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An Exclusive Journey From Grape to Glass
Step behind the scenes of a fully operational winery and discover the artistry of premium winemaking. On this immersive guided tour, you will follow the journey of our grapes from the vine to the press, learning about the fermentation and blending techniques that define Maxwell’s signature style. 🍇
Historic Caves and Barrel Tastings
Wander through our historic, 100-year-old Lime Cave and feel the rich heritage of the Maxwell family. Deep within the cellars, you will stand amongst maturing barrels and enjoy an exclusive, private tasting experience. 🍷
Taste Like a Winemaker
Gain rare access to taste premium wines directly from the barrel. Compare how different oak profiles shape the final vintage, and watch how the wine slowly matures to realise its full potential. 🪵
Experience Highlights
- Behind-the-Scenes Access: Tour our working winery and see the winemaking process firsthand.
- Historic Lime Cave: Explore our unique 100-year-old cave system.
- Exclusive Barrel Tasting: Taste maturing wines straight from the wood and compare oak influences.
- Rich Family Heritage: Immerse yourself in the stories and history of Maxwell.
Please note: A minimum of 2 participants is required. As we are a working winery, this tour may not be available daily during the busy Vintage season.
Important Tour Information
- Participants must be 18 years or over.
- Moderate walking abilities are required, as the vineyard has uneven and steep surfaces.
- Flat walking shoes and a jacket in the cooler months are a must.
- Tour may be cancelled due to bad weather, this is at the discretion of management.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Terms and Conditions
- Participants must be 18 years or over.
- Flat walking shoes are strongly encouraged.
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We were married at Maxwell, and every year since then we've returned to celebrate our anniversary. It has become one of our most treasured traditions, and every visit reminds us why we chose this beautiful venue.
Our anniversary lunch this year was exceptional. The food was beautifully prepared, thoughtfully presented, and absolutely delicious. What truly sets Maxwell apart, however, is the people. Bruno and his team provided service that was warm, attentive, and genuinely welcoming. We felt so well looked after from the moment we arrived, making a very special day even more memorable.
After 13 years of returning, Maxwell continues to exceed our expectations. It's a place that combines outstanding food, wonderful hospitality, and a beautiful setting, creating an experience that keeps us coming back year after year.
Thank you to everyone at Maxwell Restaurant for helping us celebrate another anniversary so perfectly. We can't wait to return again next year.
Exquisite, beautiful courses prepared and presented with such finesse, it compels you to stop and admire each dish before reminding yourself to not eat it all up too quickly!
Oh and we found out some of the very same faaaabulous snacks we had (think melt-in-your-mouth chicken skin tarts! YES.) are available at the tasting room so we will definitely be back with our mates for a mini-encore!
Innovative and outstanding ideas, easily top restaurant in McLaren vale. There are things can be improve, mainly service, otherwise a very enjoyable 4 hours for a Saturday afternoon.
Highly recommend this as a unique, high quality dining experience.
The menu contained 13 (or more) components. Thats a lot but it wasn’t the quantity of food that really ‘floored’ us; it was the extreme (+++) richness of the food. We are no strangers to degustation menus and never shy away from any world flavour, strong, new, unusual or otherwise, but if we only had eaten half of what was provided, that would have been enough. Every item was beautiful and imaginative and exciting in its own right - but most were MASSIVE flavour hits and so all items combined really overwhelmed us. It was sort of like many items accidentally had three times the required ‘dose’ of its particular flavour component added, so we really only wanted to take a nibble and then stop to rest!
The exceptions to were the asparagus dish and the ‘yoghurt, strawberry, lemon’ dish, essentially the palate cleanser. They were vibrant, light and refreshing and didn’t knock us over!
The star and opening attraction, the oyster pearl, which has had much written about it, WAS indeed a piece of genius - sublime in taste and in fact a ‘show stopper’ before the ‘show’ had hardly started. Very impressive!! The little lobster snack was quirky, fun and delicious, and the trout was particularly luscious and almost as colourful as an Andy Warhol, but where it was positioned in the menu, we’d almost already had enough .yet there were still 6 more ‘deliveries’ still to get the table!! At the point we were served duck/foie gras/brioche course we worried we might even have to politely decline any more food! And earlier on, we were very keen on the sound of the chicken snack - on the menu as ‘chicken, leek, garum’ - but all we could taste was the huge hit of the garum!!
So, as you can tell from those comments, it was only the richness, and certainly not the visual or creative aspects, that notched the meal down from perfect to great.
What was perfect was the wine - we thought it was great they price the wine, all Maxwell Wine on obviously, at essentially the price you’d buy the bottles it at cellar door without typical money grabbing huge markups. Congratulations on that sensible and very admirable approach.
Kate was outstanding; knowledgeable, attentive, and effortlessly engaging. Each wine was introduced with clarity and enthusiasm, offering thoughtful insights that enhanced our appreciation while remaining approachable and enjoyable. The experience was intuitively tailored to our preferences, and the pacing was perfectly judged; unhurried, seamless, and never intrusive. Subtle, well-timed check-ins and thoughtful details reflected a high level of care and professionalism throughout.
The food was a standout in its own right. Beautifully presented and unexpectedly of fine-dining standard, each dish complemented the wines superbly and added an extra layer of indulgence to the tasting.
Overall, the exceptional service, attention to detail, and outstanding food transformed a great tasting into a truly memorable experience. It is a place we would gladly return to and confidently recommend to others.
The creativity, delivery and balance of food and flavours, matched with wines- wow!
Thank you all!
A memorable dining experience.
A great way to spend an afternoon in the McLaren.
Maxwell hosted my birthday lunch for a small group of girls and we were delighted by absolutely everything! From the stunning setting and views, fantastic wines, lovley attentive staff- all the way through to every bite that was exquisitely created on the menu by the chefs. We did the 10 courses and each course took our palettes on a journey - not to mention the presentation was beautiful, so creative! Could not fault it, we loved every moment. We definitely left with full hearts and full bellies!
Thank you so much to Maxwell and the team for making it such a memorable experience. 🙏
It was also really comforting service by Bruno and Lily. The small little details meant a lot to us. For example they had a special menu card to congratulate us as we were on our honeymoon. They spent the time to explain each meal and were very attentive to our needs. The service at this place is what takes it to another level.
We thoroughly enjoyed every delicious moment and can't speak highly enough of the experience.
Our heartfelt thanks to the entire team with special mention to Milli, Lily and Bruno - thank you for the love and care shown to us.
To the kitchen brigade - honestly just WOW what a gastronomic adventure you took us on!
So talented and so delicious 😋 - thank you for all your hard work creating such spectacular dishes.
We’d booked a wine tasting for Daz with a ‘non tasting’ seat (love that the website has this set up) plus snacks for 2.
On arrival, greeted by a friend, David formerly of shingleback wines. Good to see a very friendly face and catchup.
Daz had the Premium wine tasting and enjoyed the variations. We also had the pleasure of being assisted by Mark who tempted Tess into some mead tasting and also a really amazing Port (yes the really old port that is like syrup and so smooth to taste.
The snacks, David convinced us to add an extra to our 3 snacks that were pre-purchased.
We started with-
Croustade, kingfish, sesame, radish, apple
Very fresh and light. Not at all fishy and the fish was cut into lovely size pieces, very clean flavours. The Croustade was very crisp and not at all oily. The filling was moist and had a good texture. Lovely to eat.
Duck, Jerusalem artichoke, garlic
It tasted like the Jerusalem artichoke was in the base tart shell, duck liver parfait, great flavour. Again the base wasn’t oily at all and very thin and crispy but not fragile which was lovely. We think the rounds on the top were Jerusalem artichoke as well, really lovely bite.
Crispy chicken skin tart, smoked chicken, crispy leek
This was the star of the show, an amazing crispy, salty tart shell of chicken skin, crispy and delicate but not fragile. The chicken smoking was minimal so didn’t take over the flavours of the skin and leek added a mild crunch. Stunning
Our extra
Fried potato terrine, spring onion, garlic and we added the wagyu tartare
Layers of potato, slightly crispy on the outside, lovely and soft through the middle. The balance of seasoning through the dish was great, the tartare very moist and well-seasoned but not fatty. The fried leek on top added a lovely crispy element and we enjoyed the green puree, good texture as it was nice and thick and easy to dunk into.
We were very very happy with the snacks, overall service and quality of the wines and produce.
Maybe it’s time to return to Maxell’s for a lunch in the new year based on these. Highly recommend.
We choose the long menu option which was perfect for a cold wet afternoon sharing with good friends. The sommelier helped us choose a perfect wine which matched most dishes. Every dish was an experience to remember. While reasonably expensive, the experience is worth it for a special Occassion.
We left here happy and satisfied. Well done Maxwell Restaurant.
We were so wowed with the food (some of it was very Heston Blumenthal-esque). the love and flavours from all the courses was mind-blowing. Enjoyed every morsel, and they even bundled some of our leftover bread so we could enjoy it for breakfast. 5 star service, a very special experience.
Service was impeccable as well: In the restaurant, Bruno and Lily were both extremely attentive, and Bruno kept us laughing throughout the afternoon. Beyond that, the entire staff truly made the place come alive. It was immediately noticeable—everyone was cheerful, attentive, and genuinely seemed to enjoy their work. There is a real difference between simply doing a job and taking joy in it, and that rare energy made the experience all the more memorable.
Overall, Maxwell’s delivered an extraordinary culinary journey, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
The dining room felt modern and relaxed, open but intimate.
We did the long tasting menu and the food was absolutely brilliant. Each course was perfectly balanced, a cacophony of flavours working in sync.
The drinks pairing was incredible value and we were well-hydrated throughout.
The staff, particularly Bruno, were attentive, helpful, and made the whole experience thoroughly enjoyable.
The perfect spot for a special occasion.
Ten minutes past our scheduled sitting, we ventured inside ourselves. We were greeted by a rude man who immediately ushered us back out of the restaurant so he could “go and check” our booking, seemingly unaware we’d been waiting for him. When we showed surprise at his tone and sudden eviction, he snapped, “Relax, I need to check.” The room was almost empty, so the theatrics felt unnecessary and unwelcoming. Throughout the meal he remained knowledgeable, but we didn’t enjoy his ‘humour’.
Once seated, we spotted a custom-printed “Happy Birthday” menu was a lovely touch. We chose the longer degustation and added the optional marron course at $38 per person. Drink-wise we started with refreshing gin cocktails, followed by a bottle of sparkling that arrived disappointingly flat and served in ordinary wine glasses rather than flutes.
There was pleasing theatre in the food: liquid-nitrogen mist under the oyster opener and a fog-filled cloche for the marron. Individual courses were small, but the sheer number meant we left comfortably full, helped by a generous hunk of sourdough served with the wagyu.
When ingredient sources were mentioned there were a few from Western Australia. While we appreciate Australian produce, dining in McLaren Vale we expected more South Australian provenance; one server couldn’t confirm where the wagyu came from (only that it wasn’t Mayura Station).
The cooking itself was strong: several dishes deserved a 10/10, while our least favourites, the mussel and spaetzle courses landed closer to 7/10. A few listed ingredients never really surfaced in flavour, and the umami punch felt heavy, almost MSG-like, leaving us both very thirsty and with mild headaches by the end. A surprise citrus-cream “taco” dessert ended things on a bright note.
Pacing was sluggish, and slow to start. Lunch stretched to four hours yet could easily have wrapped in two-and-a-half or less with tighter service. When we finally asked for the bill, it failed to arrive after fifteen minutes, so we returned to the tasting room to pay, only to be charged for the wrong table, leaving us $700 out of pocket until the refund cleared two days later.
Overall, the food and a few thoughtful touches partly redeemed the experience, but the rude initial reception, slow pacing, and billing mishap were hard to ignore, especially at this price point. We’re glad we tried Maxwell’s, yet for the next special occasion we’ll look elsewhere.
Every course at lunch was exceptional, perfectly paired with beautiful wines, and the service couldn’t have been better—warm, attentive, and genuinely friendly. I honestly couldn’t have asked for a more memorable experience, and the same sentiment was echoed by all four of us. Just be sure to allow plenty of time—this is not something you’ll want to rush!
Great food, great wine, great service, catering seamlessly for dietary requirements and requests. We wined, dined, chatted and laughed over a 4 hour period and enjoyed every moment of it.
Regarding the food OMG! The first four of the samll menu was my favorite's! But every course was spectacular. Will be back!
Everything was exceptional. We thoroughly enjoyed the flavours, experience and creativity showcased by the magical kitchen staff.
From the booking until the last petits fours, the experience was good.
We first booked for 2 pax, then extended to 6 pax, and needed to change to 5 pax one day in advance due to some illness. Despite the late notice and frequent changes, it was not a problem at all, which I really appreciate. Thanks again for your understanding!
The lunch itself is in a slow pace, which is stated on the website. However, it was almost 5h that it took for the menu, not 3-4 h, so at some point it became a bit tiring. This slow pace affected the service (we were seated not earlier than 10 min after arrival) and the food itself. Especially the first few bites could come out of the kitchen a little bit faster – if someone is taking 11 courses, you could assume they are looking forward to the food. :)
The menu itself is very innovative, well prepared and beautifully plated. The team uses state-of-the-art techniques to create a menu with many surprises, both visually and regarding the taste. The ingredients are of a high quality and one can tell, they love their espuma and caviar. Talking about espuma, there was unfortunately one dish (a mud crab with a melon foam) where the consistency of the foam was not really pleasant. Instead of supporting the taste of the high quality ingreadients, as the lovely and delicious crab, the unpleasant foam was too overwhelming, which was quite a shame. Despite this little flaw, the other dishes were great. Certainly, not everyone liked every dish, but that was more to the individual taste and not the fault of the restaurant.
Coming back to the front-of-house team, we experienced an attentive, smooth service. They were not necessarily talkative or interacting, but behaved professional. However, I was a bit confused that at some point, when I went to the bathroom, my glass was taken away, with a little bit of my drink left, and no one ever offered me any further drink. Since I am currently not drinking heaps of alcohol, I started with a non-alc drink, but neither I was offered to participate in the shared bottle of wine, nor I was asked if I wanted anything else. That was a bit confusing, and I was asking myself whether a winery does not necessarily want to sell their wines or other drinks during a meal? Especially compared to other restaurants in this segment, that is not what I am used to.
All in all, it was a descent experience, certainly with some positive surprises, but with room for improvement for a fully satisfying customer experience.
Then on the long lunch where every delicious course was paired with the perfect wine or mead served by friendly and welcoming staff in a gorgeous setting.
Would recommend this experience to anyone looking to treat themselves in McLaren Vale.
Came here for lunch, had the degustation with tasting plus the marron (highly recommended - my favourite dish).
Top shelf venue, service, food and experience. Was sorry when it was over (3-hours later lol).
If you are in the area and looking for something very special, grab an uber or DD and put Maxwell on top of your priority list.
Food , wine , presentation , service everything was just perfect. My taste buds were dancing all night capturing the essence of culinary perfection . We were first to come and last to leave and Imogen made sure we are well looked after since our first step in to our last step out . I wish all the very best success to Maxwells and the team and we will definitely be back .






































