Adelaide Hills Crush

Crush 09 will continue to build on the success of this key Adelaide Hills Festival. In addition to providing a wonderful showcase for the very best the Region has to offer on the Australia Day weekend, Crush 09 is taking an innovative direction in offering complimentary tutored tastings through the day on three of our key varieties, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Shiraz.

These ‘Discover more…’ sessions will give both new and more experienced wine lover the opportunity to learn some of the secrets of these wonderful wines from our gifted young winemakers and take those secrets home with them. Darryl Catlin of Shaw & Smith will be comparing Adelaide Hills and New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs, Peter Dredge of Petaluma will be inviting people to rediscover the elegance of Chardonnay and Erinn Klein and Phillippe Morin will be comparing cool and warm climate and French Shiraz.

There will also be lots of fun with 17 different venues offering everything from an Amy Winehouse tribute at Hahndorf Hill Winery to an opportunity experience the thrill of black cockatoos flying in at dusk at Sinclairs Gully.

Crush 09 will also be the start of a journey leading through three further, seasonal events during the year which will celebrate Chardonnay and Sparkling Wines in Autumn, Adelaide Hills Reds in Winter and the season’s new Sauvignon Blancs in Spring.

Through encouraging a deeper knowledge of these wonderful varieties producers continue their commitment to encourage both greater appreciation and safe drinking of Adelaide Hills Wine, which can be tasted in the vineyard only 20 minutes from Adelaide city. For more information see www.richandlingering.com.au/Crush.html

Sticky Rice Cooking School

Sticky Rice Cooking School in Stirling (in the Adelaide Hills) is an exciting new culinary experience offering hands on cooking classes with adventurous and talented chefs in Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine.

You can learn how to create restaurant quality dishes in hands-on cooking classes with Australia's masters of Asian cuisine, then wine and dine on the recipes.

Sticky Rice Cooking School was named as one of the Top 20 Hotspots for 2009 by the Adelaide Annual 2009 as published by the Advertiser and are one of only 3 places listed in SA.

Regional Tourism Award Success

The 2008 SA Great Regional Tourism Services Award was recently awarded to Rich & Lingering by Catriona Rowntree, presenter of Channel 9’s travel program “Getaway”.

Catriona presented the award to Jason Miller of Rich & Lingering at the official awards ceremony at Auchendarroch House in the Adelaide Hills.

The award recognises and celebrates those individuals and businesses that have made a significant contribution to the Adelaide Hills region of South Australia. This award is open to specialised tourism services or facilities that enhance the visitor experience and integrate with other tourism products.

2008 is the second year Rich & Lingering have been recipients of the SA Great award.

"It is gratifying to receive recognition from the industry of our commitment to excellence, and caps off another very successful year for us” said Jason Miller of Rich & Lingering.

Rich & Lingering were the proud winners in the 2008 SA Tourism Awards. It is recognition of their creativity, professionalism and innovation in the industry. The award highlights Rich & Lingering’s focus on providing both high levels of wine and food knowledge and excellent customer service to their guests.

Rich & Lingering provides 5 star food and wine tours for guests, focussing on Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills, and McLaren Vale wine regions of South Australia.

Monty Python's Australian Wine Review

A lot of people pooh-pooh Australian table wines. This is a pity as many fine Australian wines appeal not only to the Australian palate but also to the cognoscenti.

Black Stump Bordeaux is rightly praised as a peppermint flavored Burgundy, whilst a good Sydney Syrup can rank with any of the world's best sugary wines.

Château Blue, too, has won many prizes; not least for its taste, and its lingering afterburn.
Old Smokey 1968 has been compared favorably to a Welsh claret, whilst the Australian Wino Society thoroughly recommends a 1970 Coq du Rod Laver, which, believe me, has a kick on it like a mule: eight bottles of this and you're really finished. At the opening of the Sydney Bridge Club, they were fishing them out of the main sewers every half an hour.

Of the sparkling wines, the most famous is Perth Pink. This is a bottle with a message in it, and the message is 'beware'. This is not a wine for drinking, this is a wine for laying down and avoiding.

Another good fighting wine is Melbourne Old-and-Yellow, which is particularly heavy and should be used only for hand-to-hand combat.

Quite the reverse is true of Château Chunder, which is an appellation contrôlée, specially grown for those keen on regurgitation; a fine wine which really opens up the sluices at both ends.

Real emetic fans will also go for a Hobart Muddy, and a prize winning Cuvee Reserve Château Bottled Nuit San Wogga Wogga, which has a bouquet like an aborigine's armpit.

Maggie Beer cooking demonstration

Thinking of planning a seminar, conference or team building exercise in the Adelaide and Barossa region? Why not include a trip to Maggie Beer's Farm Shop and book an exclusive and interactive corporate verjuice cooking demonstration for groups of 10 or more.

These new demonstrations are held in the Farm Shop's Studio Kitchen where the popular television show The Cook and the Chef is filmed.

The demonstrations include straight verjuice tastings, plus audience participation with the preparation and tasting of tender corn-fed chicken tenderloins, sautéed with fresh herbs and deglazed with verjuice, plus Aussie mushrooms sautéed with fresh herbs and deglazed with verjuice and salad with verjuice vinaigrette.

At the end of the demonstrations, each guest will receive a signed copy of Maggie Beer's cooking with verjuice book and a bottle of Maggie Beer's verjuice. The demonstrations cost $15 per person. More information: 08 8562 4477

No more Port or Sherry

The wine industry will announce in a few months potential names for the fortified wines sherry, port, tokay and Marsala.

Australia signed a new trade agreement with the European Union last week, agreeing to phase out the use of wine names which are tied to places in Europe.

Chairman of the fortified sustainability project committee, Colin Campbell, says developing the new names has cost the industry a lot of time and up to a million dollars so far.

"We think we've now got to a point where we're on the last phase of our research, just testing names and hopefully from there we're hoping to have at least by March to have the new names out in the arena, so that we can start the process then of launching them and introducing them and promoting them."

Rich & Lingering Named Best Tour Operator in South Australia

Rich & Lingering was named best Tour Operator at the South Australia Tourism Awards gala dinner, on Saturday 22 November. Rich & Lingering will now go forward as the South Australian entrant to contest the Australian Tourism Awards, in February 2009.

The award is recognition of Rich & Lingering’s creativity, professionalism and innovation in the industry. It acknowledges their focus on providing high levels of wine and food knowledge, together with outstanding customer service.

State judging is conducted by a panel of independent industry peers appointed by the SATC. The panel comprises a cross-section of tourism industry experts. Judges are selected for their knowledge and experience of the industry.

“It is gratifying to receive recognition from the industry of our commitment to excellence, and caps off another very successful year for us” said Jason Miller of Rich & Lingering.

“We focus on the premium segment of the food and wine tourism market which requires Rich & Lingering to partner with other exceptional businesses across the regions. A big thank you to all who support Rich & Lingering and we look forward to continuing our relationship into the future.” said Mr Miller.

“South Australia is a fantastic place for food and wine, with many new indulgence seeking visitors discovering the regions for the first time. Rich & Lingering aim to be a key promoter of the state’s wonderful food and wine producers into the future.”

Rich & Lingering provides private tailor made food and wine experiences for guests, focussing on Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills, and McLaren Vale wine regions of South Australia. Guests are able to draw on the knowledge of their guide of not only regional products but also international styles. Tours encourage guests to discover new products and the art and science of viticulture and winemaking.