Day 47 - Where are all the vineyards?

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Blayney to Orange, via Millthorpe 46km

Despite the cold and damp we awaken to this morning, Kerstin is excited!  Another wine region awaits and we have a booking for a tasting at Slow Wines in Millthorpe at 1100.  This is great, as Millthorpe is only 13kms away, so we can have a Saturday morning lie in.  Which for me, just means I still wake up with the birds but I get to indulge in some reading while snug and warm in the sleeping bag.  I will have another book review for my 'Adventures in Literature' soon.

The ride out to Millthorpe is surprisingly busy, but people are kind and mostly patient as we trundle along.  The cellar door opens at 1100 so with Swiss precision timing we arrive at 1100 on the dot, this is quite difficult to do when travelling by bike.  The vigneron,  business owner and cellar door hand, Terry, is ready and waiting.  It's an excellent cellar experience.  Terry is refreshing in both his sharing of knowledge and desire to learn.  We spend almost 2hrs in his company as he takes us through the list of cold climate wines he grows.  The Sauvignon Blanc, made in the Fume Blanc style, is amazing, and he is selling himself short at that price!  If you are so over the passionfruity buzz of NZ Sauvignon Blanc, you should seek this wine out, and be reminded of why the French are still the biggest, and some would say best, producers of this variety.  I can tell Kerstin is in her element with these elegant, finely made wines.




We decide then and there that we need more time in this region, to explore more wines, so we plan for two nights in Orange.  Of course we need to get there first.  A backroads route takes us past the aerodrome, and a wrong turn, takes us past the aerodrome again.  Luckily the rain holds off all day, the hills are minimal and there is even the occasional tailwind!  Along the way Kerstin asks me "where are all the vineyards?"  And despite 30kms, two relatively slow moving bicycles and four eyes looking, we don't see a single vineyard.  Research, via Google, reveals the answer.  Orange has only 1000 hectares under vine, Clare Valley has 5000, the Barossa has 12,000!   

We sail into Orange with time for the inevitable trip to the laundromat.  We have sampled laundromats of all kinds and styles from the trendy euro styling of Cologne, to the down and out of rural America and the incomprehensible of Taiwan. The best, by far, award goes to Huonville in Tassie, they had everything, a shower, toilets, couches, mobile phone charging, you could even wash your dog.  


The problem with experiencing greatness is that everything after that suffers for the comparison.  So here is to you Stephen George, as great as some of these cold climate Pinot Noirs are here in Orange.  I will forever be comparing every Pinot I come across to your 2016 Reserve.


Location: Orange NSW 2800, Australia

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