Out and about a bit today in the Valley.  This morning we walked the Caroline’s usual walk up to Bryant Vineyard and Chappellet Vineyard (Caroline and Dan’s neighbours).  More autumn colours and views out over Lake Henessey.  We met Caroline and Dan’s neighbour Cyril Chappellet supervising works his property to improve resilence in the wake of the fires.  Like many people Cyril is taking the proximity of the fires as a warning and looking at what kind of mitigation is possible.  Much the same as happened in areas of Australia after big bush fires.

After that it was off to morning tea with an Italian friend of Caroline’s, Roberta where I got in a bit of language practice.  She was lovely and very patient!  But any chance for practice is good – all part of my overcoming my performance anxiety about speaking.

Then we were off to Raymond Vineyards.  Caroline and Dan had suggested it as an ‘experience’ and it certainly was!  We had booked the Red Room – a tasting experience which began with blind sniffing various aromas – getting your nose prepared so to speak.  Then we tasted something like 8-10 wines mostly cabernet or cabernet blends of varying vintages.  The place is owned by a flamboyant Frenchman who brings marketing flair – of a certain kind!

The Red Room was all red velvet, red upholstery, crystal chandeliers, mirrors and shiny black furniture (‘bordello’ decor springs to mind!).  The tasting was not cheap – almost no tasting here is by Australian or New Zealand standards ($60 is pretty standard here) but then the wine here is much more expensive too.  Anyway, we had a great time, the tasting was just the two of us and we got to taste things we wouldn’t have otherwise.  The theatrical decor continued beyond the Red Room to the Crystal Room – a bar area which adjoins a private dining area and leads through to a lab where clients – for a price – can blend their own wine under the guidance of Raymond staff.  Only in the US!

Quiet afternoon after that – preparing for my dyeing experiments with Caroline tomorrow.

Pictures to follow….