Dazed and Confused (Barossa Valley)

And so to our penultimate day in the Barossa. A day carefully planned and executed. The plan dear reader was a late breakfast, drop in to Brothers at War, see the sculptures, lunch and visit one winery, officially the last on our list.

We commenced strongly, sleeping late and lingering over our breakfast, completing those important world tasks, Wordle and Quordle. Once the mundane chores were out of the way, we drove to Tanunda to pop into Brothers at War. You see dear reader, as I was finalising yesterday's post, I realised that I did know the name of the lovely lady who gave us so much of her time yesterday. A return visit was a must.

Sanna greeted us warmly once again and we revelled in the Bunnies victory of last evening. Then she suggested we try a wine that wasn't available yesterday. A 2020 single vineyard Grenache. I'm sure it has another name like 'He hit me first' or 'I didn't start it', but regardless it was another stunning wine - yet to be Halliday rated but a trend has emerged. We sadly farewelled Sanna, it was like leaving an old friend ... not that Sanna is old.  We are old, she is young.

We had passed the turn off to the Barossa Sculpture Park every time we drove to or from the Resort so we were reasonably sure no GPS advice was required. We turned towards Bethany and drove past Turkey Flat vineyard and then through Bethany. No signage, no sight of a sculpture or park. On we drive and we were now heading for the Barossa Hills. Maybe check the GPS. All good, we were yet to arrive.

The park is actually at the Menglers Hill lookout. Culture and views. They have it all in South Australia. The views back over the Barossa are quite something, I climbed the hill at the Resort to take the corresponding shots this afternoon. The sculptures dear reader... you want to know about the sculptures. Hmmm, well, there's nothing like modern sculpture to make you feel inadequate and to reinforce how little you do know, about anything. There were two plaques that listed the sculptures, their titles and the names of the creators. Each had a corresponding picture, you know, for the philistines and non-art lovers who wouldn't know a Koons from a Gober. They are the names of contemporary sculptors dear reader, Google them. I did, for obvious reasons.

The view from the top.

Not to boast but I recognised two of the art works, one of Persephone and another, a local indigenous work of the head of a parrot. A dreaming piece. Aside from that, well, whatever.  I read the titles and it still didn't help.

Persephone

The dreaming

While Jayne was waiting on the wall above the sculpture garden and I was wandering around, dazed and confused, camera in hand, a tour bus arrived and the guide was overheard to explain the 'concept' behind the park. Apparently it was thought an excellent idea to hold a sculpture competition, until the sculptures arrived and were judged. Awkward silence, shuffling of feet, eyes cast downwards ... um, so, now what do we do with them? It's almost a scene that could come from The Castle (Google it millennials). And so the Sculpture Park was born, a sufficient distance from town so as not to cause angst.

No doubt, dear reader, you picked up today's title reference. Dazed and Confused a classic song from 1969 from the equally classic rock band, Led Zeppelin. For the purpose of educating the young ones out there, click here and turn the volume up. One day I'll do a dummy link to Bing Crosby.

Three from three, so far on our list. Next stop Lyndoch, for lunch at the Lord Lyndoch Hotel. There's not a lot going on at Lyndoch but there are a couple of good places to eat - The Lord Lyndoch and just across the road,  The Table. Today we opted for a pub lunch, if for no other reason than we were amazed at the offerings of the pubs when we visited 40 years ago.

Lunch was a mammoth affair. Extremely large serving sizes. I have never been brought to an eating standstill by a chicken schnitty. Until today. It was massive. I would not want to run into a chicken of that size at night. Jayne had pork ribs, the half serve, and was pleased with that choice. We did commence with garlic sourdough and croquettes, so that didn't help, but wow, big serves. The staff were also very lovely and welcoming. We had a chat with one of the owners about a photo that adorned the wall above where we were sitting - an enlarged shot of Dove Lake with Cradle Mountain (TAS) in the background. He and his wife are bushwalkers. Extra points there. Well from me.

Just as an aside, I'm not sure how my body is going to cope when we're back home and into the cycling/swimming regime again. Lycra is not a flattering fabric...

I digress. Back to the car and the drive to Rockford Wines. We drove into the carpark around 3:00pm. There were people moving around to the tasting room and more people coming in behind us. No booking necessary the website proclaimed. Hmmm. In the covid age? Having achieved four from four on our task list, five from five was looking decidedly shaky. And so it proved.

There were people milling around the compound, waiting for orders to be filled or waiting for a space in the tasting room. As we entered the courtyard, it was difficult to process what was happening. Had someone emerged from one of the buildings, in period costume, leading a cow on a rope, I would not have batted an eye. Dazed and confused again. We headed for an open door which proved to be the tasting room. Winning. Not so fast. There were two couples inside, tasting wine - shocking I know and totally unexpected. Basically we were in the right place at the wrong time and had to go outside and find someone with a clipboard who would tell us how long the wait would be.

We returned to daylight and saw said man with clipboard. He was not there when we came in. I would have noticed - he was wearing a brown shirt. A brown shirt. A quick reconnoître showed a family of five waiting for a tasting. There was another couple who had actually come in behind us but clearly knew how things operated here, and so were now ahead of us. So we would be next. Probably a minimum wait of an hour, excluding any waiting people, already sitting around the out buildings. Now I love my wine dear reader, but as you know, I am no fan of queueing. I queue for no one or nothing. We were out of there. Sadly Rockford will remain a mystery, but you know, we will always have Brothers at War. Sigh.

Back at the Resort, I walked up to the high ground for a photo opportunity and then we repaired to the balcony to relax, drink wine and soak up the view. Not a bad day, 4 out 5 tasks achieved. We discussed attempting Rockford tomorrow, but no. They are undeserving. Yes, COVID has changed our world and forced many wineries to introduce bookings and limits on numbers. A booking system would appear to be common sense, so not to have that and then turn people away is not good customer practice or good business. I can't remember the last winery we visited where we didn't buy at least six bottles. Their loss.

It has dawned on me that I didn't mention the facilities guys putting bird boxes into the trees behind our accommodation block at the Resort. This happened the day we arrived and I was somewhat bemused at the fact that they just nailed them to the tree, literally, at the highest point they could reach from ground level. To date, no bird has shown interest - and is probably unlikely to. Alas, we'll never know because we'll never be back to the Resort. More on that in the final wrap in a few days.

See the bird box? Look closer.

Tomorrow is our last day in the Barossa. We may visit another winery, at this point we are undecided. Otherwise it is a transit day as we head for Mt Lofty House to cap off a great, long-awaited trip to South Australia. Mt Lofty holds many exciting experiences in store for us: cheese tasting, a wine appreciation (don't laugh dear reader, it is unbecoming) afternoon and dinner at the Hardy's Verandah Restaurant. All to be looked forward to as we look at Rockford Wines in our rear vision mirror.

Our friend on our last afternoon

I make no promises about a post for tomorrow, given the transitory nature of the day.

Brothers in Arms (Barossa Valley)

Apparently there is a thing over here dear reader called sunrise over the vines. Jayne is uncertain about sunrise and thinks it might be fake news, because whenever she sees the sun it is high in the sky. I had intended to do the sunrise over the vines thing to prove her wrong, but sadly our unit is not well positioned for such pursuits. Therefore, you'll have to enjoy a photo taken by someone else (cheers Chris).

Sunrise over the vines.

The Barossa stay was meant to be a time to slow down and enjoy the area. Today we set the lofty target of two wineries and a late lunch. I am pleased to report, dear reader that we nailed our brief, although not in the time frame we thought. We were out of the apartment before 10:30am and were in Tanunda for coffee pre wine tasting.

Nosh was a deceptively large café. It's on Murray Street and is in the old mill building. A simple doorway gives way to a series of tabled spaces (rooms of the original house), all of which were occupied with people enjoying the fare. The end space was larger again with more tables, all occupied, and a counter and fridge cabinet, filled with delectable treats. Bravely we passed up the pastries and opted for a couple of long blacks to be enjoyed on the street in the sunshine. Yes, my Sydney friends, in the sunshine.

What? You expected a caption?

The breeze was a little challenging at times, but otherwise it was quite pleasant. Even amusing, as a dad on a blade scooter, showing off to his kids, came a cropper on a driveway across the road, and was sent humiliatingly to the ground. Smile. Smirk.

Caffeine craving sated we walked the short distance to the Brothers at War tasting rooms. Also in Murray Street, although their winemaking facility is in Lyndoch, 15 minutes down the road. Hence today's title, an offering by Dire Straits from 1985. I'm not a huge Dire Straits fan but the song seemed to balance the name of the winery. 

Not originally on our list of wineries to visit, we needed to replace Standish Wines because they had already exhausted their stock and had nothing to sell. Sometimes you just luck things and have an awesome experience, other times things fall flat. Today was the former, it will go down as one of our gold wine tasting experiences. Given we started visiting wineries in 1979 and can count one hand the number of golden moments you can be guaranteed dear reader that this place is worth stopping by.

We walked in just after 11am and left at 2pm. We tasted some excellent wines, I joined the wine club (I know, I know), and spent time talking with Lee and Sanna. Both are former Sydney people and Lee spent years living around the corner from us in Erskineville. He knows our favorite French Bistrot owner. We talked Sydney, we talked wine, we talked holiday experiences, we talked and every now and then we tasted their magnificent wines and discussed them and their creation. We also talked about the Bunnies, Sanna is a long time supporter (current Bunnies sticker on the cellar laptop). 

To quote from the book The Wine Producers A Taste of the Barossa, "The brothers take their wine seriously, but at the end of the day, it's about conviviality and connection." They certainly got that right. All in all, one of those golden afternoons of wine tasting that you experience from time to time and long remember.

We were due at our second wine tasting at 12:30pm. I phoned to let them know we would be coming but couldn't put a time on it. Emma was most gracious. At 2:30pm we opened the door to the tasting room and apologised for our tardiness. Kaesler, another winery suggested by our wine man at United Cellars, had some very curiously named wines: Bogan and Old Bastard amongst them. They also had the only Semillon we've seen so far and a rare straight Viognier. Another winning moment. Wine ordered for dispatch home, we walked to the car for the 500 metre drive to the pizza place.

Bought a bottle to share with a friend

Now dear reader, I would be one of the first people to accept that 4pm is an unusual time to be arriving at a pizza place for a meal. Is it lunch? Is it dinner? Well, for us it is both. The young women who showed us to our table was most helpful and re-appeared shortly to take our order. The pizzas at Ember, situated in the Penfolds complex in Nuriootpa, have a fermented sourdough base, and a good range of toppings. They also offer some interesting entrées. They are well worth a visit for the pizza alone.

While the pizzas were very good, the service was a little, um, disinterested. We must have arrived at the changeover of shift because the person who showed us to the table was nowhere in sight when we wanted to box our leftovers. And no-one else seemed particularly interested in us at all. Jayne, taking control, lifted our plate of uneaten pizza and delivered it to the counter herself. At which time the girl behind the register retrieved a box and handed it to me to sort out the rest. Talk about great service. We did - all the way home because that was the antithesis of great service. A pity really, the pizzas were great.

Lunch/dinner completed, leftover pizza boxed, we turned toward the Barossa Resort and our balcony.

And how to cap off an excellent day? The Bunnies smashed arch rivals Easts, Buddy Franklin kicked his 1,000 goal as the Swans put the sword to Geelong and the Australian Men's Cricket Team won the match and series in Pakistan.

Until tomorrow.