In the McLaren Vale wine region, an unlikely structure has emerged – a contemporary, twisted glass box that glistens in the South Australia sunshine. The A$15m d’Arenberg Cube serves two purposes. It’s a brand home for the award-winning wine producer, offering a multi-sensory, art-filled journey through the world of d’Arenberg and a range of blending and degustation masterclasses, and it’s a world-class restaurant.
“When the guest enters the building, they walk through a mist that introduces their senses to the wine of the day,” says chief winemaker and viticulturist Chester Osborn. “There’s an art gallery of wine-related installations and an interactive gallery called Alternate Realities, because when two people have the same glass of wine, they’ll have different realities of that wine.”
For Osborn, whose great grandfather, Joseph Osborn, founded the d’Arenberg wineries in 1912, it’s been a long-held dream. As the owner of one of the busiest cellar doors in McLaren Vale, research by wine and tourism industries noted the need for more tourist drawcards and the Cube is his response. Osborn needed more space to cater more people.
“We have a successful restaurant called d’Arrys Verandah and a tasting room, which are always fully booked,” he tells Attractions Management. “I thought about creating an 1800s, colonial-style restaurant, but then one day I woke up and realised we needed something really iconic that will make people really want to come and see us.”
PUZZLE ME THIS Wines from d’Arenberg are famously something of a riddle – for example, The Dead Arm Shiraz, The Hermit Crab Viognier, The Money Spider Roussanne – “and wine, too, is a puzzle to work out,” says Osborn. That inspired the idea of a Rubik’s cube-shaped structure, with the top two levels appearing to have been twisted. The mirrored design means it looks like a cube floating on top of a vine.
In the new fine dining restaurant, Michelin-starred chefs Brendan Wessels and Lindsay Durr will be serving a menu inspired by the theme of alternate realities and at “the top end of international cuisine – think Melbourne’s Vue de Monde or El Celler de Can Roca in Spain,” says Osborn. There are four big terraces where guests can admire the panoramic view and, on the top floor, the bar, tasting room and lounge area will be located, featuring glass art, lightboxes, video screens and projections.
“The bar is made up of 115 screens showing content of a person swimming along, as if they’re trapped inside.”
There are plenty more offbeat or zany installations and interactives inside the visitor experience, including a cow sculpture with a polygraph, a natural automated winemaker, a “flower and fruit” room, decorated with artificial flowers and fruits and filled with wine aromas the visitor can try, and a 360-multimedia immersion room that recreates the vineyard.
The d’Arenberg Cube – expected to open in late November – is built to accommodate 500,000 annually and Osborn says he will charge a flat A$10 ticket price for non-diners and non-members who just want to do the experiences. As wine tourism continues to blossom in McLaren Vale, where there are 120 wineries and 18 cellar doors, Osborn’s iconic Cube is certain to attract attention.
“It’s a very busy tourist destination, second to Barossa Valley in numbers, but not by much,” he says. “It’s on the way to Fleurieu peninsula and Kangaroo Island, which are popular destinations, so we have a lot of people heading there who don’t stop, but maybe they will now. There are 40 restaurants in this region and its only 40 minutes drive from the centre of Adelaide, so it’s popular for a day or overnight trip.”
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2017 issue 4
Interview: Jane Cooper
We talked to Jane Cooper, COO
and president of Herschend Family
Entertainment, about the company
portfolio and all things Dollywood
In the McLaren Vale wine region, an unlikely structure has emerged – a contemporary, twisted glass box that glistens in the South Australia sunshine. The A$15m d’Arenberg Cube serves two purposes. It’s a brand home for the award-winning wine producer, offering a multi-sensory, art-filled journey through the world of d’Arenberg and a range of blending and degustation masterclasses, and it’s a world-class restaurant.
“When the guest enters the building, they walk through a mist that introduces their senses to the wine of the day,” says chief winemaker and viticulturist Chester Osborn. “There’s an art gallery of wine-related installations and an interactive gallery called Alternate Realities, because when two people have the same glass of wine, they’ll have different realities of that wine.”
For Osborn, whose great grandfather, Joseph Osborn, founded the d’Arenberg wineries in 1912, it’s been a long-held dream. As the owner of one of the busiest cellar doors in McLaren Vale, research by wine and tourism industries noted the need for more tourist drawcards and the Cube is his response. Osborn needed more space to cater more people.
“We have a successful restaurant called d’Arrys Verandah and a tasting room, which are always fully booked,” he tells Attractions Management. “I thought about creating an 1800s, colonial-style restaurant, but then one day I woke up and realised we needed something really iconic that will make people really want to come and see us.”
PUZZLE ME THIS Wines from d’Arenberg are famously something of a riddle – for example, The Dead Arm Shiraz, The Hermit Crab Viognier, The Money Spider Roussanne – “and wine, too, is a puzzle to work out,” says Osborn. That inspired the idea of a Rubik’s cube-shaped structure, with the top two levels appearing to have been twisted. The mirrored design means it looks like a cube floating on top of a vine.
In the new fine dining restaurant, Michelin-starred chefs Brendan Wessels and Lindsay Durr will be serving a menu inspired by the theme of alternate realities and at “the top end of international cuisine – think Melbourne’s Vue de Monde or El Celler de Can Roca in Spain,” says Osborn. There are four big terraces where guests can admire the panoramic view and, on the top floor, the bar, tasting room and lounge area will be located, featuring glass art, lightboxes, video screens and projections.
“The bar is made up of 115 screens showing content of a person swimming along, as if they’re trapped inside.”
There are plenty more offbeat or zany installations and interactives inside the visitor experience, including a cow sculpture with a polygraph, a natural automated winemaker, a “flower and fruit” room, decorated with artificial flowers and fruits and filled with wine aromas the visitor can try, and a 360-multimedia immersion room that recreates the vineyard.
The d’Arenberg Cube – expected to open in late November – is built to accommodate 500,000 annually and Osborn says he will charge a flat A$10 ticket price for non-diners and non-members who just want to do the experiences. As wine tourism continues to blossom in McLaren Vale, where there are 120 wineries and 18 cellar doors, Osborn’s iconic Cube is certain to attract attention.
“It’s a very busy tourist destination, second to Barossa Valley in numbers, but not by much,” he says. “It’s on the way to Fleurieu peninsula and Kangaroo Island, which are popular destinations, so we have a lot of people heading there who don’t stop, but maybe they will now. There are 40 restaurants in this region and its only 40 minutes drive from the centre of Adelaide, so it’s popular for a day or overnight trip.”
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2017 issue 4
Interview: Jane Cooper
We talked to Jane Cooper, COO
and president of Herschend Family
Entertainment, about the company
portfolio and all things Dollywood
London Museum will open four new food and drink destinations when it launches its new home
at Smithfield on 28 November, making hospitality a central part of the visitor experience at one
of the capital's biggest cultural openings of the year.
OMA has completed a major transformation of New York's New Museum, creating a larger
cultural campus that combines expanded exhibition spaces with learning, performance,
hospitality and public programming.
A US$50 million (£44.2 million, €51.2 million) transformation of Chicago's historic McCormick
Mansion has created a new destination that combines live magic, immersive theatre, dining and
private membership under one roof.
The Montana Historical Society has officially celebrated the opening of its new Montana
Heritage
Center, a US$107 million (£79 million, €92 million) destination that combines immersive
storytelling with cutting-edge audiovisual technology to bring the sta
San Antonio Zoo has reported a US$283 million economic impact for 2025, following a decade-
long transformation programme that has seen almost US$200 million invested into the Texas
attraction.
Plans for the AU$180 million redevelopment of Reef HQ Aquarium in Townsville, Australia, are
progressing, with the project set to transform the attraction into a global centre for reef
education and conservation.
Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Mubadala Capital has made a binding, fully financed
€1 billion
offer to acquire Pierre and Vacances SA, the European holiday resort operator behind the
continental European Center Parcs business.
Disney has reaffirmed its commitment to investing US$30 billion in its US parks and cruise
business by 2033, using new America250 celebrations to underline the role its attractions play
in supporting jobs, tourism and economic growth.
Expo 2030 Riyadh is being planned as a permanent visitor destination, with organisers
confirming the six-million-square-metre site will become a Global Village after the event closes.
The owner of one of Australia's best-known waterparks has acquired a major competitor,
creating a new attractions business spanning two of the country's largest visitor destinations.
