Discover two weeks of Chablis celebrations

Wines from Chablis are perhaps the purest expression of the chardonnay grape; showcasing bright acid and minerality.

While Australia makes a wide range of chardonnay styles, Chablis is revered by aficionados and has a loyal following even as the prices of imported wines have risen. 

This spring, Chablis wines and Merivale are combining for a collaboration that will run from September 29 to October 13. 

A total of 16 Merivale venues will host a Chablis fortnight, spotlighting the classic pairing of Chablis and oysters. 

Guests will be able to choose between six or 12 oysters, paired with bottles of Chablis wines chosen to  showcase the vibrant minerality, purity, and precision that Chablis is known for.

The wines of Chablis are shaped by the unique Kimmeridgian subsoils and cool climate of northern Bourgogne - just along the road from Champagne. 

Merivale venues will feature Petit Chablis’ lively, zesty freshness (perfect for casual enjoyment) to the elegance of Chablis, known for its finesse and minerality, and the depth and complexity of Chablis Premier Cru. 

Australia is the 10th-largest global market for Chablis, with over half a million bottles enjoyed across the country.

Producers to feature include Famille Grossot, William Fevre, Domaine Antoine et Laura Robin, Julien Brocard, Domaine du Colombier (a personal favourite when I lived in France), and Prieure Sainr-Come. 

The venues include Bert's Bar and Brasserie, Newport; Mimi’s, Coogee; Felix, Ucello, Sushi e, Ash Street Cellar and Mumu in Sydney CBD; and The Surf Deck, Collaroy. 

See https://merivale.com/

A one-day chance to peek and taste behind the scenes in Tasmania

The team behind Tasmania's boutique annual ECHO festivities is offering a one-day mini festival as part of the island state's Off Season celebrations. 

The Echo Odyssey coach will showcase some of the quirkier aspects of the East Coast on Friday, June 15, for a full day of fun and revelry. 

The East Coast Tasmanian Adventure - curated by local country music star Ange Boxall - will offer a behind-the-scenes peek (and taste) of the best of the region.

The package includes transport and a storytelling guide; local oysters and wine on the beach; sheep shearing in old shearing shed; an exclusive wine tasting at Gala Estate (above); lunch at historic Riversdale Mill; a tasting and cocktail with The Splendid Gin; learning about Tasmanian sea salt, and a goodie bag to take home valued at $60. 

Guests can depart from Hobart or Hobart Airport via coach transfer, or from Swansea township. Alternatively, stay at Piermont Retreat overlooking Great Oyster Bay where a 10% discount is offered to Echo Odyssey guests for direct bookings between June 12-15 June using code ECHO10.

See https://events.humanitix.com/winter-s-off-season-echo-odyssey-a-behind-the-scenes-east-coast-tour

Discover a Devil of a new Tasmanian gourmet experience

Innovative Tasmanian east coast winery Devil’s Corner - known for its stunning views and food and wine experiences - has launched a new signature experience: Moulting Lagoon Adventure.

The luxe journey offers guests an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at The Hazards vineyard and nearby scenic Moulting Lagoon, showcasing the region’s landscapes, premium produce and award-winning wines.

The Moulting Lagoon Adventure is described as "a curated luxurious exploration of the Devil’s Corner site" and includes a vineyard tour; learning the art of oyster shucking straight from the back of a ute overlooking Moulting Lagoon; indulging in a gourmet lunch in the exclusive underground cellar (The Devil’s Den); and concluding with a hosted premium wine tasting.

I'd schedule the wine tasting before lunch, but that would just be my preference. 

“We are incredibly excited to offer this bespoke and premium experience to our visitors,” says Devil’s Corner senior winemaker Tom Wallace.

“The Moulting Lagoon Adventure truly encapsulates the essence of Devil’s Corner, combining our passion for winemaking with the unparalleled beauty of our surroundings. It's a chance to connect with the land, the people and the flavours that make this region so special."

Devil’s Corner cellar door is at Apslawn on the east coast of Tasmania. The experience runs from noon-3pm and costs $195 per person. Bookings via the cellar door team on 0448 521 412 or at devilscorner.com.au.

How and where to pair two Tasmanian treats

 

There are few treats more quintessentially Tasmanian than oysters and sparkling wine.

Hobart's Belvedere Restaurant will be shucking, serving and chatting oysters on Saturday, July 27, in partnership with Tasmanian Oyster Company, who have 40 years of expertience producing premium Pacific oysters.

The event is called “The Oyster Affair”, and oyster lovers can join farmers from the Tasmanian Oyster Company for an afternoon of tastings (including the rare Angasi Oyster) while enjoying matching sparkling wines from local stars Josef Chromy and Freycinet Vineyard as well as interloper Skillogalee Estate from the Clare Valley.

Guests are promised they will "learn how to shuck like an expert" as well as sampling varieties including Smithton Tarkine from the nutrient-rich waters of Tasmania's wild north-west as well as rare indigenous Angasi Oyster – Australia’s last remaining native Angasi oyster reef is located in Tasmania.

The three sparkling wines will be matched to the half dozen oysters that will be served naturally, fresh topped or baked.

Oyster lovers are invited to stick around after the demonstration and tasting for Belvedere’s popular Oyster Happy Hour, where oysters are available to purchase for just $2 between 4-6pm, along with $8 house beers, wines and spirits and $14 cocktails.

The oyster tasting, shucking class and wines cost $79 per person.

The Belvedere is on the ground level of Vibe Hobart at 36 Argyle St.

Bookings are available here  

How Sydneysiders can head south for some seafood fun

Fancy a weekend trip from Sydney?

Seafood lovers, in particular, might be tempted by the EAT Festival, which returns to the Sapphire Coast on March 7-10.

EAT Festival is a celebration of the Sapphire Coast’s local produce, producers and chefs, and offers the chance for visitors to enjoy local flavours, chefs’ creations and dining experiences, with the region’s pristine surrounds a bonus.

The event is held over four days with a series of paddock-to-plate and tide-to-table (that's clever) experiences that celebrate the food, the heritage and the wildness of the Sapphire Coast.

For more information on what will be happening see www.eatfestival.com.au

Eat Festival started in 2013 and has attracted growers, brewers, farmers and chefs.



Gourmet events will be held at various locations from Cobargo in the north to Eden in the south.

The main event, Eat Merimbula, runs from 10am-2pm on the Sunday. 

This year, old favourites will rub shoulders with new creatives. 

The Longstocking Brewery from Pambula will be pumping out brews and the famous Sapphire Coast Wilderness Oysters tent will serve up its shuckings. 

This is a non-ticketed event - just rock up with an appetite.

Images: David Rodgers Photography

On the trail of some of Australia's finest oysters

 

The Sapphire Coast is home to some of the best oysters you can find on the New South Wales coast - and is the home of the new Sapphire Coast Oyster Trail. 

“The Sapphire Coast Oyster Trail is the first of its kind in Australia, promoting the region’s oyster experiences to the visitor market under the Oyster Trail brand,” said Anthony Osborne, Sapphire Coast Destination Marketing managing director.

“The Trail is a collection of amazing oyster experiences on offer in the region, including farm gates, tours, tasting experiences and restaurants. It celebrates the quality of the region’s world-renowned oysters, which undoubtedly come from some of the cleanest waters in Australia.” 

The Oyster Trail was officially launched at a special event held at the Merimbula Visitor Information Centre earlier this week. 

Visitors to the Sapphire Coast can create their own bespoke Oyster Trail itinerary from the recently designed Sapphire Coast website, which showcases tourism-ready oyster experiences on offer in the Bega Valley Shire.

The Sapphire Coast is home to five key oyster-producing estuaries, all of which imbue a special flavour to the oysters known as ‘merroir’ (I'd never heard that word before). 

“Not all visitors have to be a fan of eating oysters, but we know oysters are such great evidence of our untouched, pristine coastal landscape that everyone can enjoy,” Osborne continued.

Sapphire Coast Wilderness Oysters chair Greg Carton said the oyster industry and local tourism organisations have worked closely together over the past two years to lift the profile of the Sapphire Coast oyster brand.

“Our Sydney rock oysters are fed by the cleanest environment in New South Wales, and they have an exceptional reputation in the culinary world," he said. "Our oysters are served at the best restaurants in the nation’s capital cities, and there is a big opportunity to tap into the growing tourism appetite for culinary experiences.” 

For more information on the Sapphire Coast Oyster Trail visit www.sapphirecoast.com.au/oystertrail

On the trail of mighty fine molluscs

There are plenty of gourmet trails across Australia; dozens of wine trails, too, but the folks from Destination New South Wales want to lift awareness of their state's oysters trails.

August is apparently the prime time to sample the much-loved mollusc, with Sydney rock and Pacific oysters both at their peak at this time.

Sydney rock oysters are native to Australia and have been cultivated since the late 1800s. They can now be found across the state's coastline.

Pacific oysters, in contrast, are a relative newcomer to Australia's waters, introduced from Japan in the 1940s. They are now the country's most common farmed variety and can be found at Port Stephens, north of Sydney, and Shoalhaven, south of Sydney.

Also native to Australia is the rare Angasi oyster.

The trail: North of Sydney

Around 400km north of Sydney on the state's mid-North Coast, Port Macquarie sits at the mouth of the Hastings River. Start your oyster adventure just to the south in the laid-back town of Laurieton. Savour freshly-shucked oysters overlooking the Camden Haven waters, or from the farm gate at Rockin' Oysters. If you're visiting Port Macquarie in December, be sure to attend Oysters in the Vines at Cassegrain Wines, the event uniting local drops with mountains of oysters.

Just 80 kilometres south of Port Macquarie lies Taree, where Stones Oysters & Seafood is a good place to stock up on fresh oysters, plus prawns, lobsters, crabs and fresh-caught fish. It's another 40km on to Forster, where you can discover these molluscs at Graham Barclay Oysters, the state's largest supplier of Sydney rocks. This is part of the Great Lakes area (which includes Myall Lakes National Park).

Further along the coast, the Soldiers Point peninsula juts from the southern shore of Port Stephens. It's here you'll find family-owned Holberts Oyster Farm, where you can enjoy a dozen or so at a waterside table with a bottle of wine.

The Hawkesbury River is 200km south; the oyster industry here dates back to the 1870s. In the town of Mooney Mooney, the Hawkesbury River Oyster Shed shucks while you wait. Nearby, the Central Coast waterside hamlet of Ettalong Beach hosts the Brisbane Water Oyster Festival every November.

Sydney

There are dozens of places to sample oysters in Sydney, but you can't go past the perennially bustling Sydney Fish Market (above) for a selection of the state's finest (alongside everything else from the sea). Pick up a dozen and head for a bench to enjoy them overlooking the water.

South of Sydney

Shuckers don't get any faster than the owner of Jim Wild's Oysters, occupying a shack at Greenwell Point near Nowra (160km south of Sydney). The estuary of the Crookhaven and Shoalhaven rivers is the breeding ground for Jim's distinctive Greenwell Point rock and Pacific oysters.

Travel south 115km to discover the Oyster Shed and Pearly Oyster Bar on the banks of the Clyde River at Batemans Bay. Order shucked Sydney rocks as well as native Angasi oysters while soaking up the views.

From here south to Tathra (160km) is oyster heaven, the coastline characterised by oyster sheds, wharves, markets and restaurants where you can sample freshly shucked produce. At Tathra Oysters try Sydney rocks grown in the waters of Nelson's Lake in Mimosa Rocks National Park, also known for its sea caves and rock stacks.

It's a 30km drive on to Wheelers seafood restaurant in Pambula, where you can take a guided tour of the oyster factory. If you've ever wanted to learn how to shuck your own oysters (then enjoy with a squeeze of lemon), this is the place.

This part of the NSW Sapphire Coast is home to a number of other oyster farms, including Broadwater Oysters, Hazelgrove Oysters and JJ Oysters, all selling produce from Pambula Lake.

For further details visit www.visitnsw.com