Visiting Castelli Estate Wines in Denmark
I know this post is well over-due but you have to realise I am re-living my Great Southern trip (which we did in January!) through each one of these blog posts over the last few months. I really don’t want the trip to end.. Well until I can make plans to get back down there that is! After seeing Castelli Estate at City Wine 2015 I knew I had to get my A into G and get this blog post done. Plus I do need to thank them somehow for putting up with Mr. Spittoon and I at their bistro during our Jan trip after at least 4 carafes of wine 😉
I have to admit we picked our accommodation so darn well on our trip! We stayed at Celestine Retreat which is mere kilometers out of the Denmark town centre (perfect for stocking up on supplies and planning day trips around the region) BUT what sold me was that Celestine is just a hop skip and a jump from Castelli Estate. Yep walking distance!
Naturally Mr. Spittoon and I took full advantage of this and I will neither admit nor deny that was me dancing along Mt Shadforth Rd after a meal and just a little bit of wine at the Castelli bistro….
The Castelli Cellar Door
It’s hard to miss Castelli when you’re driving up Mt Shadforth road with its black & white European homestead look. It really does look absolutely picturesque in amongst the rolling hills of Denmark.
We actually visited the cellar door after we had dinner at the Castelli bistro the night before. We were a bit shocked (maybe a touch embarrassed) to see the same staff on the cellar door after our serious carafe drinking the night before however I have to admit I loved their enthusiasm at seeing us stroll in the door again not so bright and bushy-tailed as we were the night before!
The cellar door is literally up at the bar. You pull up a pew and then you can peruse the menu. Castelli make a wide range of wines which are organised under their different labels from the Sum and Checkmate ranges to the Estate range. I picked a couple off the list to taste which I wanted to try. All tastings were free and if you buy cartons of wine from the cellar door you get 10% off.
The Castelli Bistro
As both Mr. Spittoon and I are seasoned drinkers it’s always nice to have accommodation within walking distance of great restaurants as it means we can go out for the evening and neither of us has to worry about driving. It must have been on our 2nd night in Denmark that we wandered up to the Castelli Bar and Bistro for dinner.
We also noticed they do have lodge accommodation on site which I was unaware of prior to our Denmark trip. So that might be worth checking out on our next trip South.
Naturally the first thing we noticed on the menu were the carafes of wine for $10 a pop. From memory they were 500ml and I think they were wines from their Sum Range of wines. We thought the house white was pretty darn good, hence why we downed just a few of those little carafes.
The menu was a good size, not too long but something to cover everyone’s taste buds. I decided to go for the Seafood Tagliatelle with king prawns, scallops and squid with chilli, lemon and garlic for $32 and Mr. Spittoon went for the MSA Black Angus Scotch Fillet Steak with mushroom sauce for $36.
We both really enjoyed our meals and night out at Castelli and I would love to go back sometime to work through more of the wine and food menu (click on the menus below to enlarge)!
The Castelli Wines
As mentioned, I didn’t try everything at the cellar door as I most likely wouldn’t have been able to stand at the end of it unless I was spitting and heck, it was my birthday weekend so none of that! The favourites from what I tried on this trip were (click on the name to view the tasting note):
– Castelli Estate 2014 Riesling
– Castelli Estate 2014 Chardonnay
And I have to admit I am also quite a big fan of the Castelli Estate 2012 Shiraz from Frankland River too.
Find out more about Castelli Estate:
Address: 390 Mt Shadforth Road, Denmark WA 6333
Phone: (08) 9848 3832
Email: Contact online here
Opening times: Monday – Sunday, from 10.00am – 10.00pm (cellar door and bistro)
Wine Styles/Grape Varieties: Sparkling wines, Shiraz, Rose, Sauv Blanc, Riesling, Cab Sauv, SBS, Viognier, Fume Blanc, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Tempranillo, Uvaggio/Grenache, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Malbec, Sweet wines
Wine tasting cost: Free!
Food available: Yes the delicious bistro
Child friendly: Lots of space outside. No playground from what I could see
Website: castelliestate.com.au
Check out more Great Southern spots to visit right here.
