Today we went to the Swan Valley for Spring in the Valley, with my brother and parents. It was our first Spring in the Valley, and we haven’t been to the Swan Valley very often.

We only got there at around 3pm, which was a shame, as most of the fun ended at 4 or 5pm at most places (which I found quite strange, especially since it doesn’t get dark until after 6…).

Our first stop was the Swan Valley Visitor Centre in the Guildford Courthouse. Looked around there a bit (there’s a small museum) and grabbed ourselves some brochures. Next door there was a pottery, with a pottery demonstration, and a small market (mostly jewellery).
I’d noted down the Duckstein Brewery as a place to visit, but it was soooo busy with cars, busses and young people, I don’t think we would have stopped there even if my parents weren’t with us! Everyone seemed to be having a good time though, there was music and dancing. Also, I noticed a lot of people in fancy dress (like cowboys and indians), anyone know why, is it a tradition?

So we drove on to Edgecombe Brothers (we passed Mash Brewery which was also very busy!), where we enjoyed three tastings of wine, with a wine glass we could keep, for $6, and a $15 wood-fired pizza from Pizza Perfecto. They also had a sausage sizzle, other things to taste, didgeridoo music and horse wagon rides.

Next stop was the Baskerville Hall, but the fair was already shutting down at 4pm. So our last stop was Upper Reach Winery. The live music had stopped at 4pm, but it was still open till 5. They’d stopped selling Lamb burgers by that stage though… :( It was busy, but not too crowded (they only allow 5 busses at a time, and did have that many there), and there was a good atmosphere. We bought a souvenir glass for $2, and then payed $3/4 for a half glass of wine. Very nice location, on Memorial Avenue in Baskerville, near the Great Northern Highway.

We had a nice time, but a couple of hours were long enough for my family, who are not really into wine tasting and busy events! If I were to go again I’d definitely go earlier, and pick one spot I knew was nice and would have some live music, and make a day of it with friends. I did not expect it to be as busy as it was with busloads of people.
For wine tasting without the party astmosphere and crowds (at most locations) I recommend going at another time, when it won’t cost you money to taste before buying a bottle!

If you don’t have much experience of the Swan Valley and wine tasting (like us), this might be a nice way to visit some of the places you normally wouldn’t stop at. I now have a better idea of the Swan Valley, and a few places I’d go back to in quieter times!

Now, I’m only one person, who only visited two locations properly, and was only there for a couple of hours, so if you went, let me know your experiences in the comments below!

Top photo taken at Edgecombe Brothers, middle one at Upper Reach: the busses and people between the vines. Click on them to go to a larger version.