Yes, that is the title of the entry, as this is what the day was when we travelled an hour and a half outside of Melbourne, to visit the Winery called Fowles Wine. Another one in the series of Bank of Melbourne Prizes, it also included a Chauffeur driver, a new aspect to these prizes!

Where do I start. Probably from the beginning. We were picked up on the dot at 10:30am, by George, our driver. I became one of those people who says, “our driver”. For seven hours. He was a very friendly and hospitable bloke, he had chilled water for us in the back of his flash car. There also was the option of watching Finding Nemo or Dora the Explorer. We chose neither and decided to just look out the window. The hour and a half flew by as we headed north of Melbourne, and arrived at the gravel drive that headed to the winery. George said to let us know when we would like to be picked up, he was off to hang with a mate nearby and have a nap. Thanks George.

We entered the building that housed the Cellar Door and the restaurant itself. The restaurant looked a little like a cafeteria or a road stop, and assumed that must be part of the charm. After sitting down we were presented with the menu. Everything was really well priced, very suitable for the passer by and noticed a lot of people were simply stopping in with no reservation. So it had a very relaxed and friendly vibe without any snobbery.

We ordered the Wine Flight, since it was a winery after all. This would let us try four wines with four different dishes. The speediness of them arriving was impressive and we were already tucking into the meal within fifteen minutes of being there. I will add at this point, that the Sydney Swans had won the Grand Final the night before and I may have been celebrating this with several beers. Therefore I was feeling a little fragile and so the wine wasnt necessarily exactly what I would have chosen, but I really couldnt complain. The wine really matched the different dishes and gave a great example of what they offered. And the amazing thing was, when the bill arrived we had only spent 1/4 of the gift voucher, that naturally led us to the cellar door to spend the rest.

I had text George what time to pick us up and also what type of fine he preferred. After some wine tasting, with myself naturally being drawn to the sweeter wines and Cal to the dryer wines, we walked out with twelve bottles, and a packet of mints. VERY chuffed and I would totally come back here. Our favourite of the wines was the range called “Ladies Who Shoot Their Lunch“. I mainly liked it cause of the artwork, apart from the dead animals.

George was swift to pick us up (I rarely use the word swift so thankfully I have found a reason to, I have been wanting to for some time). And before we knew it, the city came into view and we were back in our apartment. We would also use George again, he was fantastic, especially cause he said he also does wine tours of the Yarra. Dont mind if we do.

So that was the sixth out of twelve dinners. Sigh, this prize truly is amazing.