Bethany Cellar Cottage, it’s the Bee’s Knees
Early April we added a fawn and white girl, Florence, to the family. We had to wait until she was old enough to travel, before we took her on her first adventure. It was the June, Queen’s Birthday long weekend and with border restrictions in place and a cold winter set in, there was one thought on our minds, SHIRAZ!
It had been a while since we had last stayed in the Barossa, so we were keen to go and enjoy the world-famous region. Bethany is a small village about 2 kms out of Tanunda, making it the perfect, quiet retreat area, whilst still being in the heart of the region.
We stayed in the Cellar Cottage, one of the two available accommodation spaces at Bethany Cottages. The Cellar Cottage was smothered in décor tributing bees! Everywhere you looked there was a bee. From prints, to pillow dressings, from place mats to doorknobs, from tea cups to tea towels. It was super charming and sweet, with beautiful rustic charm. This is an absolute gorgeous little cottage, with a large ensuite bathroom and little kitchenette with all necessary appliances. They provided all the essentials for breakfast also. The living area is centred around an indoor wood fire. The master bedroom is spacious with a comfy bed and electric blanket. The bedroom also has a heater. Downstairs in the cellar are two additional single beds. It was super cosy, comfortable, and most importantly warm!
The highlight for our pooches was the open paddock area behind the property and away from the road, overlooking vineyards. Gigi and Florence could stretch their legs and play in the grassy area, which was far enough away from the road that they were safe.
Key things to note, the bed is very high so if your dogs are like ours, they may try and jump on it which can be dangerous if they don’t clear the landing. In addition, we had to block off the balustrades surrounding the cellar as Florence was small enough to fit through and it was a dangerous fall onto the steps of the cellar. Other than that, we would highly recommend staying here and would look to do so again the next time we want winery escape.
We spent most of our days exploring some of the dog friendly wineries of the region whilst still ensuring we were visiting places that were of interest to us. One thing we have come to learn about our two pups is that they do not like having to do their business whilst attached to their leads. So, we scouted some parks and open spaces we thought would be safe to let them off. As you enter Tanunda, just behind the Barossa Valley Brewing is Heinmann Park. It is quite secure and was very quiet so we would often stop there once or twice a day, as needed, to let the dogs stretch the legs. It meant all of us could relax when venturing into wineries knowing that no accidents were likely to happen. Both have also done accidential wees in the car before which is never fun, so prevention and risk management is key! In addition to the park, Barossa Valley Brewing is also dog friendly with a lovely outdoor area and games for the kiddies to play so worth stopping in for a cold one whilst there.
We’d also recommend a walk on Tanunda’s main street. There are lots of cute little boutique stores and coffee spots to enjoy. We had dinner one night in the beer garden of the Tanunda Hotel. This was a fully enclosed, heated veranda and the dogs were allowed here. It is a paved area so if your dogs prefer to sit on something comfy best to bring their bed along also. The pub is what you would expect from a country hotel, great food, good wine list, friendly patrons and the perfect end to a day of wine tasting.
Here are the Dog friendly wineries we visited:
Two Hands – This charming little cottage cellar door is one to visit for any red wine lovers in particular. They only offer 1 – 2 tasting of a white so it’s tailored for the heavy red drinkers. They have a beautiful outdoor deck area, which overlooks a lush and large grassed area. We opted to sit out the front of the cellar door though mainly as it was quite windy out the back but on a finer day the deck area would have been absolutely perfect. The cellar door itself was jammed packed with visitors so they are very highly reputable. The tasting was $15 per person though and not refundable off any purchase. Not an issue but just something to keep in mind especially if you are planning multiple tastings in one day. Nevertheless, we were made to feel very welcome and sat out the front under the veranda for our tasting. At the end of the tasting, we went out the back where we were permitted to let Gigi and Flo have a run around. It was a wonderful test of their recall as at times they left the grass area, but we were able to call them back without any trouble. There were some tennis balls scattered so this was a perfect way to stretch their legs and reward them for being so patient whilst we had our tasting. It is a very ideal stop for those with dogs.
First Drop Wines – This one is a favourite of ours because of the wine. They have an awesome variety of varieties, all reasonably priced too. We stopped here for lunch, as they have an outdoor eating area where dogs are welcome also. It’s not the most scenic views but the food is certainly worth it, as is the wine.
Turkey Flat – on top of having awesome wine, they have a lovely outdoor grass area with seated palettes, umbrellas, and blankets. Having a grassy spot for your pets to longue on makes their visit with you more comfortable. Ours were able to chill on the grass and chew their bully sticks. We happened to visit on a day when the Taco Van was out. A bottle of their shiraz went down well with tacos, nachos and more! Would highly recommend this for wine lovers and especially for those with dogs.
David Franz – we LOVED this winery. It was kindly recommended to us by one of the staff at Two Hands as being not just dog friendly but dog WELCOMING! They have a gorgeous outdoor veranda overlooking the vineyards which was covered and enclosed AND we were allowed to sit there with our pups. SO GOOD! The outdoor heaters meant we were all cosy, comfortable, protected from the wind and ready to enjoy an awesome afternoon. There were also heaps of grassy spots surrounding the cellar door. The best part for us adults though was that there were so many options of wine tasting. You could pick either a $5, $10 or $15 tasting depending on which wines you wanted to taste. They also provided a ‘shopping list’ of nibbles where you would just tick what you wanted, and they would assemble a tasting board accordingly. Super tailored, flexible, and suited to a modern wine tasting. The staff were all super friendly and keen to come and say hello to the pups. We even met another future Iggy owner there too! Safe to say we walked away with a few bottles. LOVED IT and would be a definite visit again.
Bethany Wines – Given we were staying in Bethany we thought only appropriate to visit Bethany Wines. Plus, the added bonus of a viewpoint a short walk-up hill from the winery was another draw card. We had tasted Bethany wines before and not been overly impressed but it was a number of years ago. We decided to stop though for a quick tasting as it was coming towards the end of the afternoon. There is an outdoor area where dogs can sit with you as you do your tasting, although the indoor area is more comfortable for those without their pups. We did come away with a bottle but its not necessarily a cellar door we would visit again, mainly as the wines were to our liking. The walk and the view though is certainly worth it for those who haven’t been to the Barossa Valley before.
Overall, there were only so many wineries we could visit in the space of a weekend, but we loved our time in the Barossa, as did the pups. Like bees to a honeypot we can’t help but be drawn to our local wine regions who really do produce the world’s best wine. Bee sure to check out the Barossa, it’s a real buzz.
