The latest in foodie news, events and products.
Canberra Wine Week
[NOTE: All Wine Week events have subsequently been cancelled due to Coronavirus COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings.]
While 2020 has been a tough season for many local vineyards, there are still plenty of wines from previous harvests to taste and enjoy. Canberra District Wine Industry Association invites you to support local growers and makers and celebrate the harvest during Canberra Wine Week, 21-29 March. Enjoy everything from food and wine matching events, wine tastings and dinners, to live music, grape stomping and scarecrow making.
For events and bookings, visit canberrawines.com.au
Underground Gin celebrates ANBG
To celebrate the Australian National Botanic Gardens’ (ANBG) 50th anniversary this year, Canberra gin distillery Underground Spirits has collaborated with the Gardens to release a gin made with botanicals sourced from the ANBG. The Ad Crescendum (Latin for ‘to grow’) gin is a nod to the many plants and flowers grown at the ANBG, and features botanicals from all over Australia including banksia, finger lime, rainforest aniseed, white aspen and yam daisy.
Ad Crescendum gin is now part of Underground Spirits’ permanent line-up; available for $95 from undergroundspirits.com.au and selected retailers.
Sisters fight single use plastics
Canberra sisters Zoya and Zaheeda Patel have launched Aasha Keep Kits; a business that gives people a simple and stylish way to avoid single use plastics when out and about. Each kit includes a collapsible keep cup, stainless steel cutlery, two straws and a cleaner, a reusable shopping bag and a waterproof bag in a custom-made pouch, in a range of colours and patterns. “I’m a busy mother of three, so I know how hard it can be to do the right thing and avoid plastics when you’re out shopping or eating at a café,” Zaheeda says. “So we started talking about this idea of bringing everything you need to avoid single-use plastic into one place – and then we thought, why not make them stylish and fun too?”
The Keep Kits are available for $74.95 via keepkits.com
Batlow’s back!
Batlow Fruit Company has delivered the first new season Batlow Apples, after fires devastated the region in early January.The company’s director and apple grower Greg Mouat says the picking, production and delivery of new season Royal Gala apples shows the Batlow community is “getting back on its feet and is on the road to recovery”.
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Meet some new contentious characters
[NOTE: Canberra Comedy Festival and Contentious Cabaret have subsequently been cancelled due to Coronavirus COVID-19 restrictions; Canberra Theatre also closed until further notice; eateries closed except for takeaways.]
Wamboin winery Contentious Character is celebrating the release of three new wines: the 2019 Pinot Grigio ‘Fifty Shades of Grape’; the 2017 Merlot ‘I could Murder a Merlot’; and the 2019 Riesling ‘Crisp in your Cakehole’. The wines will be available during March at Canberra Theatre and Novotel Canberra, sponsors of the Canberra Comedy Festival, which kicks off 21 March. Contentious Character will also be hosting Contentious Cabaret on 28 March, with performances and a three-course feast paired with the new wines.
For more information, visit contentiouscharacter.com.au
Narooma Oyster Festival welcomes Paul West
[NOTE: Festival cancelled due to Coronavirus COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings.]
Celebrity chef and former River Cottage Australia host Paul West has been announced as the ambassador for the 2020 Narooma Oyster Festival. Festival chair Cath Peachey said “no one knows our region and its produce better than Paul West, so he’s the perfect person to promote this year’s Oyster Festival”. West will co-host the Festival’s Long Table Dinner on 1 May with oyster industry guru John Susman.
The Narooma Oyster Festival is on Friday 1 and Saturday 2 May at Forster’s Bay, Narooma. More info: naroomaoysterfestival.com
