Day 14 Melbourne and Yarra Valley Wine Country

Another great day that started with a trip out to the Yarra valley which is the wine making area nearest to Melbourne. En route we had a close encounter of the marsupial kind! Our driver Bill pulled over and we saw a whole mob (the correct collective noun) of kangaroos. It was so cool to see them in the wild vs a zoo and there's just something amusing about that hopping motion. At our next stop near a golf course, we could get up close and personal (Bill assured us they were used to humans and quite safe). And check out the Joey in her pouch in the pic!

After the kangaroos, it was on to wine tasting...again:) Our first stop was at Chandon (as in Moet and Chandon) where we tasted some traditional champagne style sparkling wine as well as some very Australian versions - including a surprisingly tasty sparkling red wine that the Aussies traditionally imbibe in on Christmas day. We were off to a good start, and it wasn't even noon o'clock yet!

Next on the list was Tokar Vineyard. We started with a lovely Prosecco (who knew that was the name of the grape as well as the drink????), then another nice Chardonnay, followed by a Tempranillo (the Rioja grape) and finished with a rich CST (a Cab, Shiraz and Tempranillo blend). We loved them all and the setting was splendid (see pic with 2 wine glasses below).

After the wine tasting we were taken to the dining room and was served a superb 3 course lunch. It might be the best meal we have had so far! We started with eggplant fritters that were to die for! Other highlights were the olives and the Moroccan lamb. We also had our choice of wine!

Last stop was at DeBortoli where they gave us the traditional flight of 5 wines to taste but this time each with a cheese pairing - everything was absolutely yummy. But our favorite was a dessert wine called "Noble One". It is their biggest seller and apparently we can purchase it in the USA. We will be looking for it when we get home!

Finally, Bill drove us back to Melbourne (of course he was not drinking wine all day). Steve and I both napped on the way back. Perhaps the wine tasting was the culprit -hmmm!

We tried out another restaurant from the list James gave us. It was a Peruvian place and the food was interesting and really good! Once again, the town was hopping with lots of busy bars and restaurants. We saw more cool Street Art too.

We have officially finished two weeks and we are still going strong. Looking forward to more fun tomorrow!

Please let us know if there are any topics you are curious about that we are not sharing. We are always happy to see your comments:)