Mr Barval is a favourite winery of ours. It’s small, family owned and run, produces great wine and has a lovely vibe. Mr Barval is a fixed destination of ours every Christmas break, where we enjoy wine tasting, cheese platter and the company and conversation of friends and family.
So, when they sent out their Spring Family Luncheon invite, we jumped at the chance and with Paul and Tania, had a lovely weekend camped at Turner Caravan Park in Augusta, enjoying the luncheon on the Saturday afternoon. Luckily, we’d booked the pick up and drop off service as well, as after an afternoon of sampling many wines, most of the time multiple times, we were chilled AF and in no condition to drive.
Arriving in Augusta on the Thursday, Jules and I set up camp, did a quick drive around town to acquaint ourselves of any changes and grabbed some provisions for dinner. As P&T were arriving later that evening, we cooked enough for them and enjoyed the evening catching up.
Friday morning was chilled and we agreed to a lunch date at Colour Patch restaurant, which filled in the full afternoon, enjoying good food, a couple of beers and botttles of wine. Jules and I then retired to the van to digest, and play Triomino’s, but P&T then had a previously planned dinner date with their other local friends, Sue and Jeff, so they headed back to Colour Patch after a 30min interval to spend another 4hrs there for the dinner session.
Saturday was our big lunch day, so after dressing up, putting on our makeup, brushing my hair – well, Jules, Tania and Put brushed theirs, we waited for our pickup, a lovely young bloke, Archer, who over the drive explained he was the 5th generation farming son at Glenarty Farm and Winery, which is another favourite haunt of ours.
Arriving at Mr Barval’s, we were greeted by the lovely Yelena, who happened to be Archer’s partner, hence the reason he was asked/told he’d be on chauffer duty today. Presented with a Spritz we browsed the gardens and got talking to some of the other guests as they started arriving. Then the wine tastings commenced, paired with beautiful canapes prepared by the new onsite chef who has started up a food truck at Mr Barval this year. Naturally, the wines started on the lighter, white side and we got to try the just pressed and bottled last week ’25 season vintage along side previous seasons, and/or vintage musuem release wines.
The wine got darker and heavier, moving into the reds as we migrated to our tables for our sit down lunch of Robb’s famous porchetta and sides, but the conversation got lighter and more lively as everyone got into the meal, enjoying great wines and good company. We met and chatted with some lovely couples, got some great tips on other good wineries and had a great time. However, the afternoon, and our hearts, were stolen by Xena, (the not) warrior Golden Retriever puppy one of the guests brought along. I ended up taking more pics of fluffy Xena than anything else…
Saturday night was very laid back, we had a very light dinner of snacks, a couple more apperitifs to finish the evening, before collapsing into bed.
Sunday dawned bright and sunny, a nice change from the previous few days of overcast conditions. With no plans, we opted to return to Colour Patch for coffee and brekky, before deciding to visit some of the new, hot tip winery locations we’d learnt about yesterday. Piling into Sir Gwavin, I skippered us up to Yallingup to visit Windows Estate winery which was lovely, but maybe we’d been spoiled, or more likely were still over-indulged from yesterday’s wine, as we had mixed feelings about the offerings. Whilst travelling up, Putt had found another small winery to try out, so on our way back to camp we dropped into Altair Estate. Our host there was great value, regailing us of some of the stories of the estate and previous owner, whilst providing large pours to sample (I managed my samples as I was skipper).
Sunday afternoon was spent lazying in the sun, on the banks of the Blackwood River, back at camp, with some cheese and nibbles for lunch.
P&T decided to leave later that afternoon so they could get the van unpacked and Putt could do some prep for work tomorrow, and Jules and I met up with BJ and Mike at Jimmy’s (the pub) for dinner.
If that sounded like a whole lot of food and drink over four days – you’d be spot on. But we enjoyed it – as always – as good company, food and drinks, makes for a great time.
Tomorrow (Monday), it’s back home so I can finish off some of the reno’s we’ve been preparing over the last couple of weeks.