Margaret River

After a too-quick stop in Perth, we headed south to Margaret River...another Australian wine region.  Starting to see a theme?  It was about a 3 hour, incredibly boring drive down to Margaret River.  Once we got to town, we made a few stops - Providore was first.  A beautiful little shop with a wide collection of home made jams, olive oils, sauces, dressings and wines.   After tasting several delicious sauces, and wishing we could take them all home, we went next door to the Margaret River Chocolate Company.  Here, we did stock up!  One bar for mom, one bar for dad, one for M's mom, one for us...and so on! 

Then we headed into 'downtown' and checked into our adorable Airbnb, Yellow Door.  It was such a cute little house - great size, perfect location, and adorably decorated.  M was quite proud that he was able to park the car in the narrow carport, he requested a photo.  Actually, the bigger Camry was much easier to drive that the little whatever-we-had in Yarra Valley because he felt more comfortable in the car, feeling like he knew the corners better. 

We were only a couple blocks away from the cute little downtown so we walked over for dinner.  First we went to Settlers Tavern to try a few local beers.  Then we walked across the street for dinner at Swings.  The place was absolutely mobbed and the food was delicious.  

The next morning we got up early and went to the local farmers market for coffee and green smoothies.  We had a tour booked for the day with Top Drop Tours, and they picked us up at the house.  

Our first stop was Juniper Estate, and I think it might have been our favorite winery of this area.  We ended up going back before we left town to get a couple bottles of one of our favorites of the whole trip to bring home - their 2005 Estate Shiraz.

Next was Windows Estate - what a beautiful little winery.  They had some great wines.  They also had a beautiful little set up with gift items and jewelry for purchase, as well as a full cheese counter.  We also stopped back by Windows on our way out of town to get a bottle, as well as I picked up a beautiful necklace to remember our awesome trip.

One more before lunch -  Cape Naturaliste.  The owner was a trip, and it was so fun to do our tasting with her.  We tried all kinds of different things, and enjoyed playing with their adorable dogs.  The setting was beautiful and wines delicious.  

Lunch time!  We went over to Hay Shed Hill Winery for lunch on their back deck.  We were serenaded by a group of didgeridoo players, which was so cool.  The place was packed, and everyone loved the music!  

I can't remember what exactly I had - but I DO remember that it was beautiful and absolutely delicious.  We each tried just a couple of their wines during lunch - the rose was perfect with my salad on this hot day!  

Final stop of the day was Burch Family Wines.  It's a huge facility with several different brands of wine in the same place.  We hopped around a bit and tried several different things.  The tasting room manager was determined to find a chardonnay we liked...and we just don't like them!  But applaud her effort.  

Our tour guide was fantastic - I can't seem to remember his name!  But he was as nice as could be, funny, and very knowledgeable of the area and wines.  We had one other couple on the tour with us, and they were very nice as well.  While a lot of times we like to do the wine tours on our own, in areas that are so new to us, it's great to have an expert guide!  We even ran into him the next day at the food festival we attended.  He came over to us and chatted for a few minutes!  Great to see a familiar face!

Burch Family was a great spot to end the wine tour day.  We headed back to the house to get ready for our first Gourmet Escape event - dinner on a jetty!