20 August 2009

Poacher's Way Excursion

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[First filed: August 19, 2009 @ 00:01]


It was a rainy Saturday afternoon when the car was piled with people and we set out on the path of the Poachers Way. Looking to visit some of the local wineries and other establishments that have put themselves forward as a collective,
inspired by land and life.

First stop was Poachers Pantry to pick up some smoked goods and sample some of the Wily Trout wines. I think my best pick was the jar of smoked garlic. It gave every dish it went with a nice edge.

Next step was looking for some lunch which was found at Shaw Vineyard out the back of Murrumbateman. The glass walls of Shaw’s dining room provided a great backdrop for lunch as we were looking out over the cold, wet, miserable looking landscape while sitting nice and warm inside as we ate far too much good food and champagne (good aussie sparkling white stuff, none of that foreign muck). Followed by a a tasting of some of the Shaw Vineyard wine selection. The pick for me at Shaw’s was the Blood Plum vinegar which has such a rich sweet vinegar flavour. I’ve found it to be good on salads, in marinades or just dipping some crusty bread into it and eating it straight.

Last destination was Murrumbateman Winery, which now has Bush Goddess Foods Regional Produce Store co-located there. The rustic little stone farm house of the Murrumbateman Winery was very welcoming with a fire going and a 4 month old labrador puppy running around. Having just had a large meal it was very difficult to try some of the food on offer from Pennie (Bush Goddess Foods a good RiotACT supporter) but we managed to force ourselves and it was well worth the effort.

The PetitVache cheese from Small Cow Farms in Robertson covered with the honey (single type, not blended) with a piece of crisp pear was incredible. Picked up a large selection of local delicacies plus some seed potatoes for the garden. Some of the others in the group are now getting hampers from Bush Goddess Foods delivered every fortnight or so filled with delicious foods (selection of cheeses, vegies, marinated figs, pickled walnuts, dukka etc).

At the same time we were fending off puppy attacks and trying out the selection of wines available. The pick for me was the Barbaro wine, but I also enjoyed the mead on offer.

We got very comfortable chatting away at Murrumbateman Winery in front of the fire, but eventually we got the hint that it was time to go home. Which was very difficult as they kept bringing us more food and wine to try.

Great day out, especially for a rainy afternoon, and I’ll be looking to explore more of the Poachers Way soon.

PS. Have just seen that Poachers Way are doing their Fireside Festival throughout August.

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The Website for murrumbateman winery is http://www.murrumbateman-winery.com.au

Shaws has 85 acres of vines. Yield is usualy 1-3 tonnes per acre depending on the variety, so anywhere between 85-250 tonnes. If there similar to ours, theyll get about 1.2 tonnes per acre, although we are very low yielding.

Inappropriate8:56 am 20 Aug 09

I love Poacher’s Pantry. I visited in during the wine festival and spent nigh on $200 there. 🙂

Great place to bring a date for a lovely 3-course lunch meal too 😉

Why did they have to call the fish Bubbles? That ruins everything!

Sounds like a heavenly way to spend a winter’s day. Thanks for the pictures and write up; you’ve strongly influenced me to pull a bunch of friends together and spend a Saturday in similar occupation.

On a similar note, I really enjoyed a wine tasting at Mt Majura winery a couple of months ago — the Graciano in particular was delicious and well received when I took some over to Perth to share. Hurrah for our complex arid climate reds.

Felix the Cat8:38 pm 19 Aug 09

I went out to Poachers Pantry a few weeks ago with a few friends – the food and the service was good but it was a bit pricey. I know it’s not McDonalds but I thought that nearly $20 for coffee and the cheapest cake type snack on the menu was a bit rich. You’d think with all the money they must make they could afford to seal the access road (it had been graded a day or so before we went there).

Drool. Need designated driver I suspect too.

Anyone know the capacity of the Shaw Vineyards restaurant?

The first photo is of the Spatchcock of the Moroccan Style ginger Poussin.
Next is the Skippy Abroad – Kangaroo rump
then the 2 Meat and 3 veg,
lastly is the fish called bubbles, which made up lunch.

Can also been seen at the Shaw Vineyard Cafe menu.

The Shroomy Haloumi was very good also.

Next photos are from Murrumbateman Winery and the Bush Goddess Regional Produce store and the incredible petitvache and honey combo.

Clown Killer said :

I know of the bullshit legalese, and I’m still going to call a port a port, even if it’s not from Portugal.

You’ve every right to do so caf. But producers certainly don’t, which is why from next year Australian fortified wines will no longer be labled as Port, Sherry etc. in recognition that they aren’t the same at all.

what will they be labelled as? rotgut? royal reserve?

Just check the suspension on your car before you head out to Poachers Pantry! That road is diabolical – I went once and I refuse to go again.

Clown Killer2:16 pm 19 Aug 09

I know of the bullshit legalese, and I’m still going to call a port a port, even if it’s not from Portugal.

You’ve every right to do so caf. But producers certainly don’t, which is why from next year Australian fortified wines will no longer be labled as Port, Sherry etc. in recognition that they aren’t the same at all.

I know of the bullshit legalese, and I’m still going to call a port a port, even if it’s not from Portugal.

Champagne describes a specific variety of wine, prepared in a specific region, and attributes a certain degree of quality association within the word.
Geographic indicators (specifically those in use with wine) are covered by the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation Act in Schedule 3: Australian Geographical Indications for Wine. (so you can’t call something a “Hunter Valley Red” unless it comes from the Hunter Valley region)

Geographic indicators of other varieties or for other products are non-registrable as Trademarks in that other traders with similar products have a legitimate purpose behind using that word (“Lamington” describes a certain style of preparing cake).

We could practically have a war with New Zulland over who invented the pavlova ….

The whole protected-designation-of-origin is ridiculous. It’d be like us trying to claim that if you dip a bit of sponge cake into chocolate sauce and roll it in coconut, then unless you do it in Queensland it isn’t a Lamington.

The food looked v. yummy, but I would have liked to know the name of each dish so I could fantasise about it properly.

Awesome write up. My mouth is watering – the food sounds (and looks) incredible.

This has always been something that I and the wife have been meaning to do. Will have to get out there!

Saw Poacher’s Pantry on Stateline last Friday too.

Clown Killer9:27 am 19 Aug 09

… champagne (good aussie sparkling white stuff, none of that foreign muck)

Put’s pedant hat on…

If you were drinking Champagne then you drinking that “foreign muck”. If you were drinking Australian sparkling wine then you were not drinking Champagne. They cannot be both , and are in fact, completely different things alltogether.

Takes pedant hat off …

It sounds like an excellent way to spend a cold winetrs afternoon! I have heard many good things about the food at Shaw. I have not been there yet – but I have enjoyed a number of very nice weekend lunches at Lambert’s.

This sounds like a fabulous day out. We’ve been thinking of doing that sort of thing for a while. Thanks for the write up.

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