Shiraz festivities aplenty

Always a welcomed event on the Geelong wine industry calendar, the 2025 Winter Shiraz Festival is on again next weekend.

Held every year the first weekend of August, there’s lunches, dinners and masterclasses happening right across the wide wine region. Here’s a couple of picks for the three day Shiraz extravaganza.

If you’ve ever wondered what makes Shiraz/Syrah Australia’s most popular red grape, or why wines made by this same grape can taste so different depending on where they’re grown, then the Provenance Wines Shiraz masterclass might be for you. Aged cellared bottles from the Provenance museum reserves will be opened alongside younger versions to help highlight some of these distinct variations, making for an insightful chance to indulge while hosted by the winery’s resident wine-nerd, the entertaining Tom Brushfield. Worth also noting is a seven-course Shiraz-focused degustation lunch happening after the masterclass concludes. The kitchen here at the winery’s Paper Mills home, has been doing an excellent job of late crafting seasonal, produce driven menus across a multiple course, dego-style format, so I’m expecting good things from this feast. And although pitched as two separate events, it’s logical to combine these for one specular Shiraz-themed day.

Another masterclass happening over this weekend will be held at Lethbridge Wines, where the winery has teamed up with well-known Melbourne chocolatier, Hunter + Gathered. The single vineyard wines from Lethbridge will be matched with single origin chocolates (ie sourced from a single country, sometimes even single estate) with no doubt lots of discussion ensured. I’m quite curious about this event, as chocolate isn’t usually the first food that springs to mind when pairing Shiraz, but I have faith in both parties involved here to prove us all wrong. For those not wanting to attend the masterclass but are still wanting to experience the unique pairing of these two flavours, the winery’s two cellar doors – at their home in Lethbridge, and at their Hat Rock outpost along the Bellarine – will be offering tasting chocolate and Shiraz paddles throughout the day.

After running a successful, tasty Bastille Day event, La Provence de Mer is becoming a permanent fixture at the Geelong Club. They spent last summer on the Bellarine serving up (you guessed it) seaside French classics in their pop-up restaurant housed in the Point Lonsdale Guest House. Obviously they struck a strong enough chord with local diners and the word spread. Enticed by the vacant dining space at the Geelong Club, which, last winter, housed month-long residencies for the likes of Moonah and others. The chef in charge is Michelin-trained Andrew Howarth, and he and his team are looking forward to welcoming not just club members, but all members of the public. Open for dinner service Wednesday to Saturday, as well as lunch Friday to Sunday.

Here’s definitely a date to mark in your culinary dairy if you’re a fan of local restaurants and winery’s with a distinct edge, combining together for a single service. In a couple of weeks, Surf Coast vignerons/winemakers from Heroes Vineyard and Reed (James Thomas and Sierra Reed, respectively) will join Maestro and Samesyn restaurants in the Geelong CBD for a relaxed night of wine, food and conversation (the event will be held in the Maestro dining room). If you enjoy thoughtfully matched wine and food dishes, and interesting wine chats, best to book in your tickets early.

In less positive news, after a decade of trading, the venue once known as IGNI, and more recently Songbird, is calling it a day. Is it another nail in the coffin for the finer end of the dining scene in Geelong? Possibly. Yes, it’s sad to see a team fighting the good fight not succeed, but 10 years is a fairly solid effort for any hospitality venture. Some hats, good accolades, great reviews: they did a splendid job for pushing the envelope further for our Geelong restaurant scene, both locally and nationally. For the next potential operator, it’s a great dining spot, which, no doubt will work (well, hopefully) for someone with the right vision.

Coming in hot this month is our first edition of Our Local Palate: a new podcast dedicated to highlighting the innovators and pacemakers from our greater Geelong food and wine region. First up, I’m chatting with one of my favourite local chefs/restaurateurs, Graham Jefferies, who is a champion – not just locally, but nationally – of produce repurposing/waste minimalisation. Expect discussion on all things that have made this Torquay hotspot so successful, as well as Graham’s thoughts on why sustainability and us all having good food ethics is so important to the future generations of diners.

For those who have enjoyed this weekly column thus far the last two years, I’d love you to listen in and offer me any thoughts you might have. Happy listening.