The month long Cellar Dwellers celebrations officially wrapped up on the weekend with two major events run in the Coonawarra wine region at The Royal Oak Hotel and Hollick Estates.

The annual festival, run during July, attracted wine enthusiasts nationwide, including from Sydney and Canberra to sample the offerings of the Coonawarra region.

Coonawarra Vignerons executive officer Hugh Koch said the ‘Two Italians and a Scotsman Walk Into the Bar’ wine dinner last Thursday was much anticipated.

“That was DeGiorgio, Balnaves and Zema together which was a bit of our storytelling and also tasting some great wine, he said.

“It went really well, we had some good numbers there and I think people did not want to leave.

“Thursday night was quite a cool night and people were there for quite some time afterwards, so they really obviously enjoyed that which was fantastic.

“I think they nearly got to be booked out which was great.

“I suppose that was really more targeted at those within sort of half an hour to an hour drive so Mount Gambier, Naracoorte and in the area.

“I think that tasting just emphasised to me how important our region is, the consistency or our region but also too how well regarded our region is, that was really emphasised in that fine wineries tasting.”

The ‘Pride of Place Long Lunch’ at Hollicks Estate on Saturday finished off the weekend’s cellar-brations.

“Their numbers were really quite good as well and of course walking our old chef back into Hollicks was fantastic, so he was able to demonstrate some of his great abilities and they matched that with some fantastic library stock,” Mr Koch said.

“They had some quite old wine there which they were trying and matching, and I think that was really well received.

“Their bookings were really quite good in the lead up to the end of last week, so we were really pleased about that.”

Cellar Dwellers is held in winter every year due to it being traditionally quieter time of year for the local wine region.

“It’s a chance for people to come along and actually try bottles of wine, bring them out of the cellar,” Mr Koch said.

“It is a time of year that is really conducive to drinking red wine as well, there is more time to enjoy them.

“It also shows people what the age-ability of some of the Coonawarra wines are which of course we are well renowned for.

“The reward for those who have them and cellar them it just gives them absolute complexity of flavours, just layer upon layer of those flavours.

“That is what the weekend is all about you can actually then see those flavours in some of those older wines.

“It is a really good opportunity for those who really have a good wine cellar and they also too have a great wine palette, they actually want to bolster their stocks too.

“They can actually then have a look and see what some of those wines are going to look like.