I joined this tour booked online via http://www.doittour.com/experience/Swan-Valley-Winery-Experience-565/11-02-2012
Linda, the manager, was kind enough to rearrange my schedule to the next day 28.01.2012 isntead of my orginal booking on 27.01.2012 due to Jetstar flight delayed from Gold Coast.
My friend, Maria, has helped me so much with this rearrangement.
Rob of Italian descendant is our drive cum tour guide for the day.
He is a middleage guy who could crack a joke!
The history of winemaking and olive plantation in Western Australia started when the Italian and the Greek migrated there when Australia needed more labors for its development.
We passed by the Guildford district whch has a number of old houses, shops, and offices.
It is within walking distance of Guildford train station.
The first one which is very near to the entrance of Swan Valley via Guildford is Waters Edge.
The shop cum restaurant is beautifully decorated with a terrace. There is outdoor seating besides indoor seating. It has a nice view of the river.
It used to be the first vineyard in Western Australia. Now it ceased to be a vineyard.
They sell varieties of olive oil, red and white wines.
I do recommend Garlic & Merlot olive oil ($15, 250ml).
http://www.watersedgewinery.com.au/
The second stop is Lancaster. It is opposite Margaret River Chocolate Co.
http://www.lancasterwines.com.au/
This store is open air type made it typically like a rugged one which instantly transform us into a few centuries-like of environment.
When the staff poured a white wine into my glass incidentally he spilled the wine to my right arm.
The cheese i tried there are fantastic!
Its famed for chenin blanc and verdelho (white wine)
Our third stop is Mandoon. It is the newest vineyard which took over from previous "Roe Family" estate. It is all housed in a big building which you could see the barrels and even the laboratorium.
http://mandoonestate.com.au/
I bought its award winning Mandoon 2010 Old Vine Shiraz ($22).
We had lunch break at Jane Brook Estate.
It is a wonderful lunch spread of fresh grapes, bread, pork meat roll with pisctachio nuts and ham.
The specialty is a champagne. Unfortunately the australian produce is prohibited to use the term "champagne". It is called Sparking Gold Wine (premium) with Australian gold flakes.
http://www.janebrook.com.au/shop.asp
By this time I started to get intoxicated so i tried only 1 sip of white sparking wine.
Our fifth stop is Heafod Glen Winery
After lunch I felt full. About less than 10 minutes later we arrived at Chesters of Heafod Glen.It has also a beautiful old restaurant. Its specialties ar Ruby Port and Perth Hills' Chardonnay.
http://www.chestersrestaurant.com.au/
Because I still in intoxicated state, i dared myself to try only 1 sip of chardonnay.
I bought French Oak Smoked Olive Oil ($18, 400 ml).
Our sixth stop is Elmars. This is restaurant cum German breweries.
http://www.elmars.com.au
Since I do not drink beer, I do not know how to appreciate it.
It has a big restaurant, and you could view the breweries whcih is separated by a glass wall behind the service counter.
Our seventh stop is Margaret River Chocolate Co.
http://www.chocolatefactory.com.au/
I had 2 scoops of ice cream $7 (Macadamia and Raspberry flavours) and a bag of raspberry truffles $12.95.
There is cafe where you could sit down. The shop is quite big and it has a security staff opens and closed its door.
Here we have free tasting of mini pastelles of 3 varieties (milk, white, and dark chocolate)
Rob gave me another piece of complimentary truffle.
For further detail please visit http://www.swanvalley.com.au/Home
There are baout 50 vineyards in Swan valley, and about 15 of them opens for public.
Wine tasting ranges from $5 to $8.
You could check out the map here.
There are other tour options in www.doittour.com if you would only have 1/2 day to explore the area, or you would like to try your hands on wine making experience.
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