Hunter Valley

The views from the tour bus window on the way to Hunter Valley - the wine region closest to Sydney - a bit north up the coast- could be mistaken for a lot of places in Canada.  Unless there were kangaroos in the picture, which sadly, there are not.

The first of three organized wine tastings was at Lindeman's - giving new definition to "six pack".

The final line up of our first tasting - the Tawny (port) on the far left was described as Christmas in a bottle - seemed apt to me!  Of course, being the connoisseur that I am, it all tasted "good"!

Next stop ...

After lunch, some tourist type shopping, we stopped here at this lovely  vineyard with a natural bowl for a viewpoint.

The bus driver asked us to be back at the bus at "ten past two" ... the name of the winery - see below.  Coincidence?

View from Mountain View - the final official winery of the day.  

Something interesting - a single rose bush was traditionally planted at the ends of vineyard rows, and some are still planted today as a nod to that history.  The reason - the roses were more susceptible to bugs and blights, aphids and molds, than the grapes so they served as the "early warning" device of the vintner.  The vineyard's answer to thecanary in the coal mine.

All in all we tasted 31 wines (the tour had promised 20), some cheeses and chutneys ... lovely day.  Of course the sun was down and we were ready for bed by the time we returned to our hotel.  But it was only 6 p.m.