May 8, 2007
Geez, this place is a long way from anywhere. I wouldn’t really recommend a special trip from either Melbourne or Geelong but if you’re in the Colac area it’s worth checking out.
The wines didn’t impress me all that much, and the beers were relatively plain, though well-brewed. My favourite was probably the low alcohol German pils, which tasted authentically German. The British styles were solid, but the Belgian beers didn’t seem very Belgian at all. The wit was obviously spiced, but had barely any yeast or wheat character. The farmhouse ale was decidedly sweet and fruity, I wasn’t really sure what to make of it.
Anyway, the best part about this place is the food. They basically do solid, country-style restaurant food in a fairly stylish way and served in very nice cafe setting, and at much cheaper prices than at wineries on the Mornington Peninsula, for instance.
There’s an open fire with copies of Radical Brewing to read whilst you have a beer (awesome!) and a small gallery upstairs.
They’re a fairly new operation, and the both the service and the beer and wine seemed to reflect this to me (for instance, they have to bring in a lot of fruit because the vines aren’t yielding enough at this point) so I’m gonna make a point to return in a year or so and see how they’re going.