DogRidge Vineyards, Cellar Door & Art Gallery

DogRidge sits at 129 Bagshaws Road, McLaren Flat, a family-run cellar door and art gallery beside Pedler Creek that has worked 90 acres of vines since 1992. It is a genuinely dog-welcoming spot, and a leashed dog can settle in with you for a tasting among the vines.

The dog setup

Dogs are welcome in the outdoor lawn and garden areas, and can join you for tastings out among the vines. Water bowls are usually on hand for visiting dogs, though packing your own is smart. Keep the lead on around the working vineyard, and mind other guests while you taste.

Max: A working vineyard is not a dog park. Great place for a calm companion, hard work for a dog that wants to patrol every row.

The vibe

The focus is small-batch, minimal-intervention wines, with grenache rose, sangiovese and a fortified viognier among the names to ask about. The gallery showing local art sits alongside the tasting room, so there is more than wine to look at between pours. The setting is rural and quiet.

Getting there and parking

On-site parking is available, and the drive from the McLaren Vale township takes about ten minutes along Bagshaws Road, which leaves the traffic of the main strip behind. Tastings run 11am to 5pm, seven days. A relaxed weekday or quiet weekend morning is when the lawns are easiest and the tastings unhurried, and Kuitpo Forest to the east is a handy detour for a leg-stretch walk either side of a tasting.

Pair it with

Hastwell and Lightfoot on Foggo Road is a fellow dog-friendly McLaren Flat stop, and Kay Brothers up in the hills adds a historic finish to a McLaren Flat loop.

See more dog friendly wineries in SA or our guide to McLaren Flat with the dogs.