Probably one of the best winery cafe's down south
Yes that is a big call!
We discovered a little winery and cafe called Harris River Estate tucked away some 7km from Collie, a coal mining town about 200km south of Perth in Western Australia.
Given we were a group of 20, and booking at the last minute on Easter Monday, chances of sourcing a booking in Margaret River would have been impossible. We expected the same in Collie. We were pleasantly surprised when we called HRE they said they were more than happy to accommodate us, but we will have a smaller menu to choose from (pasta, fish or steak).
When we got to the winery we were surprised there was none of the standard razzle dazzle of cellar doors that we see so much in the established wine growing regions down south. This is a simple, yet very functional labour of love establishment and it shows..
Not really sure how the pics will work if you don't have flash, also if you want to see the captions might be better to view the slide show in full screen or on the flickr site
The tasting
Whilst the kids were organised we got down to the tasting.. The wines were just to die for, and the winemaker Jane Gilham had put together some bold mixes to get away from the norm that we are all accustomed to.. enter the tickle me pink series.. As Julie Lawson (gun HR person in a former life and still provides seminars at the winery) took us through the wines, Karl Hellier the owner decided to take us all on a tour to show us how it is done..
It then dawned upon me, that we often complain about how expensive wines are at the cellar door, and how cheap bottle shops (liquor stores) are.. Our complaints are unfounded. What we pay for is literally craft fashioned from the love of wine making. Pushing the art to the limit and creating a perfect brew, has to have an artistic value to it otherwise they might as well be a Fosters production line blazing out bland drinks that are a dime to the dozen..
Just like in my industry where web design companies take pride in their work and expect to churn out stuff that is different from the rest, wineries are no different..
The Food
Scrumptious, filling and well worth the price best describes the food. The stand-outs were the grilled fish and the home made chilli sauce. Coffee left a bit to be desired but I am very fussy when it comes to coffee! At about $30 per head including the wines, dessert and Easter surcharge it was reasonably priced as well!
A big thank you to Karl, Julie and Kacey for making our visit a memorable one and I am sure we will always visit the winery if we ever pass through again!
