A Coonawarra date for the diary

Coonawarra is a wine region well worth a trek; whether you drive from Adelaide or Melbourne or fly into Mount Gambier.

Pop the dates of April 7-8 into your diary for the next of Coonawarra's many food and wine festivals: Coonawarra After Dark, which celebrates the 2017 vintage.

The program of Friday night events includes a vintage stomp at DiGiorgio Family Wines with fresh produce platters; vintage celebrations and Mrs Zema's legendary pizzas and live music on the verandah at Zema Estate; and a winedUp party at Brands Laira with entertainment and fish and chips.

On Saturday, visitors can enjoy wines in the raw at Katnook Estate (a tasting of newly picked juice accompanied by a cheese platter) followed by Chris Raidis' charcoal grill (Greek-style food hopefully with some goat) at Raidis Estate.

Throw in a visit to Wynn's Coonawarra Estate and you have a perfect gourmet getaway.

A shuttle bus will circle between venues on the Friday night for a $10 fee.

For information on accommodation, attractions and restaurants ring Penola Coonawarra Visitor Centre on (08) 8737 255 or visit www.coonawarra.org. 

New gourmet experiences in a magical city

Vancouver is one of the most spectacular cities on the planet.

The West Coast Canadian city is not only brilliantly situated so you can surf in the morning and ski in the afternoon; it is also a clean, green destination with a buzzing gourmet scene.

Here are four new experiences recommended by the local tourism types; who have some of the easiest jobs on the planet. Much like Sydney, Vancouver sells itself.

Fairmont Hotel Vancouver

• Off the Eaten Track’s Sip, Savour, Shop on Main Street three-hour tour (starting February 2017) combines the best of this edgy neighbourhood’s food, apothecary shops and kitschy stores. The adventure starts at the Honey Shoppe for a local honey tasting, then continues on to a sampling of gluten-free Brazilian pastries; a knife-cutting lesson at a neighbourhood knife store featuring the largest collection of Japanese knives in Canada; samplings of cold-pressed juice, kombucha and ginger beer; a button-making lesson at a paper shop; and a taste of mind-blowing fish tacos with a sustainability message co-delivered by a local biologist and Iron Chef.
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• Harvest Community Foods, located in trendy Chinatown-Strathcona, started as a community project and has flourished into a hub for urban produce and small-batch vegan foods. At lunch, lines quickly build for the fresh noodle bowls packed with organic greens. Harvest also offers community-supported agriculture shares intended to cultivate a closer connection between people and their food.
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• Timber Restaurant’s Long Table Canadian Supper is the perfect way to celebrate Canada’s 150^th birthday. Intended for groups, the experience features a family-style dinner with cribbage boards, a Canadian themed “photo booth” and make-‘em-yourself s’mores (marshmallow and a layer of chocolate sandwiched between two pieces of crackers) at the Timber campfire. All guests depart with a small gift.
• Fairmont Hotel Vancouver’s new afternoon tea takes a page from the classic Brothers Grimm stories to transform Notch8 Restaurant into a fairytale wonderland. Guests can enjoy treats that include Red Riding Hood’s basket of savoury and sweet scones, as well as an enchanted forest tier of tea sandwiches.
• www.tourismvancouver.com

Cygnet gets a new pop-up Italian takeaway

The southern Tasmanian town of Cygnet has a reputation as a gourmet hotspot, but despite its several cafés and eateries it can still be hard to find quality cuisine early in the week.

That grated with talented local chef Darryl Gillespie, who is well-known for his high-quality Huon Valley Kitchen pies sold at many Hobart and regional markets.

So he decided to launch a pop-up Italian takeaway every Tuesday from 3.30pm on the main street of Cygnet, adjacent to R&D Butchers.

If all goes well and locals support the venture, another pop-up featuring Asian flavours is a possibility.

The Italian menu will include dishes like hand-made ricotta gnocchi; spaghetti with prawns, chilli and garlic, penne Napolitano with pork sausage, and chicken scallopini. 

A great idea - and one that deserves to succeed. Line-up behind me on Tuesday. 

For details: 0419 012 233. www.huonvalleykitchen.com.au. 

  

Up the Creek: an excellent wine tourism destination

Langhorne Creek, less than an hour from Adelaide, is often overlooked as a wine travel destination behind the Barossa. McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills - a big mistake.

Producers like Bremerton, Bleasdale and Lake Breeze are producing some of Australia's best-value wines and there is a wonderfully laid-back country vibe.

This weekend (I'm a bit late with this post), Langhorne Creek is celebrating its alternative grape varieties but if you don't make it this time, there are plenty of other opportunities.

Cheese and wine masterclasses, live music, a giant Jenga game, gourmet sliders and special menus specifically paired to alternative wines are all part of this weekend's Love Langhorne Creek festivities.

There is even a shuttle bus to move people around. Transport and a free glass of wine - all for $30. 

There are six venues involved in the Love Langhorne Creek weekend.

Angas Plains are featuring their first-ever tempranillo, while Bleasdale have been inspired by Argentinean and Portuguese influences as their malbec and verdelho take centre stage.

Bremerton's alternative varieties include malbec, lagrein, mourvedre, vermentino and fiano, while Lake Breeze offers moscato and vermentino.

The Winehouse is the place to try a range of different alternative wines including the popular dolcetto & lagrein, montepulciano (both sparkling and still), and malbec, while Rusticana are pairing two of their most loved indulgences; wine and chocolate. 

There will also be live entertainment at The Bridge Hotel on Sunday.

For details see: www.langhornecreek.com/events/regional-events/love-langhorne-creek-2/

New hotel brand plans to focus on Sydney city fringes

Sydney is set to welcome a new boutique hotel brand with big plans. 

Veriu Hotels and Suites will unveil a 64-room serviced apartment hotel, Veriu Broadway, in April this year, with four more properties due to open under the same brand by the end of 2018.

Veriu Broadway is an $18 million conversion of a former warehouse space offering self-contained studios, each over 40 square metres, and one- and two-bedroom split-level apartments. 

Located close to the International Convention Centre, the hotel will provide 24-hour reception with staff trained as local area guides plus on-site food and beverage in keeping with the precinct’s contemporary café and bar offerings.  

Veriu Hotels is the brainchild of property and hospitality specialists Alex Thorpe and Rhys Williams. 

Having successfully developed a long-stay accommodation business, Furnished Property, in 2002, Thorpe and Williams have now moved into the hotel space to create a portfolio of hotels with a diverse mix of heritage and new developments, all located in Sydney city fringe locations.

"We have been providing long-stay-style self-contained accommodation for 16 years under Furnished Property, where we developed a passion for sharing 'local'," says Williams.

"We created Veriu because we saw no reason why a hotel brand can't provide that authentic local experience backed up by traditional hotel services, excellent customer service and attention to detail in rooms.”

Veriu Broadway will be the marquee hotel for the brand following its first foray into the market with the successful opening of Veriu Camperdown – a new-build all-suite hotel which opened in March, 2016.

"Camperdown was our first test and it was amazing to bring the brand to life in such a vibrant area. You only need to look at places like Deus Cafe and Camperdown Commons to see what local business can deliver and we want accommodation to be a part of this,” says Williams.

The current network is complemented by a pipeline of hotel developments to take place under the Veriu brand by the end of 2018, including: Veriu Randwick (35 rooms) opening April 2017, Veriu Central (110 rooms) opening early 2018 and Veriu Green Square (142 rooms) opening late 2018.

Veriu will specialise in operating sites with 20-120 rooms in CBD and city fringe areas with capacity to go larger if the location is right.

In celebration of individuality, Veriu says its hotels will all have its own with its own distinct personality and style.

"We have seen Sydney emerge as a city of villages and we want to share the uniqueness of Sydney's diversity through the Veriu brand in areas like Camperdown, Broadway, Green Square and Surry Hills," says Thorpe. "These villages really excite us for the leisure market but equally corporates want these bespoke experiences."

With an authentic local experiences paramount to the Veriu ethos, guests will also receive complimentary drinks and snacks from local area operators and local artists are also engaged to incorporate designs based on the genuine character of the building and neighbourhood.

"Beyond this, we want our guests to move freely through our properties so we have developed a unique concept called "Veriu Connect"," says Williams.  "This allows any Veriu guest to drop into one of our other locations, flash a room card and have a complimentary locally sourced drink and ask the concierge about the best places to explore."

Guests will be able to discover their surroundings with use of the hotel’s complimentary ‘explorer bicycles’ – a service that will be offered in all future Veriu hotels.  Other complimentary offerings common to all Veriu properties include a welcome drink, wifi and in-room tunes via Smart TV technology.

The return of the Sturmtrooper; a cider with personality

If you order a cider called the Sturmtrooper you are unlikely to expect a pale, delicate flower of a beverage. 

This macho-sounding seasonal release from Willie Smith's Organic Cider in the Huon Valley of Tasmania is a special blend based on the Sturmer Pippin apple - hence its name. 

It's available only on tap - and only in major cities right now. 

Wild-fermented Sturmer Pippin juice along with 15 cider apple varieties and two table varieties has what the good folk at Willie Smith's describe as "more body than Jabba the hut", with racy acidity. I'll be popping by the Willie Smith’s Apple Shed this week for a taste.

“We are on a journey to excite people's palates and enable them to explore the range of flavours traditional cider apples offer as against the relatively homogenous styles offered by mainstream ciders,” says Sam Reid, co-Founder of Willie Smith’s. 

“At the same time we want to start bringing some level of consistency to our limited releases, and so those that have really excited drinkers we are endeavouring to repeat annually, as our apple crop allows.” 

Sturmer apples are a heritage variety of apples that have high acidity and pronounced tannins.  

Head cider maker Dr Tim Jones said: "The excitement with last year's release was met with really blew us away and so this year we have tried to ensure the second release matches the lively crisp summer drinking style of the first."

STURMTrooper - Venues

Brisbane:
Scratch Bar; Brewski; Bloodhound Bar; The Burrow and The Mill on Constance

Sydney:
The Royal Albert; Noble Hops; The Welcome; The Local Taphouse; Bitter Phew and Wayward Brewing

Victoria:
Boilermaker House; Brunswick Street Cider House; Two Birds Brewery – The Nest; Carwyn Cellars; Foresters Hall; Wandiligong Hotel; The Alehouse Project and Hop Nation Brewery 

Tasmania:
The Whaler; The Winston; St John Craft Beer; Jack Greene; The New Sydney; West End Pumphouse and Willie Smith’s Apple Shed