The wine industry here in Australia is currently booming. With award wineries from Victoria, New South Wales, and Tasmania just to name a few, it’s no wonder why weekend wine touring packages are a hit. Yesterday, the Uni took us on a trip to Hunter Valley, a wine producing region about two hours north of Sydney. We visited 3 different wineries, each one better than the last.
(Chili in wine?! Hot Combination!)
The first winery, the Golden Grape, was probably my least favorite. We were led into a dimly lit room with rows of picnic tables/benches, each with 6 plastic shot classes and a bottle of water. As the wine guides came out, they poured several different types of wine, filling our shot glasses half way. Even though we were supposed to taste hints of Tropical fruits like coconut, pineapple, etc… I for one, couldn’t.
I have to say that my favorite is the Dragon’s Breath, a chili schnapps. At first, I had this repulsing sensation, but then it started to grow on me. You can actually see little chilies bobbing up and down in the bottle as the wine is being poured out. When you first have a sip, you can’t quite taste the chili. It’s sweet and almost succulent, but then all of a sudden, the heat from the chili hits you all at once and you experience this hot, tingling sensation on your tongue as it makes its way down your throat. It’s uncomfortable at first, but another sip makes you enjoy it somewhat a bit.
(Wine tasting at McGuigans)
The second winery, McGuigans, had the best variety of wines. We sampled about 8 types of varieties, from White, to Red, to Port. There were some awesome Whites and Jenny and I ended up buying their Night Harvest, even though the Muscado was my favorite (it was too pearish/sweet for Jenny). I really loved the way the set up their wine tasting. Everyone sat along a bar that winded in and out. Breadsticks complemented our lovely wine glasses. It felt so classy. Afterwards, we even got to sample some cheese next door. The Brie was to die for. It was so creamy and wonderfully salty- much better than the ones I had in France, surprisingly.
The last winery, McWilliams, was a bit hectic because they only had one bar, which wasn’t enough to accommodate our group of 80. Even though I felt that they catered the wine tasting to an older generation (many of the reds were very dry and smokey) the guy who poured our wine was exceptionally nice. He answered all of our questions and even allowed us to sample a couple more drinks to answer our questions. The result was another purchase of wine (Rose) for me and for Jenny, her beloved Tawny Port.
Overall, I had a blast. It was funny to watch how our wine glasses got significantly bigger has we moved to the next winery. We’re hoping to come again at the end of the semester. I was really happy at the purchases we made since I got the Rose for only $8!
It’s a shame that it was winter because none of the grapes were actually growing yet. We did get to see the wineries, but the vines were bare and the fields looked a bet desolate from all the fruitless plants.
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