GRAPES AND OTHER DELICIOUSNESS

This is a post I should have done in April or May when one could still buy deliciously flavoursome grapes from the Swan Valley. I was reminded how lucky I am to have access to such a treat during the recent trip to Melbourne when I bought some "autumn" grapes. And they were horrible. Sure, they had some crunch, but no flavour. My tolerance for dull fruit is extremely limited so they went straight into the bin.

I describe myself as a fruit fascist. I need fruit to have taste and texture - the taste and texture I remember from growing up in Perth when Uncle Pete, who worked as a packer in the markets, would drop off fresh seasonal produce. He retired to a small orchard in the Porongorups where we could walk outside and pick a granny smith apple or an apricot or a plum off a tree. If fruit doesn't taste that good, I won't eat it. 

In Perth's autumn, we have managed to buy the best range of plums I've had for decades. Perth's climate suits many sorts of Japanese plums such as Mariposa, Santa Rosa and Black Amber, all with firm sweet flesh. Susan and I headed to the Swan Valley in March to buy some of the Autumn Royal, Autumn Crisp, Flame and Crimson grapes before the season finished. Many of the places growing grapes are still owned by Croatian families who came in waves after both the first and the second world wars and who were responsible for transforming the area from tradtional agriculture to vineyards. 


I remember as a child going to the Swan Valley to visit what would have been called in those days a "Yugoslav" wine maker whom Alan knew. He'd been a sergeant whom Dad had meet during the times when he audited police stations. Every year, we'd drive out to the Swan Valley and the parents would buy a flagon or two of this man's white wine. 

Susan and I did a wine tour to the valley when we were back visiting in 2023 and the environment has changed with more sophisticated vineyards and additional food outlets such as chocolate and nougat makers. However, my main memory of that trip isn't of the very good wine we tasted but rather the boat trip back to Perth, full of happy but amazingly noisy drunks. Not an experience to be repeated but next summer, we will certainly head back to the Swan Valley for more grapes in both fruit and wine forms.



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