Capel Vale Winery

The south west of Australia is filled with a variety of wineries and breweries that Jen and I have been keen to check out for quite some time. However one little thing I decided not long after arriving in the west was to go on diet to drop some weight. Drinking lots of wine and beer while consuming an assortment of cheese and chocolate didn't really fit the bill for how to go about that plan. It's not all bad though, I have dropped 14kg over the last few months and have hit the point where once a week I am having celebration meals, Hazzuh! Time to start checking out these wineries and breweries!

The decision to hit Capel Vale Winery on a sun drenched Saturday was an easy one. We had gone down to Busselton that morning and a sign pointing to the vineyard was highly visable on every trip between Bunbury and Busselton. Just off the highway we found the beaut little place. Everything was lush and green from all the rain, bar the vines as they had gone into hibernation for the winter. 

The cellar door and resturant were connected, working in unison together to offer top-notch, matched meals. We were greeted by Nathan who was happy to explain how the resturaunt works with matching wines to food and also making sure we were well informed on how those wines tasted! If you've read any of our other wine tasting posts you'd notice I'm quite the fan of Cabernet Sauvignon, so being in the heart of a Cab Sav growing country was pretty exciting! Sampling their tasty Cab Savs starting with a cleanskin, to the 2014 Margeret River,  then to the oaky full flavours of the 2013 Black Label was quite delightful. We were fortunate enough to also get to sample the 2012 Scholar Margaret River Cab Sav which was ridiculously smooth with very light oak and fruity flavours.

I was pretty happy with the Cab Savs, but Nathan prompted me to try their Shiraz. I happen to be pretty open when it comes to wine tasting, so went along with the flow. Again we began with a cleanskin, then onto the full bodied Mount Barker variety and finished with the Whispering Hill Mount Barker Shiraz. Maybe it was as it was towards the end of the tastings, maybe it was the hype, or maybe it was just awesome! The Whispering Hill Shiraz really hit us both as an amazing wine. Allowing the aroma to flow up your nostrils was a sensation on its own. One thing that hit me was a slight hint of the ocean, sparking positive emotions and excitement. The taste was amazing, incredibly full bodied and adventurous (Don't worry, no taste of the ocean!) it isn't a wonder they save this as the final drop in a tasting. Decision made! Yep, I came all the way from Shiraz Country to Cab Sav country so I could drink shiraz!

So with our wine selected, it was time to choose the food! With the matched resturaunt the entire menu is filled with platters filled with a variety of foods to go with your wine. The portions are generous, with each platter being the equivelent of a meal. Nathan assured us you can mix and match your wines with meals, so we grabbed ourselves the Shiraz platter and the Cab Sav platter to enjoy with our bottle of Whispering Hill Shiraz. We were seated by our waitress, Casey, by the window where we could enjoy the afternoon sun. Casey seemed to be just as enthusiastic about Capel Vale Winery as Nathan, telling us about how beautiful the place is in the summer. Everything is even greener with the vines dripping with grapes, there is a vine trellis around the top of the windows of the resturaunt which looks amazing in the summer. 

Once our meals arrived we were in awe at how much food we got! Meats, breads, olives, mushrooms, cheese and some super delicious choccy strawberries made sure we had a fantastic meal! Really enjoyed our experience at Capel Vale Winery. They blend wine and food together in a magical way making it enjoyable and simple regardless of wether you are an indulgent connoisseur or just an average couple looking for a great dining experience at a reasonable price.