Betcha didn’t know this… just around the corner from Marion Shopping Centre is Adelaide’s only remaining 100 percent family-owned, fully operational urban winery!
Patritti Wines is tucked away on a residential street in Dover Gardens, and it’s quite possible you didn’t even know it was there. Making wine since 1926, it’s an SA winery steeped in family history.
There are a gazillion reasons to visit, but we don’t have all year, so here are our top six…
1. One of a kind
Patritti started almost one hundred years ago by Giovanni Patritti, and remains Adelaide’s only 100 percent family owned, fully operational suburban winery, with third-generation Senior Winemaker James Mungall carrying on the family tradition.
“I started helping out in the winery around the time I learned to walk and have worked in my family’s business ever since,” smiles James. “My grandpa, Giovanni, boarded a boat in 1925 and ended up on this piece of dirt here in Dover Gardens. Back then, it was all about growing veggies and selling pigs — and like in his homeland, he started to make wine. As more immigrants arrived in Australia over the next 30 years, the wine really flourished and he started selling it to Europeans all over Australia.”
2. Grape to glass
Literally! Patritti grow their own grapes, then crush and process their wine, all at the Dover Gardens winery. It’s bottled and packaged up beautifully, and from there, your order is shipped straight to your front door or cracked open for you in their gorgeous cellar door. “Within hours of the fruit being picked, it’s back here at our Dover Gardens facility being crushed — it’s literally that quick,” says James. How’s that for a schmick process?
3. Taste with a twist
To get the full Patritti experience, we recommend booking a tasting flight on site. “We make over 30 wines, including sparkling, white and red; and we want our guests having a tasting to feel the authenticity of our brand. Everyone that does the Urban Vineyard Collection Tasting Experience gets a fun pictorial map of the local area — a postcard you can take away with you.”
Between the historic vats in Cellar II, you and your friends can try their magnificent wines — served best with an Italian-style antipasto platter.
4. TGIF
Set your alarm for knock-offs at Cellar II! The Miami kinda vibe, food trucks and live music will set your weekend off a treat. “We welcome you into our family home, where there’s great food and wine by the glass,” says James. The feel-goods continue with a more family-friendly atmosphere on a Saturday or Sunday. The grounds are perfect for sips and giggles with a glass of Patritti and a side of antipasto.
5. V.no
Way ahead of its time, Patritti has been making non-alcoholic juices for decades and now, they have a range of alcohol removed wines. “With the V.no range, we make wine just like normal, and then take the alcohol out and blend that wine back up and get it ready to bottle. So, it’s a real wine with alcohol removed,” says Winemaker Ben Heide.
6. In da club
Say hello to your new friends, Club. 1926. If you love wine and you’re over 18, then welcome to the club. Members get access to special discounts on wine orders and packs, complimentary tastings for you and three friends (twice a year), and an invitation to their annual 1926 Vintage event.
Open every day, Patritti Wines is the place to be any day of the week!
