When the new Mitolo cellar door arrived on the McLaren Vale scene a few years ago, everybody went, ‘Oh wow! So that’s what a cellar door/restaurant can look like!’ And indeed, Mitolo is a beauty: a mod-industrial pavilion linking a series of charcoal-grey steel shipping containers with expansive glass walls and timber decks – a sleek cargo-meets-cubbyhouse architectural hybrid.
Inside, the cellar door vibe is sophisticated and formal, with tasting flights ($20 to $40) taking Insta-worthy guests on a journey through Mitolo’s range of Italian varietals (aim for the nero d'avola) and flagship shiraz and cab sav product. It’s all very glam and classy – a mood which extends into the Little Wolf Osteria (lunch Friday to Sunday; dinner Saturday) in another zone of the same complex, where delicately crafted Italian masterpieces are steeped in house-made, house-grown and locally sourced ethics.
If you’re looking to dress up and impress your date, Mitolo is for you. Undermine all your hard work by grabbing jumbo shiraz takeaway on your way out the door (‘Oh looky! Magnums!’).
