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.<\/p>\n
Organisers said they were pleased with the attendance, and excellent weather conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall, we\u2019ve had a very positive couple of days,\u201d said Ian Hopkins, owner of Tellurian Wines and president of Heathcote Winegrowers Association.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe general feeling around the festival is that everyone is enjoying themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a sophisticated audience who appreciate quality wines and have an interest in our wonderful region.\u201d<\/p>\n
Approximately 1800 people attended on Saturday and 600 on Sunday.<\/p>\n
As well as wine tastings and sales, visitors enjoyed music provided by the Bendigo Blues and Roots Festival, a scavenger hunt, and lawn games.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year was probably a post-COVID boom but stallholders have reported good sales and some of the food vendors sold out on Saturday,\u201d Mr Hopkins said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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\u2019ll be looking at that for next year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forty wineries were represented at the festival with 15 food stalls catering to the hungry attendees.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had a magnificent day,\u201d said Hans Plieger from Seymour, who attended with his wife, Eva, and friends Wendy and Wayne Burgess.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the third year we\u2019ve been to the festival and we couldn\u2019t have asked for a better day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe organisers have done a great job. There is plenty of seating and entertainment and, best of all, the wines taste great.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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. \u201cOverall, we\u2019ve had a very positive couple of days,\u201d said Ian Hopkins, owner of Tellurian Wines […]<\/p>\n