Tag Archives: beer

Australia New Zealand, Travel

More Adventures in W.A.

Leave a comment

Checking Out Margaret River’s Products.

Day 12  7/11/24

I could have gotten out of writing today’s blog by saying that I couldn’t remember what had happened. We spent the day testing Margaret River’s agricultural products.

About forty years ago, someone noticed that Margaret River had very similar soil and climate to the Bordeaux region of France. Bordeaux produces some of the best and most expensive wines in the world. Two and two were put together, and it was decided that it might be worthwhile growing some grapes and seeing what happened.

What happened was that some remarkable wine was produced. The Margaret River wine industry was born. It is compulsory to visit a few, or more, wineries whilst in Margaret River. We signed up for a tour with Margaret River Vintage Wine Tours. To avoid someone being stuck as a dedicated driver or being prosecuted for drunk driving. We decided to let someone else do the driving.

Our driver/ guide, Tony, was knowledgeable and funny. We sampled the wines of three producers, Xanadu, Voyager, and Jarvis. There should have been a fourth. The power company was doing some work, which meant that the fourth winery was without power. So they canceled. We went to the local chocolate factory instead.

Various wines and wineries.

I liked most of the wines that I tried, but my favorites were the Cabernet Sauvignon from Voyager and Jarvis. We didn’t like any of them enough to buy. This might have been partly due to the thought of having to transport them home. I also think that a slightly different impression of a wine is given when served 20 to 30ml to taste. This is compared to when you are served 125 to 150ml in a glass. I don’t think you get quite the same bouquet, or as full a sense of the taste.

The winery produces some pretty fine wine. The buildings and gardens are also worth seeing.

We did buy a couple of dessert wines from Jarvis. One is called WTF. It stands for Wine That’s Fortified. It is a Port, but only wine from the Douro valley can be called Port nowadays. So, they call it WTF. The other one is their take on the Italian mistella. Named Miss Ella after the owner’s late dog.

We concluded our wine tasting tour at a brewery, obviously. The Margaret River Brewhouse brews decent beer.

A three pony crate
What we had to finish us off

I welcome the explosion of craft breweries. However, I feel that most of them only do variations on a West Coast IPA. Margaret River, at least, did a few other varieties.

It was an enjoyable day, definitely best done with someone else doing the driving.

Uncategorized

Young’s no longer brew beer

Leave a comment

Youngs Brewery LOgo

After 180 years of brewing and selling beer Young’s now have no connection with brewing and have become exclusively a pub owning company. They have sold the 40% stake that they had in Wells & Young’s Brewing Company to their partner the Bedford based Charles Wells.
There’s more

Cooking, Food

Chickpea and Cauliflower Curry

1 Comment

(from a Michelin Starred Chef)

I found this recipe by Angela Hartnett in last weeks Guardian. She has been publishing a series of quick and easy dishes that are described as Angela Hartnett’s midweek suppers. This is the first one I have tried, not so much because I didn’t like the look of the others, it is just that this was the first vegetarian dish in the series. I decided to make it for lunch today. My Veggie Wife thoroughly approves of it and so do I. It is dead simple to make. All the ingredients should be available at your local supermarket, if you don’t already have them in your cupboard.

I served it with naan bread (bought from Tesco’s) and a slightly chilled Hook Norton Bitter

I’ve included the ingredients and the method below.

Ingredients

(Serves four to six)

1 whole cauliflower
3 medium onions
4 cloves of garlic
½ tsp chopped fresh ginger
2 tsp ground coriander
2 star aniseed
½ tsp ground chilli
4 curry leaves
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tin of chickpeas*, drained
2 tbsp of chopped fresh coriander

Method
Remove the stalks from the cauliflower and cut into large florets. In a pan of boiling water, add the cauliflower and cook for five minutes. When ready, drain from the water and place back in the pan. Cover so it stays warm.

While the cauliflower is cooking, cut the onions into small pieces. Squash the garlic with the back of a knife to make it easier to peel. Chop until nice and fine.

In a pan, add a touch of butter, plus the onion, garlic and ginger, and sauté until golden brown.

In the same pan, add the dried spices and cook for a further five minutes.

Add the tin of tomatoes and  chickpeas and stir well. Then add the cooked cauliflower. Top up with 100ml of cold water and bring to a simmer for five to 10 minutes until the cauliflower is cooked.

Finish by adding the chopped  coriander. Serve on a warm plate.

*garbanzo beans if you are American.