Living in a tiny town like Rylstone it is very much the case that there is only a finite amount of places to go out to eat. For great Mexican there is always Pepino’s and for a decent burger there is The Globe. However there are not many other venues, let alone secluded little café’s the romance the object of your affections.
This Valentines Day I did something that I don’t usually do. Being a relatively blokey Hobby Farmer I tend to stick to only 3 drinks in my life: coffee, water and beer. Wine does not come up on my radar except for something I sometimes I have to drink a glass of at weddings. There is red that gives me a headache, and white that I find bearable. There is the extend of my grand knowledge of crushed grapes. So I don’t generally do Wineries.
So this Valentines’ Day I stepped out of my comfort zone and took my wife to one of the few other places to eat around here – Naked Lady Vineyard.
First off, – misleading name for the place. Upon arrival, unlike Confest, there were no naked ladies. Not a one! No nubile wenches bereft of clothing lying around on a chaise’lounge or splashing about in fountains. It was in fact a lovely little winery a few minutes outside of Rylstone with a big barnlike structure in the center. So whilst there were no naked women, at least it meant I could look about in a relaxed fashion without my wife saying ‘Are you staring at that woman’s breasts?!’
Wine tasting was $5. For that you get to taste 5 or so different wines on the menu, and if you buy a bottle that $5 is taken off the price. My wife quite enjoyed doing this and I did try a glass myself, even if only I could go for the cheap laugh of sniffing it, swilling it around in my mouth and then looking for a bucket to spit it into.
My wife ended up purchasing two wines. I tried the white which was very nice. The red (according to her) was nice too. And… um… it was wine? Phew! Pushed my wine knowledge to the hilt with that one!
What goes well with wine? Cheese apparently. What goes well with cheese? MEAT! Though to be fair meat goes well with everything (I always thought Vegans might be happier if they wrapped their soy burgers in a bit of bacon). And much like Bootleggers, you could order a platter for two that had multiple cheeses and at least four kind of meat.
Classed as an Antipasto Platter (I’ve always been pro-pasto but that’s just me) this platter came with spicy chorizo, huge slices of cured ham, prosciutto and salami slices. It came with a variety of cheeses with varying bite, as well as pickles, chutneys, olives, strawberries, crackers and freshly baked bread goods.
Despite having swapped to beer at this point (they had 3 standard varieties) all of this did go very well hand in hand with the wines on offer. Indeed my wife and I quite happily grazed on the platter for nearly an hour as we chatted, drank, enjoyed the peaceful surrounds and the rare treat of each other’s company without our kids in tow.
So if you are a meat enthusiast, cheese enthusiast, wine enthusiast or even just want to have somewhere different to go to your usual pub or restaurant, I highly recommend Naked Lady Vineyard. And who knows, buy your partner enough bottles of vino and you might get to see a naked lady after all 😉
Related Articles:
Meat Review: Bootleggers Platter for Two
Meat Review: Pepino’s Mexican Restaurant
Meat Review: Southern Style Chicken Burger
