26 September 2005 (Day 21)
Another morning of waking up and lazing around, watching ‘Sunrise’ to get the news and weather (and then watching Bambaloo which follows!) before heading north again – this time to the Clare Valley wineries. There were only three wineries on the Langton’s list from the Clare Valley, but this is also the only place where there is another St Aloysius College.
Our first stop (after a very brief one to eat something before consuming glasses of wine) was at Grosset. As we drove up the sign read “Open Wednesday – Sunday”. No! If only we had done the Clare Valley first we would have avoided a lot of problems.
That opportunity missed, we drove onto St Aloysius College and Sevenhills vineyard. This is a vineyard run by the Jesuits since 1851 and was also used as a boys school and later a seminary.
They had heaps of wines – none on the Langton’s list – including a St Aloysius Riesling and a St Ignatius red blend. The St Aloysius Riesling hasn’t been bottled yet, so we couldn’t get that but we did get seven wines (well, it is Sevenhills!) and all the for less than the price of some of the more expensive bottles we have bought this trip!
We then were able to have a look around the museum and cellars and down with the tokay vats. We even pulled out the stoppers to a few and had a sniff! Yum!
We had a look around the grounds and took a photograph of the church – which looks as if someone stole the spire. Helen asked as the drawings in the museum showed a spire and it turns out they ran out of money. We went inside the church and it looked very different to the College chapel that we were married in!
Under the church is a crypt that we were able to walk into. Only Jesuits who died whilst at Sevenhills are buried in there, the first one dating back to 1897 and the most recent 1996. There are only three spots left!
In the guest book at the cellar door Daniel wrote “Ad Majora Natus – SAC ‘91”. Ad Majora Natus is the College motto, which means ‘Born for greater things’.
Our journey then took us to Wendouree vineyard. This one wasn’t shown on the map so we called before asking for directions. We found out then that they didn’t do tastings. So when we got there we were expecting just to buy one of the four bottles on the Langton’s list. To our dismay they have no wine left. They sell out because they are so good. The woman there was very helpful and took our details so that we could be informed when they were released.
They also had a copy of the Langton’s List poster. We reviewed where we have been and surprisingly we’ve been to a lot of the list now.
Onto Jim Barry for the last winery in the Clare Valley – a bottle of The Armagh Shiraz was in order. Daniel tasted all their wines, some nice, some not so nice. We picked up a couple of extra bottles. As we were leaving the woman said that they were just about to release the 2002 vintage, which is predicted to be a better vintage. Helen asked if we could pay the extra $10 and mailing costs and they could send it to us when it is released. The woman went and phoned someone and then came back and said that we could have the bottle now. Turns out they were sending the wine to their members now and releasing it to the public soon. Helen said “Sometimes it pays to be a troublemaker!”
We then made a mad rush down to the Barossa to get to the wineries we missed yesterday. Our first stop was Wolff Blass – one of the largest vineyards we’ve seen.
Whilst a group of retired men complained about their wives buying bags and shirts whilst they were tasting, Daniel watched the clock. We had an hour for three wineries.
When we finally were being served he just asked for a bottle of the Black Label Cabernet blend. The woman was surprised and asked if we wanted to try it first. Reluctantly Daniel did and was surprised that it wasn’t as nice as others. Hopefully cellaring will work wonders on this one.
We started rushing to the star of the Barossa – Henscke – that is, until Daniel looked them up in the guide and saw they closed at 4:30pm. Given that it was 4:25pm, there was no use in trying to get there.
As it happened we just made it to Rockfords before they shut at 5pm. They too were sold out of the Basket Press Shiraz but had some other nice wines and fortifieds. We bought a bottle of semillon. Whilst there we heard some music playing – The Whitlams. We haven’t heard them since the reception and it turns out that Tim Freedman is a fan of Rockfords – always drinking a bottle on stage!
They also had some bread from Tanunda that tasted absolutely wonderful. We thought we’d try our luck and see if they were open – which they were but little choices of breads. We got a white loaf and then went to a park and ate the remainder of the last night’s dinner and some bread.
Back to Adelaide and after a drive around the city we relaxed in our room watching Mythbusters before looking for dinner. We tried Ned Kellys Australian Restaurant across the road from the hotel but they had closed due to low trade that night. So into the heart of Adelaide we went in search of dinner.
We found a restaurant called ‘Daniels’ so we went there. We both had a T-bone steak with pepper sauce, chips and salad with a glass of Wirra Wirra Shiraz. Not too spectacular.
Daniel suggested we go to the casino. After finding free parking about a kilometre away we walked into a small area of the casino where there were a group of tables playing roulette, blackjack, pontoon and a wheel.
We started off with $2 on the pokies, which quickly disappeared. After getting some more change we then went to the roulette table. We started picking numbers, and then Helen got the game – we played corners and dozens. Then we started to win. We got up to $60 – we had got $20 in chips and $10 in coins for pokies.
Moving over to the blackjack table was a mistake – of the five hands played, Daniel only won one. The dealer was getting blackjack, 21 with six cards. She was unbeatable!
With only $10 left in chips we went back to the roulette table. We eventually won up to $40 but lost back down to $25. We cashed up and left – losing only $1 for about two hours of fun. And we got to keep the coin cup!
Driving back the fuel light came on in the car so we went and filled up. $70 worth of fuel. If only we won more at the casino!
Our first stop (after a very brief one to eat something before consuming glasses of wine) was at Grosset. As we drove up the sign read “Open Wednesday – Sunday”. No! If only we had done the Clare Valley first we would have avoided a lot of problems.
That opportunity missed, we drove onto St Aloysius College and Sevenhills vineyard. This is a vineyard run by the Jesuits since 1851 and was also used as a boys school and later a seminary.
They had heaps of wines – none on the Langton’s list – including a St Aloysius Riesling and a St Ignatius red blend. The St Aloysius Riesling hasn’t been bottled yet, so we couldn’t get that but we did get seven wines (well, it is Sevenhills!) and all the for less than the price of some of the more expensive bottles we have bought this trip!
We then were able to have a look around the museum and cellars and down with the tokay vats. We even pulled out the stoppers to a few and had a sniff! Yum!
We had a look around the grounds and took a photograph of the church – which looks as if someone stole the spire. Helen asked as the drawings in the museum showed a spire and it turns out they ran out of money. We went inside the church and it looked very different to the College chapel that we were married in!
Under the church is a crypt that we were able to walk into. Only Jesuits who died whilst at Sevenhills are buried in there, the first one dating back to 1897 and the most recent 1996. There are only three spots left!
In the guest book at the cellar door Daniel wrote “Ad Majora Natus – SAC ‘91”. Ad Majora Natus is the College motto, which means ‘Born for greater things’.
Our journey then took us to Wendouree vineyard. This one wasn’t shown on the map so we called before asking for directions. We found out then that they didn’t do tastings. So when we got there we were expecting just to buy one of the four bottles on the Langton’s list. To our dismay they have no wine left. They sell out because they are so good. The woman there was very helpful and took our details so that we could be informed when they were released.
They also had a copy of the Langton’s List poster. We reviewed where we have been and surprisingly we’ve been to a lot of the list now.
Onto Jim Barry for the last winery in the Clare Valley – a bottle of The Armagh Shiraz was in order. Daniel tasted all their wines, some nice, some not so nice. We picked up a couple of extra bottles. As we were leaving the woman said that they were just about to release the 2002 vintage, which is predicted to be a better vintage. Helen asked if we could pay the extra $10 and mailing costs and they could send it to us when it is released. The woman went and phoned someone and then came back and said that we could have the bottle now. Turns out they were sending the wine to their members now and releasing it to the public soon. Helen said “Sometimes it pays to be a troublemaker!”
We then made a mad rush down to the Barossa to get to the wineries we missed yesterday. Our first stop was Wolff Blass – one of the largest vineyards we’ve seen.
Whilst a group of retired men complained about their wives buying bags and shirts whilst they were tasting, Daniel watched the clock. We had an hour for three wineries.
When we finally were being served he just asked for a bottle of the Black Label Cabernet blend. The woman was surprised and asked if we wanted to try it first. Reluctantly Daniel did and was surprised that it wasn’t as nice as others. Hopefully cellaring will work wonders on this one.
We started rushing to the star of the Barossa – Henscke – that is, until Daniel looked them up in the guide and saw they closed at 4:30pm. Given that it was 4:25pm, there was no use in trying to get there.
As it happened we just made it to Rockfords before they shut at 5pm. They too were sold out of the Basket Press Shiraz but had some other nice wines and fortifieds. We bought a bottle of semillon. Whilst there we heard some music playing – The Whitlams. We haven’t heard them since the reception and it turns out that Tim Freedman is a fan of Rockfords – always drinking a bottle on stage!
They also had some bread from Tanunda that tasted absolutely wonderful. We thought we’d try our luck and see if they were open – which they were but little choices of breads. We got a white loaf and then went to a park and ate the remainder of the last night’s dinner and some bread.
Back to Adelaide and after a drive around the city we relaxed in our room watching Mythbusters before looking for dinner. We tried Ned Kellys Australian Restaurant across the road from the hotel but they had closed due to low trade that night. So into the heart of Adelaide we went in search of dinner.
We found a restaurant called ‘Daniels’ so we went there. We both had a T-bone steak with pepper sauce, chips and salad with a glass of Wirra Wirra Shiraz. Not too spectacular.
Daniel suggested we go to the casino. After finding free parking about a kilometre away we walked into a small area of the casino where there were a group of tables playing roulette, blackjack, pontoon and a wheel.
We started off with $2 on the pokies, which quickly disappeared. After getting some more change we then went to the roulette table. We started picking numbers, and then Helen got the game – we played corners and dozens. Then we started to win. We got up to $60 – we had got $20 in chips and $10 in coins for pokies.
Moving over to the blackjack table was a mistake – of the five hands played, Daniel only won one. The dealer was getting blackjack, 21 with six cards. She was unbeatable!
With only $10 left in chips we went back to the roulette table. We eventually won up to $40 but lost back down to $25. We cashed up and left – losing only $1 for about two hours of fun. And we got to keep the coin cup!
Driving back the fuel light came on in the car so we went and filled up. $70 worth of fuel. If only we won more at the casino!
posted by Daniel & Helen at
9:27 AM
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