• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Lambs Ears and Honey | A Food & Travel Blog
  • Home
  • Recipes
  • About Me
  • Work With Me
  • Cookbooks
  • Cookbook Club
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipes
  • About Me – Lambs Ears and Honey
  • Work With Me
×

Home » Artisans and producers » A Toast to Kangaroo Island – With a Drop of Local Wine or Two

A Toast to Kangaroo Island – With a Drop of Local Wine or Two

15/10/2013 by Amanda

Share

Share
Pin
Tweet

Dudley Wines, KI

A while ago I promised you all a hint of how you might go about refreshing yourself on Kangaroo Island – after all, good food deserves and needs good drink – and you’ll find plenty of it on the island. Vines have been grown on the island  since the mid-1800’s, but Kangaroo Island is a relatively new wine producing region. It’s mild winters and slightly cooler growing seasons, combined with sandy soils and limestone, make it the perfect spot  for viticulture. While it is still relatively early days for most of the local winemakers, there is no shortage of skill or passion and some of the local wines are already being exported to the UK and Europe. Many of the cellar doors have simply breathtaking views and often the winemaker is lurking quite nearby, ready to bend the ear of eager aficionados, giving visitors the opportunity to leave with the inside view, as well as a bottle or three.

A comfy corner of Dudley winery

 views from the Dudley Winery deck

Dudley Winery is one of the island’s first wineries and is family owned and run by Jeff and Brodie Howard,  fourth and fifth generation islanders, respectively.  They produce a 100% handcrafted, Kangaroo Island product ranging from the happily named Dudley Bubbly to their fine, award-winning 2009 Hog Bay Cabernet Sauvignon. Their cellar door has utterly spectacular views from it’s deck and is one of the most popular on the island, often being used as a venue for wedding receptions and parties. I loved the cosy little corners and suspect that many an hour could be whiled away here with  a glass or two of whatever you fancy and their regional produce tasting platter.

Bay of Shoals Winery, Kangaroo Island

Bay of Shoals view

On the other side of the island, I also popped in to Bay of Shoals Winery – again located on the coast and boasting yet another stunning view. Bay of Shoals is a labour of love and the grand passion of Barossa opthalmologist John Willoughby, a keen sailor and boat collector – although I didn’t need to mention the collecting bit as just a quick glimpse around the outside of the cellar door will tell you that.  John’s father used to sail with another well-known South Australian wine name, Tom Hardy, and John first caught sight of the Bay of Shoals area when he sailed past in the 1960’s. He put his first vines in in 1993, producing his first vintage in 1998 and now produces seven varieties of multi-award winning wines under the careful hand of wine maker Jonathon Ketley.  These can be tried at the cellar door which was built in 2006, with much of the work completed by John himself, and that is where you will buy them too – as 95% of his sales are made on the island, with 75% at the cellar door.

Old boat, Bay of Shoals

John & Sarah Lark

KIS

For those of you who fancy something a little stronger Kangaroo Island has yet another secret – a boutique micro-distillery producing stunning vodka, seasonally flavoured liqueurs but, most especially, gin. *Happy sigh* Tucked away down a dirt track and owned by John and Sarah Lark, Kangaroo Island Spirits (KIS) produces an aromatic range of “slow spirits” using fresh seasonal ingredients, locally sourced wherever possible. Using native Australian botanicals, no oils and sustainable practices, John and Sarah have developed an internationally award-winning, small batch, premier Australian gin that can be found on the mainland, but you’ll have to hunt for it. If you are lucky enough to get there, you’ll also find a KIS product at the prestigious Southern Ocean Lodge who commissioned a specially blended gin, The baillies 9, which has gone on to win several international awards. Failing that you can catch a nip or two at the charming KIS cellar door, where you might even catch up with one of the Larks and brush up on distilling talk.

Kangaroo Island Spirits

During her time on Kangaroo Island, Lambs’ Ears and Honey was a guest of South Australian Tourism Commission and Good Food Kangaroo Island.

[mc4wp_form id="16750"]

Related posts

  • Barossa Shiraz Estate – A Luxury Stay in the Barossa ValleyBarossa Shiraz Estate – A Luxury Stay in the Barossa Valley
  • A Vermouth Workshop in Turin with Riservo Carlo AlbertoA Vermouth Workshop in Turin with Riservo Carlo Alberto
  • A Food Tour With a Difference – Adelaide’s Unique Culinary Tourism OfferingA Food Tour With a Difference – Adelaide’s Unique Culinary Tourism Offering
  • A Paris Food Tour with The Tour GuyA Paris Food Tour with The Tour Guy
  • Bushfires in Australia – Supporting Local Food ProducersBushfires in Australia – Supporting Local Food Producers

Share

Share
Pin
Tweet
« In My Kitchen – October 2013
Cookbook Review – Serge Dansereau’s “Seasonal Kitchen” »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kate

    October 16, 2013 at 8:33 am

    I would be very happy to head down that dirt track, with tonic in tow, to try that gin. Sounds so good I could probably pass on the tonic too.

  2. Barbara | Creative Culinary

    October 16, 2013 at 10:00 am

    I’m with Kate! Can I come stay with you for the next two months…as you walk into spring and we have snow flurries I’m SO jealous!

  3. Lisa the Gourmet Wog

    October 16, 2013 at 5:21 pm

    What a beautiful corner of the world. Thanks for sharing 🙂

  4. My Kitchen Stories

    October 16, 2013 at 8:03 pm

    It is a wonderful track too, I have had a few special cocktails at KIS and a drop on the deck at Dudleys, such a wonderful Island

  5. InTolerant Chef

    October 16, 2013 at 9:25 pm

    What a lovely place, I’d love to visit one day!

  6. Maureen | Orgasmic Chef

    October 16, 2013 at 11:23 pm

    Kangaroo Island looks like the most peaceful place on Earth.

  7. Hotly Spiced

    October 17, 2013 at 1:44 pm

    I would love to visit Kangaroo Island. I know it’s an Island that produces quality products but I didn’t know it produced wines and spirits. I love the name of the bubbly! I hope you tried some! xx

  8. Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella

    October 17, 2013 at 5:17 pm

    KI is such a lovely destination. And there’s so much going on there food wise 🙂

  9. jane

    October 22, 2013 at 10:00 pm

    Love KI, cant wait to visit again, we were hooked from stepping off the ferry!

Primary Sidebar

Don't run the risk of missing a post! Subscribe to Lamb's Ears and Honey

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Connect with me

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Recent Posts

Italian home cook, italian month

Italian Month in Lambs’ Ears Cookbook Club!

Scones on a tray

On Scones, Grandmothers and Food Waste

apple cake and apples

10 Common Baking Questions

baking cookbook

Eat, Drink and Read – April in the Cookbook Club

COMMENTS, FEEDBACK, QUESTIONS?

I love to hear what you think so please leave a comment or ask me a question!

Search This Website

Archives

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

Footer

Featured Recipes

Featured Posts

COPYRIGHT © 2023 LAMBS' EARS AND HONEY