The bus left around 8:30am and we drove for about an hour before getting to the valley. The first winery we stopped at was Jacob’s Creek. Here we tasted some fine wine, but more importantly we were instructed in the process of wine tasting. The Jacob’s Creek lady that we leading this tasting explained the basic process people use to analyze the wine. This included observing the legs, analyzing the smell, and the proper way to taste and analyze the taste of the wine.
I had never before been formally instructed in the process, and so as simple as it was, I finally learned why those techniques (as fun as they were to mimic as a child using water in a plastic cup) were used, and what I was supposed to get from them. We also took the opportunity and fired off question after question about the differences between types of wines, the food they should be served with, the cellar life of different wines, and other related questions. It was very informative, and the lady was very nice. I left feeling satisfied and loose.
The next winery took around 15-20 minutes to get to (enough time to sober up a bit and get excited for the next stop). It was the Seppeltsfield winery – I still can’t pronounce it even after visiting it. This stop was a bit different: We had a lot less instruction in the process of tasting (in fact, we had no instruction in this regard), and had to ask direct questions to learn anything about the wine we were tasting. The setup was also different: at Jacob’s Creek we were guided through a tasting of 6 specific wines in a specific order (a sparkling rose, then two whites, a rose, then two reds), but at Seppeltsfield we were given a list of 20 wines to try (some of which were not available at that time).
Because of this, there was more alcohol consumed – or at least I consumed more here than at Jacob’s Creek – and a wider variety tried. Having Alex along was great because she seems to have more knowledge of wine than I do. This, if I’m not mistaken, is due to her parents. I got to taste it and decide if I like it or not while we discussed how it compared to the other wines we had tried.
Offered here that wasn’t at Jacob’s Creek were a decent amount of dessert wines. After trying a few of those, Alex and I decided to buy a bottle of Tokey. It is a very sweet and thick wine that tastes of raisins (surprise, surprise) and caramel. Since then I have enjoyed sipping it, but it goes down even more pleasantly after 3 glasses of varied wines. J
After another short drive we ate a tasty meal of Chicken Schnitzel on a warm, breezy patio of a pub. Then we hopped back in the bus for the 20-30 minute drive to the third winery: James Holiday.
Here they wine was enjoyed, but my favorite part was walking through the cellars to get to the tasting area. After asking the lady who served us, we learned that the shelves pictured here currently holds 250,000 bottles of wine which I think is 1/3 of the total possible capacity. Unfortunately for them, because of the people moving through the areas, and the lights and other similar reasons, these wines are no longer good for consumption – just looks. I guess that would explain why the ones we checked were only 10 years old.
It was a very enjoyable day. Although the grapes were not growing while we were there, the scenery was gorgeous. There were few clouds, it was sunny and warm. Perhaps because we were in vineyards, but the whole time I enjoyed the subdued sound of the wind with the feeling of the sun on my back… what can I say, at the end of every tasting we had time to mellow outside before moving on.
Next time you hear from me I’ll be in Fiji. Until then…
There is something to be said for learning this for yourself and not from your parents. For instance, I taught you all you needed to know about good music, and look where that got you!
ReplyDeleteAt dinner tonight we enjoyed a very good White Shiraz from Mattie's Perch, Adelaide (although it also says it is from "South Eastern Australia). As the Koala is saying on the bottle "Bonzer!"
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