Tuesday, 26 March 2019

Wine Tours & Walks


The plan for today is a morning wine tour and we’ve been advised by Clay to “have a big brekkie”, so it’s down to the local café for coffee and a toastie to start today. Clay and his wife run Daylesford Wine Tours and today Clay picks us up and while driving us round gives us information about the Daylesford area, its people and their attitudes to life in general. He’s a good story teller, which fits in with his other profession as an actor. Clay takes us to the first winery, Fontanella, which is really laid back and personal as we’re the only people on the tour and he has the keys to the tasting room. It feels like we’ve broken in! We’re guided through 7 wines, starting with prosecco, white and finally red, it’s hard to decide which is the best. The next stop is at Passing Cloud, a much bigger wine producer, I didn’t realise that the producers here take the grapes and process them for the small vineyards keeping each of their batches separate. The pressing room resembles a clinical laboratory with numerous labelled barrels all racked up at one end of the shed. Again, we’re given a selection of 5 wines, mainly reds this time and much heavier than those at Fontanella. The final stop is at a distillery that produces, gin, vodka, port and herbal liquors. I opt for gin and Dave for port. I come to the conclusion that I really prefer the London dry taste, I’m obviously a traditional gin and tonic girl.
More than a bit merry, Clay drops us back in Daylesford and we stagger to the bakery to pick up lunch. A walk in the fresh air may help clear our heads. Daylesford Lake is a beautiful area with several good picnicking spots. There are just a few people walking round the lake but lots of geese, brown ducks, cockatoos, to name a few. All round the lake there are the most beautiful houses and apartments ranging from the traditional outback style tin roofed house, to an old restored heritage house to an ultra-modern steel and glass house. It’s a great place to dream where you might like to live.
Daylesford Lake



Royal Daylesford Hotel veranda
Still in dreaming mood, the veranda outside our room is a good place to sit with a drink and watch the people and traffic passing by, old cars, new cars, huge trucks and tractors. We go out to eat slightly earlier tonight, arriving at Frango’s just after 7.30pm and just as well, the kitchen is getting ready to shut for the night! A quick decision is required, slow braised lamb with tzatziki and Greek salad for Dave, spicy Thai beef salad for me and oh boy was it spicy!!





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