Design Anthology - Asia Pacific Edition
A landscape framing wineries, farmto-table restaurants and bucolic stays means an experience in slow travel
If the busyness of our lives before the pandemic planted the seed for slow travel, then the recent string of lockdowns has given it fertile ground to flourish. The mindful movement, which sees people reconnecting with themselves and the natural world in more intense and meaningful ways, is increasingly in line with the urge to explore destinations that have a premium on nature, wide open space, fresh air and local food.
In north-eastern Victoria, Milawa Gourmet Region could be hailed as the perfect slow travel destination. The region’s fresh air is tinged with the aroma of fresh hay and eucalyptus. The Ovens and King rivers weave meandering khaki lines through the landscape, creating a home for lizards, kingfishers, cockatoos and echidnas. The horizon line extends to the distant blues of the Warby Range in one direction and Mount Beauty in the other.
A leisurely drive — or even a cycle on the bike tracks that crisscross the region — reveals all. Golden paddocks form a backdrop to the brilliant green stripes of the area’s many vineyards, the bounty of which has spawned a trail of cellar doors and restaurants. Milawa Providore, for example, is housed in an old redbrick carriage house and serves platters laden with pickles, salami and Milawa Brie. Guests can taste wine at the adjoining cellar door of the cloud-high vineyard of Redbank Wines in King Valley. Nearby, the manicured green lawns of Brown Brothers winery are the perfect spot for sipping pinot grigio and nibbling on olives.
At Vera, the restaurant at Glenbosch Wine Estate in Everton, a menu of local fare — including smoked trout from Mountain Fresh Trout and Salmon Farm, feta from Tolpuddle Dairy in Tarrawingee and honey from Walkabout Apiaries in Milawa — can be enjoyed on the verandah overlooking the rolling hills.
Farmgate shops are a more hands-on approach to the food scene. Sitting roadside, these grassroots retail establishments are the perfect environment for a pandemic. Visitors can self-serve freshly plucked Roma tomatoes, bunches of fragrant basil and coriander and jars of beetroot relish for the perfect picnic. Pair that with a loaf of sourdough from Milawa Bread, condiments from Milawa Mustards and any goat’s cheese from Tolpuddle Dairy for the full paddock-to-plate experience.
The region’s accommodation options are similarly immersive, with guesthouses and B&Bs found on the edges of vineyards and tucked into country acreage. Highlights include the beautifully renovated Tea Garden Creek Cottage in Markwood, styled with vintage European furnishings, where visitors are welcomed with fresh-laid eggs and jars of olives grown on the property, while at Lancemore Milawa, balconies overlook frog-filled ponds and merlot vines.
Exploring further afield, King Valley, a 30-minute drive south, is another grape-growing area, with well-known smaller wineries including Dal Zotto and Pizzini, and 20 minutes in the other direction will take you to Beechworth, its goldmining history and heritage shops making it another worthy and suitably slow endeavour.