It has been an adventure since we left Nicaragua. A place where the lack of authority and miss understanding of cultural and social norms allowed us to feel free. Different from our first world existence of living in a police state and being limited in our self expression. Yet within our first world existence we appreciate certain comforts such as healthy organic food, recycling, drinkable tap water, punctuality and reliability. This brings us to date and why we keep traveling, searching, looking for the balance between unlimited freedom and sanity. We find ourselves Down Under in a land of opportunity, adventure and mystery.
December 28th 2010. Chap and I are living in Margaret River. It’s a small rural town located south west of Perth the main city in W.A(western Australia). The main attraction to Margaret River and the surrounding area is the vineyards. We are centered in the Mecca of wineries. Within the region there are 72 vineyards. Do you know how much wine tasting that is? Chapin and I are on a mission to successfully sample all the wines in all the vineyards and hopefully become a bit more wine savvy if not just drunk. I don’t think I will ever be able to appreciate boxed wine again. Well unless it is really cold, I am in Playa Gigante and Gary Hongos has just cooked a fabulous meal. Then maybe I can let it slide for a sip.
January 14th 2011. So far Chapin and I also known as “Chindia” have visited 9 wineries. Some are very wealthy with manicured grounds and others small, cute and quaint.
Lovely friend of ours Jess
Lets start with Leeuwin Estate. Standouts…their architectural feng shui complemented the surrounding landscape and overall vibe. The cellar door lady was very informative, their signature artistic labels were cool and their chardonnay was lovely.
Voyager Estate standouts…their rose garden and the Cab Merlo. Lesson learned; a rose bushes root structure is very similar to a grape vine and will become diseased before the grape vine. Indicating a potential plague to the crop. That’s why there is a rose bush planted in front of every row of grapes.
Redgate Wines standouts…good ports and friendly cellar door staff. Factode; Redgate winery is one of the first wineries in the area.
Xanadu winery “the name of Kubla Khan’s palace”. Architecturally appropriate for it’s name and the area in which it’s set on. There was a cellar door staff member who was possible on speed or some kind of methamphetamine and really wanted to go to Madagascar. He didn’t talk to much about the wine.
Stella Bella/ Skuttlebutt standouts, their SBS (Sauvignon Blanc Semillon), the cellar door staff were exceptionally friendly and their wine is one of the most popular in the area. Lesson learned for India: skuttlebutt means; rumor or gossip.
Watershed winery main attraction was Jorge a lovely German fellow. The wineries vistas were Chapin’s favorite.
meet jorge
Howling Wolves Wines had a uninformative cellar door lady and there was no standouts.
Evans and Tate, two words, Classic white. “It’s a beautiful blend of fruit flavors with a crisp dry finish easy to drink any time of the day.” According to our cellar door lady. TRUE! We also enjoyed their sparkling wines. It should be noted after the last 8 wineries Chapin does not like Shiraz and refuses to taste any more of them.
Last winery to date is Swings and Roundabouts. I loved this winery for it’s small, cozy family run feel. The cellar door lady was brilliant and overall the wines we sampled were tasty.
To sum up our experience so far all the cellar door people describe there wines the same…“You’ll find it has a hint of cherry”, or “…hints of vanilla” or “OOOW this one has a finish of passion fruit”… “This wine is great for sipping on a hot summer day”… “This wine goes great with fish or chicken”… “you’ll really notice this wine on the back of your tongue”… or “this red leaves your tongue feeling dry”. It gets a bit repetitive but with the right cellar door staff and a little personality your experience can be enhanced ten fold. But we will continue our journey drinking our way around Margaret River until the summer is over. Stay tune for our monthly postings.
Yours truly
Chindia
