Four Winds

Canberrans, clear your weekends! My friends and I took advantage of the Weekend Bliss package as part of the Summerside Festival. For $36, you receive a glass of wine and a woodfired pizza from Four Winds Vineyard, and a hot chocolate and dessert plate from Robyn Rowe Chocolates – what more could you want? Four Winds has a lovely restaurant space; spilling out onto the lawns in front of the vines are tables on the porch and more tables covered by shadecloth. I chose the 2015 Riesling, which was a great match for the pizza – light, not overly acidic and fresh, it was perfect for a warm summer’s day. There were four pizza choices, but I couldn’t go past the February special of fresh tomato with fennel and garlic sugo, topped with slices of mozzarella (usually $15). The wood oven sits outside so you can watch your lunch cook – our food took a little while to arrive, but was fresh out of the oven when it did. The pizza I loved the charred effect and the fresh burst of flavour from the tomatoes. I would have liked a touch more salt, and the base wasn’t crispy the whole way through, but the subtle fennel and garlic sugo was divine and the mozzarella was a great cheese match for the flavours. A nice part one to our bliss package! Part two to follow on Monday.

Four Winds, 9 Pateman Lane, Murrumbateman NSW, http://fourwindsvineyard.com.au/

Weekend Bliss packages are available every weekend in February, available at the cellar door or online at: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-weekend-bliss-package-tickets-21103984586

The Sangria Bar

It’s probably no surprise that I’m a huge fan of sangria. It combines some of the best things there are – wine, fruit and spices. Mmm. I was pretty excited to discover that Olé has a sangria bar attached to it when we were in Brisbane, and (even better), was within walking distance to our hotel. One thing I particularly liked about the Sangria Bar, which is something not common in Canberra, is that it’s an open shop front, with seats spilling out onto the pavement so you can sit and people watch. We ordered a couple of jugs of the ‘tinto’ – red wine with fresh apple, orange, and pineapple juice. The jug was reasonably sized, and the wine was good quality, matching the sweet fruit perfectly. Whilst we were there quite late on a Saturday night, it wasn’t too busy, and the music was pitched at just the right volume so we could still hear one another easily over the long table. Those who didn’t want sangria could easily get beer and in the end it was a really great night out. Definitely recommended as a chilled out venue for a late one.

The Sangria Bar, Shop B13/14 Grey Street, South Bank QLD  http://www.olerestaurant.com.au/sangria-bar-about-us/