I went to rural Victoria to taste wine and to feast on a “gelato” stuffed with king salmon and caviar.
And while I was there an ostrich tried to eat my hat.
Marnong Estate winemaker Alex Beckett came to the rescue bravely retrieving the Akubra before the brazen bird swooped again. Mercifully, lunch beckoned.
Marnong Estate at Sunbury is 35 minutes north of Melbourne and only 15 minutes from Tullamarine airport and sits in a glorious location atop rolling hills with panoramic views across vineyards to the Macedon Ranges.
Travellers to Victoria in search of a wine-tourism adventure usually head south to the Yarra Valley and the Mornington Peninsula.
Marnong Estate offers a tranquil alternative and a quick escape for Melbourne tourists.
The vineyard is set in a 480ha working cattle station where 11,000 Angus and Highland cattle graze in lush pastures not far from a row of luxury cabins, a restored homestead, two restaurants and a gleaming new $22 million winery and cellar door and a wedding reception and conference venue.
Black-faced sheep graze between the grape vines. And there is a petting zoo.
Marnong is a legacy project by Victorian rich lister Dino Strano, a highway builder and property tycoon, Mr Beckett explained.
Mr Strano sees the estate as a work in progress and has earmarked substantial funds for a boutique hotel with 80 rooms.
It must now run the gauntlet through the arduous approvals process across three levels of government and CASA, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
Then he will explore the possibility of a wind farm and, further away, an abattoir.
Marnong Estate is a young vineyard with 40h under vine and another 5ha earmarked for more pinot noir.
Mr Beckett, 33, bottles pinot grigio, chardonnay, fiano, sangiovese, pinot noir, shiraz, montepulciano, a sparkling wine, a rose and several red and white blends.
Prices start at a sensible $25 for the estate range.
Mr Beckett and Mr Strano and their viticulturist Shannon Fullerton are ambitious and keen to extend the portfolio.
They will soon plant nerello mascalese and carricante, two varieties indigenous to Sicily.
Nerello mascalese grown around Mt Etna produces a lighter-bodied red.
Carricante is a fragrant white wine with aromas of green apples and orange blossom grown in the Mt Etna high country.
The Italian theme continues in the restaurants at Marnong Estate.
Guests can enjoy a tasting experience at the cellar door or dine in at one of two Italian restaurants, La Vètta, and Cucina 3064, or grab a coffee with a view at Caffè Vista.
French Canadian chef Marco-Andre Vadeboncoeur has designed an extensive menu at La Vètta with dishes ranging from delicate entrees to robust pasta dishes ($32+), (made with eggs from the estate’s hens) and beef blockbusters like Bistecca della Vetta, the Mighty T-bone, a 1.2kg hunk of grain-fed Black Angus ($150), or a Queensland wagyu rump ($80).
We began a long lunch with the gelato ($15) that turned out to be row of three charcoal wafers moulded like little ice cream cones and stuffed with Ora king salmon, crème fraiche and a small hit of yuzu gel to cut through the wanton richness.
For more flamboyance the cones were topped with caviar.
I imagine Mr Vadeboncoeur’s gelatos are a riff on similar “cornets” made by superchef Thomas Keller at French Laundry in the Napa Valley.
We found a glass of fiano a good match for the tonno crudo, ($32) comprising yellow-fin tuna, stracciatella cheese, mandarin and nashi pear dressed with nasturtiums.
From the pasta menu came two outstanding dishes: Gnocchi con capretto, potato dumplings with slow-cooked baby goat ($42) and Paccheri alle cicale, which turned out to be Moreton Bay bugs cassia baka, star anise in a gentle curry sauce with Aleppo pepper ($48).
Then came platters of mouthwatering beef including Cape Grim rib eye, South Australian Black Angus porterhouse and the aforementioned wagyu served with three kinds of mustards, salsa verde and a red wine jus. ($70+).
Guests to Marnong Estate can choose from 10 luxury cabins including studio apartments or one-bedroom suites.
Studios from $279 per night.
One-bedroom suites from $324.
Marnong Estate’s tastefully restored 1840’s homestead is also available for guests with four elegant suites all with private ensuites.
From $520 a night.
Or book the entire homestead from $2700 a night. The writer stayed as a guest of the estate.
Wine reviews next week
Dining and Cooking