The Grange at Cleveland Winery
I couldn't get cut and paste to work, so here are the pics first, and food review below!
My entree, Smoked Salmon with Lemon Risotto
My main, Moroccan Chicken with Couscous
Chris's main, Ribeye with Bacon, Potato Patty and Fresh Beans
The gorgeous viewMy sister gave me a perfect pressie for my birthday - lunch for two at a winery! Chris and I meant to go ages ago, but he's had a busy schedule for the last few months with moving and clients gearing up for the busy Christmas shopping season, so when we had a free weekend, we grabbed the opportunity to head to Cleveland winery.
The trip there was really painful - it was 37 degrees, the trip was 1.5 hours and Chris's car has no airconditioning, so we were pretty much plastered to the seats by the time we got there. Unfortunately, it was bushfire season, so we saw a few on the way that were caused by inconsiderate motorists throwing cigarette butts out of their window >:( Makes me angry!
It was well worth the trip when we got to the winery. The sky was so blue and you could see for miles and miles. I love the sense of space that you get in Australia. We decided to start off with the complementary cellar door tasting. Unfortunately, because of the heat, the wines didn't taste as good as they should have. My favourites were actually the two wines that Cleveland winery outsourced - the Reserve Shiraz and the Pinot Noir.
We were starving at this point, and Chris was already getting tipsy (he hardly ever drinks) so we decided to get some grub. The menu was quite varied and most of it sounded really nice. The voucher gave us 2 courses each, so I decided to get an entree and main, and bullied Chris into getting the dessert I wanted :D
I decided to give their rose another shot because it tasted promising even when it was lukewarm, so i ordered a glass to go with lunch. It was served icy cold and tasted a hundred times better than it did at the tasting!
With an icy cold bubbly beverage in my hand, I was ready to start eating! For an entree, I had the smoked salmon with lemon risotto. It was pretty good, the smoked salmon was fresh and succulent, and the velvety texture went really well with the tart lemon risotto and tangy sesame dressing that was drizzled on the accompanying rocket salad. My only complaint was the risotto patty was served piping hot, so it 'cooked' the salmon slightly. Maybe it was only a problem because it was such a hot day.
For a main, I ordered the moroccan chicken with couscous. Sadly, this was a bit dry and flavourless. Still, I was so hungry I gulped it down and had some of Chris's main too! He ordered a delicious ribeye wrapped with bacon, served with fresh beans and a potato patty. The steak was so succulent it melted in your mouth, and the sweet red wine sauce it came in suited beautifully. The potato patty was a bit boring and tasted like it had been frozen, but the beans were lovely and perfectly cooked.
The dessert was the star of the day, I think. I didn't even get to take a picture of it because we finished it in 5 minutes flat. It really did taste homemade - there was blackberry, apple and mint, and strawberry, served with fresh cherries and berries. It was perfect on such a sweltering day.
Full and sleepy, we made another stop at the cellar to buy a bottle of rose for Christmas dinner, and then headed home. About 10 minutes into the drive, a cool change suddenly hit, and the change was amazing. In a split second, the temperature dropped by about ten degrees, so the drive home was much more pleasant :)
The trip there was really painful - it was 37 degrees, the trip was 1.5 hours and Chris's car has no airconditioning, so we were pretty much plastered to the seats by the time we got there. Unfortunately, it was bushfire season, so we saw a few on the way that were caused by inconsiderate motorists throwing cigarette butts out of their window >:( Makes me angry!
It was well worth the trip when we got to the winery. The sky was so blue and you could see for miles and miles. I love the sense of space that you get in Australia. We decided to start off with the complementary cellar door tasting. Unfortunately, because of the heat, the wines didn't taste as good as they should have. My favourites were actually the two wines that Cleveland winery outsourced - the Reserve Shiraz and the Pinot Noir.
We were starving at this point, and Chris was already getting tipsy (he hardly ever drinks) so we decided to get some grub. The menu was quite varied and most of it sounded really nice. The voucher gave us 2 courses each, so I decided to get an entree and main, and bullied Chris into getting the dessert I wanted :D
I decided to give their rose another shot because it tasted promising even when it was lukewarm, so i ordered a glass to go with lunch. It was served icy cold and tasted a hundred times better than it did at the tasting!
With an icy cold bubbly beverage in my hand, I was ready to start eating! For an entree, I had the smoked salmon with lemon risotto. It was pretty good, the smoked salmon was fresh and succulent, and the velvety texture went really well with the tart lemon risotto and tangy sesame dressing that was drizzled on the accompanying rocket salad. My only complaint was the risotto patty was served piping hot, so it 'cooked' the salmon slightly. Maybe it was only a problem because it was such a hot day.
For a main, I ordered the moroccan chicken with couscous. Sadly, this was a bit dry and flavourless. Still, I was so hungry I gulped it down and had some of Chris's main too! He ordered a delicious ribeye wrapped with bacon, served with fresh beans and a potato patty. The steak was so succulent it melted in your mouth, and the sweet red wine sauce it came in suited beautifully. The potato patty was a bit boring and tasted like it had been frozen, but the beans were lovely and perfectly cooked.
The dessert was the star of the day, I think. I didn't even get to take a picture of it because we finished it in 5 minutes flat. It really did taste homemade - there was blackberry, apple and mint, and strawberry, served with fresh cherries and berries. It was perfect on such a sweltering day.
Full and sleepy, we made another stop at the cellar to buy a bottle of rose for Christmas dinner, and then headed home. About 10 minutes into the drive, a cool change suddenly hit, and the change was amazing. In a split second, the temperature dropped by about ten degrees, so the drive home was much more pleasant :)
posted by Juliet @ 2:49 AM
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