Cellar Door

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Trentham Estate Winery – Trentham Cliffs – Wednesday 29 July 2015 – Lunch

IMG_3989_2A visit to the cellar door is always a good idea, time permitting, prior to lunch at a winery. Today we have fifteen minutes to spare and it’s not too busy. The cellar door at Trentham Estate Winery overlooks the Murray River on the NSW side. It’s a novelty for me that our impending lunch is in NSW and dinner is in Victoria.

We have an opportunity to try several whites and reds on a list that must run into twenty wines, most available for tasting. They are all reasonably priced and I really should have grabbed a bottle of the nebbiolo which I quite enjoyed. However, we run out of time and need to be next door for lunch, leaving a very comfortable pot belly fire in our wake.

The restaurant is nice and warm, and the welcome matches. Naturally, the focus of the tables is towards the gorgeous view of the Murray and lawns outside. The room itself is simple, with wooden furnishings and natural tones. Deciding between the diverse types of dishes is proving a challenge. Catherine narrows her choices down to two and I can’t decide so I offer to order the Murray cod and she can get her other choice of the gnocchi.
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My decision proves a winner but unfortunately her decision does not. The gnocchi is served with green beans, asparagus, broccolini and green peas. The gnocchi itself is finished off in the pan before being covered by the green sauce which, except for the peas, is all combined. There is not a great deal to like about this dish with quite doughy gnocchi, and a sauce that is not well seasoned, tasting of little given the spectacular fresh offerings in this region.

The Murray cod is on the other hand fantastic. Fresh and just cooked through, the flesh of the fish is beautiful. When combined with an expertly prepared lemon beurre blanc, boulangere potatoes, and fresh asparagus, every mouthful is divine.
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When our waitperson comes to clear our dishes and notices Catherine’s half eaten gnocchi she politely enquires whether there is any issue. As nicely as possible she describes the lack of flavour and doughy gnocchi and our waitperson instantly, against our protests, takes the dish off the bill. A terrifically fast response to customer feedback.

We decide to stick on and try the millefeuille which is a good choice. The sheets of pastry are nice and crisp and in between is plenty of sweet cream with a tasty raspberry sauce. It is not incredible but it is very nice.

Trentham Estate Winery is a pleasant place to enjoy a relaxing lunch overlooking the Murray. While the food let us down today, the response and the service in general was excellent.

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Mt Lofty Ranges – Adelaide Hills – Saturday 1 August 2015 – Lunch

IMG_4040_2What a beautiful drive up into and through the Adelaide Hills. It is breathtaking. While at Petaluma we tried some fantastic wines made locally, in Coonawarra and in Clare. As we finished we asked about where to go for lunch.

Based on our simple brief for something good quality and casual with a fire, the lady serving us surveyed her colleagues and even some of the other tasters got involved. We were sent off in search of Mt Lofty Ranges and its cellar door and restaurant about twenty minutes away.
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They were spot on with only one issue – no tables left! We were not left in the lurch by the staff at Mt Lofty and they managed to restructure part of the restaurant and find some chairs to seat us. That kindness and hospitality was a theme of the entire meal.

The menu is brief and focussed, changing regularly as we understand it. Jumping out to Catherine and I were the pot pies. She chose the chicken and I chose the beef. Cooked in the Mt Lofty Chardonnay, the chicken, leek and mushroom are combined in a creamy sauce, topped by a perfectly cooked disk of flaky pastry. The beef on the other hand is cooked in Mt Lofty Pinot Noir. Both are seasoned properly and are full of flavour; two of the most delicious pies we’ve tried in some time. As we enjoyed our delicious pies we noticed the other two main dishes, the lamb shank and the fish, also look tremendous.
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I had a glass of the Mt Lofty Shiraz which is a nice cooler climate expression compared to the huge Shiraz from the day prior in the Barossa, and Catherine tried a glass of the Chardonnay her chicken had been cooked in which was a nice balanced version with not too much oak. We were fifty-fifty for dessert but given the taste of the pies we had to have a try to see if dessert could be anywhere near as good.
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The Panettone bread & butter pudding includes grappa and sultanas, with a good measure of vanilla ice cream. Again, the flavour of the pudding was more concentrated than most other versions you try and we were left very impressed. Panettone is an Italian slightly sweet bread-like cake which you see more and more in place of bread in this traditional dessert.

We had certainly been pointed in the right direction at Petaluma. The fire was still being stoked through lunch, and there was a full restaurant of equally stoked customers.

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