27 Jan: Dunkeld (VIC) --> Tanunda (SA).

Yep, a wee kangaroo (insert sarcasm) hopping around on Jill's morning run

Another state in Australia for the Becks! Yep, +Marc and I crossed the border on a longish drive from the Grampians to the Barossa Valley (aka "Marc's Mecca"). The day started out with me getting in a quick 5k run before having to sit in the car for a long stretch of time. After the previous night's events with the kangaroos, I opted to run in the middle of the paths and streets within Dunkeld so I could hopefully have more notice if any 'roos came out of nowhere. Fortunately no incidents other than seeing a pack of them in the distance on my run.

The ride over to Barossa was long, but uneventful. They take their quarantine rules pretty seriously in the state of South Australia, but somehow we managed to escape needing to have our car searched. Reason for the serious searches is because of previous diseases that have decimated crops in the state. So they are REALLY careful out here - i.e., lots of Germans out here who own vineyards and possess guns, so going for a run in a vineyard isn't considered a smart thing to do. Who knew?

Marc is a HAPPY boy - BAR-ROSS-A!

We arrived in Barossa and realized that we are in one of two time zones in the world that offsets by 30 minutes instead of 60 minutes from the next time zones on either side of it (the other one is in India in case you were wondering). What that also meant is that we had an extra 30 minutes to go check something out, so we opted for the heavily recommended (by our somm friends and some local winemakers we got connected to) Artisans of Barossa. BONUS!

John Duval Wines at Artisans of Barossa

Artisans houses 7 wine labels, and these folks have a pretty serious set of pedigrees between them. One of them used to be the main winemaker for Penfolds Grange for many years before starting his own label (John Duval Wines). Other labels that came highly recommended were Sons of Eden and Hobbs. Since it was a holiday weekend, not only was there extra staff on hand to work the tasting room, but a number of the winemakers were present as well and opening up stuff not typically available for tasting. What a treat.

One of the winemakers, Howard from Teusner, came over and poured wines from all of the labels for us. He told us about some of the nuances of making wine in the Barossa and what this season was shaping up to be. Howard was super generous with his knowledge and time, and we learned a lot. A couple of gems from Howard, which I guess are typical Barossa schools of thought:

View of some of the Barossa Valley - it is pretty significant in terms of how much wine is produced

"Friends don't let friends drink Pinot."
"Syrah is Shiraz without flavor."

So there you go. After tasting, we walked over to a local pub for dinner and to watch the men's final of the Aussie Open. The pub had many solid and local selections available by the glass with respect to local wineries, which was a bonus.

Overall a fun but tiring day. Yet I know the next few days are really going to knock us out with all of the wine tastings we have lined up. I know, we signed up for this so we're not complaining.