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Most people visit the region with one firm agenda: wine tasting. But the Barossa has a lot more to offer than just fabulous food and wine. ABOVE The South Australian Store nestled in the vines. rustic, aged furniture, jewel-bright silk cushions, delicate jewellery and stacks of noodle bowls. I delighted in scrounging through the treasures there, and was pleased to learn many are bought from Fair Trade Community groups. That night we stayed at Jacobs Creek Retreat, the historic Nitschke family settlement on the banks of the creek where wine-growing began. We strolled through the grounds, beneath pergolas draped with the floppy blooms of tea roses, their sensuous scent heavy in the night air. We were in the famous David Austin rose garden. Some visitors go there by day for a tour of the garden, while those less green-thumbed can join a sausage- making class – led by the Retreat's chef, Wyndham House – and smoke their creations in an original 160-year-old smokehouse. Roses grow well in the Barossa. We found them at Lyndoch, too, when we dined at Lyndoch Hill Restaurant. The dining room is set in a huge glass gazebo that overlooks some 30,000 roses. It was night-time, so we were more interested in our plates, and rightly so as talented chef Karen Roesler's innovative food is firmly focussed on Barossa produce and deserves attention. The Barossa Ranges, to the east of the Valley, were named by South Australia's Surveyor-General, Colonel William Light, in 1837. He wished to honour the 1811 British victory over the French at the Battle of Barrosa, in the Spanish Peninsula War (a battle in which he had fought). However, the name 'Barossa' was registered in error. Next morning we returned to Lyndoch and Chateau Barrosa (a revival of the correct spelling) – the dream of owner Hermann Thumm, who arrived penniless in Australia then founded Chateau Yaldara in 1947. Later he turned to collecting art and antiques and, in 1999, age 88, he created Chateau Barrosa. Thirty thousand rose bushes were planted in 50 www.travelandliving.com.au