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New book shines a light on Fleurieu wine, beer and spirits

The publisher of a hard-cover book showcasing the ‘faces and food’ of the Fleurieu Peninsula is now set to release a second book sharing the stories behind 50 of the region’s winemakers, craft brewers and distillers.

Jul 30, 2019, updated Jul 30, 2019
Smiling Samoyed Brewery at Myponga features in Wine, Beer & Spirits of the Fleurieu. Photo: Meaghan Coles

Smiling Samoyed Brewery at Myponga features in Wine, Beer & Spirits of the Fleurieu. Photo: Meaghan Coles

Passionate South Australian foodie Rojina McDonald, a former Le Cordon Bleu International scholarship winner, set up her small independent business Soul Publishing a couple of years ago.

Having grown up on an olive grove in McLaren Vale, her first goal was to create a book featuring Fleurieu farmers, fishers, producers and chefs alongside their signature recipes. Faces & Food of the Fleurieu was published last spring, and she says the response has been “amazing”.

“We’ve sold over 2000 copies … we’ve even shipped the book interstate and overseas; it’s currently in Dubai, America, Europe and New Zealand.”

Almost as soon as the first book was released, McDonald and her small team began working on their second hard-cover title, Wine, Beer & Spirits of the Fleurieu.

A Pozible crowdfunding campaign seeking to raise $15,000 towards production costs will be launched this Thursday, and the 200-plus-page book is planned for release before Christmas with an initial print run of 5000.

Coriole Winery at McLaren Vale. Photo: Meaghan Coles/ Wine, Beer & Spirits of the Fleurieu

Put together by a team including writer Heather Millar, photographer Meaghan Coles and designer Kim Jericho, it includes photographs and stories from 50 different places (all of which have paid to be featured) encompassing a wide range of wineries, craft breweries, distilleries and a small selection of accommodation venues.

There are also cocktail recipes and food and wine-pairing recommendations.

“A lot of wineries have been featured in print, online or on television, but not in the one hard-cover publication for the region so I thought it was a great opportunity to do a book that goes hand in hand with the first one,” McDonald says.

Brewer Dan Wright at McLaren Vale’s recently opened Swell Taphouse. Photo: Meaghan Coles / Wine, Beer & Spirits of the Fleurieu

“I stuck to the prominent ones – the people that have been in the region for a long time and have history here [including the likes of d’Arenberg, Wirra Wirra and Coriole] – but also tried to include the new, funky brands of wine, the small-batch wineries, and the organic, biodynamic ranges, so there’s a good mix.”

McDonald, who has been nominated as a finalist for South Australian Business Excellence in the 2019 Ausmumpreneur National Awards, says the crowdfunding campaign isn’t just about raising money, but also aims to create a sense of excitement around the book launch.

“We wouldn’t have been able to bring our first book to life without that platform so we wanted to use it again …

“I like crowdfunding because it brings a sense of urgency to it and it gets the community involved; it spreads the word about the book.”

Not content to confine her publishing vision to the Fleurieu, McDonald has already set her sights on Soul Publishing’s next venture: Faces & Food of the Margaret River.

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