ULTRA Australia

ULTRA AUSTRALIA

RepRINTed fROm ULTRATRAveL mAgAzINe AUTUmN ISSUe

GOURMET SPECIAL 24 PAGES OF FOODIE WALKABOUTS

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h e l i-drink ing in da rwin

ba ros sa by da i m l e r ultratravel 57

EPICUREAN WAY

Australia’s Great Food and Wine Touring Route in South Australia

ADELAIDE, WINES & BEYOND Follow your tastebuds around four of Australia’s premier wine regions and indulge in some of the country’s most celebrated food and wine experiences.

Visit the world-famous Barossa, picturesque Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale and the quaint Clare Valley. Stop in at cellar doors, taste award-winning wines and feast on gourmet local produce at restaurants set amongst sprawling vineyards.

A gourmet escape in South Australia South Australia is justifiably known for the quality of its wines and is one of the country’s great culinary destinations. With over 200 cellar doors within an hours’ drive of Adelaide, farmers markets, festivals and an abundance of restaurants and cafes, you don’t need to travel far. Enjoy the foodie experience year-round in South Australia with this 6-day self-drive, taking in Adelaide and the Hills, McLaren Vale, Barossa and Clare Valley.

southaustralia.com

Fr

£440

PP

5-NIGHTS, 4 STAR, ROOM ONLY, CAR HIRE INCLUDED

SAVE £100 WWW.AUSTRAVEL.COM OR CALL 0808 163 6126

the next BIG THING

Impressive architecture in the cit, musical delights in the outback and breathtaking walks on Kangaroo Island. Here is the new, says John O’Ceallaigh

hop-foot It Kangaroo Island’s rugged bushland and pristine beaches off the south coast are set to become a touch more accessible in 2016. A 39-mile walking route, the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail, is being developed and, when fully open in June, will enable visitors to explore a terrain that incorporates windsculpted rocks, tumbling cascades, soaring clifftops and a warren of stalactite-strewn caves. The fiveday walk traverses Flinders Chase National Park, Cape Bouguer Wilderness Protection Area and Kelly Hill Conservation Park, with four campsites en route. parks.sa.gov.au

m or p h wh ar f Changes are afoot in Brisbane’s Queen’s

as a new visitor and investment hub, a

a cinema and an arena that will host

Wharf precinct: Queensland’s government

bridge between the city centre and river,

nightly water and light shows.

this summer approved plans to redevelop

and a recreational area. Alongside more

Construction is expected to start

the quarter within the Central Business

than 50 new restaurants, cafés and bars,

in 2017 on the revival of this historically

District. Among the many modifications in

a casino and a handful of high-end hotels

significant district, where Brisbane

store is the construction of a cluster of

will cater to visitors. An expansive

originated some 180 years ago and many

curved skyscrapers that will endow the city

promenade and elevated open-air Sky

of the city’s most significant cultural

skyline with a gleaming new focal point.

Deck should prove popular meeting spots

attractions – the Botanic Gardens,

on summer evenings, while additional

Cultural Precinct and South Bank among

cultural spaces will include a new theatre,

them – are situated.

The development will be more than cosmetic, however: it is intended to serve

classIc rocK Australia’s only national

Red Centre, just 380 guests will

orchestra, the Australian

hear the ensemble perform a

Chamber Orchestra (below),

carefully considered programme

regularly performs at the Sydney

that draws on the talents

Opera House, but next month

of the country’s most respected

music fans have a unique

musicians and pays due

opportunity to see them play

reverence to this sacred place.

at another Australian landmark.

Three dining events – from an

On October 30 and 31, the

outback barbecue lunch to a gala

troupe will for the first time host

dinner with orchestra members

a series of three concerts at

– will ensure the merriment

Uluru Meeting Place. There, in

continues in the leisurely pauses

the vast, still expanse of the

between performances.

aN ENchaNtED forEst

Next month sees the opening of the latest of Melbourne’s MPavilions – a series of aesthetically exceptional temporary structures designed by leading international architects in Queen Victoria Gardens. This year’s design, by Stirling Prize-winning architect Amanda Levete and her AL_A studio, is the second to open, and will host talks, workshops and performances.

Levete’s design, which resembles a futuristic forest in the centre of the city – a series of slender columns atop which stand sleek and sinuous translucent petals – will be open for shade and creative sustenance from October 5 to February 7 2016 (mpavilion.org).

ultratravel 59

EXPERIENCE THE ICONS OF AUSTRALIA A perfect way to experience the land down under is by combining the icons of Sydney, the fiery red sands of the Outback and the spectacular colours of the Great Barrier Reef. Discover the famous architecture of the Opera House or head inside to enjoy one of its many concerts. Cycle across the Harbour Bridge, or for a little adventure take part in the Bridge Climb. Sail the magnificent harbour and head inland to the Blue Mountains to view the glorious Three Sisters rock formation, before travelling to the heart of the Outback for a sunset tour at Uluru (Ayers Rock), and in Cairns cruise out to the Great Barrier Reef to snorkel with majestic marine life.

FREE DAY TOUR

SYDNEY, ROCK & REEF 8 nights from £1,649 pp Saving £90 per couple

Includes: FREE Sydney Harbour Story Cruise, 3nts 4★ Sydney hotel, 2nts 4★ Ayers Rock hotel, 3nts 4★ Cairns hotel and return International Flights with Etihad Airways*.

Selected travel in March 2016.

Call our expert Travel Designers on FREEPHONE 0808 115 0879 or visit austravel.com We don’t just go there, we know there Calls are free from landlines, mobiles and other providers’ charges may vary. Offers subject to change and availability.

Valid for bookings made from the 19th August to the 18th September, only one free excursion valid per person. No cash alternative and no refunds will be given for unused free excursions. Blackout dates may apply. *Flights are priced with Etihad airways departing London Heathrow. Prices are correct at time of going to print, for selected travel and may be withdrawn at any time. ATOL protected.

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SUNNY SIDE UP IN SYDNEY

Whichever way you like your eggs, there will be a hip beachside breakfast spot in the city that serves them just so.

Ralph Bestic tests the waters – and several brunches – on a road trip around the coast

THe bOWeR ReSTAURANT mANLy bRONze KIOSK mONA vALe This casual spot is in hard-core surfing territory: boards, bleached hair and attitude are all on show, over a black coffee and eggs with tomato salsa.

North of the Mona Vale Surf Club, this spot is adored by early-morning swimmers. Breakfast, beach and a dip are the order of the day (bronzekiosk.com.au).

Located at Fairy Bower on a pathway between Manly and Shelly beaches that is hugely popular with dogwalkers and cyclists, the restaurant is white-themed throughout, a dazzling foil to the blue water that laps just metres away below a seawall. Here, any dish served with avocado is delicious; regulars often then grab an iced coffee and wander up to Shelly Beach (thebowerrestaurant.com.au).

WATSONS bAy HOTeL WATSONS bAy After a breakfast of Sicilian-style baked eggs on sourdough at this celebrated eastern-suburbs waterside hotel you can transition seamlessly into a typical Australian brunch of mashed avocado with tomato and feta. Arrive early for a windowside seat with classic harbour views. A ferry from Circular Quay in the Central Business District is the best way of getting here as parking can be tricky (watsonsbayhotel.com.au).

ICebeRgS TeRRACe bONdI beACH Although this restaurant is best known for its spectacular paninis, frittatas, eggs and coffees, it also serves healthy options such as coconut water, goji berries, kale, beetroot and micro herbs, thanks to walkers who pound the two-mile Bondi to Bronte trail. The popular city eating hole attracts a real mix of Sydneysiders, from surfers and smart walkers to a glam celeb crowd. It’s worth turning up early when the Sunday market is on (idrb.com/terrace).

TAmARAmA KIOSK TAmARAmA bATHeRS’ PAvILION bALmORAL beACH If you’re after culinary bragging rights, then this restaurant by the culinary superstar Serge Dansereau is an essential stop-off.

No reservations are taken and queues form early on weekends, when the café swells with gourmands waiting to tuck into his vegetable tart with poached free-range eggs and lemon hollandaise (batherspavilion.com.au).

This award-winning Lahznimmodesigned café, set along one side of a small scalloped beach, is a haunt of fashionistas (hence the neighbourhood’s nickname, Glamarama). Favourites include bircher muesli, quinoa and pistachio granola, and croque madame, accompanied by an iced latte blended with honey (facebook.com/kiosk.tamarama).

SeASALT CAfé CLOveLLy

IllustratIon sam Falconer

THRee bLUe dUCKS bRONTe Up until 11.30am you can sit on a bench by the road and watch the world drift by, or go inside and enjoy the arresting local art. The famous black sausage with scrambled eggs and dill tastes splendid in either spot. Just up the hill from Bronte Beach, this cool restaurant will crack open a fresh coconut to wash down breakfast, and serves toast with honey from its own bees (threeblueducks.com/bronte).

One of the few spots at which, if you arrive early, you can park – and then snare a protected spot by the seawater pool. The spot, adjacent to a narrow inlet and beach, is popular with families and those seeking a sheltered tanning spot after a sweetcorn stack with guacamole, tomato relish and bacon. The Clovelly Surf Life Saving Club is a minute away, as is Gordon Bay for snorkelling (seasaltcafe.com.au).

ultratravel 61

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The SUPeRCheFS hAVe LANDED Roo with bunya-bunya nuts, wagyu with riberries – Australia’s cuisine has never been so inventive, attracting masters from Heston Blumenthal to René Redzepi.

Terry Durack charts the great gastro revolution

A

ustralian customs officers are getting very used to the top chefs of the world landing in front of them clutching their passports and flip-flops.

If it isn’t Heston Blumenthal of The Fat Duck, it’s René Redzepi of Copenhagen’s Noma, both regular visitors as they juggle their new restaurants.

Suddenly, Australia is the special of the day.

This autumn Blumenthal transforms his pop-up restaurant into a permanent branch of Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in Melbourne – a place he rates as one of the top five food cities in the world. He was, he says, simply following his heart.

“Yes, it’s a long way away from home,” he told Ultratravel.

“But I don’t care, because I love it. I am also in love with Australia’s food. I’ve never seen a country explode food-wise the way Australia has.”

In the meantime, Redzepi of Noma (named four times the best restaurant in the world by Restaurant magazine), ping-pongs back and forth between Denmark and Australia in preparation for moving his entire team of chefs and waiting staff – and even the dishwasher – to Sydney in January 2016 for a 10-week “restaurant-in-residence”. Why Sydney? Why Australia? Why now? “I love the country, but I also love the breed of chefs there,” says Redzepi.

There is something also in the water; Redzepi is in awe of the huge diversity of crabs, prawns, lobsters, oysters, scallops, clams and wild-caught fish in the clean, cold, southernhemisphere oceans. His Australian restaurant will present a menu inspired by the Australian coastline, based on salty, crunchy sea succulents and seaweeds, foraged indigenous leaves and berries, seabirds, wild fish and shellfish.

62 ultratravel

Aussie gold Bennelong restaurant in Sydney Opera House, overseen by chef Peter Gilmore. With its soaring interiors and harbour views, it’s widely regarded as the most beautiful place to eat in the city

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Clockwise from left: Working up an appetite in the surf; supper time on a ‘catch & cook’ adventure; exploring the wines and vines of Margaret River; Western Australia is home to some of the world’s fnest seafood.

GRAPE ESCAPES WINE, SURF & SEAFOOD IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA WESTERN AUSTRALIA, FAMOUS FOR ITS BEACHES AND SUNSHINE, HAS LONG BEEN A NIRVANA FOR WINE LOVERS. NOW IT HAS A FOOD SCENE TO MATCH, WITH THE SOUTH WEST OF THE STATE LEADING THE GASTRONOMIC CHARGE. FROM SURF TO SAUVIGNON Margaret River Region, Western Australia’s most famous wine region, is just a three-hour drive from the State’s capital city, Perth. ‘Margs,’ as it’s known to its famously laid-back locals, frst gained popularity as a surfng town (the waves here roll as impressively as the scenery), but since the late 1960s its favourable climate and soil conditions have seen it emerge as an internationally-acclaimed wine-making centre too.

The region is now home to over 200 wineries creating an extraordinary array of gold-medal-winning chardonnays, cabernet sauvignons and semillonsauvignon blancs. Visitors are not merely welcome; they are lavishly catered for. Drop in for a tasting, gourmet lunch or behind-the-scenes tour at, among others, Leeuwin Estate and Cullens (biodynamic pioneers), or venture further south to rising star, Snake and Herring, in the Great Southern region.

On route to most wineries you’ll also fnd numerous stores and farm shops offering everything from artisan cheese to chocolate, along with mircobreweries and restaurants doing delicious things with local seafood.

Want to search for your supper? Head for the forests near Pemberton for a spot of guided truffe hunting.

A TASTE FOR ADVENTURE As well as being a great place to satisfy an appetite, West Australia’s south west also offers plenty of options when it comes to working one up. There are stunning beaches for surfng, snorkelling and sunbathing, spectacular tall-tree forests for exploring and climbing and ancient caves to navigate by torchlight.

The Bibbulmun Track, one of Australia’s great walking trails, also winds along the coast here (spot wildfowers and migrating whales as you put your best foot forward). Or how about an adventure by canoe?

Paddle the Margaret River on a bush tucker safari.

WHEN TO GO The south west has a Mediterranean climate, best enjoyed from September to May. For foodies, the Margaret River Gourmet Escape, held annually in November, is not to be missed.

Staged over three days it features stalls from 150 local producers and attracts a stellar crowd of international food and wine big-hitters. Relax at a beach barbecue hosted by Rick Stein, or head to a boutique vineyard to feast at an exclusive dinner from Michelinstarred greats such as Heston Blumenthal.

GETTING THERE Western Australia is closer than you think. Perth is around 18 hours fying time from the UK

(four hours closer than Sydney). A range of international carriers service the city, including Etihad Airways with prices from £655 per person. Austravel offer a nine day self-drive holiday to Perth and the South West from £1,149pp – fnd out more at www.austravel.com/australiafood or by calling 0808 163 6126* For more information and ideas on culinary adventures in Western Australia, visit westernaustralia.com/gourmet *Calls are free from landlines, mobiles and other providers’ charges may vary.

THE ENTIRE STATE ... ON A PLATE SAVOUR THE FLAVOURS of the exotic town of Broome, where the outback meets the ocean. Try the mighty barramundi fsh, tropical fruits, craft beers and meat from giant pearl shells.

CATCH & COOK a seafood campfre supper on a kayak adventure led by a local Aboriginal guide in the Shark Bay World Heritage area.

TAKE A ‘KNIFE & FORK’ WALK in booming Perth.

From fne dining to fusion food trucks and whisky dens to rooftop bars, Australia’s sunniest city offers highlights aplenty for the discerning gourmet traveller.

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Mind you, Australian food hasn’t always been quite so inspirational. Only 40 years ago, the soup of the day was pumpkin, the Sunday roast was lamb, pud was pavlova, and a cold beer was preferred to that fancy stuff, wine.

Its food revival has its roots in the Eighties with pioneering chefs such as Neil Perry and Tetsuya Wakuda, both of whom combined classic techniques with an Asian sensibility and the best produce in the land. Tetsuya’s confit of ocean trout – a golden arc of marbled, flesh-pink Tasmanian fish roofed with crunchy kombu seaweed – is still one of the most photographed dishes on the planet.

“Tetsuya was at the forefront of Australian cuisine, by introducing Japanese ingredients with his own style and thought process,” says Martin Benn, head chef of Sepia in Sydney and a former trainee of Tetsuya. “This crossover of culture and ideas inspired a generation of chefs.”

Perry, who opened the glamorous, ground-breaking Rockpool restaurant in the Rocks, Sydney, in 1990, claims the multicultural nature of Australia society, the unrivalled quality of Australian seafood and the close proximity of Asia have been the biggest formative influences on the nation’s recent cuisine. “No other country incorporates Asian ingredients and techniques into their food as well as we do,” he says.

Proof of the multicultural pudding is at the darkly glamorous Rockpool, in the 113-year-old heritage-listed Burns Philp Building in Sydney’s financial district, where you can eat Perry’s mud crab with silken tofu and fermented vinegar, and abalone meunière with puffed rice and herb salad. “We are not bound by tradition,” explains Benn, whose butter-poached Port Lincoln squid with miso-cured egg yolk, yuzu and sorrel at Sepia is another local favourite. “So we have a uniqueness and a freedom with our cuisine like no other nation does.”

GO NATIVE Clockwise from top left: Alpine strawberry meringue at Sepia; René Redzepi picks Australian apples; the kitchen at Bennelong; Tetsuya’s confit of ocean trout; kangaroo and pomegranate at Attica

T

he most alluring showcase for new Australian cuisine lies in the heart of Sydney, beneath the glorious sails of the Sydney Opera House, designed by the Danish architect Jørn Utzon. At the recently reopened Bennelong at the Opera House, the hugely talented Peter Gilmore showcases Australia’s finest produce with an intuitive sense of culinary balance.

Sitting in Utzon’s soaring, metal-ribbed galleria space surrounded by harbour views is lovely enough; add Gilmore’s meltingly soft smoked and confit of pig jowl with roasted koji (a sweet, fragrant Japanese ferment), shiitake mushrooms, kombu seaweed, sea scallop and sesame, and the combined experience is breathtaking.

Gilmore, who also runs the acclaimed Quay restaurant, calls the new Australian cuisine “free and imaginative”.

It’s this sense of freedom, says Andrew McConnell, founder of the informal Cumulus Inc and stylish Cutler & Co in Melbourne, that means Australian chefs evolve ideas faster than they could in older cultures. “It’s the best of both worlds,” he says, “to have native marron [freshwater crayfish], abalone and native plants, as well as beef and game.” McConnell nails what observers see as the catalyst for Australia’s new pulling power as a foodie magnet – that Australian food is getting more Australian. The past five years have seen a focus on native and wild food that is forming a cuisine with an extraordinary taste. Sour, astringent native riberries, juicy sea succulents and lightly gamey kangaroo and wallaby have transcended gimmicky “theme” restaurants and now inspire the most creative chefs in the country.

Small, sedate Adelaide is home to one of them. At Orana (Aboriginal for “welcome”), Scottish-born Jock Zonfrillo is creating an Australian cuisine from the ground up, with native ingredients foraged from the rainforests of Queensland to the escarpments of the Kimberley ranges. Dishes such as Coorong mulloway with native cherries and sea parsley, and cured wagyu brisket with riberries, are as much about harmony and grace as they are about provenance. “Each dish tastes, smells and looks like an interpretation of the great Australian

‘We are not bound by tradition, so we have a freedom with our cuisine like no other nation does’

landscape,” says Zonfrillo, whose mission is to establish sustainable markets for Aboriginal communities.

In Melbourne, Attica, run by chef Ben Shewry, is the highest Australian entry on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list for 2015, and with good reason. Shewry’s evocative tasting menu includes salted red kangaroo with bunya bunya nuts, marron with lilly pilly (riberry), and crisp-fried Port Phillip Bay mussels with sea succulents.

Not all restaurants are high end, though. At Billy Kwong in Sydney, Kylie Kwong celebrates her Chinese-Australian heritage with Aussie-Chinese food that includes baked wallaby buns with Davidson plum sauce and deep-fried John Dory with XO chilli sauce, samphire and sea parsley.

It’s an exciting time for Australian food; one with rewards at every level. Small wonder savvy food-lovers are heading to Australia, eager to taste the newest – and the oldest – cuisine on the planet.

Austravel (0808 163 6126; austravel.com) offers an 11-day Sydney to Brisbane package from £1,589 per person including car hire, 10 nights’ accommodation and return flights with Etihad Airways (etihad.com). ultratravel 65

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AustrAliA, licked Take six great chefs, place them in Australia, then ask them to choose their favourite restaurants. The result is a mouth-watering and essential tick-list for any foodie going to Oz. Interviews by James Steen

Queensland

Luke Rayment

food for the soul. adelaide is jumping with new

Hadleigh troy’s tasting menu changes depending

places, but a must-visit is my South african mate

on the availability of produce and the vibe in the

Duncan Welgemoed’s Africola (africola.com.au).

kitchen. It’s always a treat. In murray Street, Nao

He brings a fantastic mix of flavours from his home

(00 618 9325 2090) is a Japanese restaurant with

town to a buzzing restaurant/bar. For coffee with

a cult following. Great hot bowls of tasty ramen

a side of sarcasm, I go to Hey Jupiter (00 618 4160

with aromatic aromas tease you as you wait. BMT

5072), which does the best pulled-pork sandwich

Vietnamese (00 618 6161 9049) is a surprising

– christophe, who owns it, is a local personality.

little café in the newpark mall, a must for banh mi

In the Barossa Valley, Fino Seppeltsfield (seppeltsfield.com.au) is beautiful, with alfresco

thit (a Vietnamese meat roll): super-tasty fast food. no trip to Wa is complete without a visit to a

dining and, naturally, a pretty good wine list: it is

winery restaurant. cullen, Leeuwin, Vasse Felix –

Hailed as the Rising Young Chef of Queensland in

a place that makes amazing food in a great winery.

the region is home to many of our finest wineries.

2001, Luke Rayment has been cooking in London

Hentley Farm (hentleyfarm.com.au) in mcLaren

two years ago I cooked at Voyager Estate (voyager

since 2006, and is now executive chef at Soho House

Vale, run by Lachlan colwill, is, to me, South

estate.com.au) during the margaret River Gourmet

australia’s best restaurant in a winery. Finally,

escape food festival. this year I am honoured to be

I love everything about Cru Bar & Cellar (crubar.

Osteria Sanso (osteriasanso.com.au) in kanmantoo

cooking alongside tetsuya Wakuda at Knee Deep

com) on James Street in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane:

is a taste of tuscany; eugenio Sanso brings old-

(kneedeepwines.com.au). I can’t wait to go back.

its drinks list, superb cocktails, chilled vibe and the

school glamour to the area. He’s the real deal.

food. also on James Street is Gerard’s Bistro

the northern territory also has great restaurants.

(gerardsbistro.com.au), whose menu, designed

In Darwin, try Pee Wee’s at the Point (peewees.

around the sharing concept, is inventive and

com.au) for its banana prawns, blue swimmer crab,

diverse. Beccofino (beccofino.com.au) in teneriffe

kangaroo carpaccio and barramundi – and the

specialises in simplicity – the pizza and pasta are

timor Sea view. at Hanuman in Darwin (hanuman.

as good as any in Italy. It has the perfect vibe on

com.au), check out Jimmy Shu’s jungle curry of

a busy night. I’ll always have fond memories of

beef and his prawns with ginger and coconut.

Il Centro (il-centro.com.au) as I’ve worked there

New South Wales

twice. It serves really good Italian cuisine, the views

Lennox HaStIe

over Brisbane River and Story Bridge are amazing, the service is polished, and you know you’re in for a good meal when it has a signature dish of sand-

After stints in Michelin-starred restaurants including

crab lasagne. Frog ’N’ Toad (00 617 3371 7823) in

Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Lennox Hastie went

auchenflower is my guilty pleasure. I head there for

back to Australia in 2011, and back to culinary basics.

a “burger with the lot”. and it is a lot!

At Firedoor in the Surry Hills of New South Wales, he is known as “the fireman”, as he cooks on wood coals,

Western Australia

SHane oSBoRn

using different woods for different dishes In Sydney a favourite is The Bridge Room (the

Shane Osborn made his name in Britain by winning

bridgeroom.com.au), which serves exemplary

two Michelin stars as chef patron of Pied à Terre in

australian food with influences from asia and

London. Today he creates elegant dishes with a

europe. Ross Lusted cooks passionately, with

Scandinavian influence at Arcane in Hong Kong

incredible attention to detail and clean flavours

I grew up in Perth and got out of there as fast as

opera House, Peter Gilmore’s Bennelong

possible to travel and (as a young chef) taste the

(bennelong.com.au) captures where the australian

seasonal produce and work in the michelin kitchens

food scene is at the moment: celebrating its

Glasgow-born Jock Zonfrillo trained with Marco

of europe. I’ve learnt a lot, and have come to see

multicultural diversity and the best ingredients. It’s

Pierre White, among other chefs, in Britain. Then he

what was on my doorstep the whole time. Western

an iconic space and elegant room, and the menu

discovered an enduring love of native Australian

australia offers some of the greatest produce in

is well conceived. Dishes include grilled Lady elliot

produce, which he cooks to perfection at Orana and

the world. michelin-starred iconic restaurants from

Island bug, fermented chilli, organic turnips and

Street ADL, his acclaimed restaurants in Adelaide

the French Laundry in california to the Fat Duck in

radishes; and Flinders Island salt-grass lamb with

the uk use truffles from this region. the seafood is

broad beans, Jerusalem artichokes, nasturtiums,

South australia is a one-stop shop of incredible

some of the best, and my chef buddies can’t

kale and anchovy salt. I love LuMi (lumidining.com)

produce, such as scallops off kangaroo Island, and

believe their first taste of marron, a type of crayfish.

in Pyrmont for its Italian food with a Japanese

big fat mulloway fish from the coorong estuary. It’s

the forests and coastline offer a bounty of wild and

twist. It does inventive, refined food that packs a

a celebration of seasonality. to grab its energy, hit

native ingredients; it’s a chef’s larder.

punch – the stinging-nettle chitarra is one of the

Jock ZonFRILLo

the Adelaide Central Market and discover all the

Lalla Rookh (lallarookh.com.au) in Perth typifies

best things I’ve put in my mouth. I also recommend

small producers who represent the best Sa has to

australia, serving up modern Italian food using

Tomah Gardens Restaurant at the Blue mountains

offer. I love Lucia’s: the smell of sweet, herby Italian

fantastic Wa produce. For something more elegant,

Botanic Garden (bluemountainsbotanicgarden.

sugo takes me back to my Italian family – fabulous

try Restaurant Amusé (restaurantamuse.com.au):

com.au). With outstanding views, it is the perfect

66 ultratravel

Ben mcGee/StuDIo-GRam

that remain true to the ingredients. In the Sydney

South Australia and the Northern Territory

A TASTE OF THE OLD COUNTRY Duncan Welgemoed’s Africola, in Adelaide: a buzzy restaurant and bar with a South African flavour NORTHERN TERRITORY QUEENSLAND WESTERN AUSTRALIA

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

NEW SOUTH WALES VICTORIA

TASMANIA

place to relax over lunch. Sean Moran (from Sean’s

and barramundi burgers, which you could follow by

Panorama at Bondi) has a beautiful rustic menu

a game of bowls. In a Windsor backstreet, Saigon

using local produce such as kohlrabi with fingerlimes

Sally (saigonsally.com.au) is a contemporary

and blueberry scones with honey butter. Food

Vietnamese restaurant, whose sharing “buffet” is

cooked with fire always tastes better, and Ester

excellent value and whose kingfish ceviche is

(ester-restaurant.com.au) in Chippendale nails it.

exceptional. Proud Mary Café (proudmarycoffee.

Its killer wine list and laid-back atmosphere also

com.au) in Fitzroy is ideal for cake and great coffee.

make it a Sydney stalwart. In Paddington 10 William Street (10williamst.com.au) has a cracking wine list, buzzy atmosphere and inventive small dishes – a refreshing riff on casual Italian bar food.

Tasmania

Clare SMYth Raised on a farm near Bushmills in Northern Ireland,

Victoria

Sat BaInS

Smyth says her diet always included potatoes. Now chef patron of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea, London, she is the first and only British woman to hold

He has two Michelin stars at Restaurant Sat Bains

three Michelin stars, and has an MBE to boot

with Rooms in Nottingham, and is adored by his rivals, who awarded him Chefs’ Chef of the Year 2009.

last year, on a tour of australia as part of the

Come November, Bains will be at the Margaret River

restaurant australia campaign, we ate exceptionally

Gourmet Escape food festival in Western Australia

well at every stop. If you visit Melbourne, Vue de Monde (vuedemonde.com.au) is a must. I fell in

I love Supernormal (supernormal.net.au) in

love with tasmania: it is lush, mountainous and the

Melbourne. It’s large, loud and bustling, with an

produce is unbelievably good. It’s mostly about

open kitchen and good wine list. andrew McConnell

rustic eating, with the excitement of exploring

serves mountains of oysters, steamed pork buns,

what’s on offer from artisan producers. at the

and slow-cooked Szechuan lamb. Gazi (gazi

saffron farm Tas-saff (tas-saff.com.au) at Glaziers

restaurant.com.au), owned by George Calombaris,

Bay, terry and nicky noonan started with about

is always busy serving Greek “tapas”. The Town

five bulbs and now produce the best saffron I’ve

Mouse (thetownmouse.com.au) is a small

tasted. the region’s wine includes extremely good

neighbourhood restaurant – benches, stools and

pinot noir, and sparkling wines from makers such

good-quality, reasonably priced small eats. In South

as Jansz (jansz.com.au), whose vines thrive in the

Melbourne, The Kettle Black (thekettleblack.com.

free-draining basalt soils in the Pipers river region.

au) is excellent for a good breakfast, brunch, lunch

In Derwent Valley there’s the beautiful Westerway

and coffee (it closes at 4pm), with outside space

Raspberry Farm (lanoma.com.au), run by the Clark

and relaxed service. Get there early! there’s just

family. Bruny Island Cheese Company (brunyisland

one place for the finest succulent steak: Rockpool

cheese.com.au) produces award-winning cheeses

Bar & Grill (rockpool.com/rockpoolbarandgrill

such as tom, Otto and nanna. Its owner nick

melbourne) in the Crown Complex. a ribeye on the

haddow’s story is familiar to others in tas: chefs

bone, done on the wood-fired grill, is about £30.

and food producers from all corners of the globe

Pope Joan (popejoan.com.au), meanwhile, is good

head there to open restaurants and businesses.

for breakfast (the porridge includes parsnip, prune

It’s hip and, hey, there are farms that feed cattle

and smoked maple), lunch or dinner and has an

entirely on grass – no grain! tasmania feels like

outside area. as for bars, I like Gin Palace (ginpalace.

a step back in time, with a gentle pace, but is also

com.au) and Arbory (arbory.com.au) at Flinders

“on trend”, delivering the types of food you might

Street Station. Eau de Vie (eaudevie.com.au) has

expect to find only in expensive city restaurants.

no signage, but has a fabulous cocktail list and is a

hobart, the capital, has a pretty harbour with

cool place. Shannon Bennett’s Piggery Café (piggery

plenty of restaurants such as Henry’s (thehenry

cafe.com.au) at Burnham Beeches is on a farm in

jones.com). at Ethos (ethoseatdrink.com),

the Dandenong ranges, next to Yarra Valley, an

which celebrates the region’s food and serves

hour’s drive from Melbourne. It has a family feel,

home-made charcuterie, we had a fantastic feast

with staples such as bread from Shannon’s bakery

of small plates and craft beers.

ultratravel 67

haute cuisine

In Australia, taking a flight to have a meal isn’t an extravagance – it’s often the only way to get there in time. Three correspondents sample the gourmet high

68 ultratravel

IN ASSOCIATION WITH AuSTrAlIA.COm

life by plane, helicopter and balloon, dropping in for tastings and tipples en route

Food to Fly For tours by private plane, hot-air balloon and helicopter offer a chance to sample some of Australia’s finest produce in a day, from award-winning wine to wagyu beef

ultratravel 69

IN ASSOCIATION WITH AuSTrAlIA.COm

FLIGHT of FANTASY Sean Thomas boards a private plane to flit between a breakfast of abalone and samphire on the Mornington coast and a dream picnic at an acclaimed boutique vineyard

I

’m flying from a grey and breezy coast to the sunburnt, tranquil interior. I’m flying from mighty oceanic wilderness towards a serration of hazy blue mountains, passing over one of Australia’s great cities. Most importantly, perhaps, I’m flying in this little private plane from a breakfast of abalone and samphire canapés to a lunchtime picnic featuring the world’s finest goat’s cheese.

It may seem the height of decadence to jump in a plane specifically to eat and drink at my destination.

But three things make this indulgence worthwhile when you’re Down Under. The first is distance: Australia is so big, sometimes you have to get in a jet to find the nearest decent teashop. The second is money: Australia is a rich country. Miners on the Kimberley coast can make £200,000 a year, and Sydney oozes affluence. Lots of people can therefore afford this kind of opulence.

Third: the product. Surveys show that the main reason visitors come back to Australia is because they loved the tucker and grog so much the first time.

They are right. Thanks to its clear seas, Edenic pastures, virgin forests, pollution-free rivers, mix of Asian and European cuisines, and an inventive approach, Australia’s food and wine is world class.

The oysters of Bermagui. The lamb of Tasmania. The wines from Margaret River. And then there’s the abalone, fished from the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria – which I sampled this morning.

To be honest, it wasn’t the most auspicious start. I woke in my bijou chalet on the wild western coastline of the Mornington Peninsula to skies the colour of a discarded oyster shell, and more than a hint of salty rain in the air. And yet it is this capricious maritime climate, given to extremes of cold (from the Antarctic to the south) and heat (when the north wind blows from Australia’s inland deserts), that makes the halfsuburban, half-wild Mornington Peninsula so special for gourmets and tipplers. The fertile soils, blessed with ample rain and sun, are excellent for pinot noirs and whites. Rustling orchards abound, so cider is excellent.

But what about the abalone? An hour after rising I was out on the swell of the Bass Strait with fisherman David Hunt, seeking out this much-desired delicacy. If you’ve never seen an abalone in the wild, my advice is, don’t.

They look like diseased barnacles with elephantiasis.

If, as Jonathan Swift said, it took a brave man to eat the first oyster, then it must have taken an even braver man, probably also blind drunk and two hours from a hungry death, to snack on an abalone.

Despite their looks, abalone fetch a high price. As we bobbed around the chilly waters, I inquired of Hunt how

70 ultratravel

much he could make fishing them. “In the old days $20,000 a day,” he sighed. “Now it’s barely half that.

I did say Australia was prosperous. Even the molluscgatherers are millionaires.

Because we had to be in the Yarra Valley by lunchtime, the morning’s fishing was truncated, and we briskly repaired to the beach for breakfast, prepared by chef Julian Hills from the Paringa Estate. Hills dived in and out of sandy shrubs, delivering sea spinach, warrigal greens, rock samphire, beach parsley and “pigface succulents”. Then, as we knocked back crisp Mornington Peninsula wines – such as Garagiste Merricks Chardonnay – Hills turned these foraged veggies into delicate nibbles, served with fine raw slices of that very ugly abalone. Yep, delicious.

I then jumped in a car with Tim Wildman of Vineyard Safaris, and headed to tiny Tyabb Airport. And here I am, soaring over Melbourne in a little scarlet aeroplane like a middle-aged gourmet James Bond. Wildman, who is a Master of Wine, devised the idea of this fly-and-dine adventure. As we descend to Lilydale Airport in the Yarra he explains his philosophy. “It doesn’t get much more special than flying from one landscape to another, sampling the best food and wine. But I also want my guests to meet the people behind the products.”

After we touch down, Wildman takes me on a viticultural and culinary whirlwind of a tour. I meet Sam Middleton in his vineyard, where he creates the great Quintet Cabernet Sauvignon blend. I try some William Downie Gippsland Pinot Noir with its maker. I sample gin at the Melbourne Gin Company with genius distiller Andrew Marks.

And then we have our picnic. And what a picnic: of Healesville olives, green tomato salad and smoked paprika, fresh local trout, brochettes of tender marinated lamb hearts, plus that amazing goat’s cheese (Holy Goat La Luna, made in Victoria). And all of it washed down with Thousand Candles 2013 red (one of the best wines I’ve ever tasted) and all of it enjoyed on the slopes of the Thousand Candles estate: a vast scoop of empty valley under a flawlessly blue Australian sky.

Vineyard Safaris’ (0061 428 920 355; vineyardsafaris.com) one-day wine tours with a Master of Wine cost from £370.

Austravel (0808 163 6126; austravel.com) offers a six-day Melbourne Gourmet Safari package from £1,395, including car hire, five nights’ accommodation, hot-air balloon and wine tours and Etihad Airways flights (etihad.com).

Flights from London, Manchester and Edinburgh via Abu Dhabi to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, cost from £655 per person.

the Yarra ValleY bY hot-air balloon

By Olly Smith

S

nakes didn’t spring to mind when I signed up to go hot-air

tease out their treasure for the UK shelves. With the world eerily

ballooning at dawn. But after piling sleepily into the back of

gathering beneath us, we were the birds’ eyes over the lush Yarra

a utility vehicle and rattling across the retreating sleek edge of the

Valley and Dandenong Ranges, the pastures of Yarra Valley Dairy

Australian night, our briefing began. Like a crack troop, albeit a

and the orchards of the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery.

yawning one who’d never trained together before, we were

All too soon the spell lifted, the basket dropped and, with

warned that the cool fields at dawn may harbour silent slithering

a semi-dignified bump, I clambered out of my temporary wicker

foes. I think the larrikin driving us did this because he could see

sky-home and kissed the ground. On all fours, I half expected

that I was the only idiot wearing sandals and was also the only

to spot a grinning Aussie snake ready to bite the Pom. But

person in the vehicle with a film crew for ITV’s This Morning.

all I saw was Yarra Valley, bathed in golden light, and vineyards,

Unfurling the balloon over its flame is the closest I’m ever

ripe for exploring.

going to get to feeling like a toasted teacake – lovely, incidentally.

As it drifted upward, the towering balloon slowly ruffled into

Global Ballooning (0061 3 9428 5703; globalballooning.com.au)

shape. I clambered into the basket and, as I rose over a ghostly

offers a range of packages departing from Rochford Winery before

treeline, the world stopped. Or rather, it began. You move with the

dawn. Landings can be followed with wine-tasting excursions,

wind, which means it feels breathlessly still even though you

gourmet tours, cider and ale trails. A day trip, including breakfast at

might be travelling faster than a bounding kangaroo. And, as our

Rochford Wines, lunch at Yering Station, and visits to five wineries

captain silently pulled ropes and twisted valves, Yarra Valley

(Coldstream Hills, Domaine Chandon, Yering Station and De Bortoli

emerged beneath us in a streak of astonishing purple. Its

Wines) costs A$575/£268 per person.

vineyards, row by row, stood to attention on morning parade

‘Drinking For Chaps: How to Choose One’s Booze’ by Gustav Temple

where some of my favourite winemakers such as Mac Forbes

and Olly Smith, is published on October 22 by Kyle Books

FLOAT ON A hot-air balloon rises over the hushed, misty Yarra Valley early in the morning. Inset, opposite: Holy Goat cheese and charcuterie from Victoria

ultratravel 71

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$%7$ 1R :

Helicopter pub crawl

By Sean Thomas

D

arwin, Australia. It’s barely 6am and dawn is a pale blue rumour on the horizon. And

as I rub the sleep from my eyes I realise I am fulfilling a dream: I’m waking up next to a very beautiful Chinese television starlet.

It’s not quite how I imagined it, though. In my fantasies I figured we’d be in the same bedroom.

Yet here we are in the same minibus, surrounded by her television crew, who are all similarly half-awake, thanks to the early start.

That said, there is something to perk us up.

We’re all here because we’re headed for a ridiculously appealing adventure. A helicopter

wagyu beef adventure

pub crawl. Yes, a day spent choppering from

By Tricia Welsh

tavern to tavern. airport, climb into two different helicopters and

T

flit up into the wilds. The choppers are doorless

winery, then jetting on for a wagyu-beef masterclass and four-course

and windowless. Only our safety belts are

lunch at Mayura Station. And for dessert? A flight back to Melbourne

stopping us from falling out of the sky and into

over the Twelve Apostles, arriving back just in time for dinner.

Moments later, we park at a dusty suburban

his must be the best long lunch in Australia: flying by private jet

from Melbourne to Coonawarra in South Australia, visiting Wynns

the sluggish, glittery, croc-infested rivers of the

John Dyer of Air Adventure clearly thinks outside the box.

coastal Northern Territory.

This innovative air touring company, established by his late father,

The day begins well. Our first touchdown is

Rod, has been operating for nearly 40 years in the Australian outback

on to an actual river-beach – and no matter how

and Africa. Originally farmers in Hamilton, the Dyers now farm

blasé you are, it doesn’t get much funkier than

in Victoria’s Western District while taking gourmands out on their

landing a helicopter on a beach and running out

increasingly popular air adventures.

under the whirling blades, just to go and drink cold Coopers Pale Ale in an airy wooden hunter’s lodge.

Unless, that is, the next stop is even better.

Already a bit squiffy from the beers, we peer out of the racing choppers across the green rainforests. Where is the next pub? Underwater?

Suddenly, we dive down from the blue, swooping

It’s an hour’s flight from Essendon Airport to Coonawarra, where going up on board the chopper for a pub crawl (top left), stopping at goat island (above left). Air Adventure’s private plane (top) stops at Mayura Station for a meal of wagyu beef (above) and a masterclass (below)

we transfer to Wynns Coonawarra Estate, the oldest and largest winery in the vine-covered region famed for its mineral-rich soil.

Following a tour of the cellars, we don lab coats and, under the guidance of winemaker Sarah Pidgeon, create red-wine blends to our own liking, using cabernet sauvignon, shiraz and merlot.

We fly farther south to Mayura Station, established in 1845, to lunch on exceptional estate-grown wagyu beef. Mayura’s herd

on a clearing in the jungle. Wild buffalo scatter

started with just 25 heifers and four bulls imported in 1997.

from the noise. I feel like a Vietnam war

Today, with 6,000 head of cattle on 3,240 hectares, it is the largest

correspondent – only with more vodka.

100 per cent full-blood wagyu cattle station outside Japan.

Scampering from the chopper we tramp

Chef Mark Wright prepares lunch in an open teppanyaki-style

through rampant greenery to a beery hotel, Goat

kitchen restaurant. He has two cuts of prime steak ready to chargrill:

Island, owned by a fabulously drunken

large cubes of rump and thick slivers of oyster blade. What he calls a

Dutchman who keeps a loaded gun on the bar

“mystery box” that is already roasting in the oven turns out

and dispenses fine sauvignon blanc to boozy

to be a huge melt-in-the-mouth rib-eye that feeds all 10 of us easily.

weekend barramundi fishermen.

Luscious wines, including a Rymill Shiraz 1993, Zema Estate Cluny

“The gun is for the crocs,” he says.

“Sometimes they get a bit friendly.”

After that, I confess it becomes a bit of a blur.

But a wonderful blur. Hic.

1998 and a 2002 “Grande Reserve” Cabernet Sauvignon by Patrick of Coonawarra, flow freely before a dessert of vanilla panna cotta.

Before flying off, we stop by a huge barn where the pampered cattle are grain-fed for up to 12 months. Here, we learn the secret

guy lavoipierre

ingredient in their diet: 3lb of chocolate each day, which goes some A Heli Pub Tour can be booked through Airborne

way to explaining why steak and red wine are such a perfect match.

Solutions (0061 8 8972 2345; airbornesolutions. com.au) for A$895/£417 per person per day, for

Air Adventure (0061 3 5572 1371; airadventure.com.au) offers the

a seven-hour tour, excluding alcoholic drinks.

all-inclusive Great Wagyu Adventure from AU$1,000/£475 per person.

ultratravel 73

IN ASSOCIATION WITH AuSTrAlIA.COm

G O UR M E T dR iv E

Meals onWHeels

Sometimes the best way to sample a region’s produce is to motor through it, stopping to snack and sip along the way. Daniel Scott gets behind the wheel from Albany to Margaret River, while Olivia Palamountain sits back in style in the Queen’s Daimler in Barossa

W

estern Australia’s southern corner is made Down the valley, at nearby Castle Rock Estate for a self-drive holiday, with near-empty (castlerockestate.com.au), vigneron Rob Diletti can roads curling through vine-clad coastal trace his family history back to Lucca in Tuscany. The hills and forests in which some of the unassuming Diletti, who makes some of Australia’s top planet’s tallest and oldest trees grow. It is also a region rieslings, is establishing a strong reputation and has in which to fall in love (again) with Australian wine, been named by the Australian wine authority James from the fine rieslings being produced near Albany, Halliday as Winemaker of the Year 2015. “Vineyard where I begin my journey, to the world-class cabernet management,” Diletti comments, “is about getting it sauvignons and chardonnays of Margaret River, at my right for the site, not just doing things to a recipe.” He’s journey’s end. And all along the way, there are natural clearly got it right with a superb 2013 Reserve Riesling. and historical highlights, fresh inventive food and, just Following Albany, my next stop is the Valley of the as importantly for the waistline, thrilling national parks Giants in the Walpole-Nornalup National Park, where in which to walk off any overindulgence. ranger Julie Ewing guides visitors along an ancient trail, In the likeable seaside city of Albany, my exploration which occasionally goes through the hollow buttresses takes me into the community’s past, as well as its of magnificent giant tingle trees, some 250ft tall and up present. Founded in 1826, the town is the oldest to 500 years old. The path has been used for centuries permanent settlement in Western Australia. Its natural by the Noongar Aboriginals, who have lived in this area deepwater harbour provided a gateway to WA’s for some 38,000 years and believe the trees hold the goldfields in the 19th century, and it also played a spirits of their ancestors (as well as a variety of endemic significant role during the First World creatures, including the phascogale: a tiny War, being the last port of call for marsupial whose rather unfortunate male AUSTRALIA Australian and New Zealand troops: a fact dies of stress after mating). Having had Cape Lodge that is recognised in the National Anzac our hearts broken, we’re then led (for light Margaret River Centre, which opened last year. relief) on to the 131ft-high Tree Top Walk, Leeuwin Estate Unlike most museums, here each Porongurups a raised platform that stretches like an Pemberton visitor is allocated an individual soldier enormous Meccano set through the forest from the time with whom to experience canopy, offering views not just within the Albany the war. Mine was Gordon Naley, whose trees but above them, too.

50 miles story was particularly poignant. Naley, an Back down to earth, and after a sublime Aboriginal man who survived Gallipoli, was taken to drive through 80 miles of sun-smudged karri and jarrah London in 1915 to convalesce from typhoid and, in 1916, forests, the small rural town of Pemberton comes into was sent back to fight on the Western Front. Eventually, view. Here, among more towering forests, the 200ft after being held prisoner in Germany, he settled back in Gloucester Tree stands out, a rickety ladder bolted into South Australia, dying, aged 44, of a war-related illness. its trunk leading to the summit. Gripping the rungs With Naley’s life reeling through my mind, I head to with trembling hands, I feel like Jack clambering the the Porongurups, a succession of granite bluffs to the beanstalk toward the giant’s lair. How I make the north. In Porongurup National Park a trail leads up Castle treetop platform I’ll never know, but my giddy ascent Rock to the Granite Skywalk, a suspended metal walkway is rewarded by views over the forest canopy all the way ranged around several giant tors. Fifty-five million years to coastal sand dunes. ago, these peaks formed part of an island surrounded It’s indisputably time for calmer pursuits. by ocean; looking down from the walkway, over waves Fortunately, the Margaret River region, which produces of mist billowing up the hills, I could almost picture it. more than 20 per cent of Australia’s premium wine from There are equally dramatic views in the foothills of three per cent of the country’s grapes, is a few hours’ the Porongurups, where an impressive wine region is drive away. emerging, making the most of mineral-rich soils to Extending some 85 miles between two capes produce intensely flavoured cool-climate wines. The (Naturaliste in the north and Leeuwin to the south) and vines straddle the slopes of a mist-filled valley in which encompassing more than 200 vineyards, a dramatic the 165-acre Ironwood (ironwoodestatewines.com.au) is granite coastline, 150 limestone caves and more karri based. This vineyard is named after the Michigan town forests, it’s difficult to know where to start when visiting at the heart of Hiawatha country from where its this region. Its wealth of sophisticated accommodation winemaking owner, Eugene Harma, hails, and and fine restaurants only adds to the conundrum. But, mementos of his hometown and of the legendary Native having visited Margaret River many times, I’ve learnt American chief litter the cellar door. that the way to solve this dilemma is with a “less-is76 ultratravel

perfect pitstops (clockwise from top left) Marron at cape Lodge; Walpole treetop walk; Leeuwin chardonnay and outdoor restaurant; beach at Margaret river; Michael elfwing, chef at cape Lodge

more” approach. So this time, I confine myself to two wineries: Vasse Felix, the region’s first, set up by Perth cardiologist Dr Thomas Cullity in 1967, and Leeuwin Estate, another of the pioneers. Both are popular with visitors, offering a combination of fine wine, gourmet food, art exhibitions and concerts, as well as tours (ultimatewineryexperiences.com.au).

The four-hour cellar experience at Vasse Felix (vassefelix.com.au) takes in every part of the winery and wine-making process, led by Virginia Willcock, the 2012 Australian winemaker of the year. Naturally, there is a chance to taste the results of the picking, which is done early in the morning to maintain the vibrancy of the flavour, as well as to sit in the shade and enjoy a three-course lunch. Here, treats range from charcuterie plate and local marron (a freshwater crayfish) with mushroom, radish and nasturtium to pork with Jerusalem artichoke, pear and seaweed.

And there is more near-religious gastronomic ecstasy to come, at the glamorous Cape Lodge (capelodge.com.au). Set beside a lake and in its own vineyard near the coast, its rooms are spacious and stylish, and its restaurant a real winner. A change of executive chef, to Swedish-born Michael Elfwing, who worked with Heston Blumenthal at The Fat Duck, ensures a sublime degustation dinner, again including marron – this time with quail’s eggs and dill sauce, artichoke hearts and thyme sauce.

Heading on my final day towards Perth it’s no chore to be back on the wine trail, this time with an aesthetic slant, at Leeuwin Estate (leeuwinestate.com.au). While enjoying a glass of brut in the winery’s art gallery, I admire canvases from remote indigenous communities, some Sidney Nolan paintings and John Olsen’s “Frogs in Riesling”. My Czech-Australian guide, Stepan Libricky, tutors me expertly through a “flight” of five Art Series wines, with accompanying entrées conjured by the executive chef Dany Angove.

Libricky has a strong line in regal imagery, introducing a $100 chardonnay as “the queen of wines, very powerful and elegant”, and the cabernet sauvignon as “like Prince William, the future King”.

Then, as we savour a royal feast, he pronounces the marriage of crumbly, flaky red emperor fish and the “queen” chardonnay to be “a match made in heaven”.

Although his phrasing is slightly over the top, I’m inclined to agree. And, as I drive away, I’m half-inclined to give Leeuwin Estate a monarchic wave of approval.

Austravel (0808 163 6126; austravel.com) offers an eight-day Perth Gourmet Drive package from £1,149 per person, including car hire, seven nights’ accommodation and return flights with Etihad Airways (etihad.com). ultratravel 77

IN ASSOCIATION WITH AUSTRALIA.COm

a bite of barossa

S

By Olivia Palamountain

peak to any Australian and they’ll tell

produces exquisite small-batch wines. At a tasting,

you with fondness that Barossa

I’m immediately sold on the Paradox, an inky 2010

people are “different”. Take a seat in

shiraz of mixed spice and violets with blueberry hints.

the Daimler belonging to John

Next up on our road trip is Hentley Farm, voted

Baldwin, a local guide, and it’s nigh on

2015’s Winery of the Year by Australia’s Halliday

impossible not to fall in love. Not only

Wine Companion. Within restored stables dating

is his car – a restored original used by the Queen on

from the 1880s, local lad and head chef Lachlan

her 1963 tour of Australia – an absolute beauty, but

Colwill serves inspired, imaginative food ranging

Baldwin is also a glorious eccentric, like a characterful

from a mango-yoghurt pudding, designed to look

Aussie uncle you never realised you were missing.

like a boiled egg and served in a real eggshell, to a

With Baldwin at the helm of the Daimler (and

signature dish of oysters and rosemary, the scent of

me doing my best regal impression in the back), we

which comes alive with the addition of dry ice.

are touring the Barossa Valley in style. This glorious

Baldwin wangles us a table, but not before I’ve

stretch of South Australia lies around 30 miles

tasted two of the star wines on offer, evocatively

north-east of Adelaide, and can lay claim to being

named “Beauty” and “The Beast”. Ever the sucker for

both one of the country’s premier wine regions

a bad boy, I pick up a bottle of The Beast.

and one of its most beautiful.

There’s little that Baldwin doesn’t know about

Although within stumbling distance of Hentley Farm is Seppeltsfield Vineyard Cottage, a cute

this part of the world and, as we cruise through

couples retreat perfect for a weekend of solitude, I

acres of rolling countryside precisely laid with vines,

head to The Louise, where each suite has a terrace,

he fills me in. The first thing to appreciate about the

fireplace and outdoor rainshower. Designed by a

Barossa Valley is its food and drink. As well as its

Californian couple looking for a Napa vibe, it’s the

wines – most famously its big, bold shiraz – the

sort of glamorous place you might want to hunker

valley is renowned among gourmets for its regional

down on honeymoon, before wandering to its

produce, sold at pitstops such as Maggie Beer’s

destination dining spot, Appellation, which serves

Farm Shop (owned by Australia’s answer to Delia

locally and seasonally driven dishes such as Port

Smith) and its restaurants, such as the renowned

Lincoln bluefin tuna with air-dried ham and lemon

FermentAsian. The second thing to appreciate is that,

marmalade, and pan-fried Gawler River quail with

although Baldwin is as passionate about booze as he

bitter leaves and roasted hazelnut dressing.

is about driving, he doesn’t mix the two. Thankfully.

There’s no time for me to hang about, though.

A quick snoop in the tiny town of Angaston

Next morning Baldwin is ready to whisk me off to try

confirms there’s much gastro-gold in these hills, from

something extra special at Seppeltsfield. This cellar

Casa Carboni, an Italian cooking school and enoteca,

houses the Centennial Collection, the world’s oldest

to the Barossa Valley Cheese Company and Schulz

and only range of consecutive Vintage Tawny since

Butchers, founded in 1939 and renowned for its

1878. I try both a slug from a barrel from 1985 (the

traditional curing and smoking methods. The Apex

year I was born) and a nip of the 1885, watching with

Bakery, up the road in Tanunda, is another delight:

awe as a phial of liquid gold is extracted, and

a family business since 1924, this bakery still churns

presented to me with reverence. It tastes ambrosial.

out the same-recipe sourdoughs, pies and pasties

Later on there is less theatre to be found at the

from its Scotch oven as it did nearly 100 years ago.

smaller, modern vineyards, such as Torbreck Wines

These aren’t the only historical success stories of

(tipped by Baldwin as the next big thing), but the

the Barossa. The vine stocks are among the oldest

produce – and producers – are no less impressive.

on earth, brought over by German immigrants

Indeed, the Barossa folk I’ve come across really are

fleeing religious persecution some 170 years ago –

a different breed: passionate, warm and more than

thus saving them from disease that wiped out many

a little quirky. There’s definitely magic in the vines.

European vines in the 19th century. With around 50 wineries in the region, it would be hard to know

John Baldwin’s Daimler tours (0061 8 8524 9047;

where to start without some expert guidance, but as

barossadaimlertours.com.au) cost from £225 for a

it happens I do recognise the name of our first stop.

half-day. Austravel (0808 163 6126; austravel.com)

Yalumba is well known in the UK for its accessible

offers a nine-day Adelaide food trip from £1,789,

plonk, but this pretty estate – at 166 years old, the

including car hire, eight nights’ accommodation, and

oldest family-owned vineyard in the country – also

return Etihad Airways flights (etihad.com).

78 ultratravel

vine, all vine John Baldwin with one of his two renovated 1962 Daimlers in Barossa and outside Ch창teau Tanunda (top left) Photograph CinDY Fan

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