Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/103334
food&wine O ffering fresh produce ranging from 'ewelicious' sheep's milk cheese and artisan cider to handcrafted Belgianstyle chocolate and succulent mussels, Tasmania's exciting food and wine festivals attract thousands of visitors. When the island is at its brilliant summer best, street markets in Hobart, Launceston and many smaller towns and villages offer a huge range of paddock-to-plate foods, and roadside stalls pop up selling seasonal fruits such as fresh cherries, apples and stone fruits. Many farmers just place their fruit or fresh fruit juice in boxes by the roadside and rely on their customers to leave the correct change in an honesty box. In late summer you can even pick fresh blackberries from roadside hedgerows. Throw in world-class seafood and organic beef from Cape Grim, where the air is among the cleanest in the world, and it's no wonder Tasmania has become a culinary hotspot. Its growing reputation can be partly attributed to former Sydney Morning Herald restaurant reviewer Matthew Evans, who has made three series' of Gourmet Farmer for SBS TV featuring Tasmanians who are breeding, growing and cooking their own produce. Australia's island state has been variously described as "the new Champagne", "the future of Australian produce" and "one of the most beautiful islands in the world". With cool-climate wines in vogue, it doesn't get much cooler than Australia's southernmost state, which, over the past 20 years, has started to produce world-class wines made mainly from pinot noir and chardonnay but also from varieties such as sauvignon blanc, riesling, pinot gris and even cabernet sauvignon. "Most of the wines made here don't make it off the island," says Fred Peacock from Bream Creek winery. "Many Tasmanian producers find it hard to keep up with demand." 36 Tasmania also has a thriving whisky industry with distilleries such as Lark in Hobart, Nant at Bothwell, William McHenry and Son at Port Arthur and Sullivans Cove at Cambridge. Beer and cider also do well on the apple isle. Both the Cascade Brewery in Hobart and the James Boag Brewery in Launceston welcome visitors for tastings and tours and there are several boutique brewers who welcome visitors, including Seven Sheds at Railton in the north, along with artisan cider producers such as Hobart's Captain Blighs. Summer calendar highlights include the sevenday Taste of Tasmania Festival on the Hobart waterfront in late December and early January, and the three-day Festivale of wine, food, beer and entertainment in Launceston in February. Other, more intimate gourmet festivals include Richmond Village Colonial Fair, held each March in the Coal River Valley, and the Taste of the Huon, held in March at the Ranelagh Showgrounds in the Huon Valley. Hobart's tasty treats Tasmania's capital Hobart is surrounded by three wine and food producing regions: the Derwent Valley to the north, Coal River Valley to the east, and the sleepy Huon Valley to the south. The area around Hobart's Salamanca Place, which is the venue for an excellent produce market each Saturday, is peppered with terrific eating and drinking spots. Restaurants such as Smolt, Monty's On Montpelier and The Grape and Cargo Bar sell many local wines by the glass. Hobart also has the award-winning Garagistes, as well as many traditional pubs in the British style – check out the Shipwright's Arms, New Sydney Hotel or the Customs House Hotel. The capital's new dining destinations include Garagistes' offshoot, Sidecar, a Sydney-style small bar serving home-cured charcuterie and Wagyu hot Previous page: A range of quality Tasmanian produce; Hobart's stunning waterfront area. Clockwise from top: Tasmania's Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake; single malt Tasmanian whisky from William McHenry & Sons Distillery at Port Arthur; Sharmans Wines' sauvignon blanc awaiting tasting.