wine tasting.

I almost forgot to talk about this, but last Friday I went wine tasting in McLaren Vale with Cait and Paul and Paul. I'd never done it before, and had been meaning to for ages, so when Cait offered to drive, I was enthusiastically in.

We had a lovely lunch in the Coriole courtyard - a tasting platter piled with Woodside cheeses, olive-oil drizzled bread, kalamatas, chorizo, corned beef, chutney, roast beetroot and pumpkin, and some leaves. Alongside we drank their Chenin Blanc. After lunch we sampled their wines - my memory begins to get hazy, but I tried a red which tasted to me bizzarely like frozen peas, and I walked away with a bottle of sweet white - a Semillion - which I enjoyed as being not as sickly as a lot of stickys.

We followed this with a trip to Kay's, which had a beautiful view and a couple of friendly dogs. I tried almost all of what was on offer - about 6-8 wines, and my memory was getting very sloshy, but as someone who is quite picky about wine, I did really enjoy their wares - they were nice and rich and had interesting flavours. I liked the Viognier the best, but Cait and co went for the Frontignac, which was quite sweet and went well with our Thai dinner.

Lastly, we ended up at Samuel's Gorge, which was not on the map and a real giggle. This also had a beautiful aspect (overlooking the gorge I suppose...) and would be a great place for a picnic. The winemaker was young and Jamaican and a real character, and we'd caught them at their knock-off drinks, which they kindly let us join. The boys talked sport, while Cait and I enjoyed the view. They only make reds, and at $35 a pop it was a bit rich for my blood, but they were very nice.

Apologies for being vague, but by the end of the day, I was a little sozzled. Who knew they gave you such big helpings?!