So I had a huffy moment yesterday about Fletch FORGETTING to tell me that he met a long-held major CRUSH of mine – MR BIG – at the British TV Awards. Not even a phone call or an autograph, which would have been appreciated given I wasn’t even able to be there…
Never mind, I said, I can make my own fun and promptly got on a mini-bus yesterday with a bunch of mates and headed up to the stunning Mitchelton Winery, about an hour and a half’s drive up northern Victoria.
First stop – forget a grand tour – we headed straight to the elegant restaurant with a cosy open fireplace to get lunch and the wine tasting underway pronto.
At the front and to the left is Mitchelton’s Managing Director, Andrew Ryan, who was definitely the host with the most-est. The feast with accompanying wines to follow was truly outstanding… It’s easy to see why this is such a popular wedding venue.
Then Mitchelton’s wine expert John Beresford gave us the rundown on the various wines we’d be sampling and the fun began.
Mitchelton’s signature wines – its award-winning Print Shiraz 2009 and 1999
Then the famous Mitchelton Print Shiraz was brought to the table and it was time to see if our taste buds were clever enough to tell the difference between a 2009 or a 1999 vintage. Easy – they were both damn fine drops. Well, I guess that’s why everyone was smiling
Fergus, Sam, Nick, Amy, Alex (Stan), Dean, Kate, Andrew, Juliana, Mitch and Jack
At which point, looking at our group, it suddenly dawned on me what a bloody fine looking bunch of people we’d put together. I mean, really, with big strong Aussie men like these, who needs Mr Big???
A sensible person suggested it was time to get going, so we did the usual exit – through the Gift Store! Wow – a treasure trove of gourmet treats and fabulous wine…
The final treat before we stumbled into the mini-bus for a rowdy drive home (via McDonalds) was the view from the Michelton Tower at dusk. Truly superb. A fitting end to a beautiful day. I mean, really, who needs Mr Big???
