South Australia's Food and Wine events

Below is a sample of a few of the great food and wine events happening around South Australia.

Adelaide Hills Wine Festival - Crush
30 January 2011
Spend the day at the Adelaide Hill's flagship food and wine event. Crush is a fabulous celebration of Adelaide Hills food and wine, which enables you to meander between various venues around the region. You will have the opportunity to experience the best of the region's wine served with a gourmet menu featuring fresh, local produce.

Natuzzi The Parade Food, Wine and Music Festival
20 February 2011
An afternoon in the sun to enjoy the fantastic food, wine and music that make this festival so popular.

2011 Cellar Door Wine Festival - Adelaide
25 - 27 February 2011
South Australia's first state wine festival! Get your Passport... Come and discover the best wine, food and regional experiences right in the heart of the city at Adelaide biggest cellar door! Three days of wine tasting (100+wineries), master classes (with Australia's wine royalty!), food sampling and a regional farmer's market (yum!), plus you could WIN A SMART CAR!

Tastes of the Outback
1-10 April 2011
Wine and dine your way through the Flinders Ranges and Outback, indulging in fine regional food and wine accompanied by world-class entertainment. Ride a camel to an exclusive Candlelit Dinner or watch movies under the stars and regional cooking classes. Eat your way through the region trying great Outback dishes, collect the cook book and buy the Outback condiments to make these great dishes in your own home.

A Taste of Good Things
17 April 2011
Popular South Australian jazz musicians will entertain you through the day as you relax and enjoy a glass of local wine accomapnied by some great regional food - the music will get the feet tapping.

Barossa Vintage Festival
23 April - 1 May 2011 (bi-annual event)
The Barossa Vintage Festival is the largest and longest running wine festival in Australia. Enjoy tastings, twilight concerts, a festival ball, literary events and much more. This is a biennial event that runs for a full week, encompassing all aspects of the Barossa community. Wineries are joined by businesses, civic groups, churches and individuals to stage the various activities that make up the festival.

Clare Valley Gourmet Weekend
14-15 May 2011
Wear your most elegant (and stretchy) clothes and really indulge yourself with a weekend away in one of the world's premier food and wine destinations. On Saturday you'll literally get a taste of things to come with samples of the year's vintage before the winemaking process is complete - a privilege usually reserved only for vintners. Then on Gourmet Sunday you can start the day beside a bonfire, eating hand-made sausages and roasted tomatoes. Then, after a morning spent doing some leisurely wine tasting, sit down to a lunch of barbecued prawns with parmesan and saffron risotto while being entertained by a swinging jazz band.

BankSA Sea and Vines
11-12 June 2011
Want to enjoy a weekend of gourmet delights, live music and world-class wines in gorgeous Mediterranean-style surroundings? Here, South Australia's premier chefs and restaurants have joined forces with local wineries to create mouth-watering menus complemented by great wine and live entertainment throughout the region.

NAB Barossa Gourmet Weekend
20-21 August 2011
Set your taste buds free with a weekend of indulgence in one of world's best wine regions. Each of the cellar doors taking part in this event will be serving up a fine dining experience matched with premium wines and the smooth sounds of live music. Barossa Gourmet weekend is a fantastic opportunity to indulge in food, wine and music and famous hospitality in the beautiful Barossa. A range of entertainment to suit all tastes will be on offer at each of the venues.

Tasting Australia - Across South Australia
26 April to 3 May 2012

No gourmand can afford to miss this! Showcasing the world's top culinary talent, the biennial event is an opportunity to enjoy the best food, wine and hospitality that South Australia and the nation have to offer. If you've never experienced the food and wine state - South Australia - then Tasting Australia is the perfect time to discover its secrets.

Two Hands Wines Cellar Door Platters

Internationally renowned Barossa winery Two Hands Wines has just started tickling the tastebuds of their visitors with the introduction of their new Tasting Plate made of delicious local and international ingredients.

Two Hands Platter for Two Jamon Iberico de bellota, Duck Rillette, Cornichons,Nuova Generazione Sundried Tomatoes, Roman Artichokes, Forteto Peccorino, Woodbake of Stirling crusty bread roll and God's Country Extra Virgin Olive Oil. $35

For more information please contact Shannon on 08 8562 4566 or visit www.twohandswines.com.au

Adam Liaw to Cook up a Storm at Crush Festival

Masterchef Winner and SA's own, Adam Liaw, will be hosting a public cooking demonstration at Longview Vineyard, during the 2011 Crush Wine and Food Festival. The demonstration is free for all to attend and will be held at Crush on Sunday January 30th 2011, 1.30pm – 2.30pm at Longview Vineyard on Pound Road, Macclesfield, SA.

Adam's cooking demonstration is inspired by the finest local Adelaide Hills produce and paired with his favorite white varietal, Chardonnay.

“Discover your Crush” and celebrate everything vibrant the Adelaide Hills Wine Region has to offer at their 2011 Crush Wine and Food Festival. The region invites the public to enjoy the best of the region as winemakers and producers showcase their wares at over 30 unique Hills locations.

The lead up to Crush delivers a series of masterclasses and special events kicking off on January 26th before the major event on Sunday January 30th.

Adelaide Hills Crush Wine Festival

The Adelaide Hills Wine Region invites you to “Discover your Crush” and celebrate everything vibrant the character-driven region has to offer at their 2011 Crush Food and Wine Festival.

Held on Sunday January 30th, the lead up to Crush delivers a series of master-classes and special events kicking off on January 26th. From Howard Vineyards’ ‘Flights and Bites’ that matches gourmet food with wines, to Sinclair’s Gully Twilight Tasting of “Oysters and Fizz,” and the Barratt Wines and Bistro 25’s garden luncheon, the Crush Festival has something for everyone to discover.

This year, Crush offers a chance to meet South Australian winner of MasterChef 2010, Adam Liaw, to hear what he loves most about the region.

“I grew up in The Adelaide Hills so it’s a region that I am very passionate about. It’s brilliant the whole year round but the whole region really comes alive for the Crush Festival. It’s a great chance for people to discover the real Adelaide Hills region and experience the pleasure of its fabulous food and wine at your their pace for the day,” Adam says.

“We are so lucky in South Australia to have beautiful wines and excellent local produce right on our doorstep” he said. “There aren’t many places in the world who can boast a wine region of The Adelaide Hills’ quality in such close proximity to a capital city.”

The 2011 Crush Food and Wine Festival celebrates its 8th year in 2011. The region invites the public to join Adam Liaw in enjoying the best of the region as winemakers and producers showcase their wares at over 30 unique Hills locations.

The Adelaide Hills Crush festival will start on January 26th through a series of events and master-classes with the main celebration held on Sunday January 30th at various Adelaide Hills Locations. For more information visit: www.crushfestival.com.au

South Australia's Cellar Door Wine Festival 2011

The ‘festival state’ (that’s South Australia) in conjunction with the leading wineries has put together a true state wine festival. The Cellar Door Wine Festival will showcase over 100 wineries from premium wine regions of South Australia.

This will be a great way for all those with a passion for Pinot, or are curious about Cabernet, or even serious about Shiraz to see the best regions all in one location. South Australian regions covered include; Adelaide Hills, Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Coonawarra, Eden Valley, Langhorne Creek, McLaren Vale, Padthaway and the Riverland.

South Australia produces most - and some of the best – of Australia’s wine. It boasts some of the oldest commercially producing vines in the world. It has a diverse range of regions and is considered to be the wine industry’s “powerhouse” state. Surprisingly we have never had a state wine celebration here. The Cellar Door Festival will be held in Adelaide over 3 days from Friday 25 to Sunday 27 February, 2011 and will be at the world-class venue the Adelaide Convention Centre.

Festival highlights include:
• Regional Wine and Food Trail - showcasing a ‘taste’ of each region... wander through at your leisure to chat with the winemakers, sample wines and regional produce!
• Top up your own cellar - purchase full bottles of wine from more than 100+ wineries and take advantage of some incredible show specials!
• Master Classes - interactive talks and tastings with iconic wine identities, local SA microbrewery tastings, wine and cheese matching... plus the launch of Wine Australia’s first consumer A+ Australian Wine Master Classes!
• A+ Australian Wine SA Varietal View - tasting area featuring grouped wine varietals from all across the state.
• Regional Farmer's Market - after sampling wines and produce on your walk through the themed regional areas, head over to enjoy regional tasting platters, barbeque plates and gourmet desserts!

Something's Fermenting in Barossa

Barossa has a new restaurant. Tuoi Do and Grant Dickson have opened FermentAsian on Murray Street in Tanunda. Chef Tuoi Do was born in remote Northern Vietnam, two hours drive north-west of Hanoi, with her love of cooking leading to the new venture.

FermentAsian is an exciting addition to the region's food scene, the menu comprised of traditional Vietnamese dishes balanced by creations inspired by Southeast Asian cuisine, all of which brim with local produce.

The wine menu is well worth a look too, the carefully planned list dotted with local Barossa wines and international examples. The wine list no doubt influenced by Grant and his wine industry connections, given his fulltime role with Barossa iconic winery Rockford Wines. For all the details head to www.fermentasian.com.au.

Henschke Winery of the Year

One of Rich & Lingering's key winery partners in Barossa, Henschke, has been named Winery of the Year in the inaugural The Age/Sydney Morning Herald Good Wine Guide Awards.

Wine critic and author of the Good Wine Guide, Nick Stock, said the quality of Henschke wines has never looked better. “Its hard to sum up just how precious an asset this winery is; Henschke are the custodians of not just Australia's, but the world’s most important vineyards,” he said.

The winery, established in 1868 by Johann Christian Henschke, is notable for pioneering single-vineyard wines in Australia and for the internationally renowned shiraz, Hill of Grace, in Eden Valley.

Fifth generation winemaker, Stephen Henschke and his viticulturist wife, Prue, said they were thrilled to be awarded this accolade recognising “the strength of their family heritage, the outstanding quality of their wines, their commitment to leading viticultural research and evolution, as well as their dedication to inspiring and nurturing the next generation”.

Prue Henschke said a priority for her and Stephen was their passion protecting the land, the environment and the future of their vineyards for the next generation, their three children, who are set to be the sixth generation of Henschkes in wine.

“Nourishing the land is a vital tool to connect healthy soils and healthy vines, to produce fruit with vivid varietal flavours and give the vines a buffer against climatic extremes. Sustainability in the vineyards has always been our goal — we aspire to tread as lightly as possible on our land,” she said.