Hay Shed Hill Winter Wine Dinner, Season Restaurant, Saturday 6 July

The ten-day Taste Tweed Winter Food Festival, held annually in July, celebrates the agricultural heritage of the beautiful Tweed region of North NSW. It shows off its chefs, restaurants and food businesses in a series of events held at stunning locations across the area.

One of the pinnacle events of the festival is the 5-course degustation Winter Wine Dinner held at Season Restaurant, Peppers Salt Resort & Spa, Kingscliff.

With the menu designed by Executive Chef Trent Sydenham (ex-Pullman Cairns International, Lizard Island and QT Gold Coast), the chefs at Season have prepared the meal using the region’s finest produce, each dish paired with Hay Shed Hill wines.

“It’s a meal celebrating the awesome seafood and meat of the Tweed Coast,” says Executive Chef Trent Sydenham (ex-Pullman Cairns International, Tamarind, Lizard Island and QT Gold Coast), showing off a variety of culinary styles, from Eastern-inspired to Brazilian-influenced cuisine.

Hay Shed Hill’s co-owner/winemaker Michael Kerrigan is host for the dinner, explaining each wine as the courses progress.

The former radiographer has been a winemaker for 26 years, graduating from Roseworthy before becoming a winemaker for both Howard Park and Madfish Wines.

When it arose, Kerrigan ‘grasped the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take ownership of a classic and elite pioneer Margaret River vineyard’, Hay Shed Hill, bringing it to its full potential.

Michael Kerrigan provides us with a background to Margaret River wine, first planted in 1967 by Dr Tom Cullity, and now a globally renowned region for its Semillon Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Cabernet wines. He explains its climate characteristics and the unique grape clones that set it apart from other areas.

Located in the heart of the Willyabrup Valley, the premier sub-region of Margaret River, Hay Shed Hill vines are non-irrigated, with two clones unique to the area, including the prized Gin Gin (Mendoza) Chardonnay clone.

Noting the present market value placed on provenance, it’s worth noting that Hay Shed Hill not only produce single vineyard wines that express the character of their outstanding site, but their wines are also 100% specific to particular blocks within their vineyard, (such as Block 6 Chardonnay, treated with a little oak, but still all about the fruit).