Rickrolling through the Valley

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

Rick Astley

I got rickrolled. Not once. Not twice. Three times in one week. Melbourne, Sydney, and finally today in the Hunter Valley, one of Australia’s major wine regions. Out of the blue, he keeps appearing unexpectedly, softly singing in my ear… “Never gonna give you up. Never gonna let you down“…But let me start at the beginning…or rather: the end!

After a busy week at school with busy bees and creepy crawlers and fabulous Fasching fun, a well deserved break seemed it order: a wine tasting tour in Hunter Valley. A two hour drive from Sydney, in a mini bus together with two very supportive local colleagues, a couple from Wales and two young ladies from Japan. And Jeffrey, the bus driver. Good driver, somewhat obsessed with the Aldi store chain. But that’s a different story.

Early Saturday morning, beautiful sunrise, blue skies – the perfect day for an educational excursion into the hinterlands of Sydney. Ready to learn about the birthplace of Australia’s wine, the Hunter Valley, or short THE HUNTER.

The Wonnarua, the people off the hills and plains, had lived in the area for over 30.000 years already. But it was some Scottish wine maker dude called James Busby, who arrived in 1832 with some 500 vine cuttings from back home and thus helped establish the Hunter Valley as a key wine region and Australia as a grape growing country. Today, the Hunter is one of 65 wine growing regions in Australia with over 150 wineries (out of the almost 2500 across the continent). In comparison, Canada has 800 wineries in total, with about 80 in the Niagara Region close to Toronto.

Barely able to distinguish between white and red, I was ready to learn about the golden, citrusy Semillon and the earthy Shiraz. About Sav Blanc and Cab Sauv. Chardy. Champers. Easy drinking (as opposed to heavy drinking?). Body. Legs. Tannins (sounded more like a fitness studio to me). Muscular. Jammy. Flighty. Earthy. Easy. Easy Gisi!

First stop: STOMP Winery. Greeted by a vicious guard dog, we had out first tastings of the local wines. We learned that while the vineyards in the valley had been spared from the flames of the devastating fires, this year’s vintage had been affected by the smoke from the bushfire’s (smoke taint). We still enjoyed the intimacy of this small boutique winery and left with plenty of bags of plinkety plong.

Iron Gate Estate next – a family-run, Tuscany-style winery amidst the vineyards. Plenty of Spanish tiles and fountains, iron-bark beams and wasted hens on their bachelorette weekend-party. Semillon, Chardonnay, and the Verdelho that the Hunter is known for, as well as Shiraz, Cabernet, and Tempranillo. I was beginning to feel a little tipsy. Time for lunch!

I don’t think I have ever been so full in my life. Cafe lunch with chicken schnitzel and chips, cheese sampling, chocolate tasting… should have worn my stretchy pants. Still, onto the third, and final (alas!) winery: Savannah Estate in Mount View. And this is where it happened. I got rick rolled!

Rick Astley in Concert. My childhood star! Together with Norwegian pop-band Aha on tour in Australia. Ok, I admit, I only know one or two songs they both sang, but those were really good songs! Memorable! Unforgettable! Classic! But I missed them in Melbourne, missed them in Sydney, only to learn now that they were playing tonight. In the Hunter! As if Rick was following me. And I would miss it – again! “Never gonna give you up..!”

No further wine samples, not even the sight of Bruce the kangaroo amidst the vines, were able to console me. Rick and I – we were never going to be together forever. Forever apart rather. Sigh!

So we went home. Bottles of wonderful wine and chocolate willies and plenty of great memories of a perfect day! Tired from all the hard yakka, we soon fell asleep, our bus gently rolling through the valleys of the Hunter, through green vineyards, lush rain fed fields and quaint little villages. And in my sleep, I’m sure, I heard him call, heard him sing… Never gonna give you up.Never gonna let you down… Rickrolling home….Cheers!