Adelaide Hills Wine Tasting

Adelaide Hills wine tasting happens at cellar doors, and most of them charge for a flight. At the cellar doors we checked, a standard flight of four or five wines cost from about A$10 to A$45, with longer hosted experiences above A$100. Book ahead, especially at weekends, and go in knowing what the region does best: cool-climate Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and sparkling.

If you want a seated tasting you can reserve online, the booking box on this page holds the Petaluma Expressions of Chardonnay tasting with a seasonal platter, from $35 per person as a package for two. It is a new GetYourGuide listing with no reviews yet, and Petaluma’s cellar door in Woodside is currently open on Saturdays and Sundays, with weekdays closed for renovation.

Tour prices on this page are September 2026 “from” figures in US dollars, and the live price is on the booking page. Cellar door fees are quoted in Australian dollars.

How a cellar-door tasting works

A cellar door is a winery’s own tasting room. The usual format is a flight: a set run of wines poured one after another, with staff talking you through each one. Some venues seat you at a table, others serve you at the counter, and a few run longer guided sessions with food. A sample of what the cellar doors publish:

• Shaw + Smith, Balhannah: the Classic Flight is A$25 for five wines (Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, M3 Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz). The Single Vineyard flight is A$40.
• Deviation Road, Longwood: flights of four pours, from a producer known for traditional-method sparkling.
• Golding Wines, Lobethal: seated flights from about A$10, served in a historic sandstone barn.
• Sidewood, Hahndorf: self-guided flights from about A$20 to A$45.
• Hahndorf Hill, Hahndorf: a group cheese tasting of five wines for A$25 (9 to 30 guests), and ChocoVino, which pairs the wines with fine chocolates, at A$32 for groups of 9 to 14.

At the top end, Shaw + Smith’s Balhannah Tour costs A$140 for two hours behind the scenes, with an extended tasting and cheese pairings.

The Shaw + Smith Classic Flight also makes a neat first lesson in the region, because its five glasses cover the main Hills styles in one sitting. If you are on a timetable, such as the hop-on hop-off bus, one traveller’s advice is to tell the staff up front and ask for the whole flight to be poured at once.

Is there free wine tasting in the Adelaide Hills?

Not at the cellar doors we checked. None of them advertised free tastings, and the fee is not generally taken off the bill when you buy a bottle. Deviation Road says outright that its flights are not redeemable on purchase. If a refund on purchase matters to you, ask at the counter before you order.

The free sampling on a Hills day tends to happen at the food stops. Tour operators describe complimentary chocolate tastings at Melba’s in Woodside and complimentary cheese tasting at Udder Delights in Hahndorf. For wine, the simplest way to stop counting fees is a tour that includes them, covered further down.

Book ahead, and check the day

Opening days vary from one cellar door to the next, and several ask you to book. Regional tourism’s advice is to check ahead, especially if you are visiting Monday to Wednesday.

Groups hit limits quickly. Shaw + Smith asks groups of more than 12 to book a private function, and Deviation Road caps online bookings at eight people on weekend afternoons, sending groups of 9 to 35 to morning sessions. Tastings are for adults: the legal drinking age in South Australia is 18.

What wine is the Adelaide Hills known for?

Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. In 2026 the three varieties covered about two-thirds of the region’s vineyard area, split almost evenly: 823 hectares of Chardonnay, 795 of Sauvignon Blanc and 780 of Pinot Noir. Sauvignon Blanc was the largest variety in the 2026 harvest, at about 26% of the crush.

The regional association describes a ladder of styles by temperature. In the coolest sites, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir make both sparkling and table wines. Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris come in as it warms, and Shiraz ripens in the warmest spots, sold under the association’s heading of cool-climate Shiraz. Grüner Veltliner covers only 22 hectares, but Hahndorf Hill has built a reputation on it; James Halliday wrote that “Hahndorf Hill writes the book on Gruner Veltliner”.

The cool part is altitude. The wine region takes in the parts of the Hills above 300 metres, and the highest vineyards sit at 600 to 650 metres around Crafers, Summertown, Piccadilly and Carey Gully. Bureau of Meteorology averages put Mount Lofty’s daytime maximums about 5 °C below central Adelaide’s in every season, and cool nights late in ripening help colour and flavour.

Adelaide Hills Chardonnay: where to taste it

Chardonnay earned the highest average grape price of the region’s major varieties in 2026, and several cellar doors make it the centre of their tasting.

• Petaluma, Woodside: the Expressions of Chardonnay tasting runs from the white label through the yellow label to the flagship The Tiers, with the host explaining how the Hills subregions shape each wine.
• Tapanappa, Piccadilly: Brian Croser’s family winery. Its Tiers Vineyard was planted in 1979, the first vineyard in the Piccadilly Valley since the 19th century. Open daily 11am to 4pm.
• Shaw + Smith, Balhannah: M3 Chardonnay is part of the Classic Flight.
• Mt Lofty Ranges Vineyard, Lenswood: three Lenswood Chardonnays from vineyards above 500 metres.

In 2026 the regional association ran Chardonnay May through the whole month, with tastings, masterclasses and a Passport Trail. For more cellar doors and what each does well, see our guide to the best wineries in the Adelaide Hills.

Hosted Petaluma tastings you can book online

Petaluma sells three experiences on GetYourGuide, all at its cellar door at 254 Pfeiffer Road, Woodside. The cellar door is open Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 4:30pm while weekday renovation works continue, so choose a weekend date and check the calendar before you plan the day around it.

• Expressions of Chardonnay & Seasonal Platter for 2: a guided tasting of Petaluma’s Chardonnay range with a seasonal platter to share and views from the balcony. From $35 per person, sold as a package for two. New listing, no reviews yet.
• Croser Sparkling Tasting & Seasonal Platter for 2: four sparkling wines (NV Croser, NV Croser Rosé, Vintage Croser and Late Disgorged Croser from the Piccadilly Valley) with a platter. From $35 per person, no reviews yet.
• Horseback Riding and Wine Tasting: a 45-minute guided trail ride through the vineyards on horses from Hallmark Farm in Woodside, then a guided tasting of Petaluma and Croser wines. From $147 per person, 5.0 from 10 GetYourGuide reviews. Riders must be over 9, and transport and meals are not included.

Each has free cancellation up to 24 hours before, per the booking page. Viator also lists a version of the Chardonnay session as a Private Chardonnay Tasting and Platter, from $32 per person with 4.0 from 2 Viator reviews; that listing gives the length as two hours and the minimum age as 18.

None of these include transport. Woodside is about 40 minutes from the CBD, and South Australia’s drink-driving limit is a blood alcohol reading below 0.05 for full licence holders and zero for learner, provisional and probationary drivers. Book a non-drinking driver or a transfer, and read our page on Adelaide Hills wineries without a car for the options.

Guided tours with tastings built in

If you would rather have the tastings, the driving and the booking handled together, these tours include cellar-door tastings in the price:

• Hahndorf Food & Wine E-Bike Tour: a Shaw + Smith wine flight and a tasting at The Lane, plus an Udder Delights cheese board and seasonal strawberry picking at Beerenberg. From $189 per person, 5.0 from 59 Viator reviews. It starts at The Lane Vineyard, lunch is extra, and under-18s cannot join. Read our breakdown.
• Hills & Hahndorf Hideaway tour: 45-minute tastings at The Lane and Sidewood (Nepenthe is a named alternative), with a two-course German lunch in Hahndorf and a maximum of eight guests. From $175 per person, 4.8 from 205 Viator reviews. All sales are final, so it cannot be refunded. Read our breakdown.
• Hahndorf & Hills Wine and/or Gin Tour: a Golding Wines flight, a Sidewood tasting and gin at Grünthal Brew on the itinerary, with lunch in Hahndorf. From $232 per person, 5.0 from 5 GetYourGuide reviews. Read our breakdown.

Two formats sit either side of those. The Adelaide Hills & Hahndorf Hop-On Hop-Off Wine Tour covers transport only, from $71 per person with 4.8 from 155 Viator reviews, and you pay the tasting fee at each of up to four stops; our hop-on hop-off review adds up the day. At the other end, the Adelaide Hills Luxury Wine Tour is private and includes tasting fees at Deviation Road and Shaw + Smith plus lunch at the Uraidla Hotel, from $643 per person.

Next steps

• Want a full day with tastings and a meal? Compare Adelaide Hills wine tours with lunch.
• Planning around Chardonnay May or the vintage? Read the best time to visit.
• Still choosing a format? Try which Adelaide Hills wine tour is right for you.
• Ready to book the Petaluma Chardonnay tasting? Check availability for a weekend date.