222choppy: On the wine tour

Thursday 28th September 2023

The Woolshed (which I keep calling the Sheepshed) is providing very suitable accommodation, and we are able to walk down to join our wine tour with our very wine savvy guide Patrick. He is a middle-aged man - and I suspect he might own the company. We are joined by two other couples and head off for coffee (and tea) while Patrick asks us about our wine preferences and knowledge. There's even a bit of a quiz!!

John, Susanna and Lennon

Our first Winery is Derwent Wines. They had a helpful sheet. provided nibbles and water, so top marks to this winery. However, with the prices ranging from $40 to $99, none of these wines really stood out as a star - we had been hoping for great things from the Pinot Noir, as it is a cold climate grape growing.

The thing I find most different about the landscape is all the rolling hills, not like most of NZ

Looks good for grapegrowing

The estuary of the Derwent River gives a stunning view. In fact I'm surprised that Tasmania hold together with how far the estuaries of many rivers comes inland.

Jackie worked at NAB as a financial adviser, John freely admits he doesn't remember much these days. "But what did you do?" I asked. Oh, a bit of this and a bit of that. Engineering - adds Jackie. Susanna is working at a pet shop while she completes her vet nurse qualifications and Lennon shyly admits to "Admin" which on further questioning we think is "Working in a call centre" We admit to optometrist and teacher, rather than 29year grapegrowers at this stage.

The next winery is Stefano Lubiana. They are biodynamic, and we have 11 wines to sample. Very pleased to see one is a 2019 Pinot Noir, as it is nice to sample an aged wine. The rather posh, up-her-self lady poured us a splash, and Duncan and I looked at each other. "This is not a 2019 wine" we declared. "Oh yes, We had to change that last week, no, its 2022 and we've just bottled it." NOT a wine we really wanted to try.

And no, we could not afford any of the wines from Stefano Lubiana, but very elegant surrounds and obviously very prestigious.

We head to Richmond for a late lunch, close to the Derwent River. People say that Tasmania is a bit like NZ, but for me, the rolling hills and the stone cottages reminded me more of England.

After lunch we headed out to our chocolate and wine combination tasting at Every Man and his Dog.

Patrick, our guide, and "The Dog"

The first chocolate was citrus flavours, served with a Sauvignon Blanc, the second one was pineapple and lychee flavours, served with a pinot gris. The Rose was with strawberry and rosewater flavours, but the star of the show was the Pinot Noir with the rich summer berries compote inside. The square of chocolate in front was to stop us eating the flavoured chocolates while she poured the wines. Very Wise.

They now source their chocolate ethically, and she gave us an interesting short talk on the chocolate process - this is a ceramic example of the cacao pod which they are not allowed to import into Australia.

Our last vineyard was the oldest one in Tasmania.

The owner had been a business magnate of some kind, and was now happy to spend his time chatting to a small eclectic group of people with a glass of wine or two. Susanna is now drinking quite freely - and becoming a little clumsy. Lennon, who has been so shy all day, is now venturing opinions on which wines he likes best. Barry, the owner, looked like he had settled in for a session. So it was quite late when we trundled back into Hobart.

We went to the "OLDEST PUB" for a light dinner.

There was a nearly full glass of wine on the table which fooled the wait staff into thinking we had been served. They had run out of all my choices, so I opted for a garlic bun and a glass of chardonnay - which I swear was watered down. Hospitality in Hobart is struggling a bit. Shame they couldn't have learned to cook since 1807.