Ross, our driver and guide from Australian Wild Escapes, picked us up at 8:00 am in a Mercedes SUV. It was only Chris and I that were going, so off we went to Hunter Valley, beginning our wine tasting journey by driving over the Harbour Bridge which we so lately came to know. We passed through only a suburb or two, before hitting park land. Apparently, Sydney is surrounded by land set aside by the government. This restricts its sprawl, while causing huge commutes for folks who work in the city but cannot live there. It was yet another beautiful day, weather-wise. We stopped for morning tea at a little rest stop at Mangrove Creek Dam. There, again, my genetic predisposition to civil engineering kicked in and I had to read all about the water management in the area, which is strict.
These dams are not used to generate electricity. Rather, they are all catchments for rain water, the predominant water supply. There are no rivers like the Mississippi or Colorado running through the country. No Great Lakes, either. Though they have several mountain ranges, nothing gets much above 5,000 feet. Australia is the oldest and flatest -- and therefore driest -- continent on earth. They have no glaciers or snow pack at high peaks.
We continued on to Wollombi, stopping to taste a local peculiarity called Dr. Jurd's Jungle Juice which, we were told, was made of port wine and "secret herbs and spices". It was tasty, but a bit much for mid-morning. Both Chris and I bought a small bottle for the novelty of it.
We continued on along the Convict Trail (yep, road made by chained convicts) to Undercliff Winery, a small family-owned winery that also boasted a Settler's Cottage on the premises. Few such cottages survive today. This one was used as a bed-and-breakfast. The owners were a bit concerned as we got there. Though we were greeted by their sweet border collie named Tanin, we soon discovered that their electricity had gone down and a big wedding was to take place there that afternoon. It had been down for hours and the location of the problem had not yet been found. Regardless, we tasted their flight of wines, from semillon to syrah. Neither Chris nor I liked them much, but their ice wine was fantastic, so Chris bought a bottle.
On we continued to Hunter Valley proper, stopping at a tiny "homeowners association" boutique winery called Kelman. Again, we weren't thrilled with their regular wines, but really liked their late harvest. I'm usually not a sweet wine person, but these were not too sweet and not at all syrupy. Perhaps what makes their regular semillon wines taste too sour for us, is perfect for the dessert wines?
On we went, to a larger winery called Hunter Valley Resort, where we had a light lunch with an unaccompanied flight of wines. Another wedding was taking place outside the restaurant. Chris and I learned a new word: "celebrant" which refers to the person who performs the wedding. It's commonly used, apparently, but I'd never heard it applied to only the conductor of the ceremony.
We stopped at Tempus Two -- a huge conglomerate of wineries that sport an open air amphitheatre where many performers like Rod Stewart come out for concerts. Again, we only liked the dessert wine, a botrytis semillon in this case.
We headed back into our last night in Sydney. We were both almost too tired to think. Strange, considering we just sat in the car for most of the day. We became obsessed with packing, so had dinner at our "usual" place next door, the Dundee Arms, before staring in wonder at how our suitcases no longer close! I'd bought a book, a small bottle of the botrytis, and that silly large bottle of vodka at duty free. Not much, but somehow everything expanded. Steps taken: 3448. Pathetic.