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Hope Winery
Our first stop in the Hunter Valley. My trip to the Hunter Valley
For anyone who doesn’t know the Hunter Valley is famous wine country close to Sydney. I won a day trip to visit it at the Sydney Uni orientation. My friends Sarah and Nicole decided they’d like to tag along. I thought the day would be very educational and teach me to appreciate wine…or atleast be more knowledgeable about it.
Hope winery
The first winery we stopped at was called Hope. It was a smaller more local type of winery than the others we visited. We pulled up in the bus about 11am. In the field toward the vineyards was a pack of Kangaroos waiting to greet us. They were just chillin’ enjoying the view. We headed inside and tried several wines. The person from the winery told us a little about how to taste wines but I would have liked more deeper explanations from him about everything. I don’t remember the names of what we tried but about 6 different kinds including some whites, some reds and a dessert wine. They were okay. I really enjoyed the dessert wine which goes to prove what I already knew,
Hope Banquet Hall
Look how big the barrels of wine are. The candlesticks are covered in wax drips which adds to the medieval look. that I have a sweet tooth. After the tastings we headed upstairs to see their banquet hall. It was set up for a wedding reception that would go on later in the afternoon. It was a very cool and medieval looking setup. I wouldn’t mind an event there.
Lunch break
We stopped at the community gardens for a sausage sizzle for lunch. It was quite delicious and beautiful views. Sarah, Nicole and I each had two sausages. We were very hungry. We noticed some very peculiar looking trees that looked like they could have come out of a Dr Seus book. Then we walked to the next winery.
McGuigan Cellars
The next winery we went to was much larger and more commercial than the first one we went two. They had two U-shaped bars that we sat at taste with a list of the tasting wines and prices and cute little glasses. They even supplied us with breadsticks to help cleanse the palate. Here we tried in this order: Bin 8000 Sauvignon Blanc, V/S Gewurztraminer, Genus 4 Shiraz, Noon Harvest Merlot, Late Picked Traminer, and a Tawny port
fortified with Brandy. Again I enjoyed the sweet ones, and surprisingly the Merlot. The Tawny port was the consistency of cough syrup and tasted kinda like molasses. It was a no go in my book.
Before we headed on we sat at some tables outside and tasted some cheese. My favorite was the brie. I did not enjoy the blue cheese. Yuck!
Tempest Two
Then we walked across the road to our third winery. This one had gorgeous views and a setup on the lawn for bands. They in fact had recently hosted Elton John for wine and music on the lawn. The guy who was leading us in the tasting here was very informative and quite the performer. He gave us some good tips and good information about the wines. I forget how it came up that I was from Texas but we had a conversation about UT v. A&M. He said he was at A&M for the big bonfire collapse. Everything’s bigger in Texas…haha he was funny. Sarah also liked him because he called her a champ. She correctly answered his random trivia question naming the “Iberion penisula.” It was fun times. Then
we headed back on the bus to our final winery.
Golden Grape Estate
We were running a bit late so we were put in a smaller room and some people had to stand. Here we had not the wine tasting that I was expecting but more of a liquor tasting. The guy seemed in a rush and didn’t really tell us anything about the stuff besides some jokes like it would be good on breakfast cereal. We had: a Tawny anniversary port, White Chocolate liquor, Golden Tango Cream wine cocktail, Butterscotch Schnapps, and chili Schnapps. The Chili Schnapps was what the winery was famous for and it was called Dragon’s breath. I know why I felt like I was breathing fire after we took the shot of it together as a group. After the tasting we looked around the winery gift shop and I watched a group of older ladies take a group shot of Dragon’s breath. It was very cute and funny to watch their reactions.
All in all it was a good day. On the ride home I was exhausted but we watched most of the movie Hitch and some of
Tempus Two
Here is the view from the Tempus Two building looking out over the green at the vines. The beautiful lawn is where Elton played a few weeks ago. Happy feet. It was good times all around. I think I would have enjoyed it more if my head were clearer because I had a sinus headache to begin the day with but I’m glad I went and it was a fun experience to share with friends.
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