Thought I’d follow up on this in case somebody searches… or cares…
First off, the two restaurants I went to in Melbourne.
Saint Crispin. Nice place, was late as I stayed in the south and apparently there is really just one road to get across town on and it was jammed, being Saturday night. Still was able to squeeze in the 5 course tasting menu. Was nice to have the main wine guy swing by and chat a bit about the wine. Towards the end of the sitting he spent more time with us which was cool. Was busy, Saturday night I guess. So not ideal and not really when I go out to eat but pretty good, neat area and decent if a little bit busy of a setup. Doubt anybody here, but the table next to us ordered a ‘Marguax’, which I figured out was a Lucy Margaux as they couldn’t work with it and had to get something else. I kinda dig funky naturals, so thought it was amusing.
Town Mouse. Awesome. Many great wines by the glass and chatting with the Somm lady there who puts the list together, it changes every day and she has some cool stuff on it. Highly recommended for wine and food and general vibe.
Macedon
On arrival after the red-eye, headed toward Macedon for the day since it was relatively close to the airport. How else to kick off a few days off? Note: many places don’t open till noon, so if you are morning imbiber, get your fix elsewhere first.
Gisborne Peak
What’s that accent? Eh? Where did we go? Lady doing the tasting (Barbara) actually owns it with her husband… and she’s from Wisconsin. Small production, like 1800 cases. Enjoyed the Riesling and the Pinot Noir the most.
Hanging Rock
Nice place, bigger. They do a lot of the vinification for others in the area (including Gisborne). Quite a spread of things, about half is from Macedon, half sourced from fruit elsewhere. Overall good, standouts were the Macedon Sparkling, couple of ones from Heathcote as well.
Curly Flat
Awesome. Bit out of the way, but very chill and accommodating Cellar Door. Brando was our guy there. They actually asked where we were eating in Melbourne and one of the other young guys there apparently used to work at Saint Crispin. They approved of both dining destinations. Great line-up, even the ‘second’ label (Williams Crossing) were excellent.
Note: If you are allergic to cats…well… deal…
We started heading to Cobaw, but were on some really dodgy dirt roads, and after the recent rain, didn’t seem great. I ended up with some Holden sedan thing (as opposed to the SUV I wanted) so I figured I’d better not get stuck and just head into town…
More in a minute…