New Hunter winery restaurant aims to offer something different

The Hunter Valley is to get a new winery restaurant with a menu designed to accompany "natural" wines.

Harkham Wines will open a restaurant on their grounds to sit alongside their cellar door from Thursday.

The restaurant will have a relaxed atmosphere, a simple menu designed for sharing and live music from local talent. 

Harkham is a family-owned and -operated winery with a focus is on small-batch, single-vineyard varietal wines that are hand-harvested and left to ferment with minimal intervention.

The Harkham family were the first in the Hunter when, back in 2005, they started to produce "natural" and "orange" wines, which were made in clay amphorae.

Only 20,000 bottles are produced each year, with many going on to be sold at restaurants including Brae, Margaret and Bentley Restaurant & Bar.

“We are really proud of the Harkham brand and all that we have done in our almost 20 years," says owner and winemaker Richie Harkham

"Not long ago we identified a gap in the market for a casual offering where people can come to enjoy simple food paired beautifully with a glass of Hunter Valley semillon or shiraz rather than locking into a fine dining experience with a two-course minimum."

Harkham has worked with restaurateur and friend Marco Ambrosino and newly appointed Harkham head chef Shaun Nash (ex-Cutler and Co) on the menu. 

Well-travelled sous chef Robin Clough will support Nash.

The menu will be split into sections: starters and snacks, protein, pasta, pizza, sides and dessert .

Think dishes like fried olives with goat’s cheese; meatballs with parmesan and Napoli sauce; spaghetti aglio olio, veal cotoletta; and a fish of the day. Desserts will include tiramisu and a selection of cheeses.

A snack menu with a smaller selection of small and share plates will be on offer outside of main meal times.

Harkham’s new restaurant will be open from 12pm-5pm on Thursdays (lunch), 12pm-11pm on Fridays (lunch, snacks, dinner), 8am-11pm on Saturdays (breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner) and 8am-6pm Sundays (breakfast, lunch, snacks).

The cellar door is open 10am-5pm, Thursday through to Sunday and bookings can be made now via Harkham’s website.

A very special wine of which there were only 576 bottles made

It is fair to say that the Cullen Wines 2022 Fruit Day Vanya is not a wine for everyone.

It is an exquisite red wine, full of palate interest, and is an absolute joy to drink, even in its youth. We paired it with steak and kidney casserole with dumplings, a match made in heaven.

The issue for most wine lovers is the $900 a bottle RRP - and the fact that only 576 bottles were made.

With the wine newly released at the Cullen cellar door, restaurant and website and being officially released to distributors on Friday, it will be the quick and the dead.

This gem ticks all the boxes for meticulous biodynamic winemaking - and is named for winemaker and long-time biodynamics advocate Vanya Cullen.

From a very good Margaret River vintage, the estate cabernet sauvignon fruit was harvested in late March "on a fruit day, with, Venus, Mars and Saturn in conjunction".

It was hand-picked, hand sorted and de-stemmed and then crushed to a 300-litre beeswax amphora and fermented with 46 days on skins before being pressed into a new flower day puncheon.

The juice was then matured in the new oak vessel for seven months before bottling on a fruit day.

There are classic vibrant cabernet characteristics; blackcurrant, tobacco leaf, minerality, chocolate and black cherry; a wine that is light-footed with impressive balance.

With a deft combination of intricacy, authenticity and approachability, this glides across the tongue like a vinous luxury yacht. 98 points for me.

See www.cullenwines.com.au 

Tourists slow to return to England

Almost everyone I talk to who has visited the UK recently has a comment about how expensive it is for tourists.

Perhaps that is the reason for reduced visitation.

VisitEngland’s annual report for 2023 shows visitsn to attractions still remain below pre-pandemic levels.

The 2023 Annual Survey of Visits to Visitor Attractions (snappy name!) found visitor numbers are recovering but still significantly down on 2019, Travel Mole reports.

Overall, visits to attractions in England were up 11% in 2023 compared to 2022 although still 28% down on 2019.

VisitEngland director Andrew Stokes said: “It’s good to see continued growth in visits to our attractions but there remains ground to be covered.”

The survey collected data information from 1,513 English attractions.

It shows the return of overseas visitors and an increase in school trips in 2023 has fuelled the increase, but domestic visits fell slightly by 2%.

The number of attraction visits in London was still down by 22% on 2019.

The Tower of London remains the top "paid for" attraction in England, with 2.8 million visitors. Kew Gardens follows with two million visitors.

The British Museum is the top "free attraction" with 5.8 million visitors, with the Natural History Museum in second.

“These statistics give us a window into the challenges that many of England’s attractions are still facing, but it’s encouraging to see that numbers of visits are slowly climbing,” Historic England CEO Duncan Wilson said.

Image: VisitEngland 

Major international operator snaps up quirky Melbourne hotel

Quirky Melbourne property The Jazz Corner Hotel has been snapped up by Minor Hotels, one of the world’s fastest growing hotel groups.

The character-filled hotel will continue to operate under its current name.

It is known for its musical offerings, with both international and domestic live performances almost every night in its Bird’s Basement jazz venue.

Located in Melbourne’s legal district, opposite Flagstaff Gardens and walking distance from the Queen Victoria Markets, the hotel is close to many top restaurants and bars.

It is an easy stroll to some of Melbourne’s best shopping, including Melbourne Central, Emporium Melbourne and Bourke St Mall, and a short distance from the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and Marvel Stadium for sports fans.

Guests can choose from a range of themed suites with city skyline or park views which pay homage to jazz legends, including the Ella Fitzgerald Studio, the Charlie Parker and the Frank Sinatra King Business Suite.



All of which include kitchen and dining areas, in-room laundries, mini-bars, designer bathrooms, coffee machines and the latest TV and casting technology.

On-site amenities for the recently refurbed 74-room property include a café and the Mezzanine restaurant & bar for cocktails and casual dining, as well as a fully equipped gym.

“We are excited to add this distinctive property to our Melbourne portfolio,” said Craig Hooley, Chief Operating Officer for Minor Hotels Australia and New Zealand.

“Melbourne is a vibrant city with a dynamic music, nightlife and major events scene, and The Jazz Corner Hotel is ideally situated for travellers to access everything the city has to offer – then unwind whilst enjoying live jazz performances in the comfort of their hotel.”

Minor Hotels is an international hotel owner, operator and investor currently with more than 530 hotels in operation in 56 countries across Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Europe, South America and North America.

For more information, please visit www.minorhotels.com

 

New Air India technology to track baggage

Air India has rolled out a real-time baggage tracking tool on its website and app.

Launching ahead of many competitors, the app comes in response to many complaints about delayed and mishandled baggage, Travel Mole reports. 

The airline says it is a comprehensive tracking system that only a few other airlines globally can match.

It enables passengers to track the location throughout the journey.

It will provide status updates at various stages like check-in, security clearance, loading the aircraft, and when it arrives at the baggage claim area.

“The status coverage includes all important baggage touch points where baggage tracking technology is available,” the airline said in a media statement.

Expo aims to boost wine businesses in China

 

Want to know what is happening in the wine industry in China? 

Why not find out from the horse's mouth when international experts and enterprises involved in the wine industry are set to gather in north-west China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region, China's leading wine-producing area, for an expo next month.

The China (Ningxia) International Wine Culture and Tourism Expo will be held in Yinchuan from August 9-11. 

The expo will have the optimistic theme "Chinese wine, a marvel to the world --good wine originates from unique terroir". 

More than 60 wineries and exhibitors from countries including France, Australia, Italy, Spain and Chile will attend the three-day expo, which will feature a wine carnival, competitions and other events.

Huang Siming, director of the management committee of a wine industrial park at the eastern foot of Helan Mountain, told Xinhua that Ningxia has since 2012 been host for nine editions of the International Wine Expo. 

"The upgrade of the wine expo makes a bigger circle of friends for Ningxia, and helps the region expand its market, share the opportunities and achieve win-win deals with friends through co-operation," said Huang.

Local officials say Ningxia "boasts a unique terroir for making top-class wine, with its prolonged sunshine and a cool, dry climate aiding the cultivation of grapes".

Ningxia has emerged as China's largest wine-producing region. It boasts 40,133 hectares of grape plantations and 253 wineries. 

Image: Vineyard at the eastern foot of Helan Mountain in Ningxia