McLaren Flat

A good night rest was had in preparation for another crack at one of the many SA's fine wine region, The McLaren Vale.

Our tour guide, Darryl, selected a handful of favourites, our first stop, Thicker Than Water, the home of the official World's Best Shiraz, 'Squid Ink'. Jen and Darryl couldn't argue with that claim. Brett was more intrigued with the architecture of the reception/tasting facility and learning more about wine production.

Next stop, Beresford Winery, a resort style location with wonderful views of the surrounding wineries that had a fancy restaurant, brewery, and distillery...all that one needs to survive, at one location no wine tasting here. It was wood-fired pizza and beer tasting. The Rusty Mongrel stout was the winner, with a quantity making it its way into our vehicle prior to departure.

It was then off to Maxwell Winery. However, the tasting rooms were booked out, so we checked out the grounds, including a maze constructed by pencil pines. Jen won.

One seems to spend a long time at each stop on these Winery tours, and time seems to pass quickly, but even for a non-wine drinker, it is a rather pleasant day out. It's time for a few more stops, so we went to Woodstock Winery. This is a winery created by a WWII Spitfire pilot, an Aussie who was one of Winston's 'so few'.

Here, we were welcomed by a grunting emu. Google informed us that this sound is made by emu's during the mating season, however google did not disclose how to identify the male or female of the species, so we don't know which one of us it was eyeing off...lol.

In the tasting room, we were greeted and looked after by a very pleasant, knowledgeable young lady who took us through quite a few samples of their product whilst filling us up with so much wine and Winery information.

The wine was exceptional, and some product from here joined our beer collection. We spent so much time here we went beyond closing time, and thus, the end of our of McLaren Vale ended. Back to Darryl's for chit-chat, wine and bourbon, and ultimately bedRead more