Day 7: Coonawarra
Wednesday 16th February
It was a cloudy morning for a last day in Port Fairy but we both walked out to the Lighthouse, one last time. There was one last breakfast looking out over the lovely gardens and river before setting off for the Coonawarra.
We got away just before 10 am and headed up to the Coonawarra region, via Mount Gambier with a stop for coffee and a visit to the spectacular Blue Lake, a spectacular body of blue water occupying the crater of an extinct volcano.
The name Coonawarra carries such large imagery, from all the wines they provide to all the restaurants around the world, and so we were surprised to see that the township is so small; just a couple of blocks.
We arrived into Coonawarra before our check-in time so headed off to a couple of vineyards that were on our to fo list. First off was Leconfield, where we struggled to find a wine to our palette but we had no such trouble at the next stop at Wynns. We’ve a dozen neo g posted home shortly.
It was just after 2 pm by this stage and so we checked into our motel, The Alexander Cameron Suites. The room was large and well appointed offered a comfortable base for our one night stay.
Most of the vineyard shut at either four or 5 pm and so we headed back out to try and visit a couple of others that were on our list. We manage to visit Redman and Katnook but, whilst we bought a bottle of wine from each, neither of them were ones where we would buying large supplies.
A short afternoon in the Coonawarra has made us realise that this is not our kind of wine region But it was nice to have the afternoon travelling around to be able to work this out for ourselves.
When I was planning this trip, there were plenty of Covid restrictions in place, and so it looked like the only option for dinner was the local pub. But as I was checking in the motel proprietor advise me that their local fine-dining restaurant, Pipers of Penola, was now operating again on a Wednesday and so we were able to snag a booking there for the evening. This game or something more to look forward to for the evening than just a night at the local pub. And what a treat this was! It was one of the nicest dining experiences we have ever had! What a find….in sleepy little Coonawarra!
