The Art of Fruit Wine: The Firescreek Winery Experience

Wine culture appreciation post ahead!

One of the things I enjoy in living here in Australia is their wine culture. I guess I’m a budding wine junkie, and I am just at the right place and at the right time in my life. One fine Sunday, TJ and I met up with some new found friends here in Central Coast. We’ve been meeting up for a couple of months for home made dinner and we try as much to prepare a local dish from our country as most of us are immigrants from Southeast Asia. But last week, we planned something different and that is to do one of the things Aussies are known for, and that is to chill. Our friends, including my husband definitely deserved that down time from working. Okay, fine, I’m including myself too.

Firescreek Winery is a haven for contemporary wine and rustic ambience, and convenient way to experience nature packed in a vast garden. It is a 15-20 minute drive from Gosford Station going to the northeast area. It has visible directions on the road side so you won’t miss it.

Upon entering, we are welcomed by the greenery of the place. Each side of the path are blooming flowers and plants, even a garden of roses at the right side in which for the first time in my life I was able to smell the real fragrance of roses. When my husband gets to be thoughtful enough to give me roses in a bouquet, rarely do I smell that characteristic scent. But in here, the roses are vividly healthy you could smell the Jo Malone Rose Cologne, and so being it the real thing is even better!

Going straight to the path, we were greeted by the owner, Nadia O’ Connell who shines a bright smile just like her place and lets us get around first before heading to the tin shed where the magic of wine tasting happens.

After briefly exploring the greenery, we headed to the tin shed with a beautiful rustic concept. Firescreek winery/vineyard is family owned so the coziness and the homey feeling just exudes around and it is so comforting.

We were introduced with six kinds of fruit wines. We learned from Nadia how laborious each wine was made and how much love and effort was put into the ingredients. We are already quite familiar with the virtue of patience when it comes to wine but because Firescreek winery is family owned and not widely commercialized, most of the labor are manual, even peeling the fruit itself. So patience in making such craft is doubled. She also told us about how she  gets the ingredients. Most of it she grows in their vineyard and garden, and sometimes there’s a collaboration from the neighborhood where they get to exchange goods.  The atmosphere and the story of how they make wine  is so hearty that there’s so much positive energy in the place.

There are seasons where they include in their wine menu flower ingredients which is also impressive. Hoping to go back and try it as well.

 Our pick of the day is Mrs. Peach. Probably because it has the most alcohol content rising to 14%! 😀 Kidding aside, it has a distinctive peach taste in which you’d only notice that you are drinking an alcoholic beverage when you’re already having the whirring sensation and tipsiness. Best to have this when no one needs to drive! 🙂 We bought another one, the Fig Date and Raisin Wine in which TJ and I agreed is good to partner with pungent or the deep salty kinds of cheese because it counteracts the extreme taste. All in all, the fruit wines are interesting and I can’t even pick which ones I don’t favor much since I kinda’ liked every one of them.

After the tasting, we went out and relaxed for a bit, taking all in the scenery before we head to another busy week. I savored all my eyes can see– the lily pond, the roses, the flowering pots. Not only that, the Firescreek winery story makes you believe that when you are passionate and you love what you do, it reflects on all the corners of your work place and it isn’t a work anymore, it’s a labor of love, it’s absolutely an art.