Wine is the major weapon of choice here, and where possible you’ll see appropriate food and recipe matches. You’ll also see a scattering of cleansing ales, brews, cocktails and spirits. Please enjoy any alcoholic beverage responsibly. ‘Salute’
Bilgavia Estate, located in the Broke Fordwich region of the Hunter Valley, has recently launched a new range of wines, comprising the 2012 Bilgavia Estate Chardonnay ($30) and 2012 Bilgavia Estate Verdelho ($26)
Historically the grapes grown on the ten-year-old Bilgavia Estate vineyard were sold to local winemakers, with a small parcel made into wine. With a recent change in ownership, the brand has undergone a reinvigoration, with more care in the vineyard, new packaging and a greater focus on ...
Since taking over the winemaking duties at his family winery, Jacob Stein has raised the bar in terms of quality for both the winery and the Mudgee region. Two new wines, the 2009 Robert Stein Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz ($60) and 2012 Robert Stein Riesling ($40) were two of the wines that contributed to Jacob winning the Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine ‘Young Winemaker of the Year’. This award topped a successful return to Mudgee for Jacob who also won the ...
The winemakers of Mudgee are experiencing a resurgence with the region’s wines seeing growth in sales driven by a core group of proactive winemakers who are taking their wines and stories to the market. This growing interest in Mudgee stems from the natural progression and improvement in quality of the wines from the region. Whilst Mudgee is one of Australia’s oldest winegrowing regions, it has made great leaps in the past ten years. Greater appreciation of the terroir and a ...
Oakvale Wines is one of the Hunter Valley’s oldest wineries, established by the Elliott family in 1893. For over 100 years this NSW winemaker has made wine from some of the Hunter Valley’s most famous vineyards. Continuing this tradition, the new owners of Oakvale, the Becker family have released their 2011 Oakvale Single Vineyard Shiraz ($45) and 2011 Oakvale Limited Release Reserve Chardonnay ($40)
The Elliott family established Oakvale in 1893, with second generation winemaker, Bob Elliott, extending the business in ...
New England's leading wine grower, Topper's Mountain, has recently released two new vintage wines. Whilst the word unique is overused in the industry, the new pairing of the 2009 Topper's Mountain Red Earth Child (38.0) and 2011 Topper's Mountain Barrel Fermented Petit Manseng (34.0) are certainly not in the traditional mould of Australian wines.
"The 2011 Petit Manseng was grafted onto seven year old Petit Verdot vines in 2009. it is a little known variety with origins in Jurancon in ...
The new vintage Kingston Estate wines continue Bill Moularadellis’ objective to produce wines that show distinct varietal character utilising dual regions from South Australia. The new wines comprise the 2011 Kingston Estate Cabernet Sauvignon ($14) and the 2012 Kingston Estate Pinot Gris ($14).
“South Australia produces some of the best wines in Australia, with very distinctive regional profiles. With our Kingston Estate range, we are blending two premium regions in order to get a balanced expression of each variety,” explained ...
FIGAM IPA
Released - October 2012
Style - An intensive five-stage hopping process delivers a rich, robust character, smooth flavour and an inviting aroma.
Ingredients - Five malted barley varieties, five natural hop varieties, fruity ale yeast and water.
Verdict - this is damn fine beer, get it while you can...and careful with these...they'll creep up on ya
Visit Burleigh Brewing here - http://burleighbrewing.com.au/
Burleigh Brewing - FIGJAM IPA. A Bit on the side from Destination Food on Vimeo.
Brewmaster Brennan Fielding chats about the creation ...
Crystal Head Vodka, the fastest growing ultra-premium vodka brand on the market is now available in Australia.After resetting the bar for purity in vodka internationally, Crystal Head has recently come to Australian shores, combining the ultimate spirit, purest product and highest quality ingredients. Crystal Head Vodka is quadruple-distilled and triple-filtered through Herkimer diamond crystals. Produced from water sourced from a deep glacier lake in Newfoundland, Canada, it is a pure spirit free of any additives such as sugar, glycerin or ...
The Barkeep Files
Cocktails you ought know how to make
6.0 Watermelon champagne cocktail
A cracking little summer quencher. The fennel ice cubes are way cool.
Here's to you. You may not be as wise as an owl, but you're always a hoot.
What you need
watermelon juice
champagne or good sparkling
fennel ice cubes (freeze some ice cubes w fresh fennel fronds
What you need to do
pour some watermelon juice into champagne flutes, add around 1/4 watermelon juice and a few fennel ice cubes
top with some ...
The Barkeep Files
Cocktails you ought know how to make
5.0 Watermelon Martini
May your luck be like the capital of Ireland--- Always Dublin
What you need
250 ml watermelon juice (use an electric juicer or blend the fruit and strain through a fine mesh sieve)
250 ml Crystal Head Vodka
200 ml sugar syrup (equal parts sugar, water, then heat to dissolve, then chill)
juice of 1 lime
sugar and salt for the rim of the glasses
lime slices to garnish
What you need to do
Rub some lime ...
The Barkeep Files
Cocktails you ought know how to make
4.0 Canadian Mule
Here's to blue skies and green lights.
What you need
juice of 2 limes
150 ml Crystal Head Vodka
1 tablespoon maple syrup
ice
ginger beer to top
What you need to do
in a chilled glass place some ice, add a dash or 2 of maple syrup
add lime juice, vodka and top with ginger beer. Stir and serve
Please drink responsibly
Super groovy little additions to any party. A simple method that can be altered with many different flavours and alcohols.
May your well never run dry.
What you need
200 ml Vodka
200 ml cranberry juice
250 ml watermelon juice
zest and juice of 1 lime
2 gelatine leaves
What you need to do
warm the cranberry and lime juice and zest
soak the gelatine in cold water and when soft, squeeze out the excess water and add to the warm juice, stir to dissolve. Add in vodka and watermelon ...
Lowe Wines is set to host its second annual Ninja @ Tinja dinner at the winery on the 3rd of November.The dinner, set in the middle of the Lowe winery in Mudgee, is inspired by David Lowe’s Japanese friends and wine buyers, and modelled on the fabulous Tokyo restaurant that hosted Tarantino’s famous ‘Kill Bill’ movie.
“The restaurant in the movie is actually named Nishi Gonpachi, and they are great supporters of Lowe and Mudgee wine,” explained David Lowe. “We have ...
Destination Food is anticipating this year will be one for a forgotten variety of wine. Taking some truth from a recent tasting panel for the Wine and Viticulture Journal, Australian Verdelho was found to be ‘the alternative wine we already have’ Can the Verdelho rival sauvignon blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris? Hell yeah it can!
3 winemakers are campaigning with this upsurge we are seeing at present. They are doing so with Verdelho’s that differ from those made for the ...
The Barkeep Files
Cocktails you ought know how to make
2.0 Harvey Wallbanger
Named after a gnarly surfer dude called Harvey who finished the night bouncing off every wall while attempting to exit the bar…? I first heard of the Harvey Wallbanger in the classic Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor movie… ‘See no evil, hear no evil’, nearly as good as ‘Stir Crazy’. See the video below of the scene in mention. “may the sun shine warm on your face’
Makes 1 ...
The Barkeep Files
Cocktails you ought know how to make
1.0 Negroni
Invented in Florence? Maybe maybe not. The Negroni is an apéritif served before the meal to stimulate the appetite. They’ve had a bit of a resurrection some what, and have been lifted to cult status depending on where you live. Top bars have their own twist on the classic of 1part gin, 1 part sweet vermouth and 1 part bitters, the bitters should certainly be Campari. For the gin ...
A new vintage wine from part of Lowe’s single vineyard Louee Range. The Louee vineyard is located at Rylstone, on the south-eastern boundary of the Mudgee GI, a genuine sub region of Mudgee. “No where in Mudgee can produce wines of this style,” explained Lowe Winemaker and owner David Lowe. “The key is to use the correct sites and clones to ensure that the wines produced show the terroir and not just a featureless expression of the variety. We believe ...
The Waipara Hills Southern Cuvee is crafted from Riesling grapes grown in the Waipara Valley. Here the gravelly soils and minerality enhance the spiciness and richness of a cracking aromatic wine.
4.5 stars Cuisine Magazine, NZ/Int. Sparkling
Bronze Medal New World Wine Awards 2011
Drink with this sophisticated little canape [Salmon granita w creme fraiche gelee, salmon caviar] link
Visit Waipara Hills on the web www.waiparahills.co.nz
25 gold medals over ten vintages, from wine shows across the globe, are a testament to the quality of Sauvignon Blanc made by New Zealand’s Waipara Hills The latest release, the 2011 vintage, has a lot to live up to with such a pedigree. The 2011 Waipara HillsMarlborough Sauvignon Blanc ($20.90) is a blend of two of the key sub regions of Marlborough, including the vineyards grown on terraces of the Awatere and Wairau Valleys. These unique regions contribute key ...
Let me introduce you to, Mule. A bio-dynamic project from Innocent Bystander totally reflective of the dirt, heat and salty air on top of Gateway Hill in McLaren Vale
All the fruit is handpicked and hand tendered, then brought back to the winery in Healesville in the Yarra Valley under refrigeration where the Innocent Bystander team follow open vat fermentation and gentle gravity flow wine-making principles. The wines were given the working name 'Mule' and it stuck. like the mule; ...
