This is the first in an occasional series about the wine regions of the Western District. In this instalment I look at the wines and winemakers of the Henty region, in and around Hamilton. Why is it that the area in which grapes were first planted in Victoria is the Continue Reading
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Jo’s Pantry, a growing footprint
Up until a few years ago, when there was bread making in the offing, I would head across to the coast, just over an hour away, to buy different flours, grains, seeds and other provisions at the local health food store in the town where my mother lives. Then one Continue Reading
Walking the Barwon River – not exactly produce but just as important
Good quality produce has many constituents but the Western District has a head start in being blessed with fertile land, located in a temperate climatic zone and, in spite of droughts, comparatively good rainfall. The hard work and skill is in sustaining that quality. Sadly there is no magic Continue Reading
Pennyroyal Bush Breads
Jo Zdybel, founder, owner and baker of Pennyroyal Bush Breads, sits in her home kitchen among the gum trees in the heart of Otway forest with a perfect view of the Deans March ridge. Passionate about baking, local produce, and seasonal foods, Jo, her husband Danny and family, have lived Continue Reading
Fields of Garlic – and lots more at Otway Fields
Driving into the Otways on the coldest day of the year so far, watching white cobweb clouds roll along the ridge, one wonders if there could be any better reason for living in a region that is blessed with four seasons. The rain then swept like a grand curtain across Continue Reading
Busy bees at Buukaar Waaruung near Camperdown
The bees over at Buukaar Waaruung Apiary, in their Manhattan of hives on the ‘middle lip’ between Lake Bullen Merri and Lake Gnotuk, were given an early Bees Day gift by nature: autumnal days of sunshine wrapped up in a wide ribbon of blue skies. Anna Carrucan, owner and apiarist, Continue Reading
Lethbridge Wines: the science of simple drinking
Travel east or west out of Geelong and in the first twenty minutes you are likely to come across one of many signs for a vineyard. They are now a prominent feature of the Geelong regional landscape, but the vines that produced some 45,000 gallons of wine by 1867 were Continue Reading
Irrewarra Sourdough, a new chapter
Foods that rely on natural fermentation in their manufacture give the consumer a kiss of regional flavour. Out of a melange of lactobacilli bacteria and wild yeasts that live in the air where the food is made comes a unique regional souvenir. Sourdough bread is one such food Continue Reading
The Western District: Where are we?
A broad brush description with apologies to all serious historians and cartographers. Welcome to the Western District! Where are we? We are in Victoria, in the south eastern corner of Australia. Take a pointed brush to a map of Victoria; place the tip on Geelong, the District’s main port; make Continue Reading