I must admit I was a little nervous to make my way to Mount Majura Vineyards with all the construction work around the area and I sighed when I saw a long stream of headlights facing in my direction as I was trying to turn right, but someone was nice enough to slow down so I could make my turn (thank you kind local!).
I didn’t even know that Mount Majura Vineyard existed (this human brochure experience has really opened up my eyes to our local produce and wine) but one of my foodie 101 local humans who is a wine enthusiast said to enjoy the night as it is an amazing winery. Apparently she isn’t the only one to think so as the James Halliday’s Wine Companion have given the winery a 5-star rating.
Fergus McGhie the promotions and marketing manager for Mount Majura Vineyard, is explaining how Canberra and the surrounds has ideal conditions in to grow Shiraz and Riesling as they love the big temperature fluctuations that we experience. He also tells us that the winery consists of four full-time wine fanatics who love experimenting with combinations of grapes to produce amazing wines which regularly win awards.
Wow, I know a few people who would raid this place if given the chance.
We were greeted with some Silurian 2010 to start and a table of delicious local produce. We all helped ourselves to some bread and truffled butter as the wine was flowing.
I love the super cute jars that the butter came in. If there weren’t so many witnesses/people to share with, I would have tried to sneak one in my bag!
Beautiful thick truffled butter from next door (I need better neighbours!) and fresh bread from A.baker who stock Mount Majura wines. I couldn’t help but put a thick lather of butter on my slice of bread. It was soooo good.
It looked like everyone was enjoying their glass of bubbles.
The speckled butter reminded me of my black glitter nail polish.
While we were all enjoying the truffled butter, we were introduced to local woman and grower of the French Black truffles in Canberra: Sherry McArdle-English. She tells us about her and her husband’s story going from city dwellers with careers to buying a farm with little to no idea and turning it into a very successful livelihood.
She recalls the time when she went to Fyshwick markets to enquire about this delicacy that she knew little about, she was met with the response that only Europeans know how to grow truffles. Well, spite is a very powerful motivator and she spent 2pm til 3am that day researching all she could about truffles. After a day trip to Tasmania, 80 tonnes per hectare of mined lime and a lot of determination later, she along with her husband started to collect truffles 2.5 years after planting their first trees, which meant that they had the youngest tree producing truffles in the Southern Hemisphere. Fast forward to the present and now the French Black Truffles of Canberra has generated an interest at an international level as well as becoming the largest producer in NSW, one of the biggest producers in Australia, supplying top restaurants in Canberra including Podfood and the Boat house and also becoming the sole producer to supply truffles at the Fyshwick markets.
Who knew all this was happening right in Canberra?!
All the local humans sit down to feast on truffled brie and a variety of wine while getting a chance to talk with the local producers.
I love the place mat that they had given us which very informative. A very simple yet handy thing to have! They had an older Chardonnay (2006) to compliment the truffled brie as well as a 2012 Pinot Noir.
A close of up the beautiful colours of Mount Majura Wines.
Their very popular T.S.G was also passed around to be sampled.
As well as their Touriga (2013).
I love personalised glassware.
Cheesy porn. I had to balance between not getting too excited in the presence of such a delicacy, taking lots of photos and not drooling on the place mat while taking said photos. It is a truffle infused Small Cow Farm brie.
You can see how creamy and soft the brie is which forms a squishy cushion around the delicately shaved truffle.
I might not appreciate wine but I know lots of wine connoisseurs who would love a bottle and I would love for them to try Canberra’s best. How cute is their wine box (which has a convenient handle that you can’t see in this picture)?! 2011 Shiraz ($32.00), 2013 T.S.G ($32.00) and 2013 Molli ($27.00).Everyone that tried Molli couldn’t help but buy a bottle (or 6) and with a limited run I had to grab a bottle for someone who I knew would appreciate it very much. I think it is a super cute name for a wine!
Mount Majura Vineyards don’t sell individually sell the truffled brie as it doesn’t have a long shelf life and you can’t gauge how many you would sell during a weekend but Fergus explained that you can get a taste of this delicious cheese with a matching wine on Sundays. See details below.
Truffle infused weekends at Mount Majura Vineyard 21st June to mid August, Saturday and Sunday only, 10am – 5pm
Truffle season has begun and we’re excited to include truffles at the cellar door as part of our winter tasting experience. We infuse Small Cow Farm Petit Vache, a deliciously rich and creamy brie style cheese, with truffles from our neighbour Sherry at French Black Truffles of Canberra. To accompany this we’re pouring a flight of three 80ml glasses of wine matched to the truffled brie. This winter Frank has specially taken out vintage stock from the museum cellar to match with the brie! The tasting will be served individually and will cost $30 per person.
Bookings on (02) 6262 3070 or info@mountmajura.com.au
Venue: Mount Majura Vineyards
Address: RMB 314 Majura Road, Majura, ACT 2609
Phone: (02) 6262 3070
Website: http://www.mountmajura.com.au/
Opening hours: Thursday to Monday from 10am to 5pm
Prices: this experience was paid for buy VisitCanberra as part of the 101 local humans campaign for the human brochure, with the bottles of wines bought by myself.
Venue: The French Black truffles of Canberra
Address: Ruffles Estate, 23 Mt Majura Road, Maujra ACT 2609
Phone: 0419 950 207
Website: http://canberratruffles.com.au/
TALES OF A CONFECTIONIST 