Burk Salter Winery: Lisa samples some of the Riverland region of South Australia wines
Take a detour off the main Riverland Highway at Blanchetown and you come to a sleepy little patch where the grapes slowly ripen on the vine. But wander past its landmark Chevy truck into Burk Salter Wines and you soon realise this was once a transport hub of the Riverland.
Today, it's surrounded by vineyards but back in the early fifties - what's now the cellar door - was in fact Salter's Blanchetown Service Station on the road between Adelaide and Sydney. That was until the Blanchetown Bridge was built. The servo was run by Greg's dad Burk who'd returned from World War Two, having served as a gunner and wireless operator on board Beaufort and Liberator bombers.
"His mother died the day before he got back," said Greg. "The story goes that she hung on till the end of the war and once the war ended she passed away the following day. Once the war was over she was happy, he was safe."
In the fifties and sixties, the service station did a roaring trade with Burk Salter and the family tending to the sultana and currant blocks across the road. But by the fifties and sixties they could see the need for a change and so began the push into wine grapes.
"For the last thirty years they've been up on our limestone where there's minimal top soil, virtually straight limestone. So they do it very hard which brings out the fruit flavours."
The good oil now at Salters comes in the form of cab sav, merlot and chardonnay. But having been in the service station game for so many years it's only natural that the family's most recent foray into tours of the nearby floodplain should be in a 1927 Chevy.
We climb aboard and Greg takes us on a tour of the country that has sustained the Salter family for four generations. The floodplains were ravaged by overstocking in the early days but Greg's done his best to regenerate the worst affected areas, having planted up to three and a half thousand trees.
As the Capital A Chevy putters over the flood plain we catch glimpses of the myriad of hidden wetlands brimming with locals like waders, wood ducks, coots and pelicans. Soon we pick up a track, which fits so nicely into the Salter family's transport saga.
"The river has always been a major transport route but this track across the floodplain at Blanchetown is part of the old Cobb and Co coach route from Adelaide to Sydney," said Greg.
We also pass an old stockyard used by the overlanders as they drove their cattle through here.
From the grass landing where Greg and his wife Jane taught their sons to waterski, we parked the Chevy to take in the Blanchetown Cliffs and the river which has fed the Salter's wine making dream.
The Burk Salter Winery Cellar Door is on Paisley Road - just look for the signs off the Sturt Highway. To book a tour contact 8540 5023. The Salters also provide bed and breakfast accommodation.
Published Sunday 22nd April 2007
