La Sable Patisserie, Mitchell

La Sable Patisserie is right up there with Pialligo Estate as something I’ve been waiting for for a long, long time. Years ago, the hairdresser who essentially created my hair colour (yes, the red hair) mentioned that a family member had worked at Flute Bakery and was quite the pastry chef (talented family, right?) that I hoped we might one day see something akin to Flute on the northside. (And we all know how much I love Flute.) La Sable opened up earlier this year and – in addition to a big plug on Scotty & Nige’s radio show – it’s getting great reviews around town. One of the greatest things about it is that, unlike Flute, it’s open more hours daily and it’s open on Saturdays!

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Plumb on Tennant, Fyshwick

I’ve spruiked continuously that Canberra is full of these ‘hidden gems’ – often we only hear about these places because they’re where we live, or through word of mouth (often because other people live there!). I’m not sure I would ever have heard of Plumb on Tennant if it wasn’t for CBR Foodie‘s lunchtime post a few weeks ago. You see, this hidden gem is in Fyshwick!

Your guide to Rutherglen and King Valley wineries

Disclaimer: while this is in no way a paid advertisement, it will sound like one. These wine regions are special!

Boyfriend and I have a knack for cramming a lot into our holidays, and our Easter trip to the Beechworth region was no exception. Apart from dining our way through the region, enjoying a few beers, going on an epic drive and fitting in a few walks and a ghost tour (see here for a comprehensive overview), there was one thing we were really there for: the wine.

We got to know about these regions’ wines thanks to the Taste of Two Regions Festival in 2013, where Rutherglen and King Valley wineries came to Canberra (yay) to show off their hard work. It sparked an ongoing love affair to the point that we planned a whole trip around visiting the region. Fortunately, the Taste of Two Regions Festival is back in 2014 on 6 July.

Flute Bakery Redux

Flute Bakery is my fave, and has been for a long time. I’ve dedicated a lot of time to bringing people on board with the Flute love, from bringing cakes to work to telling everyone who’ll listen about it. It’s now two years since I last wrote about it, so it’s a good opportunity to check whether anything’s changed (hint: no – it’s just as good as it’s always been).

Bald Archy exhibition, Watson Arts Centre

There’s the Archibald Prize… and then there’s the Bald Archy Prize. Both prizes focus on the best portrait, but the Bald Archy lacks the seriousness of the Archibald, with its emphasis on Australians portrayed in satirical form. While it started off as a joke, the Bald Archy has become a popular competition in its own right, and is first exhibited in a town which also doesn’t take itself too seriously…

The Artisan

I’m often asked for ideas on where to take someone for a special occasion, and, while the possibilities are endless, I usually can’t go past waxing lyrical about Sage. However – finally! – I’m able to say I’ve found a restaurant which I think is just as good as Sage.

Eden Road 2009 Shiraz – The Seedling

Shout out! The Canberra Harvest Wine Festival is on this weekend! If you like wines (and if you like the sound of this wine), you may like to head along!

Eden Road - The Seedling - 2009 Shiraz
(note the marks on the bottle aren't from me!)

The Eden Road 2009 Shiraz – “The Seedling” – was purchased from the Belconnen Bottle-O. (It’s worth noting that the Belco bottleo is open til 11pm most nights, which is later than almost anywhere else in Canberra – it’s a great default if you’re off to a late night party!)  Fortunately, most bottleos in Canberra (even Dan Murphy’s) have dedicated sections of their stores to local wines. If you take a look, you’ll notice that the Canberra region is particularly partial to producing a good shiraz. This is great news for the Canberra wineries, because shiraz is still Australia‘s most loved wine.

Since my first review of the Jeir Creek Riesling last month, I’ve been on the look out for wines from the Canberra region which are $20 and under. From my completely unscientific research, there are very few. There are plenty of Canberra wines between $20-25, for just very few under! Given the wine glut and just how many wines are even $15 and under, I do wonder if Canberra might be a little unrealistic. To that end, all wines <$20 will be favoured until I run out! This wine was a perfectly reasonable $15.95. I’m not sure if this influences others (and particular people of my generation), but I really am influenced by a wine bottle‘s label. Eden Road’s labelling is great – simple and elegant – though the different wines end up looking quite similar!

 

A sniff of the 2009 “The Seedling” makes me think of mulberries and green chillies. It’s deeply coloured – purple-black. A first sip of the wine is almost fizzy on the tongue. I don’t recommend swirling this wine around in your mouth – it’s best enjoyed slowly sipped. I enjoyed this with a creamy blue vein cheese (from, you guessed it, Belco Coles!). Any creamy cheese (but particularly those with sharp flavours) would be well offset by the tang and fizziness (there’s no other way to describe it!) of this wine.

(For the record, the wine is described on the bottle as: “The Seedling Shiraz has aromas of blackberry and dark cherries that lead onto a plump and juicy palate with great length and elegance”. I don’t read these blurbs before I review the wine – largely because they don’t make sense to me.)

Cost: $15.95 from Belconnen Bottle-O

Worthwhile factor: Highly worthwhile. Will buy again. Support Canberra industry (more support = cheaper prices, right? Right?)

Want more? http://www.edenroadwines.com.au/ (They were recently rated a 5 star winery by James Halliday – props!)