It's a Beautiful Day...

I've been working so hard to fund my holidays and to ensure I have some sort of income while I whizz around USA/Canada in a few weeks time that I have hardly had any weekends. It's a sad affair really, because I feel as though I never leave work. It's almost like I'm camping there.

 I was lucky enough to have been surprised by my boy on a Sunday a few weeks back (the one day where both of us weren't working!) and it was such a lovely sunny Sunday too (it rained and poured the day before!). We drove down and out east to Jarrahdale where we had lovely lunch at Millbrook Winery. 

It took us about 45 minutes to one hour to get there, but it was worth the drive. The roads and the scenery changed so quickly, it's like we've further than we have, after all we are still in the metropolitan area (this is all the result of urban sprawl - the line between country and city blurs). I also love that about Perth, you don't have to travel hours and hours to get to a winery and relax it can be done in a day. 

Obligatory car photo, whilst I get chauffeured by my boy

The grounds of Millbrook Winery was so beautiful, the boy couldn't help but practice his photography skills. I must say he has improved and we actually did get a few decent photos.

Wearing:

Dress: Guess

Shoes: Vangoh Shoes

Bag: Present from years and years ago

Hat: Vintage

Jewellery: From Aunties ex. Burma

What do you think? How did he go? Don't worry we didn't just hang out in the green lawns of Millbrook Winery (although we probably should have lingered longer). We also did some wine tasting and then climbed some stairs to go and have beautiful lunch. The food will have to be on another write-up.

Wine and dine made by Australian Chefs

I feel so horribly bad that this post has been almost 3 months late! It has just been horrible couple of months with work being crazy and life just going at the speed of light.

 

But I believe that when you have two special bottles of wine it should be opened up and poured into glasses to drink and share with friends in celebratory hurrahs. So yes, it is late and I'm so grateful that Wine Selectors have supplied me with two beautiful bottles (and have also waited patiently this post and review) for a me to celebrate with my two girlfriends for new house and to an up and coming marriage of our two close friends. 

 

Speaking of marriage, Wine Selectors gave us two bottles from their Chef Series to sample, which united Australia's favourite chefs with premium Australian wines, the marriage of food and wine! Five celebrated Australian chefs - Alastair McLeod, Frank Camorra, Guy Grossi, Ben O'Donoghue and Ian Parmenter spent time drawing on the expertise of Wine Selectors' Tasting Panel and the talent of hand-picked wine producers to adapt and mould the grapes into drops that capture the essence of the chefs' food philosophy. What resulted was beautiful selection of reds, whites and sparklings for the choosing.

 

I opted for a red and a sparkling white from two great Australian chefs. A Pinot Noir designed by Ian Parmenter and Alastair McLeod's designed Chardonnay Pinot Noir Sparkling.

 

 

To complement the wines we had an intimate dinner consisting of homemade lasagne, fetta and bocconcini salad and finished off with homemade apple crumble and custard.  

 

Ian Parmenter's Pinot Noir had a beautiful violet fragrant in a shade of vibrant cherry red. The pinot noir palate was nothing short of magnificent. Smooth, velvety, light tannins with sweetness of cherries. Complex in texture and flavour and so lovely. Such a pleasure to drink! Didn't want to share it with the girls and when it was done it was such a downer, I wanted another bottle. It'd definitely be one that would reward you now or leave it to age gracefully. Either way, BLISS.

 

 

Next bottle to open was the sparkling chardonnay pinot noir designed by chef, Alastair McLeod.

 

 

It opened with a lovely "POP" sound with a pale straw colour with extremely fine bead bubbles that lifts aromas of fresh brioche. The palate is a little bit acidic but has flavours of apple and grains. I thought I lacked the buttery-ness flavours of chardonnay, which I thought was a big lose. Nonetheless, the wine is perfectly balanced by powerful flavours and finesse along with a matched tightness of acid and mouth-filling texture and would benefit from aging.

 

 

 

I had a great night sharing the two bottles with two lovely ladies and of course watching the classic Princess Bride.

 

 

 It was nothing short of a lovely Saturday evening and Wine Selector's chef series is one I would definitely recommend you checking  it out and ordering. They also have other selections of reds, whites and sparklings on their site too. But the Chef Series is only available on their website and not at any outlet at all. I know I will be getting more of Ian Parmenter's Pinot Noir, such a pleasure to drink.

 

 

To order check out: Wine Selector's Chef series here

For other selection of Wine Selectors wines click here

 

Thank you Wine Selector for the two bottles I thoroughly enjoyed it!

 And thank you for your patience!

Wine and Cheese are like Ageless Companions

I have such a soft spot for the Swan Valley, it is only 45 minutes away from the city and whenever you go there you feel like you've taken a mini holiday. It has some pretty cool things to do, such as super golf, mini golf, a wildlife park in the form of Caversham Wildlife Park, not to mention the beer breweries, wineries, chocolate factories (x 2! - Margaret River Chocolate Factory and Whittaker's Chocolate), honey farms, nougat factory, ice creamery and of course a place to indulge in cheese. 

So as you know, a couple of weekends ago I went there for some R & R, well, more so because I was procrastinating doing my much needed to do list and driving around the Valley and stocking up on wines and eating cheese seemed like a better option. We stopped by a couple of wineries and then spent the rest of our time eating cheese at the Cheese Barrel, located on Great Northern Hwy. 

The Cheese Barrel is a place I've been itching to go to for ages (since it opened last year!). But alas, everytime I'm in the Valley, the place is either closed or we've run out of time to go there. Anyway, it stocks many gourmet cheeses from around the world. The purpose build cafe is behind the tranquil vineyard of Olive Farm Wines and overlooks the Susannah Brook. They have a lovely deck/patio area, which was the perfect backdrop to a lovely winter's day or better yet in the warm sunshine of spring and summer. 

The cheese display filled with cheeses from all over the world.. I wanted to buy some but decided against it in the fears that my mum and I would just consume it within minutes of it being home.

The best bit though would have to be their cheese boards and depending on the theme you go for allows you to indulge in a variety of cheesy goodness. We decided to go for their regional boards, in particular the French Cheese Board, because, well, the French know their fromage well. You can however chose to have the UK, Italian, Spanish, or Australian regional boards or hey you may prefer to have a soft cheese or hard cheese or blue cheese board instead (check out the menu here). To top it off, each of their cheese board can be paired with matching wines. Wine and Cheese the perfect ageless companions. Why would you not love this place?

Although it was crisp we decided to sit outdoors and enjoy some of the winter's sun. I love how they have turned out wine barrels into tables, something simple and yet gives it such flare. I wouldn't mind having a few wine barrels as tables for my door are one day. 

I ordered myself a chai latte to warm me up a little. It was possibly one of the nicer chai lattes I've had in a while. Not too milky and the perfect amount of chai flavours through it (usually it's too milky and no chai taste at all). 

Then the best bit came out - the cheeses. Our French Board consisted of four cheeses from four different areas of France. There was the Labuche d’Affinois, a soft white mould, cow’s milk cheese, the Rouzaire Camembert, a hard cheese in the form of Marcel Petite Comté and the Papillion Black Label Roquefort blue cheese. This was accompanied by figs (so yum!), crackers, bread and quince with macadamia nuts through it. 

I actually thought all four were absolutely divine (but then I'm cheese biased.. I love most cheeses, exception of the really smelly ones and the ones with fruits and what not in them that they don't taste like cheese but seem more like dips), even the blue cheese, it wasn't too strong at all.I would have to say though my favourite was the Labuche d'Affionis soft cheese, which was just creamy goodness. If I had more time in the Valley I would love to try their matching wine and cheese set. 

If you ever get a chance, head to the Cheese Barrel, have a cheese and wine board and just take in the fresh air and the rolling green (or it may be yellow-ish in summer) horizon of the Valley. Just make sure you have a skipper.

Winter weekend

I had such a good weekend(probably the last in a while) of freedom before I work my little heart out (and give up most of my weekends) to save for the massive holiday planned later this year. Excitement is building to a degree, although little research or planning is done since booking our hotels. 

I had a wonderfully busy time with my family. The whole gang was there at grandparents place for combined birthday celebrations which included my grandpa's 85th birthday, cousin's sweet 16 and my uncle's 50th. There was a buffet of delicious food (each family made something.. secret family receipes), stuffing of faces and... feeling a bit like a beached whale after that.

Sunday saw me hit the gym to try to undo some damage. It didn't work so well as the sunny winter's day made it impossible to say no to a visit to the Swan Valley to stock up on pantries made bare from winter nights in. We went in the afternoon so only made it to two wineries - Sandalford and Lancaster before having afternoon tea consisting of a FRENCH Cheeseboard from the Cheese Barrel. 

Let me assure you I made it to the gym today. Although, I ended up making a quick pastry dessert (puff pastry and nutella!.. with a scoop of  conossieur ice cream) after dinner (chicken stirfry and a bowl vegetable soup).. the dessert may have ruined everything once again. 

This battle will never be won.. but at least I get good food out of it..

After all tomorrow is another day.. 

The following photo is at the Lancaster Winery

And some (about a third of the food) and birthday cake (for grandpa - because you know he's the youngest and all ^_^)

Silkwood Winery

I had a lovely weekend spent with bf's family down at Manjimup, home of the truffles, the cold (it was by far 3-4 degrees cooler than Perth!) and of course tree farming and the likes. Last time I dined around there was winter last year and feasted myself on massive amounts of truffle goodness and half the price of that in Perth (and definitely 10x the amount of truffles!). This was of course at Wine and Truffle co.

This time around I wanted to grab some lunch and go on a date with the boy as we haven't had the chance to do so in a while (it has always been with other company and us time has been a little limited by our busy schedule and hanging out with friends and family). We decided to head to Silkwood Winery in Pemberton (half an hour away from Manjimup town) and where I know has some amazing red wines that I had to get and stock up in my pantry, considering the last lot I got didn't even last for one month! Dinner parties consumes a lot of wine!

The drive to Silkwood was lovely. The road was lined with the amazing Karri trees and although it rained ever so lightly it was just a wonderful, calming sight. Then occasionally there will be a break in the trees to make way for farmland and it would just be a sight of green meadows. Nothing beats that sometimes.

Then the entrance driveway to Silkwood winery. There was the beautiful colour of autumn. Red leaves amongst the green grass. I had to take a photo with the trees, although we couldn't be bothered to walk all the way back up the driveway after we have parked so the photo couldn't really highlight the beauty of it all. 

Lucky for me, although the skies were overcast and a little dull in colour, the scenery was alive and I made the most of the cooler weather in Manjimup and finally took out my Stylestalker light statement blazer to keep warm. Paired with a simple country road tee and dark (but classic blue) Levi jeans, Sandler boots, my gucci wallet as a clutch and of course a colour scarf to clash it all (present by JJ all the way from Africa!) it was comfortable, simple and casual.

We opted a seat in the patio area of the restaurant. It overlooked their lovely lake and garden. With a movable gas heater between us, it was just the right amount of  romantic lunch atmosphere that was needed. 

The options at Silkwood is plenty. You can have a light meal or a more substantial lunch. We both opted for a more substantial lunch as we didn't really have breakfast and this was to be the meal before the 50th dinner celebrations. 

I opted for the marron (after all the umm-ing and oo-ing.. and hmm-ing) with a mushroom and spinach risotto. The risotto had this beautiful warm mushroom flavour. The marron, on the other hand, I felt was slightly overcooked. It wasn't rubbery or anything, but it was just every so slightly tough and I think lacked the flavours of garlic that it was suppose to have (but the risotto flavour makes up for it). But if you dig out the marron and eat it with the risotto it is just what both components on the plate needed. 

Garlic butter marron with mushroom and spinach risotto

Bf, opted for the big man's dish of Black Angus scotch fillet with garlic prawns, salad and chips. The scotch fillet was beautifully cooked, although it definitely wasn't medium that he asked for (it was slightly over cooked), but it was a lovely char grilled piece of fillet. The prawns was also perfectly cooked and was flavoured with buttery garlic sauce. With a huge side of salad and chips, it was a hearty meal for the boy. 

Black Angus Scotch Fillet with Garlic Prawns, Mushroom sauce, salad and chips

Silkwood winery got busy very quickly, we were lucky we got there before the rush. The service isn't the best, there was only 3 people on the floor. The waitress that served us was very young and really didn't know the menu well (or didn't know what to do or how to serve at all!). But I guess we all have to start somewhere. 

The person at the wine cellar area, however was knowledgeable and friendly. Although, I miss the older lady that served us last year. She was so warm, friendly and knew so much about the wine and the origins of Silkwood. I'm not even sure if she still worked there. I like their wine so I signed up to be a member, which also means that I get 10% off every bottle of wine I buy from them. Encouraging my wine habits I think. 

Silkwood is lovely, it's not well known as the wineries around Margaret River, but I love it because it's not as crazy or touristy. The winery is just as beautiful, the service lacks a little professionalism (the service, the chef coming out onto the restaurant area because I think there was an issue with something and was talking to one of the ladies, whom I assume is one of the waitresses and was most likely to be the owner/manager), but it produces award wining reds and white wines (I'm not a big fan of white so I can't comment whether it's bad or good) with a nice restaurant menu that uses the local produce that is available in the area, so in the end that is all that matters.

Berry Farm

Berry Farm will have to be one of my favourite places to visit. It's situated in the Margaret River region, tucked away on Bessel Road, in the Rosa Glen valley. It has a huge ground to cater for their berry trees- boysenberry, strawberry, raspberry, mulberry trees as well as having avocado trees and a huge area for kids to play in. It's all so picturesque and lovely.

The farm specialises in homemade jams and berry wines and the cellar allows you to try the full range of wines and jams, dressings and their "Cahoots" range of sauces. Apart from their very yummy jams and sauces, the Berry Farm Cafe is so picturesque with native birds and flowers of all sorts, it's the place to relax and enjoy the farm's homemade, delicious food. A place for any food lover.

When I was last there, we cut it really fine to get served their lunch menu, arriving at 2:55pm (lunch finishes at 3pm, after which afternoon tea starts). But I'm so glad we made it on time because the lunch was just what was needed after a long day of travelling around South West of WA.

BB, MC and I ordered the infamous South-West slow cooked beef in red wine sauce pie. It was just divine.   Big chunky pieces of beef in a lovely sauce with delicious, fluffy puff pastry. No wonder it's Berry Farm's top seller. To top it off it came with lovely fresh salad. 

Mum wasn't in the mood for the pie and she wasn't in the mood for the just salad, so she went for the fish of the day - which was the dukkah coated barramundi with salad. It wasn't too bad, but the size of the barramundi fillet was little to be desired and it was a little dry. The salad, mixed with the farm's dressing on the other hand was fresh and light. 

Lunch is never complete without dessert, and the other great thing about the Berry Farm is their scones with homemade cream and jam. The scones were light and fluffy, perfects scones - two is enough to share between four people after having a rather filling lunch, and paired with their cream and jam, a tea favourite was just the perfect something naughty post lunch.

If the scones weren't enough, and us being a little too hungry, we also ordered the Boysenberry Pie. Filled with juicy boysenberry in homemade pastry. It's a little on the big size after such a big meal, but nonetheless it was polished. Definitely one that can be shared on a lovely afternoon tea. The only thing I would comment on is that the pie was a little on the dry side. Needs something like cream or better yet, ice cream. Then it really would be fantastic.

After lunch, we walked over to their cellar and stocked up on fresh avocados (a decent sized bag for $10!), and their homemade jams. Couldn't have ended a late lunch on a better note.

If you are down by Margaret River, make sure you check them out and go for lunch or if not for lunch, definitely for tea of some sort, you won't be disappointed. The garden itself is a delight!

Sittella

It was a great weekend a few weekends ago to be in the Swan Valley, again. This time it was a for a lovely wine tasting at a couple of places, followed by a lovely lunch at Sittella (booked half an hour before we went there! so naughty of us really and very lucky to get a table) before heading for ice cream (of course!) then home for a nap!

The front entrance to Sittella's Restaurant

 

Sittella is a lovely winery decked out in a very Mediterranean/Tuscany decor. The restaurant overlooks the vineyards and provides an amazing view of the vines and the dam. It was a pity that we didn't get to sit outside, but then again, it was rather hot so I guess indoors was better.

Interior of Sittella's

 

The view of the restaurant from the vineyard

 

We didn't try out their wineries (but will do next time!) as I already had far too much to drink from the first couple of places (and on an empty stomach too!) so it was time for eating. 

We were given our menus and after our order was taken fresh warm bread with creamy butter arrived.

 

Bread and Butter

After devouring our bread we waited inpatiently for our mains. 

Bf ended up getting wagyu beef (grade 7) medium-rare and it was massive cut of meat, however, it wasn't exactly the best wagyu as the fat over-powered the meat, it wasn't "evenly throughout". It wasn't very tender either, more chewy than anything. I think it wasn't so much the produce more the cooking perhaps.

Wagyu steak with potato croquette, mushrooms and vegetables

I on the other hand, didn't know whether to get the salmon or duck, but in the end ended up with the duck. Much to my disappointment, the duck was very fatty. (I realise that duck are generally fatty, but this one probably had more fat than duck meat). The breast was also cut up and I really expected a duck breast on bone (no idea why). It wasn't a bad dish, but just the taste of too much fat through my meats is really not to my liking or taste.

Duck with potato gratin, beetroot and vegetables

The service at Sittella wasn't exactly attentive to us, although they were to other customers in the restaurant. We seemed to have been left with dirty dishes on our table, bread basket not put away and nor were we asked whether we would like a top up. We didn't get our bottle of water until asked for at least a few times. It wasn't like we were sitting in the corner, but I'm not sure if it's because we were a "young" couple compared to others in the restaurant, and thus were seen as less important?

Nonetheless it's a lovely little winery with great views and casual, relaxed ambiance. The food isn't spectacular but it's tasty and nice, but maybe avoid the duck dish, because the salmon looked amazing and I regreted my choice straight away when I saw it come out for the other tables. And if you get a chance why not stroll down to their dam and have a look around.

Xanadu

Xanadu in Margaret River is rather gorgeous, perhaps the frontage is not as grand as, let's say Voyager, nor does it have a massively beautiful garden as Flutes or some form of water feature like Watershed,  or as huge as Leeuwin Estate, but there is something rather charming about Xanadu's simple layout of stone walls, high exposed timber ceiling and the fire place in the dining hall. I guess it's their way of saying you don't have to be flashy but we can compete with the best of them. Personally, I agree, I try never to judge a restaurant's interior design or landscape design and extrapolate it to the quality of their food, but of course having a pretty dining room (Xanadu's so cosy!) or lovely entrance always makes for a rather pleasant start to the dining out experience.

We made a very last minute booking, mainly because O taught it would be find just rocking up to any winery for lunch, which I somewhat disagreed on considering it's, well Margaret River. So after realising that restaurants will be packed (from observing Sarachen winery and restaurant) we made a quick decision to go to Xandau (their wines are good and they are on the entertainment card) we booked at 2pm.  So when we got there, the lunch crowd had gone, however, the restaurant was far from empty, majority of the table were taken up by diners. I wasn't feeling all that flash when we got there so I skipped out on trying the wines at the adjacent cellar door.

 We were promptly seated and orders were taken. We opted for shared entrees and a main each, with ice cream for dessert elsewhere.

 There was the mushroom tart - creamy with perfect tart pastry and the aroma of the mushrooms was beauitful. Bf and I had major food envy when this came out!

 

The mushroom tart

Bf and I shared the crispy soft shell crab with ravioli - the soft shell crab was a little soft and soggy from the sauce but the sauce had this delicious mix of herbs and spices through it. A lovely dish, but a little on the heavy side for an entree.  

 

Soft Shell crab and ravioli pasta

There was a small selection of mains to chose from, which is somewhat nice. It shows they have put a bit of taught into it and isn't trying to be jack of all trades, but are trying to perfect (if not have perfected) what they have on the menu. It also makes it easier for you to chose! 

Between the 3 couples we all ended up choosing the following three - all of which were of carnivorous in nature. 

  There was the pork cracking with croquette on the side on top of a bed of apple salad and mash. The crackling I was told was crispy and crunchy, pork was moist and tender and the apple salad added that sweetness and refreshing taste to the dish. 

 

Pork crackling with apple salad and croquette

 

 Then there was the beef rump, which I had, It wasn't what I imagined to come out looking. However, the meat was juicy and the jus was a beautiful red wine reduction. The only problem I did have (and this is probably my fault, because I ordered a cut of meat like this) was the fat throughout it. The taste of the fat was very evident and I really didn't like that, I probably should have stuck to the fillet steak. 

 

Beef rump in red wine jus

Then there was the steak fillet. Beautifully cooked, juicy, tender and medium! The beetroot on top of the beef added sweetness to the dish, while the red wine jus (the same one as the beef) perfectly complimented the dish.  It also came with an almost pie like pastry, which really wasn't needed, but just added the little something. 

 

The steak fillet

We also ordered a side of chips. There was huge chunky things (bigger than the size of my fingers!) and came with paprika aioli. It was a little too potatoey/starchy would have been better if it was smaller in size.

Overall, the food and the service at Xanadu is very pleasant and lovely. Despite myself not feeling one hundred percent it was a lovely lunch at a restaurant worth dropping by if you ever in the Margaret River region.