The Yarra Valley is one of the five major wine regions in Victoria State (there are many other smaller ones), the rest being Shiraz Central, the Pinot Coast, Rutherglen (Muscat) and King Valley (Prosecco).
Yarra Valley is the oldest region with the first of its 70+ wineries, Yering Station www.yering.com, being founded in 1838, and it’s also the nearest to Melbourne after the Pinot Coast. It has a cooler, temperate climate making it suitable for white wines (my preference), although Pinot Noirs are what it’s most famous for.
One of the easiest ways to visit the wineries is to hire a private guide, or go on a tour bus. However I was fortunate to have my good Melbournian friend Dominique offer to drive me out there on a gloriously sunny Saturday in February (only 35 degrees!).
We visited two wineries, the first being Yarra Yering www.yarrayering.com, one of the regions older and most beautiful vineyards, founded in the late 60s.
Usually you can rock up to a cellar door and get a free tasting, with a view to buying a crate or two to take home at a discounted rate but, as this wasn’t an option for me, I was happy to pay $50 to taste some of Yering’s better wines.
Our somellier guide was quite an animated character who obviously loved his job, and did it very well. For instance, he told us that the only reason we got him was because the other guide was too short for our high stools!
Of the eight wines I tried (Dom as the driver had to forgo) it was no suprise that the best one was the most expensive; the Carrodus Pinot Noir ($275 per bottle) which had a great nose and layer upon layer of berry flavours that just kept on coming. I also really enjoyed their Warramate Pinot Noir Rosé ($38) and the Crécy Chardonnay ($60). However I wasn’t particularly keen on their Shiraz samples ($130-160 per bottle) or other reds as I found they finished too quickly and were just too dry for my palate.
From here it was a short six-minute drive to another famous, beautiful winery, Oakridge Wines oakridgewines.com.au, which is also famous for its restaurant. By way of reciprocation for her fortitude, I treated Dom to the $120 set lunch while I went for the additional wine match for $180. Dom did have a well deserved gimlet though to take the edge off.
After an introductory, flavourless glass of 2017 Oakridge Blanc de Blanc fizz and a mocktail of unmemorable description that was left untouched for good reason, we started lunch with the much more satisfying round of lovely salads, served after a round of some excellent homemade butter and sourdough bread.
My favourite salad, in fact my favourite part of the whole meal, was the Tomatoes with Sumac, Harissa, Spiced Nuts and Saltbush. I’m a huge tomato snob and won’t eat them fresh out of season, so it was bliss to eat some properly ripe ones after four months of abstaining from them at home in the UK.
The leaves of Old Man Saltbush (Atriplex Nummularia), to use it’s full name, were traditionally eaten by the aborigines and are currently used dried as a low sodium seasoning substitute for use on grilled meats and in bread, pasta and dukkah.
The Zucchini with Nastursiam Pesto and Pumpkin Seed Brittle was also lovely and visually stunning. Must have a go at making the brittle when I get home as I love using things that would otherwise get thrown away (I usually just roast them for a snack).
The Beans, Curds, Sorrel, Peach, Tamarillo Mollases and Summer Savoury were nice too. I’ve made a curry witn tamarillo fruit (native to South America) before which worked well, and they seem to be becoming an international ingredient (I can get them from Ozmen in Sheffield).
Summer savoury is a bitter herb native to Italy (used since Roman times) and southeastern Europe, but now with an international distribution.
I couldn’t fault the house made Salami and Pickles either but needed another round of bread to have them with.
Next we both had the Quail and Pickled Green Tomatoes with Sichuan, Black Garlic and Soy, which was cooked and glazed to perfection.
These were washed down with a lovely 2022 Yarra Valley Rosé. To this date, I haven’t had a poor Australian rosé yet.
After this Dom had some lovely looking and very local Yeringberg Lamb with Tromboncino (a long courgette, similar but not the same as what Sicilians call ‘cucuzza’) which I was quite envious of, but my Slow-cooked Pork Belly with Blood Plum Mostarda, Broccolini and Olive still met all my roasted meat needs.
This was served with a side of tasty Heirloom Beetroots (of two colours), Rhubarb, Quandong and Spiced Seeds. Quandong is an indigenous peach-like fruit that has a tart flavour similar to peach, apricot or rhubarb.
Now well into double figures on my glasses of wine, I don’t honestly remember the taste of the 2022 864 Henk Aqueduct Pinot Noir, but undo it was a good match.
However, another reason I regret not having the lamb was that I missed out on the matched 2021 Winery Block Cabernet Sauvignon, as I do recall the somellier at Moorilla at Mona in Hobart (see previous post), who recommended both these wineries to me, saying that although Yarra is known for Pinots, he found the Cabs to be better.
To finish we shared some Housemade Tomme with Orchard Chutney and Housemade Breads. Tomme is a cheese orginally from the French Alps and Switzerland and while it was perfectly edible here, I fhought it was flavourless and wouldn’t pay the $10 supplement for it again.
More enjoyable was the Plum & Blackberry tart with Burnt Honey Ice Cream. I wouldn’t even know how to begin to burn honey and add it to ice cream, but it seems to be a popular inclusion on many Australian restaurant menus at the time of writing.
The sweet, but not too, sweet 2021 Hazeldene Botrytis Gris was a great accompaniment to it.
So a lovely meal in lovely surroundings, thank you Dom! If I was going to the Yarra Valley again, I’d take her suggestion of shopping for wines and picnic items such as the cheeses from places like Yarra Valley Dairy www.yvd.com.au and finding somewhere with a nice view to eat them. Next time!
More about Melbourne next…