Today we become tourists in our own town and joined a wine tour to see what visitors get to enjoy when they come to Margaret River.

Our first stop was McHenry Hohnen Winery, a bio-dynamic vineyard established in 2004 by David Hohnen, who originally established Cape Mentelle in Margaret River and Cloudy Bay in New Zealand, which both became world renowned wineries and Murray McHenry a prominent WA wine merchant and hotelier.  Their winery uses ‘old world’ techniques and biological practices.  The vines are hand-picked and wild fermented giving their wines a unique flavour.  The also produce small goods in their butchers smokehouse on the farm.

It was then on to Olio Bello, a certified organic food producer and sustainable olive grove producing extra virgin olive oils.  They also produce a range of flavoured and infused oils and condiments, as well as beauty products.

The wine tasting at Hay Shed Hill, like most wineries in the region, was predominantly  Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, followed by a pizza and salad lunch at Rustico.

The next stop was well timed at Gabriel Chocolate where we tasted their hand produced chocolate and just had to test their icecream as well.  I can report both very very good.

House of Cards Winery is a single vineyard producer, with the young owners being very hands-on in all aspects of the vintage.  Making a good range of red and white wines it was another enjoyable visit.

Last winery of the day was Brygon Reserve Wines who opened in 2009 and are highly rated by James Halliday and Ray Jordan – leading Australian and Western Australian wine critics, respectively.

A refreshing ‘cleansing ale’ at Colonial Brewery finished the day off nicely.

Thanks John, we really enjoyed your Wines for Dudes tour.

http://www.winefordudes.com.au/