This is the second time I been to Swan Valley but I must say its the first time I had so much to drink (and thus so much fun) in quite a while. The only reason I can do this is because I'm not driving, and I went with a bunch of people who can really drink and knows how to have fun.
David Tan got his CPL(IR) recently and while waiting to go home, he'd graciously became our Swan Valley tour guide. Went to couple of nice places which I would uncover as we go along. 1st stop was Sandalford Estate for a full list wine tasting. This is quite a big estate almost similar to Voyeger or Xanadu in Margaret River. This is where I first tasted the late harvest wine. Its basically wine which are sweeter because the grapes are picked later and thus there's more sugar in it.
Posing for the camera at Sandalford Then we went to Houghton for more rounds of wine tasting. The interior and exterior of the winery boast spaciousness. Next to the winery is a huge park for visitors to picnic with family. The vineyard was founded by a man named Jack who does not believe in oak aged wine. Instead he used stainless steel container to store its wines. Therefore, from outside, the winery looks more like a factory. Although unconventional it was at that time, it still wins plenty of awards for its wines.
Space and steely Houghton
Don't be fooled by the name. Contrary to what the name suggested, there's no olives on sale in this place. Historically, the owner of the place used to have olive farm as well as vineyard. This is one of the winery where the owner was around to greet visitors. We were treated with chilled and sweet red wine called Autumn Cabernet. It has a easy and light texture of cabernet except that it has a tinge of sweetness in it. There also have liquor muscat which comes in a very nice bottle. It makes a good wedding gift I must say.... Overall, the wines was superb and the ambiance of the place is very classy. It even offers a huge glass window where you can view the production area for the wines and some barrels stored under the staircase.
Contemporary settings at olivefarmwine where you can try the Autumn Cabernet
Sunset shadow show
The next stop was to a rustic looking place called Edgecomb Brothers. Meticulously planned, we save this place to later time because this is one of the places where its open later than the other winery. By now, dusk is falling outside (that's why we have the shadow show earlier). This place looks quite rustic outside some dining table set beside the main building overlooking a lake. The symbol of the winery is a tortoise which coincidentally is the name of the lake (in aboriginal language) right next to it.
Edgecomb Brothers offer a variety of liquor wines as well as some home made grape and strawberry jams. Again, the owners are there to give you a personal touch. The building itself is also cosy with a corner where they have fireplace and choices of muffins, nougat and cookies. We were introduced to a way to enjoy the liquor shiraz. First, take some vanilla ice cream, top it with grape jam and then top it with the liquor shiraz to your liking. The combination is superb! Although I can't take much of liquor shiraz on its own because its too sweet, this receipe is just nice and its a very simple and nice idea of a desert.
Edgecomb Brothers with their liquor shiraz
After lots of dosage of wine, comes the beer. Went to this place called Feral. They pride themselves in being able to brew beers similar to the Belgian ones. They are generally pale in colour and have that clean taste just like Hoegaarden.
Feral's choices of beer
Every person have to eat when the time comes. And ours come just at the right time... when everyone's hungry and the temperature falls. Few minutes drive south of Swan valley and we're at the heart of Guildford. It doesn't seems much at night but at one corner of a crossroad, there's a lighted neon lights with the sign Alfred's. Many people are hanging around outside having hamburgers, sandwiches, soups and so on. And we weren't disappointed. If you ask for everything in your burger, you'll get hamburger patty, steak, bacon, eggs, cheese slices and vegetable. The catch is; make sure you can open your mouth wide enough to take a bite! The burger is sensational and there's just something about eating hot burger outside in a cold weather near a fireplace made for its customers.
Alfred's humungus burger taste better in front of fireplace (and after plenty of wines of course!). Macha doesn't seem too pleased being disturbed during his meal to pose for a photo though.
Overall, it was a very nice outing and everyone unanimously agreed that this is one of the best outing ever... (without Sandeep.. we had to rub it in big guy!!)
The entourage with our loot
Kota Tinggi trio (photo from Jimonge)
