d’Arenberg Cube at d’Arenberg Winery.
Recently, on a day trip adventure to Port Elliot, we were passing through McLaren Vale and saw the iconic d’Arenberg Cube jutting out of the flat landscape. On a whim, we decided we ought to explore this unique building.
As you enter the building it is obvious that everything in it is based on the vivid dreams and ideas of an extremely creative person who loves wine and wants to inspire others to also experience and enjoy wine. It is quirky and unique and in case you didn’t know, winemaker Chester Osborn dreamt up the concept for the d’Arenberg Cube which attracts huge amounts of visitors daily.
Admission to the d’Arenberg Cube costs $10 per person. This includes a self-guided tour of the Alternate Realities Museum, located on the ground floor. Entry is free for children under the age of two.
The tour begins in a small, dimly lit room which feels as though you’ve joined Alice in Wonderland. Every ounce of wall space is adorned in plastic fruit or flowers. The concept of this room is to introduce people to the amazing amount of aroma’s found in wine. The scents are derived from actual objects such as fruit, perfumes, lemons etc. and can be found in old apothecary jars with bike handles and horns attached. This part of the tour is hands-on, so the kids will find it interesting and amusing.
At times the scents were divine and included apricots, coffee, chocolate, vanilla. At other times, not so much. A few times, the kids complained of “the pong” coming out of the horns.
The second room is round and enables a 360-degree continuous film to be projected onto the wall, mostly animated with a short commentary about wine along the way.
The animation was quite surreal and quite mesmerising as one theme melded into another. There were quite a few animal animations and the kids enjoyed chasing them as they appeared and moved around the screen.
After leaving this room, we took an elevator to the wine-tasting room where we felt obliged (life’s hard) to taste some of the wine on offer at the counter. Wine-lovers will be pleased to know that complimentary tastings are on offer as well as premium tastings for an extra fee.
The tasting room features huge windows and balconies where visitors can take in the amazing views looking over the vineyards and the landscape beyond.
Continuing the quirky theme, there were even Alice-in-Wonderland chairs for visitors to relax in.
If you appreciate wine, architecture and art, then make sure you visit this amazing building and taste some of the wine! It’s a unique sensory experience you won’t find anywhere else.
Location:
58 Osborn Road, McLaren Vale
For more information and all enquiries please visit the Dárenberg Winery website.
At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.
As per all our Play & Go reviews, this is not a sponsored post and our review is done completely independently.
Image Source: Play & Go Adelaide 2018
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