It was a real gourmet day today – or should I call it a
“gourmand” day? We were eating and drinking all day!
Once again we were in the Hunter Valley,
this time to sample the wines of the area.
We visited two of the wineries, McWilliams and
Mcguigan. I do not drink alcohol so the
tasting was entirely in the taste buds of my fellow tourists – and they
thoroughly enjoyed themselves at the counter at the McWilliams winery – but I
am getting ahead of myself!
After first wandering around on our own we were all
marshaled into a tour group and outfitted with bright yellow safety vests that
made us all very conspicuous and off we went with a very knowledgeable young
lady (whose name I forget) to learn about growing vines and making wines.
There were acres of pruned vines that we could see from
where we were standing and it was pointed out that the grapes growing closest
to the trees on the hill in the next photograph were the original grapes vines
from France
from when the winery was first started
A huge double tanker was loading up with white wine while
out the front of the main building waited a second vehicle the same size. The
hose you can see on the ground in the picture I have here is transparent and
you can see the wine traveling along it. Well, you can see there is a golden
colour to the hose.
We were taken to see where the various stages of handing
grapes and converting them to wine, happened. Then it was into the tasting room
where the other members of the group had a wonderful time going through the
different white and red wines. I think that all of them bought a few bottles.
Then we were taken into the restaurant and given a huge and
very delicious meal. None of us is used to eating big in the middle of the day
so we did anticipate falling asleep in the bus on the way back to the hotel!
The food was far to good to leave any!
Our next stop was another winery.
To begin with we called
into the cheese making area of the Maguigan winery and were invited to sit at
one of the tables.
Two large platters of cheeses and a couple of baskets of
water crackers were brought to us and we were able to sample five different
cheeses.
My favourite was a fairly strong cheddar that was encased in
a green wax. After the tasting I bought a whole cheese. Pretty expensive but I
was assured that I could cut it into blocks and freeze it. That decided me! It
would take a long time to eat my way through the whole cheese and it would go
“off” long before I had got half way. So I shall freeze it in portions!
After the cheese we were invited into a tasting room where a
young fellow guided our tasting group through the different wines. This time
the amount of wine was small (since it wasn’t self administered) and directed
from dry to sweet and finishing with a tawny port. I think that everyone was
exhausted by all the wines and cheeses by this time and I don’t think that
anyone purchased any wines from here.
So our week of touring is now over.
Tomorrow everyone is taken to the airport and they make
their way back to their respective homes. The Steven and I will drive up to
Coolangatta in the bus, expecting to get there around 10.00 pm. From there I
will then follow the bus by driving Steven’s four wheel drive to where it the
bus is stored and from there the two of us will drive back to Mudgeeraba. I am
not sure when we shall get home – it will depend on whether Steven cleans the
bus when we get to the bus shed or not.
The week has been fun; I have seen and done a lot. I will
need a holiday to get over it!
AJ
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