Gallivanting - Myrtleford & the King Valley # 2

Taken in the forecourt of Pizzini's Winery, this shot is indicative of the gulf that exists between the vineyards within the King Valley loose consortium. Of the nine wineries we sampled, Pizzini's is the most commercial by a wide margin. This is not to say it has compromised its product in any way, simply that it devotes more time, and therefore money, to the marketing and social hype of a food and wine weekend. Around the KV we also visited Gapsted, Brown Brothers, Boggy Creek, Dalzotto, La Cantina, and Sam Miranda. We also headed over, for my first time, to the Glenrowan Festival where we sampled Morrisons, Baileys, and the Taminick Cellars. I gather next year the push is on for us to venture closer to the border and take in the Rutherglen Festival. Two of us first went there in 1972, when the wines were young, and brash, and simply horrid. Yes, yes I know. Things MAY have changed in the ensuing 41 years.

Gallivanting - Myrtleford & the King Valley # 1

After two weeks of seemingly constant gallivanting, again all is calm and sedate with my world. Once again, we braved the chill winds and the leaden skies of the Victorian High Country for the King Valley Wine Festival, this time basing ourselves in the township of Myrtleford itself, in a quaint little 1930s cottage on Main Street. This weekend always involves a lot of driving, and seeing that we visited 9 wineries over three days, we were determined not to repeat our routes too much. Our party having increased in size, we required two vehicles, so for us using back-roads, and chancing our arm with the Subaru GPS was a fun option. This shot, like many taken in the area, was from a moving window, the accuracy of which was mightily pleasing.

Tobacco road

Tobacco growing in the King Valley and Myrtleford areas of Victoria is all but extinct - as it should be. However, numerous drying kilns dot the landscape as reminders of how farmers in the area diversified between the wars, and with the influx of European immigrants during the 1950s.

The architecture is intruiging. These examples are to be found at Pizzini's Vineyard in Whitfield.

Distilled life bloods

Winter weighs heavily in the valley, fallow invading the furrow, overlooked fruit wizening on barren sprigs, the juice of the fruit distilling sugars to delicious perfection. Similar to ageing humans ...