If it were not for recommendations and a paper map, there was no way we would have found Moorooroo Park Vineyards. A tiny little boutique vineyard hidden away in an unseen corner of the Barossa, Moorooroo Park Vineyard would have to be one of the most treasured gem of my Barossa trip.

And that brings me to one of my gripes about Barossa Valley. There is a distinct lack of signage. As the valley grows more and more in its food and wine fame locally and internationally, more and more tourists will flock to the Barossa, and a lot of them will opt to do self-driven wine tours like we did. And the lack of signs is just frustrating. I don’t care for the uncovered roads, I find that to be somewhat part of its charms, but signs? There were none pointing to Rochford, none pointing to Moorooroo Park Vineyards. Both brilliant vineyards that might have been easily passed by.

Anyways, let’s look back at Moorooroo Park Vineyards. First established in 1847 by the Nitschke Family, it is housed within the Jacob’s Creek Retreat which is surrounded by Shiraz Vineyards belonging to Moorooroo Park. What I adored about this vineyard was the fact that its cellar door was established in what was formerly the family home. Or at least, the upstairs was. The downstairs used to be where the stable would stand.

The place isn’t huge, in fact arguably one of the smallest if not the smallest cellar door I’ve visited so far in my wine touring life. But by golly, the charm is undeniable. The little cottage / stable itself is impossibly quaint, but the decor is incredibly elegant, luxurious and the gentleman serving us was just the cherry on the top of the cake with his old school charms. I was in love.

The wines were incredible too. They tasted like luxury and I was wanting more after every sip. What really delighted me was the fact that when we decided on our purchases, our wines came straight from the cellar, complete with dust covered bottles.

And after our wine tasting session, we went wandering around the Jacob’s Creek Retreat, sighed at the pretty cottages and took many pretty photos in the really beautiful park. We all made the decision that the next time we came back to the Barossa, we would save up in order to stay at least one night at the retreat – it was just so incredibly beautiful and serene!

Enchanting. Absolutely enchanting. This is what dreams are made of.

And now, everytime I drink a bottle of their wines now, I think fondly of my short afternoon spent at Moorooroo Park Vineyards. I’ll be back. That’s for sure.