Been a while since my last update but let me start off by saying that the wine valley outside Melbourne is amazing not only nice views and great wines but the people are amazing.
My journey began last Saturday as on a whim (I was planning to go to the wine valley and had a buddy or two from work planned to come along and they bailed so last second I decided to go solo) I rented a car and headed off to the Yarra Valley well known for its wines and a few breweries settled nicely in an amazing expanse of valleys, hills and vineyards couple hours outside Melbourne. I went to four wineries (Boat O'Craigo, Yering Station, Innocent Bystander and Long Gully) and caught 2 breweries as well (White Rabbit Brewery and Coldstream Brewery) that are spread throughout the pictures that I have on here.
I must say that my knowledge of wine outside of downing jugs of Carlo Rossi in college was quite limited entering this trip. That being said the opportunity to sit down with some wine makers do some wine tasting pick their brains a bit and see the vineyards was a pretty cool experience. I picked up a lot of knowledge on how the whole process works when they pick the grapes, how they extract the flavors and juices from them the differences between reds and whites as well as how to taste the full flavour of the wine. Just random tidbits that were all new to me and pretty great to learn about. I will say that the solo mission was a great way to experience this since you never were in a crowd and never being pushed out the door in tour to the next stop. So I didn't get to try all the wines and get chauffered around all day and drink my fill during the driving part of my trip. But it did lead me to a 25 dollar hotel that was positioned ever so cleverly above a bar which I will return to later.
So between the four wineries I found a couple breweries one was the Coldstream Brewery (http://www.coldstreambrewery.com.au/product.html) where I sat down for a nice lunch of stuffed rabbit and did a taste test of the four brews they had. It was a very small Microbrewery with restaurant that was in the middle of nowhere really but they did make some delicious brews. The four on tap were a Bitter, Cider, Pilsener and Autumn Seasonal that was a nice spicy beer similar to Octoberfest. Really something magical.
For dinner that day I decided on the second brewery to stop at. The White Rabbit Brewery located in Healesville was walking distance from the hotel I found and quite an anomaly. The mystique behind the White Rabbit was that the brewery was a new establishment and still hadn't chosen a beer to brew. They are in the process of testing beers currently. They make one at a time and let the brewers and any beer savants come in for a try and once they feel they have found the perfect brew they will bottle it. So I know not if I will come across the White Rabbit beer unless I find myself in Healesville,VIC again or if I do if it will be the same beer which I simply know as Test #2 which was phenomenal.
So after all running around and driving through the valley it was time for me to the bar and hang with some locals. What a night it turned out to be. Within a few minutes I met a few girls doing the Wine Valley runaround as well 2 were Kiwis (New Zealanders)and one was from Sydney. They were really cool involved in some form of Tv production and out for a long weekend. They were fascinated with the American Accent and asking questions about Boston and different things about the States so it was fun to go back and forth and split a few rounds of beers and some shots with some randoms.
A few other great things about the Grand Hotel, which was the name of the bar, was that it was the only bar open late in Healesville so all the finest townies were out in full effect and they hosted Karaoke on Saturday night. I sang Piano Man but they wouldnt let me drink during the harmonica (devastating!) but it still was a hit and afterwards I was simply known as the American. It was like they hadn't had an American come through in years so people were taking shots with me buying beers asking me to sing songs with them it was pretty full on.
Sunday was much tamer as I slowly emerged from Healsville to conintue on my journey I decided to skip the steam train ride through the mountains due to inclement weather, and instead found myself driving to the top of Mt. Dandenong where I got some good pics overlooking Melbourne and walked through some mountain passes severely underdressed and thinking that I was the next scene of Unsolved Mysteries as no one else was anywhere near me as far as I could tell not mention not a single soul in the world knew where I was. I digress, the day cleared some so the views were mixed between overcast and some bits of sun but definitely worth the drive through mountain towns and spectacular views all the way through.
I must say that this was definitely the best weekend I've had down here so far. But I look forward to the further antics that await me as I have a few new trips ahead (Singapore, Hawaii, and Tasmania to name a few) that should provide with entertainment as well as some great scenery as my journey down under continues.
Peace and love,
Davsy
Long Gully Estate Vineyards
Innocent Bystander Winery
Long Gully Estate Cellar Door
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