events
The team at Watervale Hotel are passionate about fresh local food and Clare Valley produce.
Join in the fun
Loaves & Fishes - Good Friday Feast
Friday 3rd April, 2026
Chef Nicola Palmer will be heating up the wood oven early on Good Friday to make fresh bread. She has adapted our Feed Me for the day as a pescatarian delight. Two snacks and bread followed by three shared savoury dishes – cold entrée, seafood pasta, fish main with vegetable sides, and an individually plated dessert. Sommelier Warrick Duthy will advise guests on Clare Valley wines to match each of the
dishes that can be purchased.
The menu will be available to all guests on the day. Pre-paid bookings will avoid the public holiday surcharge.
Lamb-shank Redemption - ANZAC DAY Feed Me
Satuday 25th April 2026
On ANZAC DAY join Frankie Blue at the Watervale Hotel .Chef Nicola Palmer has adapted our Feed Me for ANZAC day as a lamb extravaganza. Show your respect at the Watervale memorial evening service.
Watervale is the perfect place to enjoy dinner on ANZAC Day. Show your respect at the Watervale memorial evening service before walking across the road for a beer in the bar, and sit down for dinner.
Chef Nicola Palmer has adapted our Feed Me for ANZAC day as a lamb extravaganza. Two snacks and bread followed by three shared lamb dishes – lamb cigars, lamb ragu pasta, lamb shank with vegetable sides, and an individually plated dessert. Sommelier Warrick Duthy will advise guests on Clare Valley wines to match each of the dishes that can be purchased.
The menu will be available to all guests on the day. Pre-paid bookings will avoid the public
holiday surcharge.
Cellars without Doors Degustation Dinner
Friday 15th May 2026
The ultimate “meet the winemaker” dinner. This dinner is all about showcasing some of the wines that you can’t usually find. Each wine is supplied by a different winery without a cellar door in the Clare Valley
over the long weekend.
Guest winemakers will include Federal Minister for Tourism and Trade, Senator Don Farrell who will present his Cabernet aptly named the ‘Godfather Too’.
Each wine will be paired with food curated by Chef of the Year Nicola Palmer and Watervale Hotel team.
The dinner is served under cover in the beer garden with gas heaters blazing. Whilst the firepits will also be burning it is best to dress to keep warm.
Fiesta Del Fuego
Saturday 16th May, 2026
The Watervale Hotel is on fire at the Clare Valley Gourmet Festival. The Fires of Hell will be ignited with a special Feed Me dinner using flames and smoke created by South Australian Chef of the Year Nicola Palmer to accompany Mediterranean varietal wines grown in the Clare Valley. Meat will be flame-roasted and barbecued, vegetables smoked and grilled. The full Watervale Hotel beverage list will be available, with a focus on Southern European varietals such as Assyrtiko, Alberino, Fiano, Vermentino, Tempranillo, Sangiovese, Montepulciano and Nero D’Avola. The Beer Garden Bar will be open. There will be Latin music piped through the Sonos Speaker system to set the mood. To be held in the Watervale Hotel Beer Garden, undercover and with warmth from heaters and fire-pits, but warm clothing is recommended.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Nicola prepared endless canapes, and finished with a Striploin Sandwich bigger than the grin on a Cheshire cat.
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.
