I arrived in Perth on Friday afternoon. We had a nice evening in Fremantle, a seaport southwest of Perth. I would come back to post about Fremantle later.
The next morning, we got swiped away on a 3 hour drive to Margaret River. This is a region south of Perth, known for its premium wine production. It produces 25% of the Australian premium wine.
We, meaning me and my immediate team of coworkers, are rewarded with an “away-day” by the company. The company has made a good profit in 2008. However, with the economy crisis and the crude price dramatically down, a blanket pay raise freeze in 2009 has been announced for everyone globally, including the executives. I think this is one way for management to reward the top performers on the side. This excursion is somewhat our reward.
Our first stop is for a late lunch and wine tasting at Capel Vale. Oh, to my wino friends, wine tasting in this area is free. Yes, no fees, and they let you try everything they produce. This is unheard of in the US now. The wine at this place is nice, but it was only my first stop, so I didn’t buy any wine. We had a nice lunch there. I had a very delicious daily special tasting plate. In fact, after the lunch, I bought couple jars of condiments (yes, even though I shouldn’t since I should be using up my pantry instead, but it was very good.) 
- Citrus, Chilli & Rosemary Baked Ricotta
- Mini Beef Wellingtons with Capel Vale Relish
- Tomato & Macadamia Pesto with Garlic & Rosemary Croutons
- Warm Marinated Olives & Margaret River Venison Chorizo
- Baked Button Mushroom stuffed with Pumpkin, Tomato & Mozzarella
- Duck, Charred Corn & Asian Greens Rice Roll with Spiced Fruit Dressing
Afterward, we checked into Margaret River Resort for the weekend. It is one of those self contained unit again. The ground is beautiful. The interior is old country style, not my type, but hey, I am not complaining. In late afternoon, we went to the beach for a walk and a look at the Indian Ocean. Yes, we are no longer in the Pacific Ocean, but the Indian Ocean!!! Wow, I am certainly very far away. The water is blue and very clear; the sand is very nice. The water is a bit cooler than Queensland, but not as cold as California coast. I had a good work out walking on the sand. I didn’t see any surfer even though it is supposed to be good area for surfing too. Dinner was at a local restaurant, Gnarabar. We thought it is a BYO restaurant so we got couple very nice bottle of wine. But it turns out the restaurant is full service, so those two bottles set in the car. Since the next day we needed to check out before our tour, the wine sat in the heat for the entire day, probably ruin now. Too bad!
The next day, we had a late morning start with the official tour by Bushtucker. I was told that we could do the wine tour ourselves, but this means one of us has to be non-drinker. No volunteer there… And with a tour guide, we are supposed to get better wine pour from the wineries.
I had a late breakfast and a quick window shop around the town and the Sunday market. No, didn’t acquire anything, very proud of myself so far.
We did four wineries in this half day outing:
Leeuwin Estate – This is my most favorite one. My colleague got the recommendation and put it on our tour route. Gosh, they must have 10-15 choices for tasting and you can taste everyone of those. That is too much for me, I was more selective. Their top stuff is the Chardonnay. But it comes with a pricey tag, at A$80+ a bottle. I know it is good, but feeling the ouch! I got the next level down, at ~A$30, it is still very very good. The best thing is they do free shipping to CA, so no risk in breaking it in the luggage. I also got two other bottles, a Shiraz and a Riesling. Love all of them. The estate has an art gallery in the wine cellar. It is the original art work for all their bottle labels. What a nice idea.
Voyager Estate – This is our second stop, and also luncheon here. It has a nice setting and manicure landscape. They obviously spent $$$ on the property. Unfortunately, the wine is only so so in my amateur opinion. Our tour guide called ahead with our lunch order so everything went smoothly. The food is wonderful. The bread is freshly made. I had the Five Spice Confit Duck Leg on Kai-lan and Green Beans with Pickled Cherries and Fragrant Broth. I tried out their own bottled grape juice at lunch instead of wine, especially since we had two more steps afterward! I got some gourmet food from here, chocolate covered fig and chili peppered roasted almond. Yum!
Vasse Felix – They are one of the oldest vineyards in the region. I can see some of the grape vine branches are much thicker. By now, I think my taste buds are shot! I couldn’t tell you what is what, only the very exceptionally good or bad would stand out… I learn about the “Cane Cut” in dessert wine. When I tried it vs. their Noble Riesling, no comparison there! Noble Riesling is only produced in years when conditions during vintage are good enough to encourage Botrytis infection of the grapes. The grapes are picked at 21 degrees baume, nearly double the sugar level of a dry Riesling. I got a half-bottle of this for sharing….at my next dinner gathering, I suppose….
Gralyn Estate – a boutique winery as our last stop of the tour. They are known for their port and sweet wine + some very expansive full body reds. As I mentioned, my taste buds are shot now. I do think they have some great selection, but also a high price to match. I wasn’t ready to drop A$100 a bottle of the red or A$70 a half bottle of their Artizan dessert wine. So I tasted and I left with empty hands. Three of my colleagues got some white port, more affordable at A$28 for a full bottle.
This concluded our tour of the day. We got dropped off and on our way back to Fremantle. As you can tell, everyone was really quiet, probably due to sleep induced by the wine tasting. I was in the back of the van and got a glimpse of the beautiful sunset.
Summary: Yes, I would return again one day.
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