My Visit to A Winery (including history lesson)

Hi Ya all,

A couple of weeks ago instead of going on my "normal" walk, my peeps decided to take me somewhere I have never been before.

We visited the Hardy's Winery Reynella. It is the oldest wine business in South Australia, established by John Reynell (a migrant from Devon, U.K.) in 1838. The Hardy family purchased this business in 1982 but the association between John Reynell and Thomas Hardy dates back to 1850, when Thomas (also a Devon migrant) worked for John in the original vineyards. Hardy's wines are exported all over the world, so when you buy a bottle, it's made here and leaves through the gates from here!

We will even get to see the restored original homestead built for/by John Reynell in 1842.

This is us walkin' in after we parked the car in the carpark.

 I'm dyin' to check this place out. This winery is really close to my home - it's about 6 minutes away by car.

This is the "Chateau Reception" building - this is where the peeps go to do their "wine tasting" and meet the nice staff peeps. They tell us the "pressed basket Shiraz" is to "die for"..... but I reckon I still would prefer my liver treats!

Here is the wood maturation cellar and the John Reynell Function Room.

A glimpse of the original vineyards through the trees.

Mum LOVED the leadlight windows at the front of these buildings - they would look fab from the inside! But I wasn't allowed in there.

Here is the underground cellar Number 1 (affectionately known as the Old Cave) it dates back to 1845 and is the oldest working wine cellar in the whole of Australia, and is listed by the National Trust.

Here is a side view so you can see how it's built into the hill.

Here we are walkin' towards the old Homestead and the gardens. I felt the need to sniff the lamppost (of course!)

I've given the nice grass my romp of approval!!

Found a shady patch!

And had to try out these steps for my blogging bro' George!

Next I had to pose with this ol' thingy...... dad dad said it was a still.....so I'm standing still for it! Ha ha....get it??!!!

Here are some of the pretty gardens - you can hire these for functions you know! People get married here too!

Some of the rose gardens.

Mum wanted to get most of this big gum tree in the shot - it must be very old!

And this is a very young and just forming bunch of grapes. See, they are really little and green.

The edge of the vineyard - just before we jumped back in the car and drove home.

PEE S: Doggies were actually not allowed in this place.....my peeps didn't see any signs...so they thought they would give it a go. Right after this photo was taken, a nice security man spoke to my peeps about me, but he was nice and didn't really want to interrupt my adventure. Kinda - "turned a blind eye" for me maybe??!!

We had a great time! Next time your peeps are in Adelaide, drop into this place and taste some of their produce, you won't be disappointed!!  ;-)