Last of the Hunter Valley

This is a picture of our fourth and final winery, on the right is the main building. Our guide said he had seen a virtually identical building in the Medoc region in France. The inside of the building is very "modern" and metallic. I did not like this place at all. In part it was that it did not fit my image of the Hunter Valley. I might have ignored that but I also didn't like any of the wines we tasted. We tried, for example, a Zinfandel. While California wines- the ones I have had anyway- are virtually all inferior to the wines from most anywhere they can make Zinfandels. The Aussies should leave them to the Californians as the one we had was simply not very good.

This complex is also the home, as you can see if you examine the orange part of the sign, of the Smelly Cheese shop. We tried a few samples. I had a particularly wonderful creamed feta with garlic and sun-dried tomatoes. I wanted to get some but as I had spent a fair amount by this time I decided against the small jar for $15 even though that is only about $12 Canadian. I sort of regret that now.

The shop also has hand-made chocolates and an immense variety of gelatos. Wikipedia describes gelato as like high end ice cream in that it has less air in it and is generally quite rich and flavorful. I have had a bit and that description seems quite apt. I decided to have a cone and tried the dark chocolate. It was excellent and a well-filled cone was only $4. After I finished my cone (all had to wait as food and drink were not allowed on the bus) we boarded and headed back to Sydney. As the driver had predicted it rained fairly heavily fairly often on the way back. I leapt out of the bus at a stoplight by the rail station in Turramurra. I took the train to Hornsby and then a bus to Hornsby Heights.

The trip was only $95 and was well worth it. One can drive up and do tastings oneself. However individuals who go in generally taste only a couple of items. When one is in a group the sever presents, in an appropriate order, around 10 or so samples.