Since our last two nights’ accommodation was on the west bank of the Tamar, we headed back to Launceston tracking clockwise around the Tamar Valley Wine Route, a decision prompted by a slightly higher number of wineries with a five-star rating in James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion 2008.
Our first port of call was Bay of Fires at Piper River, where the first wine on offer was the current vintage of Arras (rated 96 by James Halliday). Not a bad way to start a tasting tour! The Riesling was outstanding, and I could have happily walked away with a dozen bottles if we weren’t subject to constraints associated with baggage limits.
At our next stop, we were introduced to a possible solution to that problem - buy a couple of bottles and place them in a box, then keep filling the box, and the last winery on your itinerary will send it to your home address.
In hindsight, this was an option we could have chosen, but I have doubts that I would have been able to keep it down to one box.
There’s also the small matter of freight to the mainland, which at thirty-something dollars a box is not to be sneezed at.