine inside overlooking the park like grounds and distant hills view and our table for two is spacious as is the room between diners which is lovely and you don’t overhear others conversations.

The menu at Gather is different to others in that they offer a 5 course tasting menu or a 7 course tasting menu at set prices and you can also have wine pairings selected if you choose. We decided to select our own assortment of sharing plates which were all a feast for the eyes before we even started tasting. The reason for the large tables soon became obvious.

Every dish was so pretty and definitely innovative in style and ingredients, which are all fresh, seasonal and locally sourced or grown. That is the theme I noticed through all the dishes, which used summer growing leafy greens including some I’d never tasted before. The summer menu uses warrigal greens, sorrel, chicory, nasturtium, fennel, yarrow and more, accompanying perfectly the main ingredient of each dish.

We were hooked from the very beginning with each share plate having us wanting more but eagerly anticipating the next.  Take a look at our tasty choices.

The house baked bread, with olive oil and a house made and herb salted cultured butter was light and delicious, followed by blue swimmer crab with sorrel in buttermilk and calamari with fennel and coastal herbs. At this point I have to say the waitress was terrific and could tell us all about the food, its origins and flavours and the service over all was perfect.

After the entrée dishes, we had more shared plates which were Nomad Farm pasture raised and perfectly cooked beef with onion, eggplant and herbs together with a salad of garden leaves and seasoned potatoes. The Coriole Rose and Sangiovese were our picks for wines.

This is one special winery to seek out in McLaren Vale which would truly impress someone or to just really spoil yourselves with the combination of impeccable food, a beautiful flower garden setting, friendly service and wines for all tastes.

As we were reluctantly leaving after such a lovely lunch, we pass one of the kitchen staff picking more produce from the organic vegetable garden, so we were happy to pass on our compliments for such a sublime menu that we can thoroughly recommend.

Coriole Winery has a cellar door which is open for wine tastings 7 days a week from 11am to 5pm, and the restaurant is open for lunch 7 days. Coriole is located at 79 Chaffeys Road, in McLaren Vale, around 40 kilometres south of Adelaide.

Enjoy

Glenys