The Auswine Forum

Seeking recco's

We're in Perth and Melbourne from mid March for just short of three weeks. Whilst wine is not the reason for being there, we'd like to sneak in a trip or two.

From Perth, Margaret River will be the trip out, probably for 1-2 days. Firmly on the agenda is a return to Woody Nook, but will also try Woodlands, probably Cullen's & Moss Wood and will aim to make it into Margaret River town proper this time. Any recco's for other wineries specifically either near Margaret River itself, or near Woody Nook etc. ?

Also looking for decent mid-price comfortable accomodation, within walking distance of a restaurant.

From Melbourne, it looks likely we'll only have time for an overnighter or day trip, so it's looking more like Mornington Peninsula or the Yarra (but all the cellar doors you'd want to go to aren't open!). As an alternative and to cut down on driving, are there any other Vic. wine regions reachable by train (and do-able on foot / bike)? Places that would be of interest are Grampians, Pyrenees, Rutherglen and Gouldburn (well Tahbilk to be precise).

And do they still do balloon rides from Fergusson in the Yarra? "The brains of the operation" wants to go on a balloon ride, but I'm scared of heights (well drops really) so will have to occupy myself I suppose.

Would also be interested in decent wine shops for mooching in Melbourne and Perth (was there a recent thread on Perth here or on wine*? - if so I'll get that info from the thread).

Any comments welcomed

Ian

Hi Ian,

There are a few wineries that you can do in an afternoon session from Melbourne such as Sunbury which is about 10mins past the airport where you can go to Craiglee and then across the road to Goonawarra Winery who put on an excellent Sunday lunch.
The other one is Shadowfax in Werribee which is only about 20mins from the city. They have some excellent wines and you can also visit the Werribee Mansion and the zoo while there.
With regards to balloon flights, it is not over the Yarra Valley, but a mate runs Balloon Flights Over Mebournehttp://www.balloonflightsovermelbourne.com.au which a well worth it with March being about the best time.
Plenty of bottle shops worth checking out with the picks probably being Boccaccio, Prince Wine Store, Randall's, Cloudwine and Rathdowne Cellars.
I hope this helps a bit.

Cheers
Popov

Hi Ian,

you could do worse than head from Perth out to the Swan Valley for lunch. There are some good wineries out there (Houghton for example) and it's only about half an hour drive north-east. Talijancich make good fortifieds, and Little River make a reasonable bubbly I think.

Down Margaret River Way, check out Voyager and Wise, if only for the scenery, but drop into Ashbrook for semillon and definitely visit Juniper Estate for reds - they're all pretty close together. Just about all the cellar door restaurants are good, but Clairault stood out last time we were there. Margaret River town is probably the best place to stay for restaurants... visit Vat107 and Winos, there are plenty of more 'local' choices that are good too.

In Perth, visit Frasers in Kings Park, Halo at Barrack St jetty, or Balthazar in town for dinner. Duende in Leederville is great if you want something tapas/spanish... try the Noe solera sherry there.

Cheers,

Dave.

Dave, Popov
Many thanks for really good suggestions. This should make the planning quite a bit easier.
regards
Ian

Forget the Swan Valley.

Wait for Ric's Margaret River tour diary to be published to help you avoid the dogs, and boy are there some, and get to some places showing good wine.

For accomodation use the internet and google. There is plenty of good stuff down there but it will all depend on what suits you, ie at the beach, on a vineyard, in town, farmstay, hotel/motel, villa, house etc.