McLaren Vale is the red wine capital of South Australia. And very nice they were too. This didn't start out as a wine tour but is rapidly degenerating into a food and wine extravaganza.
We pulled into McLaren Vale Lakside Caravan Park and then headed to Shottesbrooke Vineyard - thank you Kay and Steve for the referral, the lady behind the testing counter was friendly, knowledgeable and even gave us a discount. Their Chardonay Single Vineyard was and is (I'm drinking it as I write) special and yummy (is that a wine term) and we bought a Sparkling Shiraz to sip whilst BBQing a scotch fillet that evening. Also hit Graham Stevens Vineyard, small but delivered with passion. Graham met us and shook hands with purple palms, had a chat and returned to stirring his vats because the timing is everything. He handed us over to his daughter who again was informative and chatty. McLaren Vale should pride themselves on their personal touch. The vineyards are happy to chat and are very friendly. We bought far more than we should and found the van has many nooks and crannies that are suited to wine storage.
The buildings in the area are old, stone and very Australian. The town is beautiful and the produce tasty and reasonable. Again we had a BBQ - lamb and salad wraps, with a very nice Shiraz.
We called into a couple more less known vineyards the nextday -Kay Brothers (great wines) and then Wirra Wirra (great grounds but not wines suited to our palettes) and finally Chapel Hill, the most beautiful buildings and great wines but probably the least personal tasting. Overall McLaren Vale gets our vote for good wines, personal and friendly tastings, closeness of the vineyards and pleasant environment. Way to go South Australia.
Victor Harbour the next day and we had a quick nana nap. Then off to town to send a letter to Kate with some cards we found that depicted X-rays in the outback. We thought she may appreciate the humour by artist Howard Steer. Then Ross decided we were going for a quick walk around town (so I wore my casual shoes with my new inserts). Hmmmm typical, 3 hours later when we had walked around town and then out the boardwalk to Granite island and back my feet were sore and my ankles killing me. Lucky the old knee is hanging in there really well just the rest of me is falling to bits.
A huge storm that night had the van rocking as the wind blew and the lightning flashed. But a good nights sleep was assured in the vans snug and safe interior.
On to Kangaroo Island in the morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment