Wine Tasting in the Hunter Valley
So two days ago, in Newcastle, we signed up for a wine tasting through the hostel. Most of the tastings were very expensive but this was much cheaper, and it was something we both thought would be interesting, so we did it!
The Hunter Valley (Where’s Waldo?)
We got on the minibus and it was filled with other people around my age and their noise level was so high, I couldn’t imagine what it would be like on the way home when everyone was drunk..
After a long ride, we were finally in the valley. It was quite pretty, with lots of rolling hills and grape vines everywhere.
Somehow we arrived at the first demonstration late, so we missed some of the guy’s speech about wines, which I was really unhappy about. It was also soon apparent that all the kids cared about was getting “pissed” and making so much noise I couldn’t even hear the guy talking. (There was about 20 people in the room.) I mean, I’m not a wine snob by any means, but I paid money to go to this thing and I might as learn a little about wine!
So the guy would hold up a wine and say a few things about it, then pour a little bit in each of our glasses. I have to explain, I don’t know anything about wine and I don’t even like it that much. But so many people are really into wine that I figure there has to be something about it….
The first winery was called Tempus Two, and Jim and I both liked their Sauvignon Blanc. (Note: Yesterday we were in a wine shop here in Byron and saw a Tempus Two S.B. and bought it, and it had a SCREW OFF CAP!! Not a cork! And it tasted like crap. I think it was the wrong year or something? Explains why it was so cheap…)
We also went to Drayton’s Family Wines, McLeish Estate and two other places. At all they either had a bar type thing where you’d go and ask for a taste of a certain wine, or they gave a little presentation and gave you the wine.
One dessert wine that everyone had was called Botrytis Semillon, and it was extremely sweet but quite good!!!
We also had “Golden Tango Cream,” which was like a coconut Baileys! It was delicious. Also a drink called “Latino Cream” (weird name, huh?) that was a hazelnuty-creamy drink.
We tried lots of Merlot, Shiraz, Chardonnay, Semillon and Verdelho. I don’t remember much about them, unfortunately.
I was worried that I would get really drunk with all that wine, but it is so spaced out over hours and hours that I was fine. A lot of the other people in our group were obviously quite jolly!!
The last stop was supposed to be a bunch of free fudge and cheese, which I looked forward to the most, but of course, things never work out the way you want them to! It was a fudge and cheese shop, with tons of people everywhere, and you only could try a sample if you asked for it. They made it sound like there would be plates of free fudge and cheese everywhere! Argh!
Anyway, the trip was fun and interesting, although I would have liked to learn more about wine, such as how they make it, what grapes or whatever they use, etc etc. I thought they were going to give us tours of the winery and everything, but it was purely just tasting. Oh well!
Tags: Australia
Kelly
I really wish I was there.
I told you the Sauv Blancs Down there were good. They are even better in NZ. You don’t have to be a “wine snob” to like wine. You like what you like, and that’s it; but, like everything else, you either develop a taste for it, or you don’t like it, in the end. Our group had two bottles of Giesen SB, from NZ, Sat. night in your old home town. White wine doesn’t improve with age, and can go off; you probably got a wine that was past its time.
Hey Mom, I think you and dad should come to Australia. I can be your tour guide. (Of course you’d have to pay for my trip…tee hee)
Don, I guess I’ll have to try the NZ S.B.’s then…. darn it all…. :p