Day 6 - The Grape Escape

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King River Camp - Wangaratta  65km

After the previous day's downhill escapades almost turned us into adrenaline junkies we thought it would be wise to shift down a few gears and return our attention to imbibing pleasures. And we had a date with some Italians, grape varieties that is. The King Valley is the second wine region to be ticked off and one that I have been eagerly looking forward to. 

The gentle ride to Pizzini's winery and cellar door stimulated the senses, the landscape  felt surprisingly European and I was reminded of enduring long childhood car trips to Verona in Italy's Veneto region (of which there were many). 

What followed was a wine tasting session so exquisitely good that we decided this would remain the one and only for the day. The flagship varieties of Pizzini's wine portfolio are Pinot Grigio, Sangiovese and Nebbiolo. While this line-up alone is pretty promising,  you will also be able to taste wines made from grape varieties that you find nowhere else in Australia (maybe only a matter of time) and one worthy mention is Verduzzo - it was described to us as the white wine for red wine drinkers. And they were not wrong. 

We are not sure why we were so lucky to be at the receiving end of what almost turned into an Italian wine variety masterclass. It can't have been our rather unattractive  cycling outfits. Our cellar door host went above and beyond. Out came the aged Sangioveses and Nebbiolos, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2010, 2016, 2017... the tasting notes sheet provided didn't have enough space! A key message between the vines was that while they are not aiming to duplicate Italian made wines, they pursue the avenue of bringing the best of old and new world together. To my palate the wines are 90% Italian and 10% Australian. Now, some of you are going to hate me writing this but here you would find a real authentic pizza wine (preferably Louise's pizza). 

Louise in Nebbiolo heaven 


And then there was magic at the end: a sip of their magnificent Vinsanto. Well, if that isn't a saint wine, then I don't know what is? 

Not unsurprisingly we felt quite uplifted by this experience. Gone were the sore bits from the previous day and the worrying thoughts. But therein lies the danger. In a classic ignorance is bliss moment we decided to scrap our nearby camping for the night plan and hit the road instead. All the way to Wangaratta through the blistering heat of the afternoon sun and straight into a serious headwind. Pretty silly, also considering we skipped lunch and rode with desperately empty food bags. 

It says something about our state of dehydration/exhaustion that the bag of woolworths BBQ chicken felt almost too heavy to carry.  The lesson for today, beware the Grape Escape, good vino can make you believe you can totally ride 50kms, after a dodgy lunch at the servo (consisting of two potato cakes and a dim sim each).

Location: Wangaratta VIC 3677, Australia

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