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An Invitation to Discover the Voyager Estate Tasting Menu
Today, we had pre-booked a tour of the Voyager Estate . The tour included the Voyager Estate Tasting Menu – a 7 course degustation gourmet lunch.
The tour started at 11am and we set off at 10 from our hotel at Cape Lodge to allow enough time. It finished at 4.15 – and hour and a quarter longer than advertised – so make sure you don’t book your return taxi too early!
The estate is set in beautiful grounds with a carefully tended rose garden – think Stellenbosch style. The estate plans to be 100% organic by the end of next year (which only 6 of the 150 wineries in Margaret River have achieved).
The vines grow among red clover (planted deliberately to fix nitrogen in the soil) and are netted to protect them from the vivd green parrots that are common around here. White butterflies dance their way through the vines and bright yellow daisies grow beneath them. I guess they are just weeds and probably as much of a nuisance as the parrots, but they look so pretty!
Must Do
The gourmet menu was a perfect showcase for the delicious wines of this region and is a “Must Do”. Although wine growing only started in the 1960s here – very late compared to the established wine growing regions elsewhere in the world – the quality is superb.
Foodie Firsts
Cane Cut Semillon – made from grapes left on the vines until they are dried like sultanas. Light and refreshingly sweet – perfect for a warm climate.
Black Sapote – a black Asian fruit a bit like an avocado which pairs perfectly with the Semillon.
Voyager Estate Chardonnay 2017 – like the people here – up front and easy going.
The first Australian I ever met made me laugh by saying that Australians … ” ‘av standards … they’re not hi, but we do ‘av standards!” Well, the food and wine in this region is certainly up to a very high standard indeed, in my view!
