Monday, March 16... later

Later that same day...

So, here we are in Mt. Gambier, about a 5 hour drive from Adelaide, Colin says it's 447 kilometres. Parts of it were 4-lane divided highway, but a lot of it was 2-lane and a lot of big trailer transports. No, I didn't drive. Colin was quite happy to do the driving and still is, which is fine by me because I'm still having trouble crossing the street as a pedestrian! As for Colin, once he gets the turn signal and the windshield wipers sorted out, we'll be off to the races. As it is, every corner we turn, the windshield gets cleaned.




We passed through another wine region, the Coonawarra, where Lindemans has a large vineyard at Padthaway, so if you happen to have a bottle of Lindemans kicking around, check the label and see if it says anything about Padthaway.

Jacobs Creek and Penfolds also have vineyards here, but only the smaller wineries seem have cellar tastings in this area. We stopped at Penley Estate where we tried a rather nice sparkling Cabernet Shiraz, a really lovely Merlot and a very good Cabernet Sauvignon. They only bottle a small amount of Chardonnay and were unfortunately out of stock today, so we bought a bottle of their 2008 rose and a bottle of their 2005 Merlot. They do have a distributor in Canada and they gave me the address in Toronto, so I will definitely check them out when I get back.

Still hankering for white, we continued on down the highway to Katnook Estate where we found a treasure trove of white wines. We tasted and bought their 2005 Founders Block Chardonnay, which is very lightly oaked in comparison to their other, premium Chardonnay.

Colin and I both tasted both Chardonnays and we vastly preferred the lighter, fruitier Founders Block Chardonnay to the premium. (Note to Dave: A cheeky little wine, etc. etc.). Actually, they gave us copies of the tasting notes for each of the wines we bought and for the Chardonnay, it says: Appearance: Brilliant straw yellow, Nose: Vibrant fruit aromas of melon and peach with light toasty oak tones. Palate: Fresh fruit flavours of peach, melon and hints of grapefruit. A light creamy mouthfeel and subtle toasty tones underscore through to a lingering finish. Hang on a sec, let me take another sip... yep, that's about right!

The other white we bought is a blend of 71% Semillon, 21% Sauvignon Blanc and 8% Chardonnay. According to the tasting notes: Colour: Pale straw with light green tinges Nose: Subtle herbaceous fruit aromas - light grassy and lemongrass with hints of gooseberry Palate: The subtle array of herbaceous fruit flavours, including subtle gooseberry, light citrus complement the complex yeast aged tones. Definitely an insouciant little wine, but forgot to ask about availability in Canada. DOH!!

Although we seem to have come down the hotel chain a few rungs (it's okay, but it's a Quality Inn and after the last few places we've stayed at, this is a definite comedown), the restaurant looks rather alright and the menu looks good. The Tamarind Chicken Curry caught my eye, so that's what I think dinner is going to be.
Tomorrow, our drive to Apollo Bay is only half that of today's drive, so we'll have plenty of time tomorrow morning to check out Mt. Gambier's main attraction, the Blue Lake.

Ta!

P.S. Just got back from dinner at the hotel's restaurant and it was great! Rather strange, it's like a five-star restaurant tacked on to a three-star hotel. We both started off with the soup of the day, which was potato and bacon. Colin had the lamb fillet and tells me it was beautiful and tender served on a bed of vegetable couscous. Not liking lamb, I didn't try it. I had the Tamarind Chicken Curry and it was wonderful. It was a very mild curry, but very tasty. The chicken was cooked to perfection, tender and juicy, and it was served with perfectly sauteed mixed veg and rice. Excellent!

Tomorrow, after the Blue Lake, it's onward to Apollo Bay.