Hunter Valley Wine Tour

Saturday, 21st September

With an exciting football match to watch last night and Cat’s favourite team, the Cats, playing, he climbed into bed with us to watch the last half.  When I woke up this morning, Cat was still snuggled down between us!

A very cold start to the day (the heater was put to good use for a while), which quickly warmed up to a beautiful clear and warm day.  Just right for a tour of the Hunter Valley wineries, and a spot of tasting.  No tantrums today from Cat!

We didn’t have far to go before arriving at Mount Pleasant, the first of a number of stops.  The vines are just starting to shoot in most vineyards, although some are much further advanced.  After doing our bit for the Mount Pleasant shareholders, we moved up the road to Lindeman’s, where we discovered that shiraz and Semillon are the main grape varieties grown in the Hunter region.  The designated driver was very good and even used the spittoon (on two occasions!).  As for the rest of us – why waste good wine?  McGuigan’s was almost next door and also boasted a cheese and gourmet food shop.  The salesman in the cellar door was very obliging with his tastings, even bringing out the top of the range shiraz.  However, it wasn’t loved enough to pay the asking price.

By this time, food was becoming a necessity and with so much choice – most of the wineries have restaurants and there are numerous other restaurants in the area – we couldn’t go past Wandin Valley Winery.  There was even a sign warning of wombats in the area!  We had a lovely “divvy meal” or tasting plates (bit like tapas) – smoked salmon and crab rolls, seared scallops and chicken wrapped in prosciutto, with associated trimmings.  Then we discovered there was a separate dessert menu …  After enjoying their wine with our lunch, a small purchase was added to the number of boxes already in the car.  We concluded our tour with a stop at a specialist sparkling wine winery, complete with chocolate shop.

Cat is still grinning.