Hunter Valley Grape & Olive in Perfect Harmony
Media Release
HUNTER VALLEY GRAPE & OLIVE IN PERFECT HARMONY
Tickets are on sale now for one of the best events during this year’s Hunter Valley Wine & Food Month (June 2011), the annual Whispering Brook Olive Long Table Luncheon. Last year’s inaugural, sell-out event has been topped this year with even more food, wine and olive discovery planned during the course of the day.
At the heart of the event is a spectacular 4 course meal, designed by Chef Carolyn Scott to uniquely highlight the quality and flexibility of the Australian olive (as well as perfectly complement the wines from Whispering Brook). The luncheon will be fittingly set amidst the picturesque olive groves at Whispering Brook and this year’s menu includes a Redgate Farm slow cooked duck leg in merlot, green olives and dried Kulnura figs and an Italian chocolate & raspberry olive oil cake with local Udder Farm pure cream!
It was the ancient Greeks who first labelled olive oil “liquid gold”, but it is modern Australians who are embracing the many varieties of olives and producing exciting, superb quality olive oils. Like the high-quality wines also produced at Whispering Brook, owner/winemaker Susan Frazier knows that good olive oil can only be produced by using superior quality fruit …but unlike many fine wines, ageing is not the key and instead, the fresher the better. Susan says, “2011 is set to be a great extra virgin olive oil year, after lower than anticipated olive oil yields in 2010. The team has been working exceptionally hard and completed harvest just last week, but there is no time to rest and we are now busily processing the olives so they will be ready just in time for the Olive Long Table Luncheon – the first time the public will get to try our new olive products at their freshest and best.”
The Olive Long Table Luncheon is not only a delicious wine and food experience but also a great way to delve further into the wonderful world of the olive and discover more about the qualities of Australian olive oils and the many culinary and health benefits of olives.
The lunch will start with a tutored walking tour of the estate’s olive groves and vineyards so you can learn about the different varieties of olives. And after Carolyn has taken you through the menu and unravelled the secrets of matching food with different styles of olive oil, leading Australian olive expert Peter Olson will be on hand to expand your olive appreciation with a background into the production of olive oils and the art of olive tasting. Peter is an olive oil judge at the Royal Sydney Fine Food Show and former head of NSW Industry & Investments Olive Oil Testing Service, so who better to disclose the true delights of our own “liquid gold”.
EVENT: Whispering Brook Olive Long Table Luncheon
WHEN: Saturday 4 June, 12 noon
WHERE: Whispering Brook Vineyard and Olive Grove, Rodd Street entrance, Broke NSW 2330
COST: $85 per person, including lunch, matching wines, olive oil, tea & coffee and olive tutorials
BOOKINGS: Bookings essential via www.whispering-brook.com or phone 02 9818 4126
Whispering Brook was established in 2000 in Broke in the Lower Hunter Valley. Thanks to the high quality vines grown on the estate’s combination of terra rossa soils (ideal for Shiraz and Merlot) and sandy loam soils (perfect for Semillon and Chardonnay), Whispering Brook produces some wonderful wines. The olive grove is planted to a combination of Italian and Greek olive varieties which yield both olive oil and table olives.
Cellar door open every Saturday 11.00am to 5.00pm, Sunday 10.30am to 4.30pm.
The estate also contains a guest house with accommodation for up to18 guests.
For more information please call Susan Frazier
P: (02) 9818 4126
Whispering Brook, 165 Hill Street, Broke, NSW, Australia www.whispering-brook.com
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