A Family Outing

As I entered my last week of paternity leave, I wanted to ensure that
I'd be leaving the home in a good state for when the good lady is home
alone and also that we had taken the opportunity to spend some time
together.

Not wanting to put to much pressure on the wife - as any outing would
mean her having to confront the requirement to feed in public for the
first time - I was keen to go out and get somewhere that appealed to
us both.

So it was to Mt Tamborine Brewery and Witches Falls Cheese Factory
that we went. A destination to offer something to us both.

Fairly easy to get to, exiting the pacific highway from Beenleigh
South, it's then a fairly picturesque 20m drive through fairly
pleasant country, including a nice climb up into the 'mountain' itself.

So the beer, for $10 I had a sampler tray of four beers:
American Pale Ale - 3.3% - lovely light pale ale, floral aromas and on
the palette
Czech Pilsener - 5% - nice crisp pils with slightly bitter palette
Black Cockatoo - 4.8% - lovely German style schwarzbier, with a bit of
caramel and chocolate
India Pale Ale - 6.5% - heavy in the hops, great example of an IPA

All these were great accompaniments to a Wagyu burger! The mrs having
a goats cheese tart with caramelised onions. The cheese was curd from
the associated Witches Falls.

This was to be the limit of our day out, however someone recommended
visiting Witches Falls Winery. The individual in question works in the
wind industry so I was fairly certain that it would be a good
recommendation - my faith was repaid.

The cellar door was nicely laid out. The member of staff in hand was
excellent, very knowledgable about the wines, their styles and also
their technical aspects. It turns out she us studying part-time at
CSU. She led us through a range of whites, reds and some dessert
wines. The stand outs for us were: Fiano, Verdelho, wild ferment
Chardonnay, Syrah, Grenache and a sem/ sav botrytis.

A very worthwhile visit - and our girls first winery. Certainly not
her last I am sure.