VISIT > PRIMO ESTATE, McLaren Vale SA

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Step through the glass doors at Primo Estate and the first thing you notice is the light: refracted off pale stone, softened by timber, framed by rows of vines that run towards the Willunga foothills. It feels more like a contemporary Italian villa than a conventional Australian cellar door – an architectural expression of the Grilli family’s Italian heritage and McLaren Vale home, with a piazza-style courtyard, sleek tasting bar and a working olive oil culture woven through the experience.

There’s a hum of conversation around the central bar as staff pour flights of both Primo Estate and JOSEPH wines, setting down plates of crusty bread, sharp Italian cheese and the estate’s own extra virgin olive oil in a gesture that makes it clear this is a place where food and wine are inseparable. It’s polished yet intimate, the sort of family-run operation where you might find a Grilli behind the bar talking through the latest vintage, or pointing out where in Clarendon the Angel Gully Shiraz was grown.

VARIETALS >

The range leans into a conversation between Italian and Australian varieties, with McLaren Vale stalwarts sitting alongside Italian grapes and stylistic nods to Amarone, Ripasso and Tuscan reds. Shiraz, Cabernet and Cabernet-based blends from McLaren Vale and the cooler Clarendon subregion anchor the reds, including flagship JOSEPH bottlings such as Angel Gully Shiraz that showcase dense black fruit framed by fine tannin and French oak.

Italian influence comes through in Sangiovese, Nero d’Avola and Italian-inspired blends like Zamberlan Cabernet Sangiovese, alongside aromatic whites including Pinot Grigio and Pecorino sourced from cooler sites such as the Adelaide Hills. Prosecco (Primo Prosecco/Primo Secco) and other sparkling styles add levity at the top of the tasting, while the Colombard that helped define the estate’s early reputation still plays a part in the broader portfolio.

REGION >

Primo Estate sits on McMurtrie Road, one of McLaren Vale’s most scenic stretches, surrounded by vineyards and olive groves that underline the Mediterranean climate shared with the Grilli family’s ancestral home in Italy’s Le Marche. The McLaren Vale fruit – particularly Shiraz, Cabernet and Mediterranean varieties – brings ripe, plush flavours, while the Clarendon vineyards in the hills above the Vale deliver cooler, higher-altitude character for wines like JOSEPH Angel Gully Shiraz.

This duality of sites allows the winery to work across texture and freshness: Clarendon lending lift and spice, McLaren Vale contributing power and generosity. Additional sourcing from regions such as the Adelaide Hills, used for grape varieties like Pecorino and other cool-climate whites, rounds out a portfolio that reads like a map of South Australian strengths.

RANGE OF WINES >

From a tasting perspective, Primo Estate and JOSEPH wines are poured together, but the portfolio naturally ladders from JOSEPH flagship reds through to everyday-drinking bottlings bearing the Primo Estate label. At the top end, JOSEPH Angel Gully Shiraz – drawn from a single Clarendon vineyard – stands as a statement wine: hand-picked, low-yielding fruit, French oak maturation and a style that balances intense black fruit with structure and savoury depth.

The broader JOSEPH range includes premium McLaren Vale and Italian-inspired reds made using techniques such as double pruning and Amarone-style grape drying, alongside limited-release cuvées that often appear first at the cellar door and to club members. These wines typically show more time in oak, more complex blending and tighter release volumes, and are positioned for cellaring and serious collectors.

Stepping down a tier, Primo Estate-branded wines offer expressive regional character with a more approachable price and style profile, including varietal Shiraz, Sangiovese, Cabernet blends and textural whites like Pinot Grigio and Pecorino. Prosecco, Colombard and other fresh, vibrant whites and sparkling wines sit at the more casual end, designed for immediate enjoyment and often poured by the glass at events and tastings, while the estate’s extra virgin olive oils – including the celebrated First Run – complete the table.

ACCOLADES >

Primo Estate has long been recognised as one of McLaren Vale’s most design-forward cellar doors, celebrated for its modern architecture and Italian-inflected sense of style. Critics such as James Halliday and Robert Parker have highlighted the ingenuity and individuality of the wines, noting the innovation behind techniques like double pruning and Italian-inspired winemaking in an Australian context.

The estate features in major wine and travel guides, with the cellar door regularly described as a must-visit for combining high-quality wines, olive oils and a polished yet welcoming hospitality experience. Regular sell-out events and a loyal wine club following reinforce its reputation as one of the region’s standout family-owned producers.

EAT >

There is no full-service restaurant on site, but food is central to the cellar door experience, where tastings are paired with freshly baked bread, Italian cheese and JOSEPH Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The standard Primo Estate Tasting includes a shared plate of crusty bread and olive oil, while the JOSEPH Experience layers on Grana Padano and additional premium wines, effectively creating a structured wine-and-food flight rather than a traditional meal.

On select days and for special events, the courtyard’s imported wood-fired oven is used for long-table lunches and seasonal celebrations, further underlining the Grilli family’s belief that good food and great wine are inseparable. For a more substantial lunch or dinner, guests are encouraged to explore the restaurants dotted along McMurtrie Road and in nearby McLaren Vale township, using Primo Estate as the aperitivo stop that sets the tone.

Primo Estate’s story begins with its namesake: Primo Grilli, who left Le Marche in 1953 and settled in South Australia with a dream to plant his own vineyard. That dream materialised in 1973 with the family’s first vines, and by 1979 Primo had backed his eldest son Joe – then fresh from graduating Dux of the Roseworthy winemaking course – to build a small but state-of-the-art winery bearing his name.

Through the 1980s Joe pushed boundaries with double pruning, botrytised whites and Amarone-inspired drying, experimenting with Italian varieties at a time when they were far from mainstream in Australia. In 2006 the family realised another long-held ambition, opening the current McLaren Vale headquarters and cellar door – conceived by Joe and his late wife Dina during trips to Italy – as a physical expression of their cross-cultural philosophy.

Today, Joe, his brother Peter and the next generation of the Grilli family continue to run Primo Estate, splitting their time between McLaren Vale and regular sojourns to Italy, where Joe makes two JOSEPH wines each year. The result is a winery that feels at once deeply Australian and unmistakably Italian, where la dolce vita is less a slogan than a lived family history poured into every glass.