764 Fernbank Creek Rd

Port Macquarie

Ph: 02 6562 8377

Cassegrain Wines is the biggest vineyard we will be visiting on the North Coast Wine Trail. It is located on the Pacific Highway near Port Macquarie. The property has five hectares under vines at this location, with the four main varieties being Semillon, Verdelho, Chambourcin and Pinot Noir. The vineyard was established by the Cassegrain family in 1984, and has continued to enjoy award winning success under John Cassegrain.

This picturesque property also include beautifully manicured gardens with over 2500 roses, a relaxing picnic and BBQ area, an amphitheatre which is utilized for concerts in the vines and other food and wine events, and an award winning restaurant which has a magnificent view over the property.

The Cassegrain phrase “Australian wine, French tradition” refers to John Cassegrain’s French family heritage of winemaking which goes back to 1645 in the Loire Valley.  The family has used this heritage to produce a wide range of Premium, Reserve and Limit Release wines which are available for tasting at the cellar door.

The French heritage is also reflected in the vineyard restaurant “Ca Marche,” which serves a blend of Modern Australian cuisine with French influences. The head Chef of Ca Marche, is Lisa Ryan whom I met at “Cooking with Company.” She mentioned her Profiteroles with Grand Marnier had been a very popular inclusion on the restaurant menu. I am disappointed to say I didn’t make it in for lunch on this occasion, but I will make a point of returning, as the restaurant has always been a favourite.  Lunch is served daily from 10.00 – 3.00pm and dinner Friday 6.00 – 9.00pm.

Mr GG and I have had a Cassegrain membership periodically over the last ten years.  We are very familiar with the wines, and have enjoyed the restaurant regularly throughout this time.  It has however, been quite a number of years since we have visited the vineyard for a wine tasting.  We are both looking forward to seeing what is now on offer.

The wine tasting is literally in the cellar, past the large stainless steel vats and beautiful oak wine barrels. We wander through reading the handwritten names on the barrels. It is a mixture of modern verses tradition, and a nice reminder that we are in a working vineyard, and viewing the next vintage of wine, in the making.

Once inside the cellar I am immediately drawn to all the local produce on offer. There is a huge range of tapenades, condiments and deli items all ready for a picnic in the vineyard.  We approach the bar I notice they are also put together their own picnic hampers for visitor. We have certainly come to the right place to relax and spend a few leisurely hours enjoy a few of the nicer things in life.

Our tasting begins with the range of white wines. I sampled the Cassegrain 2009 Semillon and found it a little too citrus, crisp and sharp for my taste.  I was surprised as I had been enjoying the Cassegrain Semillon at home.

Then my dear husband pointed out that I have been drinking the 2001 Semillon which is now worth in excess of $40 per bottle.  My Semillon had aged beautifully it was mellow and complex and full of flavour. I decided I would need to invest in a few of the 2009 vintage so that I can keep drinking my aged Semillon in years to come.

Our host suggested I try the 2002 Semillon which was available for tasting. It was magic, mellow and well rounded, exactly like the wine I have at home.

We had tried a few more white wines when our lovely host suggested that I would probably enjoy the 2008 3 Tiers, Verdelho, Voigner and Chardonnay.  This was by far my favourite “find” of the day.  It had the perfect balance of flavour for me and I was pleased to buy a few bottles to take home.

We moved onto the red wines, the list of wines I enjoyed is too long to include here. I have narrowed it down to the top three ish, being 2009 Pinot Noir, 2007 Reserve Ferlerne and the Shiraz (both vintages). I also found a nice light red which I thought would be a good casual drop to have with friends.  The 2008 Sangiovese is a lovely red wine which is very easy to drink.  I can imagine sitting around with friends and going through a few bottles of this quite easily. It just feels like a great all rounder.

We renewed our membership and collected our purchases.  I am now eagerly looking forward to seeing which of these beautiful wines will arrives on my doorstep each quarter.

The cellar is open for tasting from 9.00am to 5.00pm, the lovely people at Cassegrain wines will happily talk you through their complete range, and find wines to suit every palate.

After receiving an invitation to be a guest of “Cooking With Company” for their upcoming Slow Cooking Workshop I was excited to learn that we would be cooking produce from Raging River Wagyu.

I had sampled the beautiful product from Raging River at a Wagyu Degustation Dinner hosted by Opal Cove in Coffs Harbour.  The beef defies description; it has a rich melt in the mouth, buttery texture and is full of flavour.  The opportunity to attend a class at Cooking With Company, and learn how to cook this product properly was the ultimate treat for someone like me, who appreciates beautiful quality food, cooked to perfection.

Cooking With Company is located near Port Macquarie, 13km West of Wauchope.  The school is set on a magnificent 8.2 hectare farm, with sweeping views over the valley and bushland.  The citrus tree lined drive way leads you through the property and up to the kitchen. The majority of fresh produce we will be using in the class today has come fresh from the farm.

When I arrived I was greeted by Lyn Withers, the owner of the cooking school, and dedicated food lover.  Lyn has been supplying restaurants with organic produce from the farm for many years, and is passionate about using fresh, quality, local product. The school has grown out of this passion, and her love of teaching people to prepare and appreciate good food in a variety of styles.

Lyn showed me through to a professionally styled kitchen.  It was complete with industrial coolroom, commercial appliances and burners, but still with a lovely homey kitchen feel.  The eight participants for today’s slow cooking workshop were already assembled in the kitchen ready to begin.

Lyn introduced us to our chef for the day, the Head Chef from Cassegrain Wines, Lisa Ryan. I have dined at Cassegrain many times and the menu choices have always been absolutely delicious. This was a real honour, to be taught by the chef responsible for some of the great meals I have had whilst in the area. I had high expectations for this class, and I am already very impressed.

We were given our recipe booklet which included the days’ menu. As I ran through the list of dishes we would be preparing I was quite excited about the selection. All the dishes were completely different, so we will be learning alot of different techniques and sampling many different flavours.

Wagyu Carpaccio with 3 Citrus Aioli & Smoked Tomato

Grilled Wagyu, Hot & Sour Salad

Wagyu Rendang

Beef Wellington

Chocolate Tart with Preserved Tangelo 

It is a day for surprises for me and I find that Sue from “About Food” is also a hosting the day.  I had been hearing good things about her business and the quality of the fresh produce she stocks. It had been my intention to visit the store whilst I was in Port Macquarie so I was pleased to finally meet her.

Lisa started by giving us a quick lesson in pastry making as we commenced with the Chocolate Tart.  We learnt the correct technique to roll a pastry, and how to fix any cracks.  The group is jovial as we concentrate on what we are being shown, there is a bit of good natured ribbing amongst the ladies and friendly banter.

An hour into the lesson and we have baked the tart shell, and it is resting in the fridge ready for a chocolately filling.  We have marinated the Wagyu for the Thai Beef Salad. 

Next the meat gets seared on the grill and the put into the oven to continue the cooking process.

The salad leaves have been plated up ready for the Wagyu, and the eggplant sliced.  The hot and sour dressing has been made, and all that needs to be completed before lunch is to cook and slice the Wagyu.

We were given a lesson on trimming the Wagyu fillet.  Then we divided the meat into two portions for two Beef Wellington.

The next lesson was a quick talk on the technique behind smoking foods.  Lisa explained how she had smoked the tomatoes in paper bark for the Tomato Relish.  Lisa has already shared so many tips and techniques, and we are in complete awe of her knife skills.

We have begun to work up and appetite so we move onto preparing the appetiser. Lisa demonstrates how to cut paper thin slivers off a fillet of seared Wagyu for the Carpaccio.

The delicate slices of rare beef are arranged on a serving platter with the smoked tomato, and a citrus aioli made from the fruit off the farm.

We sampled the Carpaccio and the flavours were huge. It was the ideal appetizer for me, simple and fresh.  The delicate Wagyu was perfect with the smokey tomato, and the creamy citrus aioli finished the flavour nicely. Lisa suggested using the smokey tomato relish on oysters or even homemade hamburgers. This is definitely a technique I will be looking forward to trying at home.

Back to work, and we set about pounding turmeric, ginger and garlic in a mortar and pestle for our curry.  This dish is of particular interest to me, I love curries but they never taste right when I make them.

As we are preparing the spices and cooking them off in coconut oil I start to get an understanding of what I have been doing wrong. It is not one particular mistake, but a series of incorrect techniques and ingredients.  The aroma in the kitchen is divine when the beef is added to the spice paste. The remaining ingredients are added to the curry and the dish is allowed to simmer.

We move onto the filling for the Chocolate Tart. The ingredients are placed over a double boiler to melt and combine. We are using specific brands of chocolate with the appropriate cocoa content to ensure the finished tart has a lovely chocolate flavour and beautiful consistency.

The chocolate filling is added to the tart shell, and there is much discussion over who gets to lick the bowl when we are finished.

We are all having fun, joking and giggling like a bunch of girls. Although most of us have not met previously, the group is chatting as if we were all old friends.

Next we tackled the Beef Wellington.  After seeing the contestants on MasterChef attempt this dish I’d decided it would not be a dish I would probably ever try.  It looked absolutely delicious, but it did seem to be a lot of work with a big chance of failure. I was concerned my meat would be completely uncooked when I sliced the finished dish, or that my mushroom filling would make the pastry soggy. I am really pleased this dish is on the menu today.  I not only have opportunity to attempt the dish with supervision, but we are using the best cut of Wagyu, so it will be the ultimate Beef Wellington.

Lisa explains correct way to seal meat.  We all watch as she demonstrates sealing each surface of the Wagyu fillet to ensure we have no juice escaping from our pastry once the dish is complete.

Lisa stepped us through the frying off of the onion and mushroom, and getting the right consistency and seasoning.  She explains how to avoid the possible problems of soggy pastry.

We are making two Beef Wellingtons, one will be medium rare and the other cooked a little more, for the ladies who prefer it served in this manner.  Lisa takes the mystery out knowing what will be rare, medium or well done inside the pastry.  We are all a lot more confident of our skill in cooking the meat to perfection.

The chocolate tart is removed from the oven, and the whole group takes a big deep breath in to get the full sweet aroma. Mmm, there is a little bit of discussion on who can be trusted to stand next to the tart while the rest of the dishes are completed.

Our attention is turned back to the Beef Wellingtons. We probe the meat with a thermometre to test, and find we are ready to eat. All the dishes are completed and plated up.  I have been really impressed by Lisa’s ability to demystify some of the cooking techniques and her patience in explaining the use of more specialised ingredients, and cooking styles.  I am surprised that we have been able to complete quite a lot of dishes in a relatively small amount of time, and now there is a sumptuous banquet ready for us all to enjoy. Lyn is busy pouring red and white wine from Cassegrain Wines, and we are also offered fruit juice from the farm trees.

Everyone takes a seat at the dining room table to enjoy the beautiful dishes that have been created. The conversations are all about how much we’ve learnt today, our favourite dish, and which will be the first meal we try at home for the family. Some of the ladies are also sampling dishes they have not tried previously.

We all agree that the day is all about having fun with food, learning new techniques and creating dishes you wouldn’t otherwise attempt at home. The cooking class has taken everyone skills and interest in cooking to a new level.  I have met a great group of people who all have a similar interest in food and enjoyed a fantastic day cooking, laughing and eating.

In the background as I am writing, the aroma of the Beef Randang has completely filled the air, just as it had in the cooking class. The smell is sweet, spicy and deliciously rich. My dear husband requested that I put my lessons into practice, so I have chosen the Beef Rendang to prepare for dinner tonight. It is simmering away nicely, I have tasted the dish and the flavour is exactly right.

Thank you so much to everyone from Cooking With Company I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at the farm and participating in the Slow Cooking Class.

963 Orara Way

Nana Glen, NSW

We have set off on our vineyard road trip.  Our first stop of nine vineyards is Two Tails Wines.  This vineyard is located 25km west of Coffs Harbour along the Orara Way, at Nana Glen. It truly is a boutique vineyard, with just a small plot of carefully selected grape varieties, specifically grown to suit our North Coast climate.

The vineyard is quite modest, but they have had considerable success with their wines. They have produced a large number of winning wines and the awards are proudly displayed on the walls. Jean is our host and owner of the vineyard, she is very friendly and is happy to explain how they produce their wines. She serves us cheese and biscuits and sets the children up with colouring in, while we enjoy sampling the different wines on offer.

The first wine we sampled was the Villard Blanc.  I am familiar with this wine as it was served at the Cheesemaking Workshop I attended recently. I really enjoyed the crisp,clean taste, and I was pleased to find that hubby like it too, so it was an easy decision to purchase a few bottles of this variety. We moved along to the Chardonnay which was also very nice, but the Villard Blanc was definitely our pick of the whites.

The Vineyard grows a Chambourcin grape, for the red wines.  I have tried Chambourcin previously, and found that I enjoyed the change from my usual Shiraz or Merlot. I was pleased to find that the Two Tails Chambourcin red was a favourite too. When it came to the crunch I couldn’t pick between the two red wines so we ended up with a bottle of each.

We completed our tasting by sampling the three ports, my favourite was the white port called Forte Blanc, but they were all syrupy and smooth.  I could have easily taken home a bottle of each but I showed great restraint and resisted this time.

Two Tails wines are priced between $10 - $14 per bottle.  The vineyard offer a members special which takes an additional 10% off the purchase price. 

The vineyard is open to the public for tasting, and cellar door sales from 11.00 to 5.00pm daily, (except Mondays). Ph: 02 6654 3633