It is the most recommended tour of Groovy Grape Getaways. I can't really support this opinion. If it would not have been a part of my Trilogy Package I would have skipped the tour. I really did not know what to expect when I booked the tour. But several people told me that it would be a nice wine tasting experience.
The beginning of the tour was relatively harmless. We drove a while to get out of the city and finally reached a spot to drink a free coffee. While there we were seeing the worlds highest rocking horse. It did not rock. ;)
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There is really no funny story behind this horse. So no really big imaginative plot to free the city of Adelaide from occupying pirates, who would be delighted to play with a rocking horse, while the soldiers where hiding in the belly. It was simply built to attract tourists. It is working.
The next tourist attracting spot was the whispering wall. Despite the denials of our tourguide Amy we firmly believe the dam was intended with attracting tourists in mind. She tried to defend the opinion that it was an accident and the reason why we were here today was discovered after the dam was built.
The funny thing about the dam is that while standing on one side you can hear the person talking on the other end and the quality was even better then with most cellphones.
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After these warmup spots the real torture started. Three wineries before lunch with seven different wines to taste in each winery. 21 wines. Almost 4.5 glasses if you drink it all. After lunch (BBQ with kangaroo, chicken and ???) we would have another vineyard.
The Barossa Valley is the the biggest wine producing area in Australia. Nearly 50% of australian wine is produced here. Naturally there is a well known company that several of you will recognize. I honestly can say that I have never heard of Jacob's Creek before. And after tasting their most promising wines I may say in my humble and amateurish way: No Loss. Only one of the wines had something I really liked. It was the full bodied flavor of their Chiraz Reserve. The stupid imitation of whitewine (Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling) did not reach quality of the far better and cheaper french and german wines.
It is not a problem of Jacob's Creek alone. Even the other vineyards (VineCreek, Richmond Grove and Seppeltsfield) had no good whites. I was discussing this issue with the expert in our group who simply told me: Australia is to hot to produce good quality whites.
On the other hand when I tasted their Shiraz I was blown away with all those tiny little explosions on different parts of my tongue. The taste was really great for those really affordable wines. I was not as impressed with the Merlots or the Cabernet Sauvignon but what the hell. Great reds here. Now I know what several of You may already know since working in this famous wineshop in oldenburg: Don't buy australian whitewine.
Because we were visiting so many vineyards and had so much to drink I often threw away a lot of the wine. So I was not drunk at the end of the trip and I think it was a good decision. One other wine or port is still on my mind. Seppeltsfields Grand Muscat. I need to find a supplier in Germany for this one. Simply great for desert.
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By the way the stupid germans tried to introduce white wine into the Barossa Valley.
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Tomorrow I will leave Adelaide and go on to the Rock Patrol. The next few days will take me to Cooper Peddy, Ayers Rock and Alice Springs.
Meanwhile I am rethinking my South East Asia plans. Maybe I should skip Bangkok and Thailand. Perhaps I grab a flight to Pnom Penh from Singapore travel up the river and go to Vietnam instead. I could travel up till I reach Hong Kong before flying home. Still a few more days before I need to reach a decision. My stomach is saying go to Thailand and avoid Bangkok. I simply don't know yet. Hopefully they sort their problems out and I don't read anymore stuff about violence over there.
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