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...two travellers in search of the world's wildlife

16 April 2011

Wine and wallaby

13th April 2011

Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain.

It finally gave up raining once we’d settled into our accommodation at about five in the evening. Hilariously, a guy at one of the wineries we visited today was telling us in all earnestness that Tasmania is one of the driest states in Australia, and Hobart the second-driest state capital after Adelaide. I couldn’t help glancing out the window.

But since we were consoling ourselves with wine-tasting today, we did have alcoholic evidence that Tasmania manages a fair amount of sunshine. Interestingly all of the wineries here seem to be quite boutique, only making what they can sell at the cellar door or to very local markets; Tasmania, or perhaps the south of Australia. There’s some very convincing Pinot Noir out here, and I enjoyed a complex and autumnal bubbly enough to buy a bottle. This must be one of the most southerly wine regions in the world, the fact that some places are playing with the same insipid German varieties that get used for wine-making in England shows they’re on the climatic edge of wine.

Anyway, the place we’re staying tonight is the absolute business for getting cosy after a rainy day. We have a big wood-floored cabin all to ourselves with our first bath in ages, loads of space to spread out in, and a huge wood-burning stove in front of which I am warming my cockles even as I type. There are platypuses in the pond outside, though we haven’t seen them yet, and now that it’s dark there are wallabies in the grass beyond our veranda.

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2 Responses to “Wine and wallaby”

  1. Kylie Hodges says:

    Does it seem mad to you that none of this wine reaches the UK market? I guess if they’re making a do out of just cellar door then there is no incentive. You can get some Tassie wine in the UK, the usual suspect is Ninth Island. They do a more than convincing Pinot Noir.

    • shortclaws says:

      It does seem mad, yep. Half the fun of wine tasting is to note the ones you loved so you can find them again back home or hope to spot them on restaurant menus. The best thing about the tastings here were that we were meeting the actual winemaker, someone really passionate about their wine. As often as not in New Zealand or South African wineries (and probably the mainland Australian ones) it’s a random 20-something doing holiday temp work in the tourism industry who is looking after the wine tastings.

      Anyway, thanks for commenting and hope you enjoyed the blog! Seen the devil pics yet?

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