Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/142338
food&wine potent shiraz styles Australia is famous for. I have been known to say, 'In Canberra, we make shiraz for burgundy-lovers!'.'" But it's not just shiraz and riesling: explore the area and you'll find winemakers experimenting with Marsanne (Collector Wines), graciano and tempranillo (Mount Majura), even sangiovese (Capital Wines). Chardonnay is also popular but is usually brought in from nearby Tumbarumba, the source of some of Australia's best chardonnay fruit. If you head to Eden Road in Murrumbateman, you'll get a chance to try winemaker Nick Spencer's various expressions of the grape – all worth stopping by for. Mid-week can be quiet if you are looking for food – although there's little reason to look beyond the Murrumbateman pub, which offers one of the best burgers I've had in a while, along with standard pub fare. To taste local produce, visit the celebrated family-operated Poachers Pantry. Run by Susan and Robert Bruce, this charming, rustic café started life as a smokehouse back in the early '90s. The Bruces have retained the smallgoods business but have turned part of the smokehouse into a café and cellar door. Here, you can try an array of smoked and cured meats, and purchase smallgoods to take home; the shop is usually open seven days a week but check opening hours mid-week, as things can be quiet. Another good dining option nearby is Capital Wines Epicurean Centre at Gundaroo, on the historic Royal Hotel site, where you'll find a stellar range of wines. Highlights include an expressive riesling, a savoury tempranillo and a late-picked riesling that is to die for. Taste wines especially matched with the food – or eat at the cellar door, located in the same historic complex. It's worth booking a table at the acclaimed GRAZING restaurant. This sprawling eatery has the talented Kurt Neumann at the helm, serving up memorable regional produce matched with local wines. Here, you can eat local rainbow trout, 18-hour slow-cooked pork belly and the famous GRAZING fish pie; there are great children's options, too. Off the Hume Highway at Bungendore is Lark Hill's scenic restaurant, which uses mainly biodynamic and organic food and is open only on weekends. It's well worth the detour to try the Carpenter family's biodynamic wines. Food here is sourced from a kitchen garden grown by Lark Hill's original winemaker, Sue Carpenter's 96-year-old father, Ray, or from local organic producers. In the 22 Fast Fact The cool-climate Canberra district wine region is a triangular 60-kilometre area bordered by Canberra, Yass and Bungendore.