Booze cruise…

Lest you think I’m a wine soak, I really must say I’m not. I can barely manage two glasses of wine in a day before I get sleepy and of no use to anyone. But I do love wine as a drink with a meal or with friends. I love the science and art of wine-making and the ‘dirt and ditches’ science of grape-growing. Indeed, just ask my husband – I have always wanted to have a small wine-producing patch on our farm. Sadly the set-up and infrastructure costs are huge before one begins to have a decent enough harvest to make wine, let alone to make money.

So I live vicariously and today my husband and I did a tour of the east coast vineyards, culminating in a stay in Coles Bay (without my dogs and despite the smile, I’m bereft).

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But the day itself was fab. The weather mild, if overcast.

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We visited five wineries and got lost in the spring burst of viticulture, in chardonnays, rieslings, pinots and cab savs.

In views and tastes and flavours. In collections of corkscrews and combs for shearing hand pieces.

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At Springvale, we were fascinated with the old convict built barn, now a tasting room.

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We had lunch at Gala vineyard.

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Its story is filled with earthy charm and I really urge you

to click on the link and read the wonderful story of the quirky tasting room.

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We sat in Ted’s old vinyl chairs and ate salmon paté, farm cheese, olives and bread along with a red for him and a white for me.

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We ate super walnuts toasted in eggwhite, cayenne pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg at Devil’s Corner while we stared at the view.

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And…

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We wandered amongst vines, dovecotes and Tom Samek artwork at Freycinet Vineyard.

At home, we have a small but discerning collection of wines. We added these today.

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At a later stop for coffee, he had a blueberry muffin. I just missed my dogs…

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And as I sit writing this, I am sipping a Devil’s Playground 2014 riesling. It’s zesty and was perfect with the smoked salmon we had for dinner.

But I’m still missing my dogs…