Te Awa

A place that will always have a little slice of our hearts. We spent a delightful afternoon wine tasting outdoors in the glorious sunshine. Te Awa is made up of four separate wineries so there is a spectacular choice of great quality wines. We did both a classics tasting (so a little of what each is Famous for....leading to me fan-girling a little over Villa Maria!) and the discovery tasting (samples of locally grown wine). Our host, Brittany was knowledgeable yet so approachable and very cool about the fact that we have no wine knowledge....just love drinking it. She even took us off list (with the Esk Valley Winemakers Reserve, a blend of Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc) for an extra tasty treat! And as they were currently harvesting their Chardonnay we were able to taste their Chardonnay grape and grape juice (yum!!).

Despite the fact that the restaurant was about to close for lunch they accommodated us without a fuss. And we are so grateful because as Carl said “this is the best meal I’ve ever eaten”.

The menu offers small bites and charcuterie boards. Or a more standard entrée, main and dessert format. The menu appears eye openingly expensive, but all food is designed to share with mains feeding two-three people. We shared a starter, main and side dish and were fit to burst, gutted we didn’t have room for pudding and wowed that our bill came to just over a hundred dollars for what was an out of this world experience.

I’m sorry I cannot adequately convey in this blog the soft moaning that left us we ate the sherry-glazed pork jowl, soubine and pickled onion and ultimately fell in love with Stephen Tindall (the head chef). The meat was unbelievably moist and the fat truly melted in your mouth. Pork is my favourite meat and I’ve eaten it around the world....and this was without doubt the best I’ve ever had!

We followed this up with more incredible meat, again arguably THE best duck we’ve ever eaten (and we’ve been around the block with that too). There were two duck breasts and a confit of leg with THE most delicious carrots (some chargrilled, some puréed) and drizzled in the most surprising and delightful chamomile and summer blossom vinigarette. Again big love for Stephen as it’s difficult to say whether the food looked more beautiful or tasted more delicious!

Our side was the farro salad with tomato, basil, toasted sweet corn and espelette dressing. Much like everything else it tasted wonderful, but I just can’t gush over it like the meat.

We paired our lunch with Te Awa’s Single Estate Gimblett Gravels Syrah which we love to drink. No one tried to recommend an alternative wine, no one snubbed us over this choice. And we just loved how remarkably casual this place was for somewhere that was clearly filled with professionals and top quality wine and food. Absolute 5 star place.

Just like the wine and food the restaurant itself is understated and has a modern barn feel, with large beams and big windows so you can look onto their expansive lawn and far-stretching vineyards. Love.

Food 5

Decor/atmosphere 5

Service 5

Price 3 (but is worth EVERY penny, and more)

18/20

2375 State Highway 50, Flaxmere