Crush Festival 2016 – Adelaide Hills

It’s almost time for Crush Festival 2016 – celebrating all the very best of wine, food and life in the Adelaide Hills.

Here I am back again all bright eyed and bushy-tailed, ready for the shiny new year! I hope your Christmas and new year all went off without a hitch and a wonderful time was had by all. That certainly wasn’t the case here – there’s nothing quite like watching your house being water bombed as a bushfire races through your paddocks to take the joy out of the holiday. However, that’s a story for another day.

The new year holds such a lot for me this year, I’ll be back at the helm of Words To Go at Tasting Australia and have some exciting travel plans up my sleeve, but it will be kicking off with the brilliant Adelaide Hills Crush Festival, 22-24 January.

Come for the wine, stay for the views in the Adelaide HIlls.

Adelaide Hills wineries have been celebrating the seasonal vintages for many years, at different times of the year, but some time back finally settled on the name ‘Crush Festival’ for the annual summer celebration which has become so popular among local wine lovers.

This year Crush Festival is bigger than ever and will include 43 cellar door events at 41 different wineries. Each of the venues will have their own special offerings and the selection this year is fantastic. They range from a European wine bar at ArtWine, where you can enjoy the sunset with canapes and wines by the glass, watching a full-length movie while picnicking under the stars at Barristers Block Wines, enjoying a night of wild flamenco passion and beats from Adelaide’s Flamenco Dance Areti at Robert Johnson Vineyards in Lobethal or checking out The Piece Project at Longview Vineyard Festival, where street artists battle it out to create the next label for Longview Shiraz.

Of course there is also a large selection of long lunches, live music and shared platters – all of it accompanied by the delicious cool-climate wines of the Adelaide Hills region. There are buses running from the city up to the Adelaide Hills and shuttles will be plying between the venues. For the full list of venues, events and all the stuff you’ll need to know you can download the full Crush Festival program right here.

I think I’m one of the luckiest ducks alive to be able to live and play up here in the Adelaide Hills – come up see what all the fuss is about.