Going for BROKE
19th-20th November 2005

Written by Fred Mayer.

This was a Landrover trip with a difference. Not a single bonnet was raised!

I’ve never turned left immediately over the Hawkesbury low level bridge at Windsor. Beyond the imposing brick gateposts is an enormous park, with good facilities, and an Italian Restaurant- closed as we gathered at 0800 hrs on Saturday morning.

The convoy assembled and we headed north “up the Putty Rd.” It was a pleasure to travel it in daylight. So often, we do it in the dark- north to south- and at the end of a long day’s travel. It really is a scenic road.

The Halfway Café beckoned us in for a coffee stop and a look at their old farm machinery and unusual lounge seats. Ron outlined plans for the day, and asked if we would prefer other options. ”Sounds good to us, lead on.” Take a right at Milbrodale Rd, heading east towards Broke. This is the valley of the Wollombi Brook, looking green and lush with sandstone cliffs in the distance.

We sampled at 2 cellars before lunch. At Elsmore, our host was also a Landrover man, so the chat strayed for a while from the grape. However, we got into the swing of tasting and sniffing, but no one could get their mouth around the swill and spit!

Wendy, our host at Catherine Vale, is also involved with tourist promotion of the Broke area. She advocates camping areas, arguing- spend less on accommodation, spent more on wine and local produce.” Sensible lady”, we chorused. ”We are camping people.” But she says her suggestion falls on deaf ears. “We don’t want ‘those’ people. They’re not wine connoisseurs.” Silly snobs. I’ve seen plenty of LROC campsites with a good ten green bottles hanging on the wall!

Time for lunch and we wheeled into Mt Broke vineyard to sample, at Ron and Carol’s suggestion, the Taster Dishes at the Cow Café. And their wine! Lunch took a while, as with all stops the conversation just rolled on.

Next stop was Lavender Hill. I know because we have some labels from there. That must have been the cellar with the stone house and red roses, or were they yellow…..Perhaps it’s time to stop.
Broke Common was almost deserted. It was too warm for a fire (thank you Ron for bringing firewood) and the thunder and lightning went away after Ron and Carol erected their wide awing.

Sunday morning brought a market to Broke, more local produce to tempt the taste buds- olives, macadamias, veges.Krinklewood was our first cellar. A beautiful location and garden.
As with all the cellars we visited, there was a range of wines offered to sample. Our hosts shared much information about growing, harvesting, winemaking, marketing. We were never pushed to buy. They greeted Ron and Carol as old friends and so we felt welcomed too. These are wines that you can only buy at the cellar door.

It’s good visiting the cellars as a group (there were 8 of us) Perhaps you could feel uncomfortable walking away without buying anything after the generous tasting and information, but with a group, there would be a purchase made and there can be good deals offered too. Buy one case, get one free. Then share around the group- very economical.

Thank you Ron and Carol for your research and for a jolly weekend. This trip earns a gold star rating. Book us in for next year.