Toast to the Coast - Day 2 - More of the Bellarine Peninsula wineries

Sunday is bright and sunny and we are feeling surprisingly chipper and spritely, all things considered.  So why not back it up with another day at Toast to the Coast.  You can read all about Day 1 over here.

 

Getting a jump start ahead of the shuttle buses (the only down side to the shuttles is that they don't arrive at the wineries until much later than cellar door opening) we get a lift from friend (remember the bottle of wine bought as wooing/bribery/thank you gift yesterday?!!!) and head to our first winery of the day Bellarine Estate.

 

First up at the Barn out front there is a local produce 'market'.  Lots of jams, sauces, coffee and Portarlington Bakery goods.

 

 

 

Guess who are the first visitors of the day?

 

We head into the restaurant for tastings so that we can look over this view.

 

 

The winery also has a Vintage Car display too, with some fun rally cars.  Unfortunately due to the rainy weather they don't have all the vintage cars on display.

 

Starting with bubbles and moving through the whites and the reds, I find that I really like their Shiraz.

 

 

 

 

Screaming Seeds are also here tasting their products.  I really like the unique blends of herbs and spices that Screaming Seeds offer and I stock up on Rainforest Mix (a mix of lemon myrtle & Dorrigo Pepper), Virgin Island Mix (a blend of celery seeds, garlic & herbs), Moonlight Dreaming (a blend of coriander, garlic, fenugreek, Murray River salt, onion, lemon tea tree, ajowan Seed, fennel, mountain pepper, peppermint gum, black peppercorns) and a traditional gravlax cure for salmon.

 

 

 

The restaurant offers sweeping views over the vines and I can't help but stop by to explore this old pick up out front!

The first shuttle bus drops off for the day so we jump on and head to Terindah Estate.  Lovely views over the vines with Port Phillip Bay in the distance, it's a lovely sweeping view.

It's here that I discover the best Chardonnay.  You may recall that I went off Chardonnay years ago and although Chardonnay is making a comeback I just can't palate it.  Well, Terindah Estate Chardonnay was gorgeous.  Even Miss N, who is normally a red drinker, really liked it to.

 

So we purchased a glass to enjoy sitting on a hay bale outside soaking up the sun.

 

 

Cheers

 

 

 

Manzanillo Grove is also tasting their olive oil range at Terindah Estate.  The estate produces 7 types of olives.  Cold Pressed extra virgin olive oil is produced on site along with a range of flavour packed oils and of course olives.  Their orange olive oil is particularly refreshing! 

 

 

 

 

Cheers to a lovely day and a crisp cold Chardy.

 

 

Scotchmans Hill turned out to be a favourite for the day.  We had a lot of fun tasting the wines and bantering with the staff.

 

The two ranges of wines being tasted today are Swan Bay and Scotchmans Hill.  I find that the Swan Bay range is more acidic and tangy.

 

 

 

 

I am very partial to the Scotchmans Hill range.   Again I am surprised that my palate is enjoying the sweeter wines and I come away with a bottle of the new release 2015 Scotchmans Hill Late Harvest Riesling.  Definitely looking forward to enjoying their wines and to coming back here next year.

 

Mobile Pizzaria is on site serving up some very tasty pizzas.  We ordered the BBQ chicken pizza.  It had a crispy base and a good covering of ingredients and the BBQ sauce is tangy and perfect on top of the pizza

 

Obligatory amongst the vines photo

 

Onwards to Flying Brick Cider House with guest winery Yes said the Seal.

 

Starting with wines, the bubbles and creaminess of the Reserve Blanc de Blanc is delicious.  The savingnon blanc is lovely too.

 

 

Moving onto the ciders.  We have the 3 main ciders, Original, Draught or Pear.    The original is crisp and fresh and an easy drink.  The Draught is a little more depth and complex but both have a great strong apple taste.

 

 

 

 

Enjoying a glass al fresco while waiting for the next shuttle (we may have missed one).

 

But we didn't mind.  The cider house is a lovely spot to soak up some atmosphere, take a break and sit back and relax.

 

 

Do you have to ask where our last stop was?  Yes we ended back at Leura Park Estate.  Of course this is the shuttle hub for the North and South routes of the Bellarine Peninsula, so it goes without saying that we would ultimately end up here...it's just that the party at the end of the day is so much fun!

 

 

Tasting our favourite Ms Flamingo & Associates 2014.

 

 

Guest wineries Finesse Wines and Jack Rabbit Vineyard.  So I did some tastings at Jack Rabbit Vineyard.

 

The moscato was lovely a cool and fresh and the pinot grigio was a lovely drop.

 

It was time to have some more food.  I am amazed on how hungry you can get when you are hopping from winery to winery!

 

The salt n' pepper calamari looked very tasty and I was not disappointed.  A cone full of crispy, hot tender calamari tendrils.

 

 

It was party time.  Test Pilot Molly were playing again as they jammed out songs from the 70's, 80'sand 90's

 Here's to an amazing weekend in the Bellarine.  Spending time with my bestie is always fun and exploring the wineries during Toast to the Coast has offered an insight into the area and all it has to offer.  We didnt' touch on the food aspect of it that much (surprisingly) but hopefully in months to come I will be heading back to do some more exploring.

Cheers to friendships, love of wine, lovely produce and great times!

Bellarine Estate
2270 Portarlington Rd, Bellarine
www.bellarineestate.com.au

Terindah Estate
90 McAdams Lane, Bellarine
www.terindahestate.com

Scotchmans Hill
190 Scotchmans Road, Drysdale
www.scotchmans.com.au

Flying Brick Cider House
Cnr Swan Bay Road & Bellarine Highway, Wallington
www.flyingbrickciderco.com.au

Leara Park Estate
1400 Portarlington Road, Curlewis
www.leuraparkestate.com.au

Toast to the Coast 2015 - Day 1 - Celebrating wines from the Bellarine Peninsula

Held each year over the Melbourne Cup long weekend Geelong Wine hosts Toast to the Coast. A festival featuring Wine, Food and Music from the area.

There are three regions in the area, with 33 wineries participating.  Each region offers a variety of award winning cool climate wines so there is plenty to taste and enjoy.

For comfort and ease there are shuttle buses that transport you from winery to winery throughout the day and returning to Geelong or there are private tours available.

It just so happens that my bestie lives in the area (lucky girl) so an extra long weekend away is perfect!

Unfortunately (and typical) of the region, Saturday dawns thundering and raining, but we don't let this deter us.  We make an executive decision to do a few of the surf coast wineries by car first. We head down to Torquay (you know, where the most famous Bell's Beach is).

Okay so this photo was taken back in February when it WAS sunny...LOL

We make a brief and extremely wet visit to Torquay Farmers Market as I wanted to stock up on some Lana's Garden rhubarb relish and vinegar, but unfortunately they are not here this week.  *insert extremely sad face*  but I did pick up two jars of Meredith Dairy Goat's Cheese for $10 each (now to get them home on the plane).

Glasses lined up ready for............

 

It is a respectable 10am and time for our first winery.  Along the Great Ocean Road (5 mins from Bells Beach) you will find Bellbrae Estate Wines.

We are delighted to be the first visitors (okay, okay tasters) of the festival.  Despite the rain, everyone is jovial and excited about the weekend. 

Starting with the Longboard range, I find this is the more everyday, ready to drink now wines.   Crisp, fresh and light bodied for the whites and the reds are pretty good too! 

 

The Bellbrae Estate range, where each wine is named after the local surf breaks are more deep and intense (in my opinion) and I really like the Shiraz (and so different from the Longboard Shiraz).

However I find I walk away with a bottle of their tawny port which is so new (as in the day of the festival new) it does not even have a label on it yet!!!

The winery is also offering some lovely cheese platters to enjoy with your wine.  Local cheese, olives and St James Walnuts from Bannockburn (which are the best walnuts I have tasted (not usually a fan)), these platters would be a great way to enjoy a glass or two of Bellbrae wine. 

Next stop is Moriac Grocery Store.  Yeah a grocery store.  Out back we find special guests Dinny Goonan and Brown Magpie Wines. 

Starting with Dinny Goonan, who are known for their Riesling and Shiraz.  Surprisingly it is the Early Harvest Riesling that tantalises the taste buds.

Brown Magpie Wines are good too and am surprised by the Pinor Noir.

It is unfortunate that with the storms came power failures.  The band couldn't play and there was no food.  It's a shame but who was going to take on mother nature?

Last stop on the Surf Coast route is new comer Mt Duneed Estate.   What a place.  It is a huge venue (thinking wedding and concerts!) and a great place to relax amongst the barrels, nibble on some local produce and sip on some lovely wines or Pettavel beer and ciders.  Grapes are sourced from all over Victoria then blended.

I particularly like the creaminess of their new  Blanc De Blanc Sparkling from the Yea Valley. 

 

The Pettavel cider is crisp with a huge apple flavour. There is a great beer garden out the back where you can soak up the sunshine (on a sunny day) and take in the view of the vines and the large vats.

Note: A Day on the Green is here at Mt Duneed

We head back to Ocean Grove to drop off the car and make our way onto the Bellarine route.  Thankfully a friend dropped us at Oakdene Estate to start this route (bribed with a bottle of the Bellbrae Estate Shiraz I purchase for him *wink wink*.

With its quirky 'Upside-down House’ Cellar Door the winery's range of wines 'reflect the true varietal character of the region'.  It has an eclectic assortment of odds and sods, bits and pieces that make up the decor.  The gardens are pretty with succulents and leafy trees, rustic furniture and teapots. 

 

 

I quite like the Peta's Pinot Noir and even the Chardonnay (which I am not a fan of usually) was okay. 

 

Epic fail, but I do vaguely remember purchasing a glass of the Peta's Pinot Noir to enjoy with lunch, which was at great big communal table in the garden restaurant. 

Miss N had the wagyu burger and I had the crab and fish cakes (something a little lighter on top of all the wine).  The crab cakes were crispy and hot and had a good amount of fish and crab filling.  My friend loved her burger.  This food was very much needed at this point in the day.

Out back, there is a shed full of rustic old pieces of machinery and sculptures and old bikes. 

 

 

 

 

 

Well laid plans don't usually go to plan do they?  Due to a cancelled shuttle, we had time to play and explore some more. Looking back it was probably when things started to get a little messy..hahaha

They say it's like riding a bike....don't think I'm going anywhere....

 

Due to said cancelled shuttle, when the next bus came through an hour later we were left with the decision of going to the next winery that we wanted to visit or go straight onto Leura Park Estate where the day would end with a winery that had a local band playing and renowned for the party atmosphere.

Leura Park won.

 

We did some taste testing of their range and we both loved the Ms Flamingo & Associates 2014.  A semi sweet wine blending Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc with a fruity, floral and sweetness to the palate that was very much welcomed after a day of tastings.

A few glasses may have been consumed.

Test Pilot Molly, a local band was playing for the afternoon and worked the crowd. Everyone was thoroughly enjoying themselves and enjoying the party atmosphere....

........some perhaps too much!

This wraps up day 1 of Toast to the Coast.....

 

Bellbrae Estate Wines

520 Great Ocean Road Bellbrae

www.bellbraeestate.com.au

Moriac General Store

561 Cape Otway Road, Moriac

www.dinnygoonan.com.au

www.brownmagpiewines.com.au

Mt Duneed Estate

65 Pettavel Road, Waurn Ponds

www.mtduneedestate.com.au

 

Oakdene Wines Pty Ltd
255 Grubb Rd, Wallington
www.oakdene.com.au

 

Leura Park Estate

1400 Portarlington Road, Curlewis

www.leuraparkestate.com.au