Alpha Box and Dice, McLaren Vale – Australian Wine Review

Tim and Kat are in McLaren Vale, South Australia. It’s vintage time, so we are spending our time in McLaren Vale looking into the theme of what it takes to be a winemaker. In this episode, we visit Justin Lane, winemaker at Alpha Box and Dice, a small winery,  and dig around in his history, his methods and some interesting political insight. Just wait till you hear some of the things he has to say.

McLaren Vale is about an hour south of Adelaide in South Australia. It’s where the vines meet the sea, with the valley sweeping down from Mount Lofty in the east to the west coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula. It has around 6250Ha under vine of which about 80% is planted red and has approx. 80 cellar doors to visit, meaning you can spend a lot of time here and not have to repeat yourself. The biggest names around here are Rosemount and D’Arenberg. Where Rosemount has presence in other areas, D’Arenberg only has presence here, and for a large winery, it makes some fantastic stuff and a great range, but more on that some other time.

Seeing as it is vintage time,  we are looking at the theme of ‘being a winemaker’. Over the next couple episodes we are exploring different styles, budgets and experiences of wine making. We are visiting a couple of different sized wineries and also getting our hands dirty at a do it yourself place – yes Kat and Tim are going to be winemakers. Hang on to your vinegar bottles!

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Happy travels,

Tim and Kat

2 Responses to “Alpha Box and Dice, McLaren Vale – Australian Wine Review”

1. Andrew Graham says:

   March 26, 2010 at 11:48 am

   Justin Lane is great value. Did you guys actually get too play the pinnies?
2. Andrew Graham says:

   March 26, 2010 at 11:03 am

   He’s great value is Justin Lane. Did you get to play on his pinball machines?
3. Australian Wine Tour | Uncorkings says:

   March 16, 2010 at 2:25 pm

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