Chocolate lovers can indulge their sweetest desires in the cosiest of natural settings, as the Barossa Valley Chocolate Company kicks off Winter ChocFest. This is South Australia’s most delicious mid-year festival, returning in 2024 with a family-friendly programme of mouthwatering hot chocolate events, including new private Dome Dining Experiences overlooking stunning vineyards.
First held in 2019, the year the Barossa Valley Chocolate Company opened, Winter ChocFest is a cocoa-covered celebration of the most luxurious sweet of them all – chocolate; and not just any chocolate – but premium couverture* chocolate that’s made this popular Tanunda venue, just an hour’s drive from Adelaide, the Barossa’s number one destination for family fun.
This year, Winter ChocFest runs from 1st – 31st of July, with past favourites like the Rocky Road Workshops for children, adults and teens and Wine and Chocolate Tastings set around a decedent hot fondue pot in the Cellar Door, joining Insta-worthy all-new events.
Kate McClure, General Manager of the Barossa Valley Chocolate Company, said: “Our new Dome Dining Experiences are a wickedly good reason to cosy up with family or friends and indulge in a divine hot chocolate feast in a vine-side winter wonderland all your own. This will be a dream come true experience for chocolate lovers of every age and a perfect day trip for locals, in or out of the school holidays, or as part of a longer visit to the Barossa by interstaters.”
The venue’s four Dining Domes can host groups of four or eight guests, with early bookings encouraged as each Dome offers a limited number of experiences daily, each paired with a different menu of hot chocolate delights.
Morning Scones with Hot Chocolate will make a cosy start to any winter’s day, while Late Mornings and Lazy Afternoons can be warmly whiled away around a Hot Chocolate Grazing Platter of melted white, dark and milk couverture chocolate, and an assortment of seasonal fruits, waffles, wafers and lollies. Lunch Sessions serve up a smorgasbord of scrumptious sliders, fries, a fun-filled fondue platter, and drinks from the venue’s South Australian beverage partners, Vineyard Road, Prancing Pony Brewery, and the family favourite, Bickford’s collection.
Alongside the Dome Dining Experiences, workshops, and tastings there will be the chance to sit down to delicious winter dessert menu including Hot Chocolate Sundaes or simply indulge in a classic Hot Chocolate Benni’s Café and Gelati Bar.
Alongside the 200 couverture chocolate products the Retail Store will offer a range of classic and flavoured Hot Chocolate make-it-at-home packs to take away for a rainy day.
“If you’re yet to experience a hot chocolate made the Barossa Valley Chocolate Company way, with real chocolate, not powder – you’re in for an unforgettable treat when you visit us,” said Kate McClure. “Into every hot chocolate we drop buttons of premium, cocoa-rich milk, dark or white chocolate – what we call couverture callets – and these melt in moments to release their incredible flavours. It’s an off-the-chart chocolate experience you’ll want to repeat again and again!”
Visit their website to book a Dome Dining Experience or Cellar Door Tasting, as well as the popular Chocolate Workshops for the whole family – or drop in any day for a signature Hot Chocolate Sundae or a steaming Hot Chocolate at Benni’s Café and Gelati Bar.
*Couverture chocolate contains a higher percentage of cocoa butter (32-39%) than baking (compound) or eating chocolate and is considered the premium chocolate.
Winter ChocFest 2024
1st – 31st of July, 10am – 5pm
Barossa Valley Chocolate Company, Tanunda
barossavalleychocolates.com.au
