Tour cont.

After Nautilus, we headed to Villa Maria. Now Villa Maria was quite the change from the other wineries we had sen so far, because it was much bigger. The facility there was a massive tank farm as you will see from the pictures. We were given a very nice tour around the facility and a barrel tasting. I noticed during the barrel tasting that they were still using some very old barrels, much older than most wineries keep. This is typically because after 2-3 years the barrels will no longer impart very much if any oak flavors/aromas. I asked about this, and the woman who gave us the tour told us they did this mainly for extra storage space, and to make the most of each barrel. After the barrel tasting we walked outside to the back of the winery and we were shown the Sauvignon Blanc tanks, and we all leaned our heads back and went 'woah,' because the tanks were so massive. When the tour was finished we tasted some more wine in the cellar door and went on our way, it was a very nice tour and I am very grateful to be given the opportunity. Here are some photos: