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events
The team at Watervale Hotel are passionate about fresh local food and Clare Valley produce.
Join in the fun
Festival of the Lamb - Feed Me with Kilikanoon at the Watervale Hotel
Wednesday 17th to Sunday 20th September
The Watervale Hotel is featuring lamb from Skilly Farm for the Festival of the Lamb.
Throughout the Festival the Watervale Hotel Feed Me menu will feature lamb. Guests will be able to select a Kilikanoon wine match option for each course. Â
Guests will simply book the Feed Me on-line and can choose the Kilikanoon wine match on arrival.
Running Naked in Watervale Lunch
Friday 3rd October, 2025
What a great way to kick-off a great long weekend!
Naked Run wines crafted by Steve Baraglia will be featured for this one-off event in the Watervale Hotel’s Hell Hole over lunch on Friday 3rd October.Â
Guests will try the 2025 ‘The First’ Riesling and hear all about the 2025 vintage over canapes.
Steve will then educate guests on the development of Riesling as it ages, bringing a couple of old ‘Place in Time’ Rieslings from his museum with entree.
The first main will be complimented with lighter fruitful reds comparing Barossa Grenache with a Clare Cabernet Malbec.
Shiraz from both the Barossa and Clare will accompany a heartier main.
Dessert will be served with the medium sweet ‘Der Zweite’ Riesling.
Great value at $150 / head, all inclusive, made possible by Steve’s generosity both with his time and cellar.
Soil, Soul & Sustenance: A Farm-to-Table Charity Affair
Sunday October 26th 2025
A Curated Experience of Gourmet Flavours, Refined Wines, and Spiritual Insight
Join us for an exclusive journey celebrating the very best of South Australia’s food, wine, and spirit — all in support of the Cancer Prevention and Support Association.
The day begins at Penobscot Farm, where biodynamic practices nurture some of the region’s finest organic produce. We will learn about the benefits of organic and biodynamic foods, grown without synthetic chemicals, pesticides, or genetically modified organisms.
They are often richer in nutrients, antioxidants, and natural flavours, supporting the body with wholesome nourishment whilst also reducing exposure to potentially harmful additives that can increase the risk of cancer. Organically grown produce is generally more flavoursome too… you might even get a sneaky taste ahead of lunch.
The Watervale Hotel remains committed to reconciliation and meaningful involvement with the local custodians, the Ngadjuri people, fostering respect, collaboration, and shared celebration of culture. Throughout the day, we will be immersed in stories of the culture and the history and the powerful impact that has had upon the past and present owners of the Watervale Hotel and how it continues to shape the future.
Guests then indulge in a farm-to-table feast at the award-winning Watervale Hotel, winner of the 2024 Best Culinary Experience in the World by LUXlife Magazine’s Travel and Tourism Awards. The Watervale hotel is celebrated for its dedication to seasonal, sustainable cuisine with as much of the meal’s ingredients having been picked from the farm by the team of chefs that very same day.
Hosted by 2022 South Australian Chef of the Year Nicola Palmer and Sommelier husband Warrick Duthy you are in for a passionate, informative and entertaining feast.
On the return journey, we pause at a Clare Valley winery, savouring exceptional vintages crafted by masterful winemakers.
The day’s experience is further elevated by an intimate session with internationally acclaimed psychic medium Alice Terry, who will share heartfelt messages from spirit. Her profound insights bring connection, comfort, and inspiration, creating a truly memorable highlight of the day.
This is more than an event — it is a celebration of community, connection, and care.
By joining us, you are supporting our Patient Accommodation programs, that support the many country, regional and remote families that are required to relocate to the city for treatment and life-saving surgeries, all while enjoying a day of unparalleled taste, refinement, and soulful engagement.
Ngadjuri Women’s Lunch – Ceremony for the Little People
Sunday 9th November 2025
The Ngadjuri chose the valleys and creeks around Watervale as the place to give birth to their children, every year for tens of thousands of years. Every Ngadjuri mother needed to return to where they were born. They chose to give birth when the rest of their eco-system – birds and animals – gave birth. By giving birth in the same place they ensured that their young were born into a consistent energy and environment. Their bodies became attuned to the unique frequency of Watervale, and their biome was born of the little people in the Earth.
On September 1st 2022 we celebrated a reconnection between Ngadjuri women and women living on Ngadjuri land. We honoured Esther Greenslade, Licensee of the Watervale Hotel who baked and broke bread with the Ngadjuri women. Aunty Angelena Harradine and Nicola Palmer re-created this moment of love, respect and nurturing that took place in Watervale.
We asked all of the guests to the 2022 event to bring a teacup of undisturbed soil from Ngadjuri land. Aunty Minna mixed ash into this collection of soils and it was buried in a pit with indigenous plants and manure. This soil was the seed of the endemic biome of Ngadjuri Country. We developed a soil conditioner from this soil and have used it to treat the soils at Penobscot Farm. It now needs activation through ceremony.
We invite the guests from the 2022 event back to Watervale, as well as others more recently engaged in the project, to take part in the next stage of the re-birth of our Earth.
Respect the past as we celebrate the future together
oh the fun we've had!
retrospective evolution
Sunday 28th May 2023
Nicola invited guests home to Penobscot Farm for a long table lunch in the Shearing Shed. The lunch featured fresh, fermented and preserved farm produce with all cooking over wood fires. Warrick and Katie Spain introduced wines from experimental and next generation labels, and emerging winemakers who have sought inspiration from traditional techniques and the old world. Â
Special guest Ngadjuri healer Aunty Angelena welcomed guests to Ngadjuri country and explained what life was like living in Watervale before the arrival of Europeans. Her Husband Tjadjawara played didgeridoo and explained how the movement of the stars and cycles of the moon guided the Ngadjuri through their seasonal migration.Â
An invitation from the heart of this land
Thursday 1st September 2022
This is an invitation to the Women living on Ngadjuri Land
Esther Greenslade, the licensee of the Watervale Hotel in the 1860s, gave the gift of
life to the Ngadjuri women living nearby. She broke bread and fed her fellow
women at a time when such compassion was rare.
Aunty Angelena Harradine and Nicola Palmer honoured Esther by re-enacting the
breaking of bread at a special women’s luncheon at the Watervale Hotel
on Thursday 1st September, 2022.
Leaving a Green Footprint on Ngadjuri Land
Watervale was an oasis of Ngadjuri country for thousands of years – being sustainably managed for the benefit of future generations. The area was called Watervale by the arriving Europeans because there was water springing from the ground. There was a layer of brown loam high in organic content and full of life held together by native grasses which retained water, allowing it to make its way into the ground. Sheep and European farming techniques saw the grasses disappear and topsoil eroded over a few decades exposing red clay which became like a terra cotta pot in the hot sun.
Penobscot Farm is being managed with regenerative agriculture techniques – permaculture design, organic and bio-dynamic practices. We are exploring the similarities between Steiner bio-dynamics and Ngadjuri land management. By improving the vitality and life of the soils we are producing more nutritious, tastier food.
From the Heart of our Land
Few Ngadjuri people now live on Ngadjuri Country. Most died of disease, poisoning, or through lack of access to their traditional food. Those who survived the first decades of European settlement relocated to missions such as Point Pearce on the Yorke Peninsula for protection 150 years ago.
In the 1860’s the Licensee of the Watervale Hotel, Esther Greenslade fed the local women, saving many long enough to relocate. Â
Two years ago we were visited by Aunty Angelena Harradine who was keen to meet Nicola. She had heard of Esther’s kindness when growing up at Point Pearce and wanted to remember this woman. She said we should celebrate the good stories. We ran an event in Esther’s honour on September 1st which was covered by SA Life. The article written by Zoe Rice tells the story well.
Living Melting Pot
Friday May 20th 2022
This half-day event was held during the Clare Gourmet week to explore Marnie Robert’s Matriarch and Rogue wines.Â
Thanks to Mr Willson for moving us around Watervale!
The event started with a Six Senses Penobscot Farm tour with a difference. Guests were treated to a canape picked by Nicola as they toured matched to a Penobscot Farm cocktail, also made from freshly picked produce.
The group then headed off to Bryksy’s vineyard where Marnie sources her Riesling.
Nicola started a fire and cooked prawn and mandarin skewers matched to the Riesling as Marnie explained how it was made. The views from the hill across to Mount Horrocks at sunset were sensational.
Then it was back to the Watervale Hotel for the rest of the degustation dinner, with courses matched to Matriarch and Rogue wines including a Cabernet Franc straight from the barrel and a lovely little tawny with dessert. What a day is was.Â
Katie's Wonderland & The Mad Hatters Tea Party
Sunday May 22nd 2022
Everyone was there – The Queen of Hearts aka Katie Spain, the white rabbit, a unicorn, several Mad Hatters, and an Alice with a hairy chest.
DJ Driller entertained the guests lifting the tempo as the afternoon wore on.Â
Nicola prepared endless canapes, and finished with a Striploin Sandwich bigger than the grin on a Cheshire cat. Â
Kirrihill Wines - Fire, Smoke & Smoulder
Saturday May 21st 2022
The Fires of Hell Fires of Hell Asado BBQ was the hero of the night alongside of the amazing Kirrihill wines.
Things kicked off with canapes and Kirrihill Riesling before the smoke and smoulder delivered a string of dishes designed to partner Kirrihill Shiraz – including the 2019 which won the Great australian Shiraz challenge, as well as the trophy winning ‘Pastor’ Cabernet Malbec.Â