January 19, 2007
One hot and sunny weekend, we find ourselves overlooking a golf course from a balcony in Hunter Valley.
Two hours drive north of Sydney lies one of Australia's largest wine growing regions.
We head up straight from work on a Friday afternoon, and a gorgeous sunrise is greeting us early Saturday.
A quick swim before the hearty breakfast buffet.
Laura and Christine, figuring out where to start our day of tasting.
At Marsh estate, no irrigation is used, and with the immense heat of the valley a very sweet and balanced wine is crafted.
Laura, Christine, Scott
We will see many more bottles before this weekend is over...
Enjoying a hot, good day in The Hunter.
sampling at Scarborough's
Bryan
The valley floor is very flat, but surrounded by a ring of mountains.
drying tomatoes at Pepper Tree Wines
finding a really nice muscat
Crooked bottle, great taste.
grapes at Tyrell's
following the tour through their winery
press
slush
fresh grape juice
aging in oak barrels
Our guide explains how the barrels were cleaned from the inside...by crawling in through the tiny manhole at the bottom.
Screwcaps are quite common in Australia. Easy to open...easy to close. Even on finer wines.
Sneaking into the private tasting room, we're up for a real treat.
We taste the difference between different types of soil.
We experience the difference between years.
We compare colors of age.
A very, very interesting hour!
testing ourselves before getting back on the road
[the legal limit is 0.05...but 10 minutes later, we're at 0.03]
Evening falls, and we're back at our blue lagoon.
relaxing
Bryan, Michelle
Christine and I, and some extreme acrobatics
Scotty, me
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A warm swim...so soothing for the soul.
Later in the evening, we return to the cozy atmosphere of Robert's at Petter Tree.
We enjoy a really really good fixed three-course menu, with matching wines...and the warm evening air.
[Michelle, Scott, Laura, Bryan, Christine, me]
Sunday morning in the pool.
Off to Brokenwood for more reds & whites.
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famous Tower Estate
Long relaxing lunch....catching up on the daily news, cooling off with icecream.
Allandale's next.
It's amazing how we seem to have the entire wine valley to ourselves....gone are the crowds of Napa, gone is the traffic of Sonoma.
Our not-so-pleasant tasting at Mount Pleasant.
Instead, we top off our weekend at Lindemans.
They treat us some of their really old stuff...-88...-81...
...even 1972.
Michelle and Scott take a few cases home.
The temperature is in the 40's, and a raging forest fire adds three hours to our return trip.
We watch the sun set, as we slowly move south...