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Merry Christmas To
All Our Readers!
-
 20th
December 2004: As I write Christmas is only a few sleeps away and this
is my last column for 2004. As was the case last year, I'll be taking a short
break over the Festive Season so that my wife and children can be reminded
what I look like. During the last 12 months the South Burnett's wine and
food industries experienced another extraordinary year of growth and it's
probably worth recapping some of the highlights. To kick off, our region's
wine industry celebrated its 10th birthday in 2004 by racking up an unprecedented
number of accolades which included the biggest medal tally yet at
the Queensland Wine Awards and John Crane's gong for "Queensland's
Best Red". We also got to see several new cellar doors open - such as
the fabulous Whistlestop Wines at Nanango and Tipperary Estate
at Moffatdale. And in 2005 we're going to see several more (including Jason
and Sue Kinsella's Moffatdale Ridge; Nanango's Arabesque Wines;
and one or two new operations at Kingaroy who have their planning applications
in with Kingaroy Shire Council right now). We also saw Merlot - Captains
Paddock's resident pup - stake her claim as a national celebrity when
she debuted in "Wine Dogs" (you may get to see Alex Brydge's dog from
Bridgeman Downs in the next edition too!). In much the same vein,
our regional food continued to progress from good to great with the Bell
Tower Restaurant receiving a red star of excellence in the Good Life's
2005 Restaurant Guide alongside Kingaroy's Burning Beats Café
and Explorers Restaurant. Former Kiwi rock star Bunnie Walters took
over the reins of Up Country's café in Wondai (where he and
wife Ruth have been going gangbusters, I understand); the former owners of
Goomeri's famous Pumpkin Pie resurfaced in Wondai with Tickled Pink;
and Kingaroy Cheese continue to pick up accolades and distributors
all over the country for their products. This year we also got to follow
the progress of Amy Ballin, ex-apprentice chef at Nanango's Copper
Country Restaurant, as she made waves in Britain at the Young UK Chef
of the Year competition. And major publications - including the Courier
Mail's Good Life - made regular mention of the South Burnett all year
long. Our region also appeared (for the first time!) in Sally Hammond's
Australian Regional Food Guide. And TV media exposure for the South
Burnett reached new highs with features in Queensland Weekender, On
The Land, WIN News and Leyland's Australia. I'd also like
to thank our friends at the South Burnett Adviser and Crow FM
90.7 who utilise this website for their own South Burnett Cuisine newsbites.
And with this much happening I can assure you I'll be back in late January
to do it all over again for 2005. Until then, thank you for visiting this
site - and have a great Christmas!
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Coming In January
2005: Stomp & Sip!
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 17th December 2004: One thing I thought we've always lacked
in the South Burnett is a good old fashioned grape stomp. Grape stomping
is very popular in the Granite Belt (in fact, I suspect at least some of
their wines are still made this way). But South Burnett winemaking is so
modern and automated I think we've overlooked the point that most Australians
really love to have fun with fruit. We like to roll our pumpkins down
Policeman's Hill at the Goomeri Pumpkin Festival and watch them splatter
all over the road. We love to do watermelon tossing - and many other
mind-blowingly messy things - at the Chinchilla Watermelon Festival. And
if they ever bring back peanut butter wrestling at Kingaroy's Peanut Festival
I'm sure we'd go wild over that too! So if you've ever yearned to get in
a barrel stuffed with grapes and get your toes wet - and really, haven't
we all? - you'll get your chance next month when
Barambah Ridge introduce
their inaugural Stomp & Sip mini-harvest festival. Starting at
9:00am sharp on Sunday 2nd, 9th, 16th and 23rd January 2005 participants
can pick grapes straight from the Ridge's vineyards (which will be coming
into their first harvest period at that time) and then stomp the living daylights
out of them barefoot for an experience you're unlikely to ever forget. All
participants will then be welcome to join the Ridge's staff for a glass of
wine and BBQ lunch to celebrate bringing in the crop and another successful
vintage. The cost of this whacky, fun family day out - including lunch -
is just $20 for adults and $10 for the kids. You can get more details and
make a booking by phoning Kirsten on (07) 4168 4766.
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South Burnett Cuisine
Featured In Australian Regional Food Guide
-
 14th December 2004: Over the last two years this web site has
been recording the growth that's occurring in our region's food and wine
industries. And today I'm pleased to report another milestone. This year
- for the first time ever - the South Burnett has been covered in the
Australian Regional Food Guide. This prestige publication is a foodies'
bible and it covers all the major "name" food regions in the nation. Author
Sally Hammond is an award-winning and highly respected food and travel
writer and the latest edition covers numerous restaurants, wineries, boutique
food producers and farmstays from all corners of the South Burnett in the
book's Queensland section. All up, the guide features over 2000 entries from
around the nation along with quirky local facts and fun places to visit.
Sally also helpfully includes a list of useful websites in each state for
readers who want to find out more, and I was humbled to find that
this website is the Guide's first choice for Queensland. By
pure coincidence Sally and her husband and co-author Gordon are in our region
right now as guests of the South Burnett Wine Industry Association,
conducting a photo shoot of several of our wineries. I took the opportunity
to tape an interview with Sally a couple of days ago and if you tune into
my regular radio show on Crow-FM 90.7 at 10:40am this coming
Friday morning, December 17th you can get to hear her views on our region
verbatim. The Australian Regional Food Guide is published by New Holland
Publishers and was launched this week for $29.95 RRP. You can obtain it at
any good bookstore or directly over the Net from
Dymocks Online.
STOP PRESS: After Sally's radio talk I was
able to obtain a copy of the interview in MP3 format. If you have a sound
card and want to hear it yourself,
click here (3.6Mb)
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South Burnett Cuisine
Christmas Gift Ideas Part II
-
 11th December
2004: Last week I suggested some great places to shop for unique South
Burnett Christmas gifts. Now here's some more! The first is our local peanut
industry icon
The Peanut
Van. As they do every Christmas, owners Rob and Chris
Patch have whipped up a small range of inexpensive Christmas treats that
will suit every taste and pocket. You can view them right now on their web
site and order them in person, by phone, fax, mail or directly online. Providing
you get your order in by Friday 17th (or the 23rd if you live in Brisbane
or Ipswich) your delivery will arrive before Christmas. Another line of Christmas
presents you can look at are
Crane Wines' traditional
$100 Christmas dozens. Over the last few years winemaker John Crane
has won so many awards that I've lost count but every Christmas he offers
$100 mixed dozens of his sweet whites and reds. And this year he's also offering
5 litre oak barrels filled with his liqueur muscat for $260. You can order
by phone or email (but at this price you'll probably have to pick your order
up in person!). And a third and fourth place to do some of your Christmas
shopping - though this time for your own Christmas table rather than as gifts
- are
Kingaroy Cheese and
Bottle Tree Hill Organic
Farm. Chris Ganzer's multi award-winning Kingaroy cheeses
are perfect for the Yuletide if you want to spoil yourself fresh, top-quality,
mouth watering cheeses. The William Street factory outlet will be open every
day through the Festive Season (except Christmas Day). Meanwhile, Will
and Megan Seiler's Bottle Tree Hill Organics are offering organic
Christmas hams - plus bacon, sausages and a wide range of other meats perfect
for Festive Season BBQs - right now providing you get your order in ASAP.
Bottle Tree Hill's organic meats are developing a big reputation and are
now used by a wide range of restaurants (as well as a growing and loyal local
customer base). All the same, stocks are limited so first in - best dressed!
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Bumper Cleanskin
Sale At Barambah Ridge This Saturday
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 8th December 2004: Readers with very long memories
will recall the story that appeared here
in July 2003 about
Barambah Ridge wines picking
up gold and silver medals at the San Francisco Wine Show. The Ridge's
wines beat off more than 4,000 competitors to take out two top USA
gongs that year. But in one of the ironies of the wine trade, they couldn't
claim any direct credit for it. Why? Because the wines that won were
cleanskins that carried Canungra Valley Vineyards' label. And it was
that vineyard that entered them in the wine show, not the Ridge.
In a similar vein many wine buyers who purchase wines from the Sunshine Coast
or Gold Coast hinterland wineries right now would probably be very surprised
to find that what they're purchasing isn't wine from those areas at
all. It's actually South Burnett wine onsold as cleanskins. These unlabelled
bottles help our wineries offload wine surplus to their own requirements
and help buyers make up shortfalls in their stock. The buyers just attach
their own labels to these wines and retail them. This should underline
two important points: first, that you should never underestimate
the quality of cleanskin wine - it's just as good as the same wine
that carries the winery's own label. And second, that you should never base
a wine's bona fides on the label. Unless you talk with the winery
you may never know where a wine really comes from. I'm putting these points
down because this coming Saturday 11th December astute South Burnett
wine buyers are going to get the opportunity to pick up some of Barambah
Ridge's best stock at prices that they'll probably never see again. Starting
at 8:00am this Saturday morning, the Ridge are going to clean out
as much of their cleanskin wine as they possibly can. Cuisine readers took
advantage of Stuart Range's clear-out sale back in November to grab
astonishing bargains and this sale will be the same - sans labels,
of course! You can find out more by phoning the Ridge on (07) 4168 4766.
Otherwise I'll probably be seeing you there this Saturday.
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Tipperary Estate's
Official Opening: Saturday 18th December
-
 5th December 2004: Almost a month ago (see story 14th
November) I broke the news that
Tipperary Estate's new
cellar door had opened for business next to the property's existing B&B
on Tipperary Road at Moffatdale - but only just. Difficulties involved in
getting builders meant that the project was almost 6 months behind its originally
planned schedule and a few small areas of the building (like some of the
interior fittings) still needed to be completed. But I'm very pleased to
announce that owners Craig and Pauline Gillett haven't been
letting the grass grow under their feet. The new cellar door's official public
opening is going to be celebrated with a gala lunch on Saturday
18th December between 12:00 noon and 4:00pm. For a modest
$25 per head, guests at the official opening will get to enjoy a two course
lunch, a complimentary glass of wine and live entertainment from well-known
local band Wholehearted who'll be performing unplugged) And considering
the 18th is just a week before Christmas when we're all in the mood to begin
seriously unwinding, it probably couldn't happen at a better
time! But you'll need to be quick if you want to take part: numbers are strictly
limited to 50 and ticket sales are already underway. You can book
yours by phoning Tipperary on (07) 4168-4802 or (07) 4168-4839.
PS: I should add that in my previous story about Tipperary I'd pointed
out that their wines were particularly good even though they're not - as
yet - produced from the grapes being grown on the estate. I wasn't making
that up! Late last month Tipperary walked away with a bronze medal
at the Queensland Wine Awards for their 2002 Shiraz. Having enjoyed
it myself I can assure you it's well merited. Illustration: Tipperary
Estate's new logo, which is now used on all their wine labels. When you visit
the estate you'll quickly see where it came from!
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South Burnett Cuisine
Christmas Gift Ideas
-
 2nd December 2004:
Christmas is only a little over 3 weeks away and many readers will be starting
their annual search for Christmas gifts about now. If you're lost for something
unique and inexpensive to give your loved ones - especially those that may
live far away - why not give them the gifts we have in abundance:
our region's wonderful wines and foodstuffs? Here are two ideas
you can investigate right now. The first is Nanango's
Whistle Stop Wines (located
on the Burnett Highway just a block north of the Drayton Street intersection).
Whistle Stop Wines are almost a year old now and this Christmas they've begun
offering a range of Christmas specials to say "thankyou!" to all their
customers. These include case specials (buy 10, get a dozen); gift
boxes ($22 to $28) and gift baskets ($30 to $40), the latter two
of which include everything from baths salts and baby oils through to olives.
Whistle Stop Wines are also clearing out their 2004 display stock at $10
a bottle - and their cafe (open every Thursday to Monday between 10:00am
and 5:00pm) is a great place to relax while you contemplate your shopping.
A second great place to do your Christmas gift shopping is, of course, Bruce
and Rae Hurley's
South Burnett Hampers
at their popular Left Bank Cafe in Kilkivan. Bruce and Rae carry stock
from every winery in the South Burnett along with locally produced
lavender products, olive products, home-brand honeys and sauces. They can
whip up any gift hamper you want - just give them a budget and they'll
work to it - or you can make up your own. And you can do it in person, by
phone or over the Net (the big advantage of doing it in person is you can
also get to relax and eat Rae's wonderful cooking at the Left Bank Cafe
while you do it. It's open daily from 10:00am to around 4:00pm, or as late
as you like if you're staying for dinner. Photo above: Staff at
the Whistle Stop Wines cafe and cellar door in Nanango.
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