Team Margaret River: Day 1 - Wine & Spirits Magazine

Sommelier Scavenger Hunt

Team Margaret River: Day 1

adapted from W&S Team • August 5, 2015

Having just arrived off the plane from San Francisco to Sydney to Perth and driven south in search of chardonnay in Margaret River, Lulu McAllister, Gretchen Buck and Chelsea Coleman report in from the first day of the 2015 Sommelier Scavenger Hunt. —Ed.

Aerial view of Australia

What a 36 hours it has been for us!

From left to right: Gretchen, Chelsea, and Lulu at Cullen Wines

Right now we are enjoying a quiet moment fireside (remember: winter) here at Cullen’s farmstead ranch. We just reheated a dinner provided for us by the chef at Cullen (we think the fish might have been tai red snapper). Earlier today we ate barramundi for lunch at Swing’s in downtown Margaret River. They also had a wood-fired pizza and some “Chardy” on tap. Despite having a pretty uncompelling name, the restaurant was a lovely respite for us weary travelers.

And we ran into winemaker Will from Cloudburst! He gave us a map out of his car with directions to various wineries (including his own) and places to purchase some rugged, locally made farm boots that Lulu has it out for. He also pointed us to the most amazing little beach not far from Cullen, where we watched the sun set and dipped our tootsies into the Indian Ocean for the first time. We also took plenty of glamour photos!

Chelsea Coleman (left), Lulu McAllister (right)

Chelsea Coleman
We weren’t able to arrange a one-off appointment with Si Vintners this afternoon, but have scheduled a tasting at their place tomorrow during our free time. We are very much looking forward to the Grand Tasting tomorrow. An arrival tasting of the “Kevin John” Chardonnay at Cullen this afternoon provided an excellent introduction to world of Chardonnay we will dive into in the morning.

—Lulu, Gretchen, and Chelsea

This story appears in the print issue of jan 2019.
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David joined Wine & Spirits in 2021 after immersing himself in the world of wine at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally from Boston, he graduated from Boston University with a degree in English and completed a master’s degree in Publishing and Writing from Emerson College in 2021. Prior to working at the magazine, he served as an editor and staff writer for the music blog Sound of Boston and worked in scientific publishing. Aside from wine, he loves basketball, arguing about Taylor Swift’s best album, and everything Greta Gerwig touches.

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