25 March 2018 / leggypeggy

Don’t be a square—visit the Cube and its urinals

art, d'Arenberg, McLaren Vale, wine, wine tasting

Image from the video show at the d'Arenberg Cube

Laughing cat from the video show at the d’Arenberg Cube

The d’Arenberg Cube on a cloudy day and with covered grapevines in the foreground

We hadn’t been in Adelaide for long when our sister-in-law, Charlotte, asked if we’d heard about the d’Arenberg Cube in McLaren Vale. We knew of their wines, but the Cube was new to us, so off we went to have a look.

This fabulous structure, opened just a few months ago, looks like a giant two-tone Rubik’s cube in the midst of being solved.

Not your typical toilet sinks

Part of the video

In 2003, d’Arenberg’s chief winemaker Chester Osborn came up with an idea to build something that depicted the complexities and puzzles of winemaking.

The five-storey building cost $15 million, and includes public and private tasting rooms, several bars, a 360-degree video room, an art gallery and a restaurant.

Ground floor is devoted to the video show, the art gallery and a—what should I call it—a sniffing room. Two walls are decorated with paper flowers and two with plastic fruit. You can squeeze a rubber bulb attached to a flagon, and smell the bouquet of various wine ‘flavours’.

Fruit wall

What I bought

We had a guide on this floor, and she told us to be sure to stop by the toilets on first floor to see ‘the most photographed urinals in Australia’. That claim is a bit of a stretch. Hey, the place has only been open for a few months. But I can imagine them achieving such a record over time. The artworks above are from the women’s toilet.

Our guide advised us to send in the men first to make sure the ‘coast was clear’ and then rush in with our cameras. We did as we were told. But we did that on the way out.

After starting with ground floor, we made a beeline to the wine tasting area. Surely 11:30am is not too early to be trying wines? We tried four—two whites and two reds—and I bought six bottles of the two wines I liked the most. They weren’t cheap and I’ll save them for special occasions.

The wine-tasting floor has some fun furniture, amazing views over McLaren Vale and displays including some of the awards the winery has won. I rather liked the belt buckle they won in Houston.

View over McLaren Vale

wine tasting

elevator decoration

Chairs

Sofa

Wall of awards

Houston award

My history with d’Arenberg wines
I’ll always recognise a d’Arenberg wine—it’s the distinctive red stripe on the label. I first encountered their wines in 1976 in Cairo, Egypt. Poor John was in the Australian Embassy then and I was studying at the University of Cairo. People in the embassy were able to bring in Australian beverages to serve when entertaining. He’d ordered in d’Arenberg wines and Swan beers (Western Australia). Good memories.

And now for the urinals!

Urinals, d'Arenberg Cube