Sun and wine a perfect combination

ALTHOUGH numbers were slightly down on previous years, spirits were high among visitors to the annual Wine and Food Festival held at the Heathcote Showgrounds last weekend.

Organisers said they were pleased with the attendance, and excellent weather conditions.

“Overall, we’ve had a very positive couple of days,” said Ian Hopkins, owner of Tellurian Wines and president of Heathcote Winegrowers Association.

“The general feeling around the festival is that everyone is enjoying themselves.

“We have a sophisticated audience who appreciate quality wines and have an interest in our wonderful region.”

Approximately 1800 people attended on Saturday and 600 on Sunday.

As well as wine tastings and sales, visitors enjoyed music provided by the Bendigo Blues and Roots Festival, a scavenger hunt, and lawn games.

“Last year was probably a post-COVID boom but stallholders have reported good sales and some of the food vendors sold out on Saturday,” Mr Hopkins said.

“We were pleased to see a large number of locals supporting the event. The Melbourne contingent was down, most likely due to the cost living. We’ll be looking at that for next year.”

Forty wineries were represented at the festival with 15 food stalls catering to the hungry attendees.

“We’ve had a magnificent day,” said Hans Plieger from Seymour, who attended with his wife, Eva, and friends Wendy and Wayne Burgess.

“This is the third year we’ve been to the festival and we couldn’t have asked for a better day.

“The organisers have done a great job. There is plenty of seating and entertainment and, best of all, the wines taste great.”