If someone asked me where to find the best wine in Australia, normally I’d say the Hunter Valley, Barossa region or even Margaret River. In all honesty, I’ve never thought of Queensland as somewhere I would taste a good drop. Oh, how wrong I was.
For our first lunch on our gastronomic weekend, we venture to
Sirromet Wines headquarters in Mount Cotton, 30 minutes from Brisbane CBD. Sirromet is a family-owned winery that has won over a whopping 400 national and international awards in its 10 short years of operation and its location is simply stunning – rolling hills, views to
Stradbroke Island, and of course, row upon row of weaving grape vines. We sign up for the one-hour
Sirromet Tour and Tasting (for a tiny $20) and go behind the scenes to learn more about the wine-making process. After learning about how Sirromet perfect their pinot gris, rosé, viognier and sparkling wine, we finish off by spending 20 minutes in a special temperature-controlled room critiquing (well, to the best of our knowledge) about eight different drops. Needless to say, it’s not long before we get the giggles at our faux expertise, but our guide doesn’t seem to mind in the slightest. In fact, he’s far more helpful than snooty and encourages us to get creative with our descriptions.
Afterwards, we make our way outside to the cellar door for a long-awaited lunch. On the grounds of Sirromet you can also have lunch or dinner at
Lurleens (voted Queensland’s best restaurant two years in a row), but on this occasion, we opt for the more chilled option of the two. Why is this? Every Saturday and Sunday afternoon, the alfresco space just outside the cellar door is home to an awesome live jazz session – the perfect accompaniment to the wine and antipasto combo. The cheese and dips we wolf down are absolutely moreish and it’s not long before we’ve polished off the whole plate. Time for another bottle of wine, I say.
Details:Sirromet Wines
Clellar Door: Any day of the week from 10am to 4:30pm
Lurleens Restaurant: Wed-Sun
Address: 850 Mount Cotton Road, Mount Cotton
Contact number: 07 3206 2999
For more information
click here.
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