Winery Tour Success

Tuesday, 13 July 2010

This years first winery tour was held on 19th June 2010.  A full bus of Nineteen YPN'ers enjoyed a day of visiting wineries and tasting locally grown and produced wines.  It was great to see so many new faces join our group, as well as some regular members.  

Our first winery visited was Balgownie Estate in Maiden Gully, a very proud winery farmed for its long lived Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, it was nearly midday so time to start tasting, after an hour it was time to get back on the bus - where we enjoyed another wine and some snacks while heading to Chateau Leamon, a small rustic winery on the northern slopes of Big Hill on the Calder Highway, they specialise in Shiraz, Cab Merlot and Semillon and have produce wine since 1977.  

It was then onto Lynnevale Estate, in the tranquil hills of Mandurang, we enjoyed a beautiful lunch on the balcony over looking the stunning valley views of the vineyard and surrounding bushland, this winery has a real rural flavour and specialises in Chardonnay, Rosa and Sparkling Shiraz.  After a couple of hours of sipping on wine in the sun it was time to board the bus and head to our last winery, Mandurang Valley.  A home grown, home picked, estate vintaged and bottled, Mandurang Valley pride themselves on high quality wines.  Many of us also enjoyed some of their beautiful deserts.

At about 5pm it was time to head back to town, most of us regrouped at the Rifle Brigade Hotel, and some even kicked on for dinner at Wildmint.  It was a great day, enjoyed by everyone.  We plan to organise another winery tour for later in the year.  Here are what some of our members had to say about the day:

"We both had a great time. It was such a good event, we will definitely come to more events in the future. Thanks so much for organizing it!"

"I had a great day, which was made possible by your great organising skills Sandy."

"I thought the departure time in the morning and arrival time back into town, was great. Along with dinner/drinks for those that wanted to carry on into the evening. All in all a fun day and a good chance to meet more people."

"It was such a fun day, and great to get out and visit our local Bendigo wineries, I have lives here for years and never visited any of them. Had a great time, thanks for organising it Sandy. "

"I have have been wanting to do a winery tour for so long, when I saw that YPN were organising one I jumped at the chance to come along, so glad I did, not only visiting local wineries and enjoying local wine, it was great to meet so many more people, I look forward to more YPN events in the future."