Tertini Wines and The Little Rascal

The final post covering my recent trip to the NSW Southern Highlands, but my no means the post of least 'blog-worthiness'!

I first came across Tertini Wines when I was browsing the stalls at the Tulip Time festival in Bowral, and Mr Ladybird and I liked their wines so much that we decided to pay their winery a visit during our stay. I'm no wine expert, but I know when I like something, and I do like supporting small businesses when I visit new places :)
Tertini Wines is a small, award winning winery dedicated to producing premium wines. Their winery is located close to Berrima in the Southern Highlands, a cool climate region. We arrived at the cellar door in the mid afternoon ready to try some lovely wine and to learn form about the vineyard and their products. We were greeted by Sandy and Robert of Tertini Wines who couldn't have been more friendly and obliging as we sipped our way through their range of wines.

The range of whites and reds is beautiful, but the star of the show is the Arneis, which turns out to be one of the world's rarest wines in the world!

As noted in the picture above, 'Arneis' means little bugger or rascal in Italian, and it's called this for a good reason. It is genetically predisposed to being is a very temperamental type of grape to grow - the conditions have to be just right, and its perfect picking time cannot be predicted. Tertini is one of around only 20 vineyards in Australia (and one of around 60 internationally) that produces Arneis. And thank goodness! Because the little bugger is difficult to produce, the Italians almost gave up on it in the 50s and 60s when there were only 2 or 3 known wineries still producing Arneis. Recently, however, a resurgence of interest in new varieties has saved Arneis from almost extinction.

This wine is delightful - light on the palate and beautifully crisp... it is so very easy to drink. Heck - I'm no wine buff so I lack the lingo to articulate how nice this wine is, but I will say that it's one of the nicest wines I've tried in a long time :) I'd say it's an ideal drop to accompany a light summer lunch or picnic. The 2009 Reserve is around $35 and the 2009 Barrel Fermented Reserve is $40. You can purchase Arneis at the Tertine Wines cellar door or via Tertini's website.

The little rascal's multi-award winning cousins, the Rieslings, are also worth a mention. The 2005 Riesling is a multi-award winning wine including a gold medal winner at the Tri Nations Wine Challenge. The 2008 Riesling is definitely a rising star too. It was very recently awarded a gold medal in the 2010 NSW Wine Awards and has also be honoured through its inclusion in the Top 40 NSW Wines list.
After trying the wines, Robert gives us a sneak peak behind the scenes of the winery and we see where the barrels are stored and where the processing takes place.

I think this is a label to keep an eye on, especially if reviews of experts like James Halliday are anything to go by.. Apart from the Arneis, Tertini's lovely Rieslings and Pinot Noirs are available at a number of boutique retailers in Sydney, including:

• Glebe Liquor
• Camperdown Cellars, Darlinghurst
• Lugarno Cellars
• Abbotsford Cellars

Tertini Wines Cellar Door
Kells Creek Rd (off Wombeyan Caves Rd)
Mittagong NSW
(07) 4878 5213
http://www.tertiniwines.com.au/

High Tea at Centennial Vineyards, Bowral

I recently wrote about my recent visit to the 2010 Tulip Time festival in Bowral, located in the beautiful NSW Southern Highlands. It was a long weekend for Mr Ladybird and I, and I was keen to enjoy some good food and wine during our trip. I really wanted to try a high tea in the country and, although Mr Ladybird was not particular keen (high tea being too "girly" and all), he agreed on the condition that we'd visit Bradman Oval at some point, which I was more than happy to do.

We arrive at Centennial Vineyards on a beautiful Spring afternoon (not at all rainy like this weekend in NSW) and we drive up the winding, gravel road. I tend to notice "crunchy" driveways more than the average person because my dad has a bit of a thing for them, and would always remark on lovely "crunchy paths" when we were growing up.

We arrive at the Centennial Vineyard restaurant which is an impressive sight, oozing country charm. We site in an area of the restaurant overlooking the vines. I can see why the space is a popular venue for weddings. Complete with a huge open fire place, it is a very elegant space.

I talk Mr Ladybird through how high tea works as this is his first experience, and we place our drink orders. Earl grey tea for me, a flat white for Mr Ladybird in need of a bigger caffeine hit.

Shortly after our high tea stand arrives, laden with lovely sweet and savoury treats for us to share. "Now what am I supposed to do?" Mr Ladybird whispers cautiously.. "Tuck in!" I reply making a bee-line for the top tier.

The top tier offers us fresh egg, and cheese and salad sandwiches alongside shot glasses of lovely hot pumpkin soup.

The obligatory scones with jam and cream are delicious, and I especially love that the scones are warm. I'm really starting to brag about this high tea now, aren't I?! :P

Finally, the middle tier.. which houses a trio of delectable treats... all of which are describe as "To die for" in the words of Mr Ladybird, who isn't a sweets person at all. I couldn't agree more. The sweets are not too sweet and simply beautiful! Warm sticky date pudding, chocolate mousse with passionfruit coulis (a surprising and delightful combination) and little pieces of nougat.

For $28 per person, I was very impressed with this high tea. It's a big call, but I am comfortable in going so far as to say that this food was the best food I've had at any high tea to date. It was superb, and far better value than the high teas I've attended in Sydney at a much heftier bill.

I'm so glad Mr Ladybird enjoyed his first high tea... but I can't see him rushing out for another. He's definitely more of a 'drinks with the guys down at the pub' kind of person, and that's fine. He was a very good sport, and he did get to see the Bradman Oval as per our agreement :)

High Tea at Centennial Vineyards Restaurant
252 Centennial Rd, Bowral NSW
Monday to Friday, 11am to 4pm
Packages from $28 per person

For more information, click here

Tulip Time 2010

I absolutely love tulips, and until very recently I had never seen them growing in the ground. Ever since Mr Ladybird and I moved to Sydney around 2 years ago, I had heard about Bowarl Tulip Time but we had never got around to visiting the Southern Highlands. This year though, we pencilled the event into our diaries nice and early and we made a weekend of it.

It was absolutely wonderful, and I look forward to sharing some of the highlights with you over the next week or so. But of course, first I must share with you some more pitctures of the beautiful display of tulips at Corbett Gardens in Bowral.

Following our stroll through the gardens, we made our way to the market behind Corbett Gardens where we had some lunch and checked out the stalls showcasing local food and wines.

Some of my favourite food that I sampled came from two prominent berry farms in the Southern Highlands. From Montrose Berry Farm we try their award winning raspberry jam and I'm sold - it intensely flavoursome and not too sweet, so I snap up a jar for home.

At the Cuttaway Creek Raspberry Farm stall I meet Nicki who tells me about their farm and gives me a sample of their multi-award winning raspberry wine vinegar. It absolutely blows me away, and it's no surprise that Justin North speaks highly of this product. I have to have it, and the last tart for sale also looks gorgeous, so I take it too :)

We move onto the wines, and I am very impressed by the Southern Highlands wines on offer. It is as this point we decide we just can't leave the highlands without visiting at least one vineyard, but I'll tell you more about that in posts to come!

We sample some gorgeous white wines from the region, and our favourites of the day are the Eling Forest 2009 Verdhelo and the Tertini 2009 Arneis.

Tulip Time is still on everyone, so there's no better time to head to the Southern Highlands, only 1.5 hours south of Sydney! The weather's perfect for it at the moment, so if you want to get out of Sydney this long weekend I'd definitely recommend checking out the region :)

Tulip Time

21 September - 4 October 2010
Entry $8 for adults, $5 concession

http://www.southern-highlands.com.au/tulip-time

Ladybird x