Cellar Treasures is a food and wine weekend showcasing the best of Langhorne Creek’s cellared wine coming this August.

From 14—15 August, South Australia’s most-underrated wine region, Langhorne Creek, will host Cellar Treasures – a family-friendly festival dedicated to dusting off and popping the corks off rare and historical bottles from the region.

In an age of wine selection often dictated by the brightest, prettiest labels and their contents lauded according to juiciness and immediate drinkability, Cellar Treasures is calming things down a bit.

The event will be a celebration showcasing not only the quality of Langhorne Creek wines, but also the delicious benefits of patience – how good a bottle of wine can get with some years spent collecting dust in a cellar.

Lake Breeze Wines

Cellar Treasures will see Langhorne Creek wineries unearth special museum wines from their cellars.

These might be styles seldom seen in the contemporary wine scene, which the winemakers have collected and chosen to age beneath their wineries.

Masterclasses, winery tours and degustation dinners have also been curated, so as to see these mature wines displayed in all their glory.

The festivities differ from winery to winery, with live music, tastings and winemaker meet-and-greets aplenty.

Lake Breeze Wines is hosting a masterclass and vertical tasting of six vintages of their acclaimed Arthur’s Reserve: a Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petit Verdot blend, the youngest of which date back to 2008.

For attendees who’ve rightfully collected a headache during the Saturday events and want to easy into their Sunday programming, Kimbolton Wines is throwing a boozy ‘Bella Brunch’, pairing a glass of sparkling Montepulciano with a bacon and egg brioche roll.

Also at Kimbolton is a Museum Degustation Dinner, a $120pp four-course dinner by Peechabella Catering matched to current and back vintage Kimbolton wines, as selected by winemaker Nicole Clark.

Just down the road, Bleasdale Wines is holding guided tours of their 170-year-old winery – Langhorne Creek’s oldest.

During the tour, wines pulled from the depths of Bleasdale’s ancient cellar will be opened.

Bleasdale’s cellar door will be also pouring their museum wines all weekend long.

“We’ve got a great selection. We’ve got a range from our portfolio, all at different price points,” Ebony Christian of Bleasdale says.

“These include a Verdelho as our white offering, four red wines and a vintage port from 1990 which we no longer produce.”

Ebony says the wineries are excited to show off the benefits of cellaring wine, something she says consumers are doing less and less.

“We’ve noticed these days that many consumers perhaps lack the knowledge and experience to cellar wines, and are drinking younger, more vibrant wines,” she says.

“So this event is great to showcase the longevity and quality of Langhorne Creek’s products and taste and purchase a bottle that we’ve cellared for you.”

Bremerton Wines are hosting a more holistic masterclass, called ‘Through a Winemakers Eyes’.

Winemakers Rebecca Wilson and Matt Schmidt will discuss the numerous decisions winemakers face that concern everything from the growing of the grapes, vineyard clones, and the yeast and oak selection.

Bremerton Wines winemaker Rebecca Willson

The masterclass will feature tastings of wines that have undergone different treatments and that are at different ages, with the winemakers explaining how each decision they make, as well as the cellar time, affects the final product.

“Langhorne Creek wines in general have quite fine, soft tannins, so even though traditionally they’re the sort of wines that can be approached at an early age (people often cellar highly tannic wines to ease the tannins over time), there’re still flavour developments that elevate the wine over time,” says Lucy Wilson of Bremerton Wines.

“Any wines can really grow when they’re aged.”

Food is available wineries right across the region, with a broad style of dining options available – from degustation dinners through to more informal options.

At Vineyard Road’s cellar door, food truck Oskar & Co will be set up, offering their trademark fare.

More information on Cellar Treasures, including what’s on offer, how to book, prices and food options are available here.