We’ve just spent one week in Mossman, at Trudie and Tony’s farm. They produce wine from tropical fruits at the Shannonvale Winery. They are producing and picking most of the fruits they use in their wines.

“No, it’s not sweet and sticky”

It’s very interesting to know more about tropical fruit wines. Plus, it’s very good! We had the pleasure to taste some of them: passionfruit, mango, jaboticaba (a fruit from Brasil), ginger, and lime! These are the main wines they sell, but they also produce some fortified wines from lytchee, cocoa, black sapote, orange, ginger, and lime.

As they are advertising about their wines: “No, it’s not sweet and sticky”! As grape wine amateur and great conoisseur, they know how to fight against the wrong ideas people can have about tropical fruit wines. Even if tropical fruit wines do have a fruit taste, it is possible to get dry wines! For instance, the passionfruit wine can be compared to a riesling.

A lot to learn and discover!

Of course, as WWOOFers, we didn’t have the opportunity to learn everything about the production of tropical fruit wines. But still, it has been a great experience. We have learned more about what have to be done to produce that kind of wine. We have helped to bottle wine, to label bottles, to press some fruits, etc.
And we also had the chance to get some individual lessons during the diners shared with our hosts!

Mossman area

We were working during the morning. We had our afternoons (and two bikes!) to explore the area. We have been to Mossman Gorge in the Daintree National Park, a huge and beautiful piece of tropical forest. This area is also famous for its sugarcane plantations. From what we have heared, this is the kind of habitat where you can meet the famous Coastal Taïpan!! We even think we have met one (but he didn’t see us, cause he had no head anymore)… crushed on the road.

We are now spending a few days in Port Douglas, before going back to Cairns. From there, we will hire a campervan for one week. In the area, no bus nor train! If you want to explore the surrounding, it’s better to have your own wheels… This will be the opportunity for us to experiment the campervan life. Sounds fun!

As usual, here are a few pictures of our stay in Mossman!