I was back in Denmark over Easter and enjoyed a few visits to wineries; Forrest Hill, Harewood Estate, Singlefile (again) with a cheese stop at Ducketts Mill.

Forrest Hill couldn’t have been better. We arrived as a group of 8 first thing at 10am sharp and the manager, Dee Collen was so attentive – pouring each tasting glass of wine and answering all of our questions about the vineyards, winemaking style etc. And me being a bit of a wine geek, it really was me asking all the questions!

We tasted through 12 wines:
2012 Highbury Fields Sauvignon Semillon Blanc
2012 Estate Riesling
2011 Block 1 Riesling
2012 Highbury Fields Chardonnay
2011 Estate Chardonnay
2010 Block 8 Chardonnay
2010 Highbury Fields Cabernet Merlot
2011 Highbury Fields Shiraz
2010 Esate Shiraz
2010 Esate Cabernet Sauvignon
2008 Block 9 Shiraz
2008 Block 5 Cabernet Sauvignon

The Highbury Fields brand is the entry level with fresh and fruit driven wines. Next up are the Estate wines which offer a bit more complexity followed by the Block. The wines from the Block vineyars are just 4 vineyards which were planted in 1965 and they are only made in the best years.

Next on the list was Harewood Estate just off  the Scotsdale road. You drive up a slight incline where you’ll come to a small cottage that houses the tasting room. A long bench lines one side of the room with a fire place in the far corner. It’s a beautiful setting and the wines on offer were interesting and good value for money.

Here we tasted:
2012 Porongurup Riesling
2012 Reserve Riesling
2012 Mt Barker Riesling
2012 Frankland River Riesling
2012 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon
2012 Reserve Semillon Sauvignon Blanc
2011 Reserve Chardonny
2012 Chardonnay
2012 Vendange Tardive Riesling
NV Botrytis
2011 Pinot Noir
2010 Reserve Pinot Noir
2011 Cabernet Merlot
2011 Shiraz
2011 Shiraz Cabernet
2009 Reserve Shiraz
2010 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Such a wide variety of wines and having tasted the Rieslings picked from 3 different areas in WA, we all became a little peckish so decided to pop into Ducketts Mill just a few doors down along the Scotsdale Road.

Ducketts Mill and Denmark Farmhouse Cheese are both owned by Ross and Dallas Lewis with James Kellie making the wines here. This is the only cheese factory in the Great Southern region and well worth a visit for their platters. Plenty of outdoor seating is available but if you want to try the wines, you’ll need to pop inside. The platters were delicious and helped keep us going as we popped over the Singlefile for my second tasting in one month.

After waiting for the famous geese to cross the road (Singlefile was named after the then 21 geese that walked in single file at the proerty) we parked up and went into the tasting room. Singlefile was heaving with customers on Easter Saturday but they were as attentive as ever to the tasting guests (as well as those eating in the restaurant). I just tasted the Singlefile range this time as opposed to the entry level wine and bought the Singlefile Fumé Blanc 2011 again and the Singlefile Family Reserve Chardonnay 2011, the latter having won gold at the 2013 Sydney Royal Wine Show. It’s full bodied with rich flavours; stone fruit and melon complimented by hints of toast and baked bread with a long lingering finish and well worth every dollar of its $45 price tag. Now, for me, a visit to Denmark would be incomplete without a tasting at Singlefile.