Award-winning winery Sidewood Estate are busy making red- and white-tinted waves
Sidewood Estate continues to make a name for itself on the international stage. Founded by Owen and Cassandra Inglis, the family-owned label is renowned for their elegant, cool-climate wines that champion the Adelaide Hills terroir. With a recent multi-award streak, we gave the brand a swirl to identify the notes that makes it so commendable.
Set among eucalyptus trees, Sidewood Estate is just 25 minutes from the CBD. Their inviting restaurant features striking architecture, Victorian ash trusses and local stone flooring. The formal dining room is aptly named the Gallery for the curated Australian art collection on its walls. The à la carte menu celebrates the best of Adelaide Hills’ produce, alongside handmade pizzas that emerge blistering from the stone oven; both pair perfectly with Sidewood’s award-winning wines and ciders.
Outside, the deck and verandah provide an idyllic setting for relaxed dining and private events beneath a year-round marquee. Families are well catered for with a sheltered garden space, featuring games, swings and plenty of room for children to play.
The cellar door also operates onsite. Run by an experienced team, the space hosts a variety of events. There are structured masterclasses, interactive tastings, wine flights, cider paddles and—lovers of the dramatic, get ready—sabrage training.
The estate is elevated not only in their Adelaide Hills location, but their acclaim, with several international awards now under their belt. At the Decanter World Wine Awards, two of their Chardonnays were given Platinum medals: an honour only awarded to one per cent of entries. The result follows success at the 2026 International Wine Challenge in London. Sidewood took out the South Australia Chardonnay Trophy for their 2024 Owen’s Chardonnay, plus three Gold medals in the competition’s second tranche.
For many years, the Adelaide Hills haven’t dominated the conversation about top-end Chardonnays. These awards have changed that. “Great Australian Chardonnay is being made right here in the Hills,” says Owen Inglis. “We’ve got the soils, the elevation and the climate, and now we have the proof in the glass.”
Continuing our tour of Sidewood’s trophy cabinet, you’ll also find Best Pinot Gris from Dan Murphy’s 2026 Best in Glass Wine Awards and Best Sauvignon Blanc from the National Wine Show of Australia.
The estate’s rise makes it a label to keep firmly in your sights… and your wine fridge. When celebrating life’s moments, no matter how small, they’re the wine to take with you: to catchups, to dinners, to big parties. “There’s never a bottle of Sidewood left on a table after a dinner party, not that I’ve seen,” Owen remarks. The brand prides itself on making ‘two-bottle wines’: the first is so good, you’ll need no encouragement to open a second.
With so much to celebrate, we hope they’re raising plenty of toasts to themselves: we happen to know an excellent wine for that.
Find Sidewood Estate’s restaurant and cellar door in Hahndorf. Visit their website to make a booking, see their opening hours or purchase an award-winning drop.
Sidewood Estate
6 River Road, Hahndorf
08 8388 1157
South Australian Style Magazine 