Big Cheese Centre the Whey To Go
Gippsland is the centre of the cheese universe,
writes Sarah Hudson
Drive along a narrow Gippsland country lane bordered by lush pastures, past a milking shed, then turn right at the herd of Jerseys and you'll find Gippsland's news cheese tasting centre.
Once there you can sit and nibble on the region's finest bries, camemberts, cheddars and blue viens while looking north, across the undulating hills of the Mount Baw Baw plateau.
"This area is renowned as a cheese producing region and most of the farm-gate outlets have now closed," says owner of the tasting centre, Rick Stockdale. "There's plenty of places to buy it, but there's nowhere to taste it."
Rick and his wife Marie McDonald opened the Gippsland Regional Cheese Tasting Centre earlier this year in their Brandy Creek winery, in Drouin East, near Warragul.
While it remains a small sideline to their winery and Spanish-inspired cafe, they have found an appetite among foodies for wine and cheese tasting.
Their menu offers a choice of cheeses from Jindi, Tarago, Berry's Creek, Capra and Maffra, together with 15 of their own wines.
"We did a thorough search of the
whole region and spoke to a lot of councils, so we're confident we feature all the cheeses in Gippsland," says Rick. "We think there might be one other but they only show their product at farmers' markets."Rick says the most popular cheese and wine combination is the blue vein and cabernet sauvignon. This is followed by brie and pinot noir and triple cream with a disgroged sparkling.
"The disgorged wine is yeasty, vegemite-y or bready and it goes so well with either a Tarago or Jindi Triple Cream."
The Weekly Times, Country Living, July 8, 2009
Cheese couple: Rick Stockdale and Marie McDonald at their Gippsland cheese tasting centre
breathtaking views
home of tapas in Gippsland - 3 reviews famous paella feaststempting churrasco
award winning wine
memorable occasions