What the locals are loving: Knappstein Enterprise Winery

Knappstein Enterprise Winery is an essential stop on your next drive through South Australia’s Clare Valley for its world-famous wines.

As you meander down the main street of the Clare Valley, SA, you’ll see a building rising above the others. That is the Knappstein Enterprise Winery cellar door – a heritage-listed building erected in 1878. It was the original site of Clare Valley’s first brewery, Enterprise Brewery, before being taken over by a soft drink company in the 1900s and finally being established as a winery by Tim Knappstein in 1976. 

“Our winery is part of the fabric of the Clare Valley,” says senior winemaker, Michael Kane. “Our cellar door is part of the town.”

Whether you’re tasting at the cellar door or drinking at home, Michael likes to think that when you raise a glass of his wine you’ll be transported to the vineyard where the grapes were grown. “We’re really focused on enhancing the elements that the vineyard gives us so that when people pick up a glass, they see the vineyard in the glass,” he says. “Our wines have a lot of the personality and character of the vineyards.”

What you’re tasting is the diverse soil and ideal weather conditions of the region that help produce great wines. “It’s just a lovely climate,” Michael says “We’re sitting around 500 metres above sea level, which gives us these really nice cool nights to balance out those warm days. The vines get to rest and relax at night and they stop accumulating sugars and carbohydrates, but retain that bright, fresh acidity.”