One winemaker has the had the ultimate Australian experience after he stumbled across a curious visitor.
A huge koala got to ‘sample’ some of Adelaide’s local wines and he even sniffed the wine like a true connoisseur.
After working at The Lane Vineyard for two years, Nicholas Dugmore told Daily Mail Australia he always hoped he would see a koala and made the most of the opportunity when he finally did.
One winemaker has the had the ultimate Australian experience after he stumbled across a curious visitor
A huge koala got to ‘sample’ some of Adelaide’s local wines (pictured) earlier this week
The assistant winemaker said he thought it would be funny to offer the koala, who was sitting beside a wine barrel, a glass of their 2017 ‘Beginning’ chardonnay.
‘I didn’t think he’d put his nose in the glass and have a sniff,’ Mr Dugmore told Daily Mail Australia.
‘It was perfect timing, I guess it’s a pretty random smell for him so he was pretty intrigued.’
The Adelaide Hills winemaker managed to catch the moment on camera, which has received more than 9,500 views.
‘We were trying not to laugh, the camera man did a good job to keep the camera still,’ Mr Dugmore said.
Mr Dugmore can be seen extracting the chardonnay from a barrel before putting it into the wine glass.
After working at The Lane Vineyard for two years, Nicholas Dugmore (pictured) told Daily Mail Australia he always hoped he would see a koala and made the most of it when he did
Mr Dugmore nicknamed the curious koala ‘Drinky Bill’ – a spin off the famous Blinky Bill
He then holds the glass out towards the koala, who they nicknamed ‘Drinky Bill’ – a spin off Blinky Bill, who is sitting just metres away.
‘Drinky Bill’ sticks his nose into the glass as Mr Dugmore swirls the wine before the koala pulls away.
While Mr Dugmore first got a fright when he saw the koala sitting above the stairway, the koala didn’t seem phased.
‘Drinky Bill’ stuck his nose into glass as Mr Dugmore swirls the wine before the koala pulls away
Mr Dugmore said their curious visitor stayed for about six hours, however they think the cheeky ‘koalaisseur’ might be back
‘We had to get some work done and turned on the winery equipment on all around him, which is quite loud,’ he said.
‘He wasn’t phased at all … he hung out all day.’
The winery even treated ‘Drinky Bill’ to some duct taped Eucalyptus leaves to a pole.
Mr Dugmore said their curious visitor stayed for about six hours, however they think the cheeky ‘koalaisseur’ might be back.
‘I reckon he might be hooked now,’ he said.