Restaurant Review: Hargreaves Hill Brewing Company in Yarra Glen

April 19, 2010

Hargreaves Hill Brewing Company in Yarra Glen

Where to go for lunch on a Sunday in the Yarra Valley? Ample choice it seems. But many of our choices turned out to be fully booked, to be precise the wineries cum restaurant were. So why not going to a beer place? Hargreaves Hill Brewing Company in Yarra Glen came to mind. They had seats available (online booking available!!) and off we went.

A beer tasting paddle

We started with a beer tasting. For this purpose a “tasting paddle” is available with six different beers. As a German I was pleased to find some German style beers such as the ‘Hargreaves Hill Hefeweizen’ and the ‘Hargreaves Hill Kellerbier’. But the paddle also includes classic English (Hargreaves Hill ESB, Hargreaves Hill Stout and and Hargreaves Hill Pale Ale) and Belgium style beers (Hargreaves Hill Abbey Dubbel). I liked the ‘Kellerbier’ best.

The beer tasting notes

The various aromas and tastes are neatly described on the beer tasting menu. Amazing what you can taste in a beer. I just loved the experience. This was a good start to a Sunday lunch, I thought.

The food was equally good. Below you find pictures of what we ordered. Needless to say all the dishes were delicious. The service was excellent. I loved the salmon on the bed of herbs and veggies.

The seafood pasta

Some side dishes

Slow cooked pork belly

My salmon dish

The desserts were equally delicious.

Simon Walkenhorst, the “brew master” and one of the co-owners

At the end of the meal I went over to the bar and asked one of the owners, Simon Walkenhorst, the micro brewer, if I could take a photo for my blog to which he kindly agreed.

From my friend Steve Sadlier I learned later that the brewery had burned down in last years February bushfire and that Simon and his partner Beth had lost their house and all their possessions. Now the beer is brewed in Lylidale. The quality of the “hops drink” has certainly not suffered. We had a great time at the Hargreaves Hill Brewing Company.

The good news for the wine aficionados is that Simon offers a fine selection of local wines. Among them the fine wines of boutique vintner Timo Mayer and the Mayer Vineyard of the Yarra Valley. I am a fan of the vintner and his wines . Try them if you can.

Address:
Hargreaves Hill Brewing Company
25 Bell St
Yarra Glen VIC 3775, Australia
www.hargreaveshill.com.au

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Posted by themanfrommoselriver

The last sip – a Delatite Riesling

April 18, 2010

Leaving Two Hills Vineyard in Glenburn is always a sad affair. The evening before departure we bid farewell to our old friend Steve and our family, Michael and Helen. On Sunday morning we said good bye to our neighbours, Hillary and Ken. Then we drove to Yarra Glen where we left the car at Gayle’s farm. We had a morning tea, moved the luggage into her car and off we went to Melbourne Airport. Gayle dropped us there and we did the usual stuff.

Fortunately, there was a nice bar called “Plonk”, right next to gate No. 4 from which we were to depart for Bangkok. We went through their wine list and chose a wine from our wine region (the Upper Goulburn Wine Region), a ‘2008 Delatite Riesling’. What a delight this wine was, fresh and fruity with citrus and passion-fruit aromas, a good structure and a long finish. The waiter was particularly charming. Here we said our final good bye. Reminiscing about the past is an old man’s vice, but the memories we took with us are treasures of a very special kind.

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Kioti tractor, a Daedong from Korea

April 15, 2010

My new Daedong

My new toy is just awesome. A new tractor is just great after two years without agricultural machinery. Toys for boys, one could say. I really enjoy getting to know this new machine. I am slashing the vineyards and some of my paddocks.

Kioti is the name

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Sunday live music at the Yarra Glen Hotel

April 14, 2010

Live music schedule at the Yarra Glen Hotel

We just love live music. Many places in the Australian countryside offer such occasions. The Yarra Glen Hotel is one of them. This time it was the Leslie Avril Band which stepped in because the Chorlie Owen Band could not make it. When we arrived they played a country piece which did not go well with us. But we were rewarded for our patience. The Leslie Avril Band could also play blues, rock and many other music styles. I loved the violinist, she was just great. It was a very pleasant Sunday afternoon.

The Leslie Avril Band

The Leslie Avril Band in jazz mood

In the glasses

PS: I needed to cleanse my palate and drank beer.

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Vintage time at Two Hills Vineyard

April 13, 2010

Two Hills Merlot grapes 2010

This vintage is one to forget quickly. The few sales of grapes we had are not worth mentioning. The Merlot grapes looked good though (so did the SB and the Pinot Noir). We have to rethink our business model. But we are in good spirits and optimistic about the future of our undertaking.

Margit and the grapes

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Good friends and good wines

April 12, 2010

Enjoying good wines together

It is always a pleasure to visit Gayle and Phillip at their Spingvale farm just outside of Yarra Glen. They served us wonderful wines. A ‘2005 Tappa Pass Shiraz Vineyard Selection’ by Henschke from the Barossa Valley in South Australia and a ‘2008 All Saints Estate Durif’ from All Saints Winery in Rutherglen, Victoria. Both wines are wonderful, lush and full of flavor, the right stuff for a long chat on the lawn. Needless to say, we had a great time.

An afternoon with red wines

The 2005 Henschke Tappa Pass Shiraz

The 2008 All Saints Durif

The Henschke Shiraz with a glass enclosure

When its over: bottles on the ground

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Liz Mazurek Art Exhibition at Rocky Passes

April 11, 2010

Rocky Passes 2006 Syrah

One of our favorite “house wines” is Syrah from Rocky Passes, a winery about an hour north of Two Hills Vineyard. Rocky Passes Estate has received rocking reviews from James Halliday, one of the “popes of wine” from the Yarra Valley. The 2006 vintage received 92 points. Vitto Oles is a jolly good fellow, excellent wine maker and carpenter.

James Halliday wine reviews of Rocky Passes

Liz Mazurek painting

Today the newest art exhibition of Liz Mazurek starts at Rocky Passes. The theme is “The Persistence of Existence”. There is also a three course Spanish dinner available at the opening. If you have not reserved just go for some wine tasting and have a look at the colorful paintings of Liz. Rocky Passes Estate is worth a visit.

Address:
Vitto Oles & Candi Westney
Rocky Passes Estate
1590 Highlands Rd
Whiteheads Creek
Vic 3660
Australia
+61 3 5796 9366
www.rockypasses.com.au

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Rural life – fishing in the dam

April 10, 2010

It took me a while to resume blogging. I did not keep my promise to post at least a photo a day. I am sorry about that. My first week of holidays on the farm was very eventful and I had a lot of things to do. But today it is raining and I have some time on my hands. Work can wait.

Yesterday was one of these beautiful autumn days. We decided to go fishing in the dam. Some years ago we had stocked the smaller dam with some silver perch. We took the fishing rods, got some scrubworms and off we went to check out if the cormorants left some fish for us humans.

To cut a long story short, Lucy was the first to catch a silver perch,then came Charlotte and finally Helen, all with their first ever fish. The fourth fish was thrown back into the water. Three beautiful fish should suffice for a hearty country meal. Later Margit pan-fried the perch with a few local herbs and butter. It looked beautiful, but came up a little bit muddy. This was possibly because of the rain and yabby activity. We threw in a couple of yabby nets, which should provide us with a nice lunch in a few days.

Lucy with her first ever fish

The silver perch

Lucy searching for a suitable worm

Charlotte and her first fish

Another silver perch – Lucy, Helen, Charlotte and Michael

Food and local wine at the dam

Of course, we tasted a lot of local wines. I chose a bottle of ‘2003 Kinloch Estate Pinot Meunier’ and a bottle of ‘2004 Two Hills Merlot’. I love the Pinot Meunier Malcolm Kinloch makes. A bottle of our own wine

The fishing party

Beautiful silver perch

Ready to be eaten

Needless to say that we had a wine with the fish. I selected a ‘2009 Sauvignon Blanc cleanskin’ from Steve Sadlier, our friend and vintner. which he had given to me the day before. That was a wonderful choice. The Loire style Sauvignon Blanc from the Yarra Valley complemented the flavour of the white fish perfectly.

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Heading home

April 1, 2010

When you read this I might be high up in the sky, asleep on the plane and dreaming of my two weeks vacation on the farm in Glenburn, Victoria. Or if you come a bit late to this blog entry, I sit already on our terrace, enjoying the autumn days together with friends and family and we eat and drink, and laugh and have fun.

The wine we’ll drink will be definitively be Two Hills Merlot. We might also drink some of our friends newest releases, cleanskins, or right from the barrel. Or we take a long walk in the vineyard. Or I sit on my brnadnew tractor and slash the grass. Or or or. So many possibilities but one thing is sure: we will have a jolly good time.

I do not know if I will be blogging. I might start a series of short entries such as “a photo a day” or something like it. If you do not see me on The Man from Mosel River for a while do not worry. I will be in heavan drinking great wines in the company of friends. Seeya soon.

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