WINESPEAKE CELLAR + DELI Jen Latta
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number of things happened in March. We all know about the COVID lockdowns. But the other was the beginning of vintage for our local winemakers. Grapes had to be picked, and it’s not possible to delay…even a day. Conversations about unpaid bills, bar and restaurant closures across the board, the overnight loss of income for family businesses… these discussions had to wait. The grapes were ready. Regardless of the whiplash, our local producers (and the rest of us!) felt from COVID, the vast majority in our region look back on vintage 2020 fondly. When I asked local winemaker Owen Latta of Eastern Peake & Latta Vino why, the response was, “it was a return to the days of my childhood, where friends and family would come together to pick the grapes and work the vintage. It was amazing to see our community pull together to get the grapes off the vines. There was laughter in the vineyard and such an upbeat feeling despite the uncertainty. The hard work and generosity of our comrades is what I’ll remember most about the 2020 vintage.” It’s this tenacity and passion I see from all our local growers and producers that is the inspiration behind my new store in Daylesford, ‘winespeake cellar + deli’. The purpose is to create a wine and cheese haven, while highlighting little-known producers
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from around the region and the world. Unbelievable doggedness and pure joy for what they do; that’s the attitude from all the producers I stock in the store, and that’s what I want to showcase to visitors. It’s not just a bottle of wine; it’s people behind the product. It’s knowing you’re supporting hardworking families. It’s knowing you’re consuming a product that hasn’t been worked to within an inch of its life. It hasn’t been fined, filtered, tinkered with. It’s been left alone to represent the excellent land on which it’s grown. As well-known Bindi winemaker Michael Dhillon says, “we want to see ‘land not hand’ in wine”. If you’re conscientious about what you eat and drink, winespeake is the perfect jumping-off point to discovering the region’s gems. And what’s the perfect pairing with wine? Cheese of course! The exceptional and diverse deli selection follows the same ethos on which the wines are chosen - small producers doing wonderful things without the constraints of upscale commercial production. Prepare to discover things you won’t find in any supermarket chain. We can’t wait for you to visit. Come and see what we’ve been up to this year. It’s time to pour something celebratory into your glass. @winespeake.com.au Photo: Karen Brothers Photography
