Lower Hunter Valley
Trip Start
Jan 16, 2008
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81
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Trip End
Jul 28, 2008
Where I stayed
Big 4 Valley Vineyard Tourist Park
Lower Hunter Valley, Australia
Saturday, May 31, 2008
After arriving at the visitors centre we found the organised wine tours to be effectively a ludicrously expensive hop-on-hop-off bus service. Before my reputation becomes severely tarnished, the record must be put straight that Kim wanted to drive around (and so remain sober) thus saving us hundreds of dollars in exchange for some sweeties and of course a few bottles to enjoy that evening. I must publicly thank Kim for making this sacrifice, but I must assure readers I tried valiantly to gain value for money by drinking her share in the tastings as well!
The day started off in style at the Hungerford Hills vineyard as I had the pleasure of moving from "lightest to heaviest" over the course of TEN white, rose and red wines! By the end my palate was, to the say the least, a touch confused and my mind boggling with wine lingo much of which was a touch suspect. One wine was particularly challenging to me as it supposedly fully embodied the aroma of musk - sadly a product I had never ever heard of! Think it's used as some sort of female cosmetic...(answers on a postcard please)
After sampling what McGuigans had to offer at their cellar door, it was definitely time for lunch to absorb my morning's indulgence! The afternoon carried on a pace visiting a few smaller 'boutique' wineries. As we had decided to finish the day cooking kangaroo steaks on the bbq at the campsite, I started to pull out the line that I wanted a wine to complement this delicate meat. It worked a treat as top quality reds were produced for me liberally to enjoy. I settled for a velvety merlot!
With a day of wine drawing to a close it was time to move to beer. The Bluetongue Brewery was just the trick serving their six beers in a wooden tasting paddle as well as a further pint of your favourite!
Needless to say I was entertaining company for Kim on our drive back through the Hunter to the campsite! That said, the kangaroo was a rip roaring success despite it still almost having a pulse (as directed by my wine buffs) and Kim was able to enjoy a well deserved bottle of wine and some delicious fudge!
