Mudgee Wine Tour: Delightful, Delicious and...Nutritious?

Mudgee...population: 9,000.  Number of major roads: 2 (from what I saw).  Chance of falling off a cliff while driving there:  Fairly high; especially in rainy weather.  Wineries around:  Upwards of..I'd say about...30..talk about Wine-o heaven.  Amount of fun to be had in town:  A whole lot if you are with Tegan, Amy, Kaycie, Ellie and Yours Truely!




 Saturday we decided to take a trip up to Mudgee (just north of Bathurst) and stay with Tegan's family for the night.  We had previously planned to do our own tour and ride tandem bikes from one winery to the next as there are several in fair proximity to each other.  However, upon waking up to pouring rain and heavy cloud coverage outside in Bathurst that morning, we thought plan B will be taking the tour bus instead!  Couldn't possibly be as much fun as 5 wine happy (drunk) girls attempting to get along on tandem bikes, but it would suffice!  Looking back, we would have been absolutely miserable had we rode bikes despite the weather.  Good thing there were exactly 5 seats left on the only bus tour of the day.



Back Seat Bandits



Driving to Mudgee was an experience.  The rain continued to come down light and that didn't help the dodgey conditions of the road itself.  Regardless, it was beautiful.  A bit dry and somewhat brown, with some random bright green patches - and a small lot of Christmas Trees ... okay, they were just pine trees, but it was the first set of pine trees I've seen since I have been here!  Along the way we came upon an accident.  A car somehow didn't follow the curve of the downhill portion of the road and ended up off the cliff, only saved, thank god, by a lone tree.  When we passed the police were there and the people were standing on the side of the road, giving us the impression that everyone survived.  At that point we told Tegan our lives' were in her hands so she'd better drive safe :) 

Tour Bus!

When we arrived, we weren't sure we would even catch a bus, but we lucked out and had to meet the bus at the end of the drive way right away.  Talk about service, they picked us up and dropped us off right at the house (actually we had to drive to the end of the road on the pick up because she couldn't find it).  We were 1 of 3 groups of people on the bus, and we claimed the back, proclaiming ourselves the "Backseat Bandits".  Yes, be jealous...everyone else on the bus was!  It was quite cozy to say the least, especially after the first 2 wineries!



Inside Peter van Gent



Bunamagoo was our first stop.  It was very modern looking and nice inside.  Nothing too special, but quite good for the first stop.  The lady liked us because she could tell we were amateurs.  Next on the list was Peter van Gent.  This was a gorgeous place.  Aside from the views outside alone, when you walk up to the winery, there were two huge brown doors to open.  When you did, you walked into a large room just filled with humongous casks that line the walkway all the way down to the bar.  Talk about a cool atmosphere, it was beautiful!  We all loved the wine here as it seemed be be a bit sweeter.  As amateurs I'd reckon our palates aren't acquired to the more sophisticated wines quite yet. 

They had several I was keen on including an Angelic White (The style of wine Michael Angelo and Cupid drink together. Bouquet: Citrus ands paw paw characteristics; Palate: Luscious with a crisp fresh finish. Food: Peaches and cream, cheese and dried fruit, raspberry and blueberry tartlets) that was quite tastey, as well as a White Port (Smooth and luscious with nectarous overtones).  The Liquer Muscat was probably my favorite, it was very lovely, made from "Black Muscat grapes grown by some of Mudgee's more colourful characters, this Muscat is very rich, raisiny and deliciously sweet. A great after dinner drink that has been known to find its way into many a dish of ice cream."  If you know me at all, you could assume the reason I liked it was because it is paired well with ice cream. You are probably right!

Frog Rock Winery

Moving along, we went to another one which I can't, for the life of me, remember the name..perhaps I was a few too many drinks in to even recall at this point.  This one was very small and set up like a vintage home from the early 1900's with the vineyards all around.  We took a few tastes of the wine and then decided the vineyards and camera were calling for us to go do photo shoots :)  When the group was ready, we moved along to Frog Rocks.  The room here was set up much more contemporary and even had some bread and loads of different dips and dressings to taste which got the better part of our attention.  After having a few tastes of wines that were good (I should have been taking notes of what they were), we again wen't out and frolicked (love saying that word) on the grass and took pictures among the human size chess board and trees surrounding the winery.  Aboard the bus again, we got lucky and got to stop at one more winery that was not on the list, di Lusso Winery.  This was was no doubt Italian, and was slightly more sophisticated than the others...I'd say it was for those with a much more developed palate, but not to say I didn't like some of them I tried.  They also had some carmelized figs out for tasting and those were quite delicious!

All in all, it was a lovely day out with some great company touring just a few of the wineries in Mudgee.  To top it off, we ate a the local brewery in town and met a couple of guys the girl's knew from school.  You'll never believe that these boys had New Mexicans working with them!  What are the chances of that?!  A small town of 9,000 people, in the middle of Central New South Wales, in Australia, and I run into people who are working with 4 other people from Albuquerque?!  I suggested they invite them out with us so I could be among some fellow foreigners, but they were all having a barbie and the boys didn't know their numbers.  Oh well, just the thought of what a small world it is makes me smile. 

Other things that made me smile this weekend...I found out I am a vegan (according to Tegan)..but no, I really am not.  She just likes to tell her mum silly lies.  The first thing Kaycie and Ellie said when they found out I am from Albuquerque was, "Oh!  I know where that is. High School Musical was filmed there!"  (In fact it was filmed in Utah, but I wen't along with it because the movie does say Abq).  Dutch pancakes (they are like small pancake balls but flat on one side).  Spending quality time with some awesome girl friends...I haven't had that since I left all my ladies back home!  
 

Exercise Science Girls - Me, Amy and Tegan



I'll leave you now with a few things in the making:  1.  Uni starts again this week which means I have to get going on some school work.  2.  I am going to get a job this week.  3.  I am heading up to Forbes with Amy for Easter, so I'll be filling you in on farm life out in Oz next time (Camel races here I come!..I haven't asked Amy if we can go yet, but I saw a commercial that they are happening in Forbes this friday! Haha, She's going to think I'm crazy..).

Hope you have a beautiful and Happy Easter with your families.  I sure wish I could be with mine!  Much love!  xo