Friday was my penultimate day in Melbourne, so we decided to go visit some of the smaller wineries in the Yarra Valley, a very popular vineyard region in Melbourne. I had slept in that day so we didn't leave until just after noon, but then we made very good time in the hour or so drive out to our first point of call - the Dairy Farm.
Along the way we saw some cool things - lots of subarbs and green areas, even an old fashioned circus! However, my favourite sight was the butcher shown in this photo:
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| tee hee |
The dairy shop was pretty awesome, as you can see. They don't make any wine at this place, but sell wine from wineries which don't sell their own (closed cellar door). However, they do make their own cheese and they make a lot of these, as you can see.
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| Just one of the counters full of their goat and cow cheese |
It seemed like the best option for lunch was to get a cheese platter between us, so we did that. They described the cheese types when they brought them over: two were goats cheeses, one of which was quite mature and not really my style. The other two were creamy cow cheeses, the first had a beautiful garlicky chive flavour and the second was called Persian fetta, so called because they marinate it in olive oil. That was my favourite - it was super yummy!
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| Lots of bread, crackers and cheese |
This dairy farm also had lots of stuff for sale. The usual merchandise was up for grabs: aprons, cloths and t-shirts all bearing the dairy farm logo. They had some super nice wooden kitchen equipment like chopping boards and bowls, and some cool cheese knives, but sadly I really couldn't afford to buy or carry any of that stuff. However, from the food section I bought this amazing ash covered goats cheese to share with B&K and then I bought a pack of vanilla bean shortbread for boyfriend. It looked super tasty!
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| Some jams and cool homemade stuff |
After we'd eaten our fill and bought everything we wanted (B&K got a couple bottles of wine which looked great - I'd already tried the Prince of Thieves), we set off for the first winery. We decided to go to one the others hadn't been to before, a small winery called Yering Farm. When we got there we were pretty impressed by the place itself, an old looking quite large building with a lovely large patio with wicker chairs and tables. Really cute. The inside was pretty nice too - it was super large and had a long wooden bar which is obviously perfect for large wine tastings.
The man behind the bar, Brian something-or-other, was pretty awesome and, funnily enough, turned out to be from Poulton, near Blackpool!! He was great and let us taste loads of wines, I think at least 10. They had a great collection of white wines there, with some cool names like Run Rabbit Run and Duck Down Under. This was also the only place where he let us taste several wines simultaneously, so that we could tell the difference between, for example, normal and reserve wines. I think I may have a cheap palette though, as my preference never ran towards the reserves. Oopsie!!
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| Brian, from Poulton |
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| Awesome collection of wines |
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| I could spend the whole day here at Yering Farm |
Our next point of call was Seville Estate. Although they are just shy of celebrating their 40 year anniversary, they had a much more modern and bigger establishment. They also had large outdoor grounds with dogs running about and a very nice restaurant/cafe indoors, with a very yummy looking lunch menu.
Once again we went through the whole wine tasting routine. The wines here were slightly pricier than Yering Farm, but very good. We started off with a bubble which is apparently the norm, but since I'm not a big fan of sparkling wine I couldn't really appreciate it. However, the whites and the Pinot Noir were excellent and I could happily have kept on drinking them. I also learnt a lot about something called tannin, which I discovered is the reason why I don't really like red wine.
Apparently certain very heavy red wines are made of very small grapes and so more grapes are needed to produce the wine. More grapes mean more skin, and that's the cause of heavy tannin in wine, which results in turning your lips, tongue and teeth that nasty purple colour. Sadly, it is usually the more expensive bold reds that do this to you.
Apparently certain very heavy red wines are made of very small grapes and so more grapes are needed to produce the wine. More grapes mean more skin, and that's the cause of heavy tannin in wine, which results in turning your lips, tongue and teeth that nasty purple colour. Sadly, it is usually the more expensive bold reds that do this to you.
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| Wine Tasting at Seville Estate |
B&K bought a bottle from Seville Estate and then we moved on to the final winery of the day. This was very close by and called Seville Hill. This place is apparently an old favourite and even though the day was getting cold and dark, I could see why. They have a huge open outdoors area where they hold barbeques in the summer, with a magnificent view over the valley. I was quite jealous that I couldn't be there during the summer time.
The lady working behind the bar there was positively gleaming when we walked in - she'd just had her fifth grandchild born that morning. That meant she was extremely chatty and happy, telling us about all the fun the winemakers have in the valley. She also told us about the pasta and sausage making classes they hold at Seville Hill - I hope Kate goes so then she can teach me how to do it all!!
For the third and final time we tried a series of wine - Kate and I were a bit squiffy at this point! But they were brilliant wines and I was very tempted to buy another bottle - until we tasted the port!! I had to buy a bottle of this port for me and boyfriend because it tasted so damn good!! I don't really know the technical jargon to highlight its good points, but it was fruity and yummy and soooo freakin tasty. I would have bought two bottles if it wasn't the beginning of my trip!! Also, as we were leaving, the wine tasting lady gave me a jar of marinated olives and chilis to take with me - she was soooo nice!!
Finally we set off home after a very long day. We picked up some crusty bread and Tilda on the way and settled down to relax. We were planning on eating some pasta Kate had bought for dinner, but then we cut up the bread we bought, unwrapped the ashed goat's cheese and some hummus, and ate all that for dinner. Funny how the last three meals were just cheese!! But the cheeses were all so good, it was totes worth it :D
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| A very generous happy new grandma |
For the third and final time we tried a series of wine - Kate and I were a bit squiffy at this point! But they were brilliant wines and I was very tempted to buy another bottle - until we tasted the port!! I had to buy a bottle of this port for me and boyfriend because it tasted so damn good!! I don't really know the technical jargon to highlight its good points, but it was fruity and yummy and soooo freakin tasty. I would have bought two bottles if it wasn't the beginning of my trip!! Also, as we were leaving, the wine tasting lady gave me a jar of marinated olives and chilis to take with me - she was soooo nice!!
Finally we set off home after a very long day. We picked up some crusty bread and Tilda on the way and settled down to relax. We were planning on eating some pasta Kate had bought for dinner, but then we cut up the bread we bought, unwrapped the ashed goat's cheese and some hummus, and ate all that for dinner. Funny how the last three meals were just cheese!! But the cheeses were all so good, it was totes worth it :D
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| Ashed Goat's Cheese, hummus and crusty bread |
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