Pyrenees Unearthed 2019

Published by Jill Rowe on 4th May 2019

On our way to the Pyrenees Unearthed Wine Festival this year, we managed to drop into the Blue Pyrenees Estate (Wine maker :Andrew Koerner) and enjoy a glass of wine on the balcony. The start to a fabulous weekend.

https://www.bluepyrenees.com.au/

This is our third visit to Avoca for the annual Wine Festival. Since the first visit, we make sure to keep this April weekend free of cooking classes, so we can pack up our van, go campingby the beautiful Avoca river, under the starry sky, and enjoy the fantastic Pyrenees wines. The region is known for red varietals such as cabernet, shiraz, and grenache, and there are many great examples of these, but the unsung heroes are well worth investigating. Make sure to check out the Viognier, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc - nothing like the New Zealand style.

http://www.pyreneesunearthedfestival.com.au/

Pat was in his element. This year abandoning his clipboard, and immersing himself in the full experience. Compared to some other Wine festivals, this seems less commercialised, way more affordable for visitors, obviously showcasing fantastic wineries, but most importantly for us, the winemakers are in residence to answer any questions you might have. Pat (always) has lots of questions and as such he is on friendly terms with many of them. He really wanted to do a short interview with some of these intriguing people, but the festival is not the right place, so we took photos instead.

When I was booking our tickets through the Pyrenees Unearthed website, I had to laugh -

there is a photo of Pat himself enjoying a tasting at the 2018 festival. "Look, that's you!"

Other people must have seen it too. As I'm waiting to get a photo with one of the winemakers, a group of 5 ladies arrives and I can hear the chatter. "Who is he? Does he look familiar to you? He knows all the winemakers."

Rita asks me "Do you know who he is?" "Well yes" I explain how his photo is on the website, and maybe they'd seen it there. Hope that's not his 15 minutes of fame done and dusted.

Pat hits the ground running with the first masterclass of the day.

Sasha from Sally's Paddock at Redbank Winery is presenting with Mark from Summerfield Wines.

http://sallyspaddock.com.au/

Unfortunately we didn't manage to get a photo at every stall, I guess we'll just have to attend again next year to complete the series.

Dogrock Winery : Allan and Andrea

www.dogrock.com.au