I was woken this morning by the sounds of helicopters; buzzing over head trying to capture the progress of the Ironman competitors. Most of the roads around the shoreline were closed to both cars and pedestrians, so I decided to walk in a different direction and found myself eventually in the main street of Busselton. Mick and I did not see this part of Busselton last year, we only stopped for a coffee and a ride on the solar-powered train on the jetty. The cafes were doing a roaring trade with lots of supporters and spectators of the competition needing some hard-earned refreshments.

This was as close as I got to the Ironmen and women – to the bikes waiting for them to return from their swim (I think). I actually know very little about the stages of such a competition.

Our son headed to work this morning after breakfast, and Mick and I and Lucy prepared ourselves for a visit to Dunsborough. We had agreed that we needed to get out of Busselton for the day to avoid the crowds. And, I had an ulterior motive for going to Dunsborough, as I was on the hunt for some linen I had spotted online that was available at a little store in this tourist town. While we found the coffee spot recommended to us (Merchant & Maker), there was no linen at the boutique – Google had led me on a bum steer. Mick was relieved I think.

Mick and I wanted to re-visit Vasse Felix winery, and our son had suggested two other wineries nearby that we should try. So charged with this challenge, we headed off after our coffee to Windance Estate Winery.

During a 45 minute stop here – Mick and Lucy tasted every wine available, enjoying all of them, as they were the only customers at the time of our visit. The lady on the cellar door remembered Lucy and our son from a previous visit, which impressed me as there must be hundreds of people pass through these places. Mick really wanted to buy a bottle of their Blanc de Blanc, but in the end he chose the Chardonnay, as tonight we are to have a Chardonnay Challenge. Without tasting it, I selected a bottle of their Wild Things Amphora Cabernet 2021 to send home for us to enjoy at a later date.

We were disappointed when we arrived at Vasse Felix because there were some large groups already in the tasting area. So, we chose to take a look at the art gallery and the museum before heading across the road to Juniper.

There were no customers here so these two got first class attention. Lucy and Mick tried loads of wines here too and we left with one of their best Cabernets and a bottle of their quaffing red – which Mick said was excellent.

We stopped for lunch in Cowaramup before heading home for a rest, and to prepare ourselves for the program our son had selected for us for the evening. I had volunteered to cook tonight – one of my standby favourite meals (Chicken Maryland) and we had dessert sorted, thanks to Maison Lassiaille.

The three chardonnays we tried this evening were:

Windance, 2021 Chardonnay, 12.5% @ $42.50 (although we did not pay that as we were given an industry discount because we mentioned our son worked in a nearby winery). A new trick Mick said he might try when we visit another wine region as he said no one checked!!

Domaine Naturalist, Artus Chardonnay 2021, 13% @ $56

Harewood Estate, Flux III 2017 Chardonnay, 12% @ $29.50

The winner of these three was the only ‘ring in’, i.e. not from the Margaret River: Flux III. And it was also the cheapest. Our son had visited this Denmark winery a few weeks ago and had told us that Harewood Estate had some excellent wines.

Mick and I are members of a number of wine clubs, including Domaine Naturalist, but we usually drink their fantastic cabernets. Our son has suggested we become members of Harewood as well, and after enjoying their chardonnay, I think we will.

Tomorrow all four of us will visit two more wineries – one we have been to before (McHenry Hohnen), both he is suggesting as clubs to join as well. So, I guess it is important that we do our research!!

Well, that’s what I call it anyway.