Adelaide Hills

Meet the resident pups at South Australia’s cellar doors

As well as incredible locally grown produce and stunning vineyard views, these cellar doors are home to some adorable furry friends.

South Australia is home to some of the world’s most revered wineries and spirit distilleries, with cellar door sightseeing heralded as one of the top activities in the state for tourists and locals alike.

As well as boasting delicious tastings, paired menus and panoramic vistas of SA’s incredible countryside, a number of the state’s most-loved cellar doors are also home to some adorable four-legged friends, giving you yet another reason to get planning your next trip to one of these stunning local venues.

Alfie the Border Collie – Golding Wines

Serving you some serious puppy dog eyes is Alfie, Golding Wine’s resident 4 month-old Border Collie, who joined the Hills winery in April. Alfie is still learning the ropes when it comes to being a wine dog, but is thriving in his new role as Chief Cellar Door Guest Greeter. 

Find Golding Wines at 52 Western Branch Rd, Lobethal. 

Barney the Kelpie Blue Heeler Cross Wirra Wirra Wines

Barney is most likely to be found running the vineyards with owner Anton, Wirra Wirra’s Viticulturalist, making an occasional Cellar Door appearance to the delight of all the guests. His loves are cucumber, beach swims, rolling in manure and a nice warm spot by the fire.

Find Wirra Wirra Vineyards at 255 Strout Rd, McLaren Vale. 

Coco and Billie the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers – Artwine 

It’s a family affair with Artwine’s dynamic doggy duo Coco and Billie who are actually Uncle and Niece. Coco first joined the Artwine family when they opened their Adelaide Hills cellar door eight years ago with Billie making up the family unit three years later. The permanent shadows of Artwine co-owner Judy Kelly, the pups have garnered big following amongst visitors and are often found entertaining guests when they’re not lounging in the office helping with the business side of proceedings. 

Find Artwine at 72 Bird in Hand Rd, Woodside. 

Austin the Border Collie – Katnook Estate Wines 

One year old Austin is a beautiful Border Collie, belonging to Katnook’s Senior Winemaker Natalie Cleghorn. Still a bouncy puppy at heart with no shortage of energy, Austin loves to accompany Natalie out to the winery and vineyards. 

Find Katnook Estate Wines at Riddoch Highway, Coonawarra.

Dave the Groodle – Kangarilla Road Winery 

Majestic Groodle Dave is the Chief Guest Greeter at Kangarilla Road Winery’s Cellar Door, boasting an impressive mane of golden locks that would put even the king of the jungle to shame. 

Find Kangarilla Road Winery at 44 Hamilton Rd, McLaren Flat. 

Lacey the Siberian Huskey – Camwell Wines

Lacey has been keeping the family at Camwell Wines on their toes for seven years of puppy heaven, and is thankfully too old to give the local Roos the runaround now. Her favourite hobby is helping prune at Camwell by chewing vine canes. 

Find Camwell Wines at 526 Colville Rd, Willunga South.

Anderson Hill Wines – Neo, Ruby and Seiko 

You’ll be spoilt for choice with who to pet first at Anderson Hill Wines, with Seiko, Ruby and 5 month old Neo all entertaining winery guests with their puppy antics. Seiko is Anderson’s resident watch-dog who keeps an eye out for Roos and Emus in the vineyard, whereas middle child Ruby will be found welcoming guests as they arrive, as well as alerting everyone to upcoming weather changes, hiding behind the bar if she smells a storm in the air. The baby of the family, Australian Shepherd Neo, is still learning how to be a grown up dog, and is often digging up the cellar door lawn as well as eagerly bringing prized sticks into the winery to impress guests. 

Find Anderson Hill at 407 Croft Rd, Lenswood. 

Pippa the Rhodesian Ridgeback and Bailey the Retriever – Thorn-Clarke Wines 

You can find resident good girl Pippa curled up in her blanket keeping watch over the desk of HR & Admin Manager Helen, often giving her best puppy dog eyes in exchange for treats. Other fur baby Bailey, belongs to Chief Winemaker at Thorn-Clarke, Peter Kelly, and is a happy-go-lucky personality who’s a big fan of pats and attention. Bailey will often be found snoozing in the winery or providing moral support to the hardworking winemakers. 

Find Thorn-Clarke wines at 266 Gawler Park Road, Angaston. 

Ernie the Groodle – Flinders Gin

The Groodle-who-forgot-to-oodle, Ernie, looks very much like his Golden Retriever Mum and is the trusty side-kick of Alby, Flinders Gin’s Master Distiller. Accompanying Alby throughout gin production and on frequent trips around the Flinders Ranges, Ernie greets patrons when they arrive at the distillery for tastings, soaking up lots of pats and attention. The gorgeous pup also likes to ride shotgun in Howard, Flinders’ mobile cellar door, a 1960’s caravan. 

Keep up with the location of Flinders’ mobile cellar door here.

Cooper and Winston the Border Collies – Whistler Wines 

Whistler Wines’ two resident pup employees are the dignified Border Collies, ball-loving Cooper and the more chilled-out Winston. Both are described as hard-workers on the winery, inspecting the vines at every opportunity. Both pups can be found greeting visitors and showing them the way to the cellar door, as well as keeping little visitors entertained. 

Find Whistler Wines at 241 Seppeltsfield Road, Marananga. 

Digby and Oopy the Retrievers – d’Arenberg

Older brother of the adorable golden retriever pair, Digby, is obsessed with giving kisses and stealing all the attention from visitors to the d’Arenberg Cube. Little sister Oopy is learning the wine dog ropes from Digby but does regress sometimes to bad puppy habits such as raiding bedrooms and eating chook poop. 

Find d’Arenberg at Osborn Rd, McLaren Vale. 

Ronin the Kelpie Mastiff Cross – Never Never Gin Distilling Co.

Described as one of the goodest boys in the Never Never team, Ronin is seven years young and loves to chase frisbees and sit on the ‘people chairs’ in the picturesque, hillside distillery. Proud dog-mum Monica, who works in the Never Never production team, is a dab hand at training, and has taught Ronin to speak, wave, sing, play-dead, and twirl, but he would much rather sit in the sun and watch everyone enjoy their drinks on the Never Never lawn. 

Find Never Never Distilling Co. at 56 Field St, McLaren Vale. 

Edea and Hank – Lindsay Wine Estate 

During cricket season at the Lindsay Cricket Ground, Hank and Edea are the winery’s two best fielders, with the two pups also dabbling in football over winter. 

The best place to find these two at Lindsay Wine Estate would be chilled out Edea settled in on the front mat or eager Hank who will greet you at the front door of your car, with the dogs having been established members of the Lindsay Estate Winery since 2014.

Find Lindsay Wine Estate at 15 Vine Vale Road, Tanunda. 

Mia the Siberian Husky – Lazy Ballerina

Mia is a happy Siberian Husky who arrived at Lazy Ballerina in 2018 after being rescued by the RSPCA. A big fan of the cold weather during winters in the Hills, Mia’s thick coat keeps her perfectly insulated and allows her to roll in the frost with her human sister and make ‘frost angels’. Mia’s favourite past time is having the run of the winery once all the guests have left for the day as well as burying left over pizzas in the ground to save for a future snack. 

Find Lazy Ballerina at 1152 Brookman Rd, Dingabledinga. 

Ralph and Ringo the Lagottos – DogRidge

Ralph and Ringo are the two resident Lagottos at DogRidge who will often be found hanging round the cellar door, chasing a ute up the driveway or pottering around the winery after Fred, DogRidge’s winemaker. DogRidge is a great destination for dog-lovers, with those lucky enough to have their own pups encouraged to bring them along for the day, even inside the winery! 

Find DogRidge at 129 Bagshaws Rd, McLaren Vale. 

Shelby the Toy Cavoodle and Clive the Border Collie – Ashton Hills 

One of the youngest pups on the list, Shelby the Toy Cavoodle is only six months old but has taken to his role as Ashton Hills’ resident Cellar Door Security Guard like a duck to water. You can often find him curled up on the Chesterfield in front of a crackling fire, patiently waiting for the next guest to give him a tummy scratch. Clive the charming Border Collie will meet every guest in the car park at Ashton Hill and give you a personal guided tour to their cellar door. 

Find Ashton Hills at 126 Tregarthen Road, Ashton. 

Henri the Bermese Mountain Dog – Atze’s Corner

Gentle giant Henri loves nothing more than pushing the large wooden doors open and climbing up the stairs to the Cellar Door’s tasting area to scope out whose foot he can sit on to get as many pats as possible. He can also be found lying around the winery, cleaning up any spilled drops of wine and acting out his new found career as a sheepdog. 

Find Atze’s Corner at 451 Research Road, Nuriootpa. 

Angus and Tumby – CRFT Wines

The gorgeously cute Angus and Tumby are the two resident pups at CRFT Wines, the single-vineyard small-batch winery in the Adelaide Hills. When the labradors aren’t greeting guests with big licks and wagging tails, you can find them running amock in the sloping vineyards of the Piccadilly Valley helping mum and dad (winemakers Candice Helbig and Frewin Ries) make their delicious certified organic wines.

Find CRFT Wines at 45 Rangeview Road, Carey Gully, SA, 5144

If we’ve missed your favourite cellar door pup, let us know by emailing [email protected]

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