Leisurely walk to meet our bus this morning as we are off the the Yarra Valley to taste some of the wines being produced there.
We meet our driver and guide for the day, John, and were soon leaving Melbourne city for the rather soggy wineries . The area we drove through was very attractive, lots of lovely houses and gardens. It was made even better when we saw a mob of kangaroos just hanging out in a field!!
We were to visit four wineries,Punt Road Winery, Balgownie Estate, Yering Farm and Chandon, with the prospect of sampling 36 different wines!
John is a retired lecturer on wines from the Melbourne college, having taught wine waiters and sommeliers he was able to give us tips on the technique for tasting.
Arriving at Punt Road we started with a 'lesson' in how to get the most from our experience and the got into the tastings. There were some interesting white wines, a Pinot Gre and a sparkling were particularly good.we also enjoyed some very pleasing reds.
On to Balgownie, a beautiful looking estate with lovely views across the vineyards to the mountains. Here we were treated with a lovely sparking wine and some gorgeous Shiraz and Merlot : the big surprise was the sparkling Shiraz, very moreish. Sadly on a wine tasting you are only supposed to sip, taste and not swallow . Think we would have been under the table had we actually drunk all we had tasted so far. We had lunch here which was really lovely and served with a glass of wine of our choice. A whole glass to drink! Great.
John had recommended that we try the fortified wine, which was very much like a port. He was right, it was amazing.
Next on to Yering Farm a small boutique winery which a collection of wines made only from the fruit they grow. Again there were some great wines but also the make syder and apple juice from their own orchards. They were really lovely.
Our final stop was the rather prestigious Chandon Estate; originally set up to distribute the famous French style wine in Asia as part of the expansion of the Moët and Chandon empire. - not allowed to call it Champ...... outside France!!!!
John took us through the explanation of how the wine is made and cared for to give it it's unique bubbles- what John called the 'moose and the ...... and then to the cellar where the wines are kept at exactly the right temperature for anything up to 5 years, depending on the type of wine.
Then to the very stylish tasting area where we were given a glass of bubbles to drink. It was a really great way to end a lovely day.