I'll start before all that (which means you need to keep reading since you're curious). My friend from BU, Sharyn, is studying in Auckland, New Zealand for the semester, and they have a 2 week spring break, which just ended. For her break she came to Australia, and she was in Sydney for the weekend! Unfortunately, being from New Zealand, she did not have a phone here, so we were in a bit of contact by email, and then she called me from a payphone (with all our cell phones who would've guessed they still exist?? But thank goodness they do!) and we arranged to meet up at the Opera House at 2:30. I don't know the last time I tried to meet someone somewhere without having any way to contact them. I got there just at 2:30 and went up and down the steps trying to make sure I wouldn't miss her. It also happened to be a ridiculously windy day and I was quite close to being blown down the steps. Anyway, I finally found her! It was so great to see her. We took some pictures and walked around Circular Quay (pronounced Key) and then went to the Rocks since her friends wanted coffee. We ended up walking back to BU just the two of us since she wanted to see where we live, and she has some other friends here so we spent some time with them. It was great seeing her and chatting and hearing all about her adventures in New Zealand. All of them wanted to stay in Sydney and not go back, which made me feel good about my choice to be here. Sadly this was the only time we managed to see each other, but it was great catching up.
Saturday I convinced people who were going out to walk there, and so I ended up with Hanna, Rachel C., Belinda and Justina walking to Newtown (that's actually where I went to synagogue that first week). Anyway, it's a nice area with many different types of people and really interesting shops and cute food places and graffiti. We actually saw a documentary about the graffiti there, http://inner-west-courier.whereilive.com.au/news/story/message-on-wall-endures/. We walked in and out of vintage shops, antique places (one had an Avril Lavigne CD so we're not convinced that was so legitimate but others were older), furniture shops, and lots more. It was nice wandering around and seeing the area. That night I tried to go to bed at a reasonable time because our wine class field trip to Hunter Valley, one of the great wine regions in Australia, was yesterday and today!
Ok so here goes. Disclaimer, it was actually 7 wineries (I went to an extra) and 58 wines (I tried 2 wines at the extra winery and an extra wine at one of the 6, and then we had 2 bottles with dinner).
We got up bright and early Sunday morning, on the bus by 8:15 (and then of course I had trouble sleeping on the bus, typical). We had a two and a half hour bus ride and we're 18 students so most of us got our own seats so that was convenient.
Our first winery was great. It's called Tamburlaine and it is certified organic and biodynamic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture. Gordon, who served us our wines, was quite helpful and energetic and lively. He also was kind enough to give us a HUGE discount on the wines we tasted. The wines there were easy to drink, smooth, and some of my favorites from the trip. I even enjoyed the Cabernet Merlot, despite generally not enjoying red wines. We learned about how the whole business is organic, including how they produce bottles and recycle water, and tend not to have paperwork so as not to waste paper. Overall, it was one of my favorite. (We even came back later since they offered us $8 for $15 wines and we all realized we should have bought more there)
Brian, Melanie, Pam, Lindsay
After lunch at Tempus Two, where I split a heavenly pizza with Lindsay, and we walked around the vineyard, we continued on to Drayton, one of the oldest wineries in Hunter Valley, still with the original family as the owners. While the wines tasted good, it was not really well done for our group. We sat on chairs all facing the counter, but with nothing in front of us, and Daniel served us wines, one after the other, without giving us time to think about the wines we were drinking. It seemed like he just wanted us in and out. While we did try 10 wines, it did not make a big impression. It was disappointing, since we had seen a movie about the Drayton family. About four years ago there was an explosion on the premises, killing one of the four sons working the business, as well as another worker. Since then, they have been building back up, and so we were all excited to see what it has become, it was sad that it did not meet any of our expectations. (although they are well known for their ports which I must say were delicious, and their chocolate dessert wines, both white and dark were amazing).
Lindsay and Melanie using chairs for tables
Ports
The view
We went from there to Tempus Two, (where we had eaten lunch). It's a huge complex, and one of the doors is the cellar door. It was big and modern and glitzy, and honestly Matt, who served us the wines, was quite attractive (even Gaynor and Kate kept talking about how he was the 'hottest' staff we had). Anyway, while the wines were good, it was clearly a business and seemed practiced and rehearsed and showy. However, it was a bit of fun. At one point, while trying the Cabernet Sauvignon, Matt had us stand, take a sip, look at our feet, to taste it on the front of the tongue, and then look at the ceiling to taste it on the back, before finally swallowing it. It was a bit silly but did sort of work. Aside from that, they were very focused on being a business, and would not give our group any sort of discounts, which we got at all the other wineries, and the wines were quite expensive. I believe it was the one place no one bought any wines. It's a shame, since the class has been coming for around 5 years, but Kate and Gaynor have decided they probably won't be coming back (except for lunch which cannot be missed there).
Fancy Shmancy
We then went to check into the guest house at Mercure, the most adorable homey little place. We had two people per room, and I stayed with Belinda. After dropping our stuff, we went to check out another wine tasting at McGuigan's, which was just up a few stairs. We tried two Semillons there (since Hunter Valley is well known for its Semillon and Shiraz). One was a 2010 (or 2011, either was very young) and was pretty good. The other was a 1999, which we thought would be fun to compare. Now, while Semillon is a white, it is still supposed to age very well. The first thing we noticed, was the older is VERY yellow/gold in color, compared to the almost clear yellow younger one. When we tried the older one, however, we immediately turned to each other and at the same time blurted out "this tastes like water". Maybe it was open for too long, or it was just a bad bottle, whatever it was, that was not a very good Semillon.
Then with dinner (everyone got chicken or steak and I got a 4 cheese ravioli which was delicious) we had a red and a white wine. With my meal, white was probably better, but for everyone else it was nice for them to be able to try the red with the steak (a lot of people shared so everyone could have both). Kate sat at our table so it was nice getting to know more about her and she asked about all of us, so I now know what people's parents do which is interesting and not always something you ask about. On the way back to our room, Belinda, Randy, and I were looking at stars, and Kate and Gaynor pointed out the Southern Cross, although as they said, they could have pointed at anything and we would have believed them. Anyway it's a constellation but sort of like our North Star, where you can use it for navigation, and it can only be seen down here. It's also those stars that you see on the Australian Flag. Another fun fact that I learned from Jenny (my Aboriginal teacher), sometimes Australia has contests for a new flag, and most of the top contenders tend to keep the southern cross in it somewhere.
The next morning the breakfast buffet was amazing. I haven't had such a nice breakfast in quite a while, with hash browns, scrambled eggs, cooked mushrooms, lots of fruit, fresh juice. Great way to start our day, as we had three more wineries to hit. The first was Petersons, known for their sparkling wines (no one can call their wine Champagne anymore unless it is made in Champagne in France). There, we learned that there are different types and sizes of bubbles, depending on the fermentation process used. They also had sparkling reds, which are must easier to drink than most reds, and I happened to love. They are also starting to make ciders, and had a delicious Raspberry and Cranberry apple based sparkling cider, which I bought. In addition, they are probably one of the first places to make sparkling dessert wines, so we had a sparkling Botrytis Semillon (Botrytis Semillon, which we had not sparkling at a few other places, is a delicious dessert wine, tasting of honey, passion fruit, pear, pineapple...) The place had a lot of pink and was clearly targeted at girls around my age, maybe a bit older, however, we were told that they are starting to try to make it more acceptable for men, and they are also trying to change sparkling wines from being just for celebrations to being a good wine for any time (light enough even for the morning). The place also had a chocolate store, and our bus driver, Mike, was kind enough to ask them to bring out samples for us, so we got to have chocolate covered coffee beans, chili chocolate (super spicy), fudge, and chocolate rocks. It was so nice of him and of course delicious. (I probably gained a few pounds from this trip)
Our next winery was Brokenwood. It was pretty small and quaint, and apparently sells one of Hunter Valley's nicest wines, Graveyard, but it was all sold out when we came. One of the nice parts about our visit at Brokenwood, is that we were poured a glass of wine, and then went out to hear about the vineyard, then poured another then went to see all the barrels. It was nice learning about the wine making process and seeing where it is made. The experience was really nice, though I don't really have good notes since we were walking around.
Tasting wines the right way
Top to Bottom: Lindsay, Pam, Melanie
Lindsay, Melanie, Belinda
The last place we went was my personal favorite (most people liked either this one or the first). Tyrrells, like Drayton, is one of the oldest (it's unclear which is older), and still owned by the original family. We saw a Shiraz vineyard that is 133 years old. We were even able to meet John, one of the Tyrrell sons, who wandered around with us. Here again, we got to walk around and hear about their process and see where everything was done. It felt so real and not fake and they showed us exactly where everything was done. It also had a beautiful view. Here, they let us try two Semillons to compare, I believe it was one 6 month, one 6 year? Something like that. The older was much more like honey, yet light. I loved it. The rest of the wines we drank outside, which was fun sitting at a picnic table together trying wines. It was very homey and comfortable.
The Tyrrell's original house
The old and the new (All of the vines are clones of one, you take a branch and plant it and it grows its own roots, also the thicker the vine, the older it is) The old here is dying so they have replaced it.
The 2 Semillons
Fun anecdote, we were driving and suddenly the driver stopped short and we all asked what happened and Pam told us we almost hit a kangaroo! Sadly none of the rest of us saw it. Then later Kate and Gaynor told us all to look out the window there were kangaroos! But again no one saw them... So I have now come very close to seeing wild kangaroos. Hopefully soon I'll actually see them.
List of wines I drank: (no this does not have them all, since some places were hard to take notes at)
Tamburlaine:
Savignon Blanc- Semillon: very crisp (I bought this one)
Chardonnay: creamy, fruity taste
Rose: fruity strawberry taste (I bought this one too)
Cabernet Merlot: smooth cranberry taste
Shiraz: smooth but a peppery after taste (this was my least favorite)
Late picked Riesling (dessert wine): tasted like honey
Raspberry Liqueur: exactly what it sounds like (Lindsay, Pam, Melanie and I bought a bottle to split and eat as a sauce on vanilla ice cream)
Drayton: (disclaimer: these weren't as smooth or easy to drink for me, so while they were still good wines they were not my favorite and while I did try them all, I passed a few down the row for Ridge and Brendan to finish off)
Unwooded Chardonnay: smooth but some acid
Berdelho: crisp
Moscato: strawberry, peach, flowery, honeysuckle
Merlot
Shiraz Cabernet: I thought it tasted like dirt
Shiraz: dry
White port: honey, jam, apricot
Jungle Juice (not the same as what we call jungle juice): very sweet
White chocolate dessert wine and dark chocolate dessert wines (exactly what they sound like, I preferred the dark chocolate)
Tempus Two:
Semillon: crisp and lime, lemon aftertaste (I liked)
Pinot Gris: fresh, apple and pear
Sauvignon Blanc: fruity and crisp (I liked)
Moscato: pear (I liked)
Pink moscato: creamy, strawberry
Tempranillo: spicy but I liked it
Young Shiraz (only bottled 16 weeks, they're usually bottled for 40 before selling so they settle): peppery
Cabernet Sauvignon: pepper and plum (I liked it)
Botrytis Semillon (dessert wine): honey, peach, apricot, passionfruit (yum yum yum)
Peterson Sparkling:
Cuvee (blend of pinot noir, semillon, chardonnay)
Semillon Pinot (bigger bubbles)
Pinot Chardonnay
Pink Blush: flowery, strawberry (I liked this one)
Raspberry and Cranberry Apple Cider: well balanced and I bought a bottle
Sparkling reds:
Shiraz Tempranillo: cherry
Chambourcin: plum, peppery aftertaste (I liked this one)
Red Zinfindel
Botrytis Semillon: honey, pear, passion fruit, pineapple
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