Small winery with big vistas
YARRAN Wines may be one of the lower-profile producers in the Riverina, but the Yenda winery recently opened a beautiful new cellar door. Located on the edge of the vineyard, with large verandahs offering panoramic views over the district, the new facility is a welcome addition.
Yarran is a small, family-owned-and-operated winery utilising traditional winemaking practices including cold settling, basket pressing, partial wild fermentation, hand plunging red ferments, racking and minimal filtration. Fruit has been grown on the family vineyard for 30 years but Yarran first produced a shiraz in 1998 and now releases two ranges, under the Yarran and Leopardwood labels. Yarran is at Farm 2577, Myall Park Rd, Yenda. Phone (02) 6968 1125 to verify opening hours.
Homestead home comforts
PORTEE Station offers upmarket accommodation in a traditional Australian setting on the River Murray outside Blanchetown. The beautifully restored 1870s homestead, situated on a 9300-hectare sheep property, is described as "the ultimate outback experience". It features four-and-a-half star accommodation on the Murray floodplain, where there is abundant bird life among the old gum trees.
With capacity to cater for up to 16 guests, Portee Station has eight suites with en suite bathrooms, decorated in chic bed and breakfast style. The air-conditioned rooms are serviced daily. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all served in the dining room - and the restaurant features a wine list with a large range of South Australian wines. B&B costs from $149 per person per night. Phone (08) 8540 5211 or see <www.portee.com.au>.
Grand central
THE GRAND is a new accommodation option in Griffith, centrally located at the end of the main street, Banna Ave. It offers 42 modern rooms, pool, spa, gym and secure undercover parking. The on-site Marco's Restaurant features modern Australian cuisine. All rooms have an in-house movie channel, Austar pay TV and broadband access. Rates range from $125-$165 per double room. Phone (02) 6969 4400 or email <thegrandmotel@bigpond.com>.
Tasty date for your diary
THE JUNE long weekend is the perfect time to visit Griffith and surrounds when the Riverina hosts the unWINEd festival. Tutored tastings, lazy lunches and a range of musical performances and dinners are on the itinerary each year, with wineries involved including McWilliam's, Nugan Estate, Berton, Casella, Westend Estate and Warburn Estate. The highlight of the 2008 festival was a masked Venetian ball.
For details of the 2009 event see <www.unwined-riverina.com>.
Eco-friendly stopover
BANROCK Station's Wine and Wetlands Centre is the perfect place to break your journey with a wander through the wetlands boardwalk and a light lunch. A grazing menu is available from 10am-4pm, with lunch served daily from noon-3pm. Choose from dishes such as Riverland pumpkin and pepperberry veloute ($9), quandong-glazed kangaroo fillet wrapped in herbed crepe and puff pastry with salad ($19) or emu burger with bush tomato, star anise salsa, local greens and pepper leaf damper ($15). Main courses on the menu are matched with Banrock Station wines available by the glass, including cellar door specials such as the Peregrine montepulciano and a reserve botrytis semillon.
The Wine and Wetland Centre, open daily from 10am-5pm excluding major public holidays, is a showcase of sustainable architecture and is at Kingston on Murray. Phone (08) 8583 0299 or see <www.banrockstation.com.au>.
Cruising in opulence
THE PARACHILNA Sunset houseboat is a new attraction on the Murray River. Based at Mannum, just over an hour's drive from Adelaide, the river cruiser is a thing of beauty, boasting sleek lines and an open-plan interior. It is like a floating five-star hotel suite, given its sitting/dining area with TV and sound system, kitchen, deck and spa, barbecue area and two double bathrooms, each with shower. Every room has superb views of the river. What's more, anyone can navigate the Parachilna Sunset with its six-knot maximum speed, meaning you don't need a boat driving licence.
The boat costs from $650 a day. Phone 1800 331 473 or visit <www.parchilnasunset.com.au>.
Riverfront delicacies
STEFANO de Pieri, the celebrity chef who is the face of Mildura, recently praised Oscar W's Wharfside at Echuca as one of Victoria's best regional restaurants. The eatery, opened in 1979, overlooks the Murray River and the famous Echuca paddle-steamers, and offers regional, seasonal and contemporary cuisine.
It is open from 11am until late seven days a week and the set menu ($55 for two courses or $65 for three) features dishes such as char-grilled rosemary-marinated boned quail with capsicum pepperonata, kipfler potato and nashi pear, and eye fillet of Hereford beef with truffle mash, asparagus, collapsed cherry tomatoes, spinach, onion soubise and red wine jus. The wine list is a regular award winner, with an excellent range of wines available by the glass. Phone (03) 5482 5133 or go to <www.oscarws.com.au>.
Cool pub for a cool brew
MILDURA has a cool new crowd-puller: the Mildura Brewery. The former Astor Theatre in the restaurant precinct has been brilliantly refurbished while maintaining its Art Deco charm. The brewhouse and bottling line are in full view of customers drinking or eating in the Brewery Pub. The brewery produces four naturally brewed beers year round, as well as seasonal speciality ales. The pub is open Tuesday to Sunday from 11am to late. Lunch is served from noon-2.30pm and dinner from 6-9pm. Phone (03) 5021 5399 or see <www.mildurabrewery.com.au>.
Special family, special wine
VISIT the Lillypilly Estate cellar door at Leeton to sample some very special recent releases. Lillypilly marked 35 years of grapegrowing with the launch of a new fortified wine blended from selected material going back a quarter of a century.
Winemaker Robert Fiumara began indulging his passion for fortified wines in 1982, the year Lillypilly built its own winery, and has slowly collected an impressive stock of aged material based on a range of varieties including shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and muscat of Alexandria.
The label chosen, Fratelli 7 (or seven brothers), commemorates the work of Pasquale and Angela Fiumara and their seven sons in establishing the vineyard and winery, and highlights Lillypilly's original motif of two leaves protecting seven berries. The inaugural release carries the tag Domenic Blend, named after Pasquale's and Angela's eldest son, who died in 1987. "Domenic, or Mick, as we generally knew him, had an enormous love for fine wine and was really the driving force behind my decision to become a winemaker," says Lillypilly managing director Robert Fiumara.
Lillypilly has also released a 1998 VP, a fortified blend of cabernet sauvignon and chambourcin that is also available at the cellar door. Phone (02) 6953 4069 or visit <www.lillypilly.com>.