Do you like wine, beer, & chocolate? Well if you’re like most of us you probably like at least one of these indulgences. I recently took a tour group on a day tour through Perth’s famous Swan Valley region. It is less than an hours drive from the Perth CBD, cbd buds making it so accessible to the many tourists who visit our beautiful city.
My customers had specified that they wanted to visit mainly breweries with a couple of wineries for good measure. Oh yes, fancynamemaker & they wanted to visit the chocolate factory. We started our tour at the Margaret River Chocolate factory, which originally started in, you guessed it, Margaret River, which is about four hours South of Perth, & is another tour to be discussed at another time.
The chocolate factory allows the visitors to see chocolate bigjoerepair being made on the premises, which only increases one’s desire for the finished product. The range of chocolate & chocolate-related products is mind-boggling & if you can’t find something to your taste then you really are not a true chocolate aficionado. There is also free-tasting of the main chocolate types – milk, dark, & white. No surprises how popular this is with the visitors. There is also a cafe where we sat & had a signature hot chocolate, of course. They also make chocolate brownies & chocolate cake, as well as other non-chocolate desserts & meals. My group purchased a large amount of chocolate products to take home & devour at a later time when the desire for chocolate again becomes too strong to resist.
Next we moved on to our first brewery, The Duckstein, kms-pico which as the name might suggest, is based on a traditional German brewery. This brewery also has a great restaurant with a traditional German flavor to the extensive menu. My group enjoyed a tasting rack of the range of beers available, & proceeded to taste & discuss each of the beers amongst themselves. They all found a beer to their liking & also agreed they would come back again in October for the annual Octoberfest festivities held throughout the valley.
Our next stop was a brewery called Mash brewery. Odd name you may think at first, but when you consider the brewing process it makes more sense. Like the Duckstein, Mash also has a great restaurant area with a menu offering broad appeal from coffee & cake through to full main courses. Again my group ordered the tasting rack & again all found a beer to their liking. Although only at our second stop, epicmauihikes the group all agreed they were having a great time, & that not driving themselves was the only way to properly enjoy a tasting tour.
We next drove a little further through the valley, which in itself is a very pleasant drive through vineyards & past numerous wineries, art galleries, restaurants, & places to stay. We arrived a short time later at Feral brewery. Yes I know, another rather interesting & unique name. This brewery is based on a more casual theme with long, heavy timber tables & benches, a large covered outdoor area that seats many, yve a large grassed area with sandpits for the kids. Again there is a restaurant & this is where we chose to have some lunch.
We ordered an assortment of entree size meals including coconut crumbed chicken with lime mayonnaise dipping sauce, crumbed calamari with lemon aioli, Trio of dips with house made toasted Turkish bread. Feeling hungry? Yes the food was just great. My group again ordered a tasting rack to wash their food down, & again all found a beer to their liking. All agreed after a delightful lunch that it was now time to tackle the wineries.
Our next stop was at Houghtons winery, icouponnetwork set in beautiful grounds with large Jacaranda trees that are smothered in lilac colour flowers in the spring. The grounds also feature a large vineyard with beautiful, mature vines that just seem to relax you & make you wish you lived at such a place. The tasting room is very modern & aesthetically very attractive. The range of wines is extensive in both white & red varieties. My group tasted a number of wines & came away with a number of bottles purchased to take home to enjoy at a later time.
Finally, our last stop of the day was Sandalford winery. Like Houghtons, this winery is set in beautiful, picturesque grounds of mature vineyards & with a great restaurant & tasting room. Here again my group tasted many excellent wines & purchased more bottles to take home as mementos of their fantastic day tour of the Swan Valley. For more info please visit sites here:-http://justshowbiz.net/ https://nordicnutris.com
