The Clare Valley Gourmet Weekend has grown up and gone to a new level, and this weekend’s event proved the success of the subtle changes.
Clare Valley Winemakers Inc chairman Neville Rowe said there had been a perception, because the event was no longer held on a long weekend, that it was somehow in decline.
“This is a terrible misconception – whilst we don’t have a long weekend the event is still popular and significant,” he said.
The weekend’s program has been developed to attract interested consumers and more “wine savvy” visitors who are looking for a quality event.
“The 21 winery participants this year all really stretched themselves to make sure it was a high quality affair,” Mr Rowe said.
“We are trying to take the Gourmet Weekend back to its roots with a combination of high quality food and wine, bringing those two elements together. People can get up close and personal to the winemakers and it has become the accessible Clare Valley event.”
Although other wine regions may have bigger and noisier events, sometimes the nuance of matching good food with wine can be lost, and Mr Rowe said he believed the Clare weekend was in keeping with the style of the region.
He said early reports were that everyone involved this year had been happy, the weather had been fantastic and there had been good crowds, with some wineries saying they had had above expected visitor numbers.
The popular Gourmet Night In at the Clare Showgrounds on Saturday grew again to run on Sunday, with visitors enjoying the entertainment and the low key, casual atmosphere.
“We had cracker weather, the wines were received really well, London Hill put on a great show of food and we learn a little bit more every year,” Shane Smith from Cardinham Estate said.
“We also noticed a new, younger demographic of people under 30 around the valley for the weekend.”
Mr Rowe said Sevenhill Cellars had put 1300 people through the gates on Sunday, selling all the food serves – with not a scrap left over.
“The vintage tasting went very well this year and it was good to see the ’08 wines – there were some crackers among them, with strong Rieslings which were fine and lively, and killer Shiraz and Cabernet out there.
“The wine of the day was a sneak preview of the ’08 Wendouree Shiraz, which was almost ready to drink now, it was so good,” he said.