Shedfest Wine Festival, Seville, Australia

October 11, 2014

Yarra Valley, Australia

We started Russ's 61st birthday celebration one day early :)

All wineries have sheds; usually housing crushers, barrels, tractors and other equipment used in the production of wine.  Every year, on the second weekend of October, wineries along the Warburton Highway open their sheds for two days of fabulous food, fine wine, live music and entertainment.  Luckily for us, 2014 coincided with A very special person's birthday - Russ!

Payne's Rise Winery

I love this photo for two reasons.  Number one, because a random woman offered to take our photo.  Number two, because I did not realize at the time that Russ had a bottle of wine in his pocket that we had purchased at the adjacent winery :)

Wild Cattle Creek Winery - this is the first winery we visited.  We purchased a Moscato, a Pinot Noir and a Red Angus.

They had a motorcycle show outside the winery.  I am always impressed when I see an Indian motorcycle.  I can't really say why.

The second winery we visited was Whispering Hills.  

I made friends with two goats right after we parked the car.

This winery really had it's tastings in a shed!  We bought a 2013 Chardonnay there.

The third winery was Seville Hill.  We purchased a bottle of 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon and I got a cappuccino. 

The view of the orchards and vineyards from Seville Hill was incredible.

Seville Hill also had some cool places to play games.

This is the 4th winery we visited, Payne's Rise.  We bought a 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon.

Payne's Rise had a great band playing and a beautiful yard for everyone to enjoy.

Everyone enjoying wine, food and good music on the lawn reminded me of the original Starlight Musicals in George English Park in Ft. Lauderdale.

After you have made a purchase in 3 wineries, you can enter a drawing for a case of wine, so we did :)

Russ met a nice couple while waiting in line for souvlaki, Jim and Sophie.  We moved on to Elmswood Estate together and had wine and cheese, chocolate mouse cake and apple rhubarb crumble.

Elmswood Estate also had a fabulous view.  We brought out the flamingos and introduced them to our new friends.  Jim immediately referred to them as the albatrosses :)

We returned to Payne's ride where we left our rental car...and had another fabulous cheese platter and a bottle of Shiraz.

Jim suggested taking some photos of the albatrosses in the vineyard.  An excellent idea!

I think Sophie and Jim really likes the flamingos...even though Jim renamed them.

And then, too soon, it was time to say good bye to our new friends.  

What a lovely afternoon we all shared under the sun in the Yarra Valley.

We only made it to five of the eight wineries.  So we will just have to come back another year :)

 What a great day!