In March, having been very impressed by the quality of the wine, I became a member of the Hungerford Hill Winery in the Hunter Valley, and on Saturday we headed to Pokolbin for the annual member’s dinner.We arrived around 6.30pm, to be greeted by a couple of glasses of sparkling & were introduced to a whole bunch of people, all of whom were very friendly.
Sitting down for dinner around 7pm, the head chef – Darren Ho – went through the extensive degustation menu & after the 1st course, the chief wine-maker took us through each of the wines we would be drinking – all very informative. Just looking at the menu now is mouth-watering enough – sea scallops stuffed with water chestnuts, bbq duck with sweet pickled lemons on basmati rice & choy sum, wagyu beef cheek slow braised on witlof & paris mash potatoes – but I can promise you it was delicious! A successful mix of Australian cuisine with the chef’s Asian heritage. The wine was also superb – and plentiful – as was the accompanying music (a couple of staff members were roped in). However, most of all, we enjoyed the company of the people at the table (think we’re going to be ‘dog-sitting’ in Newcastle at some point soon!) & an older couple we met – Ray & Rhonda – who were extremely friendly & have invited us up to the North Coast to stay (which we intend to do soon). A really pleasant way to spend an evening – made all the better by the craic we had with our taxi-driver, Bruce, on the way to our accommodation.
We stayed at the Elfin Hill Motel – a result of it being the only place to allow one-night stays on a weekend – but we were not disappointed with the choice. The rooms were modern inside (even if the cold water tap fell off!) but with a ‘log-cabin’ look from the outside. A hearty breakfast, served by the very amenable host, and we were off on our travels again – picking up the ‘chilli schnapps’ & ‘Drayton’s Port’ recommended by Bruce the night before! We just couldn’t resist going into the ‘smelly cheese shop’ (does exactly what it says on the tin) before heading back home to recover from the hangover!
Most amusing part of the day – I’m not sure Lucy will thank me for mentioning this – was when we got back home. Lucy was feeling a little the worse for wear by this stage (worked out we’d had at least 14 glasses of wine the night before) and couldn’t figure out how to open the door of the car – “Pull The Handle” was my advice. I was laughing to myself for quite some time after….
We’ve definitely been eating a lot of rich food of late – and that coupled with a bit of eating at work whilst bored / depressed means that unfortunately any weight loss I had when I arrived here has been reversed. A bit of a quiet week & a step up in the exercise routine is definitely warranted…. Although looking at our plans for the trip home it might have to wait until July!!!!
One final point I just had to mention was the Australian love for amusing dog breed names (we've spotted this before but ran into a new one on Sunday). Labradoodle (Labrador crossed with poodle) seems to be quite popular, as does Jack Russell mixed with Fox Terrier (not sure what that's called...maybe Jack Fox?) but the new one this weekend was the Spoodle (Spaniel crossed with a poodle!).
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