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Region's Smallest
Winemaker Back With A Vengeance
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 28th June 2004: Last year
I wrote a story about the South Burnett's smallest winemaker: John
Cahill from
Kingaroy Ridge. John had
produced his first release - a slim 30 cases of shiraz - and after the story
appeared here it was picked up by all manner of people because not only was
the wine very good, but it was an incredibly quirky tale in its own right:
one small winemaker with a half dozen rows of grapes taking on the big wine
producers. Well roughly two weeks ago John quietly unveiled his second annual
release - another shiraz ($19.95), a port ($19.95) and a beautifully gift-boxed
port in a presentation case with a bonus glass ($29.95 - all pictured
at right). As was the case last year, both wines have been produced from
John's own Kingaroy Ridge vineyard grapes by legendary winemaker John
Crane of
Crane Wines; all bottles
are individually packed and hand-labelled; both wines are
only obtainable from the Carrollee Hotel's bottle shop
in Kingaroy (where John works part time); and both are in incredibly short
supply. But what about the wine itself? I can honestly say that if you enjoyed
John's initial release last year - and I know many people did, including
me - you'll be even more pleased with the second vintage. The wine
has benefitted from the drought conditions it grew under and it's a very
intense, full-bodied drop that will really start to bloom if
you can manage to keep it in the cellar for a few years. Any remaining bottles
from last year's release are already collectors items and I can't see this
year's being much different. Still, be quick if you want some: it's been
selling like hot-cakes and I doubt it'll be all that long before it's sold
out.
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Indian Cooking Class
At Kingaroy On July 13th
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 25th June 2004: After a short fortnight's break I was glad
to return to the South Burnett Cuisine desk today. And the first story I
have on top of my swollen In Tray is one of my own. If you're a fan of exciting
cooking, I'm pleased to advise that another round of exotic cooking
classes is going to be held at Kingaroy TAFE over the next few months.
The first will be "The Indian Banquet" and it's being run on Tuesday
13th July. I'll be hosting the class with guest chef Paul Stoddart
from Kingaroy's Burning Beats Café and I'm sure everyone who
attends will thoroughly enjoy it. I can vividly recall my own introduction
to Indian cuisine when I began work as an apprentice chef at an Indian kitchen
in Brisbane many years ago. The restaurant employed an authentic Indian chef,
fresh to Australia from her native home in Delhi. She delighted in converting
me from traditional stodgy European food to the exciting world of tandoori,
korma and garam marsalas (hot spices) - it was a party for my palate! However,
Indian cuisine isn't just limited to curries! There's a wealth of quick light
meals, condiments, salads and exquisite desserts to explore. Paul and I will
be showing students traditional Indian cooking methods, flavours and the
presentation of a five-course Indian banquet. Other courses currently in
the pipeline are "Healthy Eating Around the World" and "Thai Cuisine
Part Two", a follow-up to the sensationally popular Thai cooking class
we ran earlier this year. If you're interested in joining in with any of
our cooking classes, feel free to
email me or phone or
me on (07) 4160-4428.
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Vintage Wine Dinner
Axed
-
 11th
June 2004: Earlier this week (see story 5th June) I leaked the
news that the Kingaroy Rotary Club was planning to relaunch our region's
Vintage Wine Dinner this coming July. The Dinner was going to be run
in conjunction with the South Burnett Wine Industry Association's Barrels
to Breakers promotion to give locals the opportunity to join in the fun.
But I'm sad to report that things have changed. On Wednesday night - after
trying for several weeks to get caterers - the club decided the deadline
was too tight and cancelled the function. While I'm unhappy to report this
outcome it certainly underscores the point that one area where the South
Burnett could do with some improvement is our ability to cater for big
functions (ie 250+ people). At present there are only one or two
venues in our region that can accommodate knees-ups of this magnitude
and there's no company in the region that's set up to handle this type of
work at all. This means that whenever we have a big catering
do (and there are a number of these every year) the venue is always a compromise
and the catering team always has to be assembled from several different business
houses. If we want to grow our region's convention business in the future
- an area where there's potentially big dollars to be made - I think this
is a shortfall that's going to need to be addressed. Until we do we'll be
restricted to functions for 100 guests or less. This is about the
level that roughly a dozen venues across the region can handle by themselves
right now.
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New Owners At The
Pumpkin Pie Café
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 8th
June 2004: Just over a month ago Alan and Libby Beresford
took over the reins of Goomeri's iconic Pumpkin Pie Café. They
told me that after paying off their house in Sydney they wanted to make the
most of the booming southern housing market and move to Queensland. And on
a trip through the South Burnett, a quick revival stop at the pie shop sealed
their fate! Libby said: "We had a traditional pie, peas and mash, and just
loved them… the look, the taste and the construction was fantastic!
Alan is a Welshman and self-confessed pie connoisseur. And when he discovered
that the pie-shop-come-café was on the market the rest, as they
say, is history". In fact, Alan's new catchcry is "we loved the pies
so much we bought the company!" Since they took over the reigns the pair
have introduced some exciting new products to the menu including a Mexican
pie (plenty of flavour, but not too much fire). Most of the old favourites
remain, though, including beefsteak, steak and kidney, high top apple and
- of course! - the Cafe's legendary pumpkin pie. Alternative meals
like vegetarian lasagne and quiches are also available. And a future project
the couple hope to undertake is to open a second hand bookstore next door
with a display of antique cooking journals. " We feel a lot of Australia's
culinary heritage is being lost and a collection of old cattle station cookbooks
could make a great new attraction for the South Burnett", she said. I agree!
If you'd like to visit The Pumpkin Pie, they're in Boonara Street in Goomeri.
Large orders and family pies can be pre-booked on (07)
4168-4477.
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Vintage Wine Dinner
Making A Come-Back?
-
 5th
June 2004: South Burnett residents - and quite a lot of visitors - will
probably recall our region's annual Vintage Wine Dinner with some
fondness. These dinners were held every winter between about 1999 and 2002
and showcased the best wines our region had produced every year. The dinners
were originally organised by former Copper Country restaurateur Steve
Winter (who also played a pivotal role in the annual Wine & Food
In The Park Festival) so they also tended to showcase some of the best cookery
we had to offer as well. But sadly, the Vintage Wine Dinner came to a halt
a couple of years ago: not because it was unsuccessful but simply because
Steve couldn't handle the workload involved in catering for 300+ people with
all his other commitments! However, I'm pleased to report that the Dinner
could well be coming back. Right now the South Burnett Wine Industry Association
are organising their inaugural Barrels To Breakers promotion where
they'll be doing a gala unveiling of new releases at Noosa. And as part of
this event, the Kingaroy Rotary Club are looking at running the Vintage
Wine Dinner in the South Burnett so that locals can get to join in the fun
too. Quite a lot of things (date, time, venue, ticket price etc) are still
up in the air at the moment. But providing all goes well, you can expect
to see a relaunch of the Vintage Wine Dinner some time in the next few months.
And hopefully, it will return to being an annual event after that. I'll let
you know more as soon as updated news lands on my desk.
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Queensland To Splash
Out $2 Million On Wine Industry Development
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 2nd June 2004: After the February State
election this year Premier Peter Beattie showed how seriously his Government
is beginning to view the Queensland wine industry by appointing Margaret
Keech (pictured at right) as Australia's first Minister for Wine
Industry Development (along with Tourism and Fair Trading). Yesterday the
Government began to flesh out this new portfolio by earmarking $2
million to be spent over the next 4 years on - and I quote from
the press release -
"initiatives (that) will focus on viticulture, research and development,
regional promotion and development, web information, investment and promotional
opportunities for Queensland wines". This latest announcement comes hot on
the heels of related news last week that the Government will be spending
$1.2 million to build a College of Wine Tourism at Stanthorpe.
This brings the Government's total contribution to the wine industry to $3.2
million - which is about the cost of two or three 25-acre wineries these
days. But given that the South Burnett now accounts for at least 40%
of the State's wine industry, simple maths tells me that if the State Government
is serious about its commitment, some $1.28 million of the $3.2 million
should flow into this region (and if we exclude the Wine Tourism College
from the pool, the South Burnett's equitable share should still be at least
$800,000). This sounds like good news, doesn't it? I certainly hope
so. And I hope you'll join me over the next few years as we catalogue where
this investment gets spent.
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