In this cold weather edition, we uncover the most delicious ways to stay warm in South Australia this month.
Winter drinks
We’ll get to the wine shortly – but first, beer.
Winter is the time to embrace the darkness and a good place to start is Thebarton’s Wheatsheaf Hotel.
The beer specialists are holding their annual dark beer festival – dubbed Font of Darkness – starting tonight. Seven of the pub’s 13 taps will be given over to varying shades of black, toasty brews. Over the month, more than 50 dark beers will cycle through the font but the opening selection includes Sixpoint Oyster Stout, Thornbridge Raspberry Stout, and Woolshed Firehouse Coffee Stout.
Later in July, the Adelaide Hills will hold its biggest ever Winter Reds Weekend, with 40 wineries getting involved over the weekend of July 26-27.
Our picks include the “Feral Feast” at Ngeringa, the excellent biodynamic winery out the back of Mt Barker. It will be roasting goat, camel and rabbit in the wood oven to accompany its range of reds (prickly pear is also on the menu). “Conservation can be delicious,” is the motto for the meal.
Lobethal Road winery near Mount Torrens will match its 2012 Shiraz – recently awarded best wine at the Royal Sydney Wine Show – with slow-cooked lamb shoulder and black-pepper chicken curry. Longview at Macclesfield will be serving American BBQ.
It’s also worth getting along to Mt Lofty Ranges Vineyard, tucked in the hills above Lenswood. It’ll be conducting a vertical tasting of eight vintages of Pinot Noir, with food to match.
Download the full program here.
If you’re after something warming but not boozy, proper hot chocolate has taken off around the state.
There are good versions at Steven ter Horst Chocolatier in Rundle Street, Koko Black in the Mall, and many other places. We can’t go past the chilli hot chocolate at Sazon Espresso in Mt Barker – it’s the proper Mexican real deal, spicy and not overly sweet.
Get up to the Adelaide Hills this month for winter reds.
Indoor Fork on the Road
You won’t have to shiver in the rain this Saturday to get your favourite food-truck fix.
Fork on the Road is going undercover, taking over the Plant 4 warehouse on Third Street, Bowden. There will be more than 20 food trucks, live music, a wine bar, lounge areas and a kids’ zone.
The event runs from 4pm to 10pm. The venue is near the tram and train lines, and parking is available by entering gate 1A from Park Terrace.
Wine lunches and dinners
There are some tickets still available for the Adelaide Food & Wine Festival’s satellite event at Willunga’s Fino restaurant this Sunday.
The Sunday Session will feature winter comfort food, music and wine tastings from 12 different winemakers. Book here.
For a wine dinner with a difference, the festival is hosting “Sips in the City” at Hanuman restaurant on Friday, July 11. A collection of South Australia’s great female winemakers will provide the drinks to complement Jimmy Shu’s food, and there will also be fashion.
The $70 ticket price includes a set menu, wine and goodies. The night will also raise funds and awareness for cervical cancer research.
Event organiser Amanda Jane Pritchard lost her mother to cervical cancer in 2010.
“If Mum had been more judicious in having her pap smears, the cancer could have been detected earlier and she would still be alive,” she says. “It’s a lesser-publicised cancer and through the Food & Wine Festival and this event we can shine a spotlight on it and raise funds for research and further work in prevention and early detection.”
Pritchard says men are most welcome.
Tickets are available here.
Food for thought
The South Australian Writers’ Centre and Food Bloggers Australia have opened their annual food blog writing competition to all Australian food bloggers.
There will be four prizes awarded under the categories of Food or Food/Travel Narrative, Restaurant Review, Original Recipe and Best New Food Blog Under 12 Months.
The competition is open until 5pm on Sunday, July 20, 2014. Info here.
