Rutherglen

On our drive back to Canberra from Melbourne, we had an overnight stay at Rutherglen. Naturally, we checked out the local activities, which included trying the gin from Hurdle Creek Still...

Hurdle Creek Still

...the cheese from Millawa Cheese Company...

Cheese? Cake?

...and the wines at Rutherglen Estates.

We had booked to stay here overnight, so we walked around the grounds.

  

The tasting room at Rutherglen Estates doubles as an Aboriginal Exhibitions Gallery - the white walls, high ceilings and wooden beams display the current crop of paintings and sculpture beautifully. The exhibition rotates artworks by various artists; on the day we visited the exhibition was Roper River Rhapsodies featuring artists Ginger Riley Munduwalawala, Djambu Barra Barra, Willie Gudpai, Amy Jirwulurr Johnson, Gertie Huddleston, Alan Joshua Jnr., Faith Thompson Nelson, Joyce Huddlestone, Dorothy Club, Maureen Thompson, Lurick Fordham and Betty Roberts.

Wirangerre by Dorothy Club (centre right) and Snake Tracks by Faith Thompson Nelson (top right)

l-r: Wild Flowers; Flowering Tree Tops by Joyce Huddlestone; Arnhem Scrub by Alan Joshua Jnr

Flowers in the Bush (top) and The Cross on the Hill by Gertie Huddleston

Untitled by Gertie Huddleston

Healing Mimi by Alan Joshua Jnr (on the left) and Bones No. 2 by Djambu (Sambo) Barra Barra

Birds and Flowers around the Billabong by Amy Jirwulurr Johnson

We went back to our villa to relax a little before dinner.

  

And then we had a magnificent meal in the attached restaurant - with the recommended wine matches to the food - where the descriptions of the food were almost as good as the taste.

Asian broth; duck, ginger and coriander dumpling with chilli and shallots

Scallop carpaccio, pickled beetroot, tomato salsa and yuzu dressing

Five-spice pork belly, beetroot, corn salsa, Swiss chard and masterstock

Plus green beans with goat's feta and roasted almonds

Fully replete it was back to our room, where the mini-bar was somewhat better than usual and we had all the necessary comforts. 

Breakfast the next morning was equally delightful.

We followed up breakfast with a brisk walk around Lake King. The lake was formed in the late 1860s to provide the town's water supply. Named after Daniel King, local bootmaker and later vigneron, by 1870 the lake hosted two pleasure boats running from a small jetty, and two rowing clubs (Rutherglen Rowing Club and Moodemere Rowing Club) had practice boats here. Part of the lake was used as a swimming pool complete with changing rooms, two forty-foot staging platforms and a diving board with lighting installed on poles along the bank. Now it is just the home to a host of waterfowl and the backdrop to a pleasant walk. 

 

Still Waters by John Salafia

There were a couple more wineries to visit before we headed home, so first we called into Scion Wine. Here they have exceptional Viogniers and Durifs, corrugated kangaroos, and a not-too-springy spaniel.

Meanwhile, Pfeiffer Wines has a superb range of fortifieds: muscats; topaques; tawnies; and a late harvest Muscadelle. 

They have a charming outdoor setting and a wonderful old bridge, on which apparently they have large al fresco picnics. Sunday Creek Bridge was built in 1905 to provide access from the winery to the vineyard. The river it spans is home to large fish, native terrapins (long-necked tortoises) and platypus. 

Sunday Creek Bridge

Bulrushes by Simon Pankhurst

And then, sadly, it was time to go home.