Head to the hills for a $1,000 golf competition in Verdun and Triple J's Hottest 100 in the shade of a 100-year-old oak tree in Nairne.

Crush Festival rolls around each year – perfectly timed – to soften the blow of returning to your regular program after the Christmas and New Year’s break.

Celebrating the cool-climate Adelaide Hills wine region, Crush Festival brings together the best sparkling, chardonnay, grüner and rosé the region has to offer as well as some creative event themes to lift your spirits as you head into the thick of things in 2018.

Now in its ninth year under a formal banner, the festival is maturing nicely with a long list of sophisticated events but, with more than 30 participating wineries, the fear of missing out (FOMO) on the best option is real. Here are two locations chosen for their proximity to the city, ease of access, their top-notch wine and their non-wine options for that very special someone known as the designated driver.

SIDEWOOD

A millennial-era winery, Sidewood was set up in its current location in 2014 by Owen and Cassandra Inglis with an aim to create some of the region’s and the country’s most premium and delicious expressions of estate-grown fruit. In little more than three years the winery, which shares an address with Maximillian’s Restaurant in Verdun has amassed over 200 gold medals and 27 trophies under the watchful eye of Head Winemaker, Darryl Catlin including ‘Best Red Wine in Australia’ at the International Wine Challenge in 2014.

Sidewood balances its serious pedigree in wine with a completely relaxed cellar door experience. Starting your Crush Festival at Sidewood, you can sample each of their stunning wines and limber up a little before taking on their $1,000 golf challenge. Ostensibly a hole-in-one challenge, it’s fun to try as well as watch people knocking golf balls anywhere but close to the hole on a floating island in the winery’s dam.

WHERE 15 Onkaparinga Valley Rd, Verdun. T 08 8388 7777
WHEN 27-28 Jan 2018
OPEN Saturday + Sunday 11.00am-7.00pm

TICKETED EVENT No – FREE

HOWARD VINEYARD

In 1890 a man by the name of Amos William Howard was one of the first European owners of a parcel of land near Nairne. Amos is acknowledged across the Howard Vineyard range of wines for his discovery of a subterraneous clover growing in the soil, which helps it reproduce nitrogen in abundance – a key ingredient in causing food crops to flourish. The vineyard is a stunning and stylish setting in the Adelaide hills amid substantial oaks planted on the property in Amos’ days. Howard wines take a French influence, particularly in their rosé – which is leading the theme for the vineyard’s take on Crush Festival 2018.

Rosé. Repeat kicks off at 10AM on Saturday January 27th with rolling lawns for visitors to loll about on, while music and food runs throughout the day with lots of vegetarian options and Triple J’s Hottest 100 playing on the back lawn for fans. There’s a special cocktail on the day too – Howard Vineyard’s take on the Aperol spritz – a perfect palette cleanser for a sunny day.

WHERE 53 Bald Hills Rd, Nairne. T 08 8188 0203
WHEN 27 Jan 2018
OPEN Saturday 10.00am-5.00pm

TICKETED EVENT Yes – $10