Emma Bracegirdle phoned to say she would like to go on the ACE club run to the Briery winery but her AK250 van needed some attention and hubby Todd was away working on a mine site. She asked is it OK to come in a Toyota ute. I said don’t worry we will pick you up and you can come with us. We collected Emma from her home at Kalamunda and then went to get Hannny’s sister Dale at Balga. From there we drove in Hanny's Citroën Xantia wagon cross country to the Great Northern Highway and up through Muchea to Bindoon. Sure enough there were signs which led us directly to the winery. We arrived at 5 after eleven, just a little late. Mike and Wendy Mullany and Al Roberts were already there. We were greeted by our hosts and glasses were soon used to sample the very nice wines made here from their own vines. We settled on the verandah with lovely views across the valley. Soon after we were joined by Phil Johnston and his daughter Bronwyn, in the photo below Michael Mullany is explaining to Emma some fine points requiring two hands. Also entranced by this dexterous explanation are Wendy, Dale, Hanny, Ralph, Bronwyn and Al. Some idea of the sylvan setting of this green valley can be glimpsed in the background.

As well as supping on the local wines Emma had brought a bottle of champaigne and Hanny had lots of sweet strawberries. Together these made a luscious drink. Above Dale ponders the delights of an afternoon with good food, great wine and fine company.

The Raid Laponie reindeer also joined us at the table, here Phil is explaining to Mike the finer points of the problems of being the web editor for the Ace club. The reindeer has been travelling to most of the ACE club events lately and seems to like fine wines.

What could better to go with fine red wine than a hearty barbecue. Phil is tending to the cooking while Dale and Al explore the old house Mike and our hostess, keep a discerning watch on the cooking.

Dale and Al discover an old style washing line complete with a traditional bush pole clothes prop at the rear of the house. Ralph was offered a couple of plastic bags to fill with Seville oranges from the trees in the house orchard. This he does with a view to cooking some marmalade, after the two boxes of strawberries have been made into Jam. The strawberries were bought on Gnangarra road, Two really large boxes of jam strawberries, which filled the Xantia with an irresistible aroma of ripe fruit: far too ripe for the market but great for a Sunday afternoon treat and a nibble on the journey.

Our hosts, Ron Waterhouse and Christine Smart, joined us and told of the history of the vineyard. Ron demonstrated a rather menacing looking pair of battery powered secateurs that are used in pruning the vines. In the above photo are: Bronwyn, Emma, Al, Ron, Christine, Phil, Mike, Wendy and Dale with the “Pluriel” peak cap. This was a most enjoyable outing with three 2cvs and a Xantia in the car park. The 2cvs were Fifi, Cartoon and Twocan. The Xantia does not have a pet name, but is a sister to Beancan and RaidOz. The weather was perfect as can be seen by a glance at the photographs. All in all and as usual this was another excellent ACE club outing, thoroughly enjoyed by those who attended. Thanks to Mike Mullany for finding this peaceful and enjoyable viticultural experience.

Ralph Hibble.