Hunter Valley Part Two

Trip Start Oct 01, 2005

158

Trip End Jul 21, 2007

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Flag of Australia Cessnock, Australia
Monday, September 25, 2006

We only had the one day in the Hunter Valley so had inevitably decided to book a wine tour. As we pulled up the gravel drive toward the wooden cottage that sat on top of the hill we could see that Brian, the friendly, bearded and bespectacled tour guide was awaiting us. This guy obviously ran a tight ship and was eager to get the trip underway, bundling us into his spotless 4WD and launching straight into his learned spiel about the history of the recently developed wine region. Though I definitely listened with interest, thats about all I can remember from it and as the day wound on my powers of retention waned even further as my brain became awash with free wine.
We were driven through beautiful rolling green hills and pastures to five wineries in total and all were staffed by friendly and knowledgable wine buffs more than happy to break out samples of their fine vino and explain the basics of taste, colour, wine making and storing to a trio of blatant philistines, two of whom would not hesitate to down 2 litres of 'reduced to clear' goon on any Friday night. The tastings were expertly broken up with an antipasto lunch and later a visit to a cheese and chocolate shop.
We had a great day learning a bit more about wine than we knew (which was not hard) and purchased a few good bottles to temporarily populate Molly's small cellar area. The cottage itself was plush with a 360 degree wooden balcony, a large kitchen, a jacuzzi and the softest beds ever, so we had a comfortable evening over a risotto, a few more glasses and got an early start the next morning.