Before we started ‘work’ for the day, I enjoyed an early morning walk along the Busselton Foreshore – which was now denuded of all the scaffolding and ‘porta-loos’ that had been erected for the recent Ironman Competition.

The local council has done a fantastic job creating beautiful spaces for its residents and visitors.

There are obviously no water restrictions here – the grass areas were getting a good drenching, as were many front lawns that I walked past this morning.

I can understand why the Ironman selected Busselton as a perfect spot for the competition – lots of flat pathways and bikeways, as well as large expanses of water, some fenced off from sharks, for swimming.

The foreshore also has a number of smart looking establishments for entertainment and dining, including an open-air amphitheatre and the Shelter Brewing Company.

After breakfast, we headed off to our first assignment of the day.

Mick and I were looking forward to visiting the Lenton Brae winery – a first time for us, and again highly recommended by our son and Lucy.

The cellar door was beautiful, with lovely landscaped gardens for visitors to enjoy. That is another thing Mick and I like about visiting different wine regions – to observe the infrastructure that has been established in order to entice people like us to taste and to buy wines. I’ve borrowed a description of the the winery from its own website.

Situated just north of Margaret River, Lenton Brae is nestled into the hills of the premium Wilyabrup region. Here, loamy gravel soils provide excellent constitution and drainage. A stone’s throw (around 3.5kms) from the Indian Ocean, our vines benefit from a mild and consistent Mediterranean climate.

Lenton Brae website

Now to our research findings from our visit today:

We tasted some very nice wines here and ordered a mixed selection of their whites. I really liked their Marsanne which had a complex nose and taste, also their Sauvignon Blanc. Neither of us liked the Pinot Blanc – a varietal we may have tried in Alsace, but can’t recall.

Then it was time for some lunch and a trip to Bunbury Markets to purchase goodies for tonight and the next two evenings.

Tonight’s tasting challenge was with Sauvignon Blanc Fumé.

We tried the following 3 wines, which did include a ‘blind’ tasting to ensure we were being impartial:

Domaine Naturalist: 2021 Sauvage Sauvignon Blanc, 13%, @ $35

Lenton Brae: 2022 Karridale Sauvignon Blanc, 12% @ $40

Vasse Felix: Sauvignon Blanc 2020, 13% @ $33

And the winner was Lenton Brae, closely followed by Domaine Naturaliste. But I have to say, all three were fantastic, and paired very well with the Thai Chicken Curry that Mick prepared for us.

Tomorrow will be a busy day – our son has organised a guided wine tour for the four of us where we will visit a number of new wineries for us all. There are so many to choose from in this beautiful region.