Spent the Weekend at the Hunter Valley with a bunch of friends. We all got off work early on Friday and met up at Chatswood. The food and people were divided between the cars and the plan was to head off before 4pm. Yes, the PLAN was to head off before 4, but we didn't get to the car until about 4:15 because SOMEONE said it was a 2min walk to the car. 2min my ass. It felt like a cross country race for the car whilst carrying groceries and luggage! By the time we actually left chatswood, it was closer to 4:30 meaning we were caught in traffic. We crawled along for awhile, but pretty soon the traffic cleared up and it took us 3hours as opposed to 2 hours to get there. I'm not sure if it was a good thing that we got there whilst the sun was up or a bad thing. It was good in the sense that we would never have found that place in the dark. It was bad because I saw the bridge the car had to cross to get there.......
The Bridge
What was left of the old bridge...........We pulled into our accomodation, the "Eelah Homestead" and was greeted by 2 frisky dogs who started jumping and humping everyone. The owner, Heather, kindly took us through the Barn and the Homestead.
Homestead Dining roomShe was kind enough to provide ingredients for breakfast plus 2 bottles of wine for us to enjoy that night. There was some argument as to who was sleeping where and some complicated fancy rock picking technique that determined who slept where. I don't think anyone but dave (who came up with the idea) understood what was going on. I didn't really care. I got the King size bed with the balcony and fireplace before we even arrived at Eelah! (This was because I had to share with Moishii) I left them to decide who slept with whom where.
The King size bed
Our roomWhilst they were arguing about the sleeping arrangements, we unpacked all the groceries and luggage from the car and started cracking on dinner at the Barn. (This was the only kitchen and TV we had) Knowing everyone would be too tired to cook, we brought a few BBQ Chickens and a few containers of salad from my beloved Chookas. The wine was chilled, the food was laid out and the mozzies were out. Dinner was a quick affair since we were getting eaten alive whilst we were eating. There was some fancy foot fondling under the table, but lets not get into that right now. With dinner out of the way, we tried to settle in with a movie only to find out that there was no sound. This is when we packed up and moved from the Barn to the Homestead where we made some half assed attempt at playing Big2 or snap. We settled for a game of Scene it (a boardgame driven by a DVD). One team was all fired up ready to kick our asses. We just wanted to sleep. We didn't really care who won or lost, as long as someone won and the game ended quickly. I think our team all buggered off before the game was even over.
The room was stinking hot. I live in a house with massive windows that is protected by thick ass security grates so I always feel safe at home. But out in the country, its a fly screen and a few flimsy doors and windows. Feeling too paranoid to sleep with the door wide open and nothing buy darkness outside, we decided to close the doors leaving a tiny little window to let the air in. Bad idea. We were sweating in bed, it was too hot to even use a sheet, but with the bloody mozzies buzzing around my ear, I covered my head with the sheet to stop myself turning into a sleeping buffet. The bed was soft and bouncy. Too soft and bouncy. Everyone anyone moved the slightest, it felt like an earthquake going off. I ended up sleeping less than 2 hours and woke up feeling like kicking people in the gut if they got in my way. Didn't help that in the middle of the night that Christine decided to call and scream down the phone that Gus was topless and wearing disturbingly low boxers around the house. I was half tempted to run up and touch, I mean, see for myself. But with Christine and Cookiez moaning like there was an orgy going on over there, I gave it a miss.
I managed to stumble over to the barn looking for some food. Still feeling crap, I made myself a joltacino. Anyone who went to Usyd with me should know what a joltacino is. You basically take a few teaspoons of coffee powder and mix it with a few teaspoons of joltcola (Or normal cola). It then instantly froths up like a cuppacino and you take it like a shot of tequila. That stuff got me through almost all my exams. I remember having one of those once at 4am the day before an exam. I didn't sleep until about midnight the next night. Cookiez decided that she wanted to try and ended up puking everything back up and somehow that was my fault? What the?
With the behind us, we packed our gear ready for a day of wine tasting. Our tour guide (Bradley) arrived to pick us up with our own private bus. We originally had an itenary set up for the day, but the first stop was a winery not listed. And frankly, I'm glad he took us there. First stop was at a little family run boutique winery called "Ernest Hill". Our host was called Hamish and he was fantastic. I've been to Hunter Valley before and actually went through a Wine tasting course, but it was good to have a refresher, and for the first timers, he was really helpful in helping them understand what to look out for. The wine was absolutely gorgeous. I'm not much of a red wine drinker, and if I do, I have to have it with food. But their Shiraz, OMG! Yum! And their Semillon was also YUM! They finished off with their Dessert wine which was YUMMMMMMM!!! The tasting ended and I elbowed my way to the counter and bought 2 bottles of each spending $110 on my first stop. Ouch! But I don't regret it. That wine I had must've been the best one I've had the whole day.
Next stop was Tallevera, the building was gorgeous, the scenery was gorgeous, the wine was not so gorgeous. It definately did not suit my palette. There was a few times where I gagged and almost choked although a the group did walk away with 2 bottles of wine. A far cry from the 15-20 bottles we bought at Ernest Hill.
The view from Tallevera
Group shot
The Tallevera WineryChatting to Bradley, he figured that we (the girls) absolutely love dessert wine, so he made a quick phone call, pulled a few strings and got us a tasting at Petersons. Apparently the best dessert wine maker in the whole of the Hunter Valley.
Peterson's view
We weren't disappointed. Almost everyone bought a bottle of the dessert wine and the Muscat. The wine was so good, Petals got quite....errrrrr...turned on and screamed something that I wouldn't repeat on the blog. I'm trying to keep this below the R rating.
Feeling content with boxes of dessert wine, next stop was Audrey Wilksons. Again, the scenary was beautiful and the building was gorgeous. The wine wasn't bad either, but it wasn't what I was after. Their dessert wine was nice, but by now, all the dessert wine started tasting the same to me. Sweet. Giving it a miss, we all trudged outside for a photo session with Bradley and then we were off to the Binnori Deli for some cheese tasting. OMFG the cheese was good! Their Herb and Cheese fromage got orgamsic moans from everyone. The same with their marinated fetta and the Lubdna which was a soft cheese marinated in Rosemary and Chilli. The other people in the deli took a few steps back when everyone started moaning in ecstacy. Loaded with bags of cheese, we hopped onto the bus to go to the Blue Tongue Brewery. The food was better than the service and the food wasn't that good to begin with. I can never resist a home made meat pie, they always taste crap, but I can never resist. I think its the puff pastry. I never learn and of course, I am disappointed again. I really wanted a big dollop of tomato sauce with a splash of wosteshier and probably 1/2kg of salt on the damn thing. Lucky I revived a bit of my taste buds with the salami pizza, but then I think I cut my tongue on the crust.
Feeling better with food in our stomaches, we jump back onto the bus and headed off to the Tintilla Winery. We would've skipped this winery had we not prebooked it. The wine was nice, but again, it wasn't what I was after. The dessert wine was also "sweet" and tasted like most of the dessert wine we've had that day. On our way to Tintilla, Bradley kindly pointed out that there was Fudge tasting at Lindemans and we threated to slash his tires and burn his bus if we didn't get to go. So thats where we were off to. We jumped off the bus and muscled our way over to the fudge counter and started trying anything and everything. By the end of the tasting, I was all fudged out. I love to taste sweets, but I don't have a sweet tooth. Meaning I can't have anything more than a sample teeny weeny little bit size peice before I get a sugar overdose. The other girls bought a few slabs of the sugar laden fudge and we headed out.
This is when Bradley tells us that Iron Gate (The one winery we've been dying to go to all day) will be closing in less than 30mins and they were refusing to give us a taste test. Fine by us, I knew what I wanted. Their Sweet Shiraz. He stepped on the gas and we were there with 20mins to spare. We charge in and again, muscle ourselves for some counter space. A gentlemen came over and asked us if we wanted to do some tasting, of course we couldn't refuse. The glasses came out with 2 bottles. One sweet Shiraz and one sweet Semillon. This is when the woman that Bradley had the phone conversation with charged over and demanded to know which tour group we were with. This is when Bradley copped an earful from her. Still, we wanted to taste and we wanted to buy. The next bit gets confusing. We bought a case of Shiraz and 5 bottles of the Semillon to split between the 8 people. Somehow the money got confused and there was a big fuss which eventually got sorted out. I have a headache just thinking of it.
Iron Gate courtyard
Last stop was the Chocolate Company where you get hit by the biggest aroma of cocoa the minute you walk into the store. We got to sample a few of their chocolates and the chocolate coffee was orgasmic. But it wasn't worth $10. They had a huge chocolate fountain like those in Sydney where you can get skewers of strawberries and marshmallows and Grapes covered in the sweet melty chocolate. One skewer of the strawberry was more than enough to satisfy my sweet tooth. I was itchy to buy their caramelised balsamic vinegar and their chilli and ginger dressing, but $20 for a bottle that will expire in less than 3 months wasn't worth it. We packed up ready to head on home when Bradley suggested that we go to one more Winery. Tatlers. The main reason was they provided Beer tasting as well. The only problem was that we were all alcoholed out and our tongues were numb. We went along anyway and left empty handed. You could be feeding me truffles and foi gras and I wouldn't taste a thing by this point.
When we arrived back at Eelah, Heather had been kind enough to provide a few fans so we could all take a nap. By the time we were all up and about, it was getting dark and the mosquitoes were on the prowl. We decided to eat indoors instead. The BBQ was fired up, the burgers were frying and the sausages were grilling, the salad was tossed and the people were hungry. After the table was cleared, the Texas poker set came out whilst we opted for the TV. Me and Moishii had been watching this old TV series from the late 80s or early 90s called "Let the blood run free". It is basically an unscripted unrehersed show that was once a theatrical play turned TV series where the audience gets to vote what happens at the end of each show. The set and actors were beyond B grade. The props were tacky and the storyline was outrageous. Why did we watch it you ask? Because everything they had on that show, was what we filmed for our own project "Hidden Intentions". Aka "H.I.". It was scary how much alike we were thinking. They even had a goddamn cocopops bomb! Except their one looked alot more like a bomb than ours. I had told Moishii to build the bomb with the cocopops box with a clock and wires stuck to it. When it came to filming, he rocked up with a box. What I saw on screen was the bomb we were supposed to have. They even had scenes that I had discussed with Moishii months ago but never got around to filming. I don't care. I came up with those ideas before I watched the show and I'm going to film it.
My throat was hoarse and sore by the end of the DVD from the nonstop laughing. I went back to the Homestead and crawled into bed. This is when some inconsiderate people barged into our room and stomped their dirty shoe prints, grass and god knows what else all over my bed sheets. I spent 5 minutes cleaning the damn thing before I could even get back into bed cos it was so dirty. We were tired but we couldn't sleep. We basically laid around laughing for another hour before we made a long distance phone call to Turkey to harrass Bellboy. After that we slept like a baby.
By the time we got up and ready for breakfast the next day, it was 10:30. We decided to to head on over to McGuigans for some cheese tasting whilst Mey and Dave slept in. After an hours drive, we arrived at the winery and headed straight for their deli. By the time we left, I had spent over $40 on cheese. Again, my favourite marinated feta and 2 blocks of Brie with a small tub of Quince paste. Someone stab me and my wallet. They really need to have prices for these damn things. We walked over next door to the cellar for more wine tasting. They had the cutest wine glasses by the basket full. We were so tempted to take one when we got a look from Gus. The guilt hit and we left empty handed. Christine wanted to go back and take one, this is when I explained that if we go back, its called stealing as opposed to temporary insanity if we took it on the spot. Its a fine line, but there is a line there.
We drove across the street to Tempest Two where they had a really chic looking cellar. We were tempted to buy their Botyrtis Semillon which was sweet when you drank it, but had a sour after taste. Really nice and refreshing. Really like a few of the other wines I bought. Besides, by this point I had spent over $300 on wine and cheese. It took us another hour to get back to Eelah, and by this time, the remaining 2 was up and about. We polished off the left over BBQ and packed our luggage into the cars. 3.5hrs later, we finally got home after the horrible 15km/hr crawl along the freeway. We were going so slow, we drove up side by side to Alan's car and started throwing food to and from the car windows. By the time we all arrived at my place (So we could divide up the cheese and wine), we were all exhausted. I was facing 4 days worth of dog poop to scoop up when my sister came over. That will teach her to leave all that poop there for so long. It was a nice way to finish off the trip. Wine, cheese and dog poop. Until the next vacation people!
