Bruce Heward hopes the new sign he installed off the Sturt Highway in Monash will entice visitors to his cellar door.
But instead of pouring wines, he has been fielding phone calls about whether it is safe to visit the Riverland as the Murray River continues to rise.
"Generally it's people who aren't familiar with the area," Mr Heward said.
"We're not on the river.
"[Lake Bonney] is at Barmera and that's our closest body of water — about a five-minute drive."
Mr Heward uses only a small portion of the fruit grown in his 6 hectares of vineyards for his own wine label.
The rest of his grapes are contracted to bulk wine.
He said opening the cellar door and offering accommodation had helped diversify his income as the region's growers faced a tough vintage next year due to low prices for bulk red wine.
"It's too small to be just a vineyard and to on-sell the grapes to a bigger winery," Mr Heward said.
"They're all components that work together to make just enough money to make a living.
"This business relies on tourism."
Missing the summer rush
The third-generation grape grower self-manages the "by-appointment" bar in between tending to his vineyards and packaging wines.
Having opened the venture in 2019, just before COVID restrictions and border closures, he said he didn't know what a "normal" year of business was.
"But I do feel, just in these last few weeks, that we're probably in a quieter patch," Mr Heward said.
"The accommodation side still looks pretty good."
He said guests were still coming for bookings made in advance but had anticipated a few more bookings during the festive season for small cellar-door gatherings.
East of Monash is a brewery on the tranquil banks of the Murray that put the region on the map by selling its products across the country.
Woolshed Brewery owner Tom Freeman said while his family business at Murtho had stopped hiring out houseboats because of the high river, accommodation and general visitation had also been affected.
"The big problem is this negative idea that the Riverland is underwater," Mr Freeman said.
"This negative publicity has really hurt the visitation numbers from what we've seen, particularly this last couple of weeks.
"While there are a few experiences that are unavailable, it's a wonderful time to come and see the river in all its glory."
Clearing the confusion
Destination Riverland general manager Pamela Canavan said the visitor downturn was due to some misleading media coverage, as well as a "rumour mill".
"There are a lot of operators that are struggling," she said.
"There's obviously a bit of confusion — around what's open and what's not — from people travelling from the city.
"It's just getting that message out there that you still can actually travel to the Riverland."
Ms Canavan said visitors should plan and prepare ahead of time.
"The highway between Adelaide and Renmark is still entirely open but there are some localised road closures," she said.
"Make sure you ring your accommodation provider, or one of our local Riverland visitor centres to make sure you've got on the on the ground information.
"But if you can't visit now, maybe book ahead for a future visit or purchase some products online."
Tourism Minister Zoe Bettison said the state government was encouraging people to travel to the Riverland but wouldn't launch its campaign, including visitor vouchers, until next year.
"We want to support the region and we feel that it would be quite irresponsible to be actively promoting different parts of the Riverland and operators when we don't know exactly what the experience will be in the next few weeks," Ms Bettison said.
"It's critical that the targeted campaign delivers a strong and sustained outcome for the visitor economy, which in the Riverland is worth $232 million and employs around 1,500 people."
