When Amanda emailed me last month to ask if I was interesting in collaborating with HerCanberra, The Poachers Way and Rolfe Classic BMW for a weekend of foodie adventures, I hit reply with a highly enthusiastic “yes please!”. A weekend cruising around in a swish BMW while enjoying some of the wonderful foodie events that are on offer as part of Fireside Festival in August sounded like just the perfect weekend to me. So the dates were booked, the itinerary was confirmed and I went to Rolfe Classic BMW on Friday afternoon to pick up what became love at first sight.

I was very lucky to be given the keys to the all new BMW 4 Series Convertible, and the last words by Rolfe Classic BMW marketing manager as I drove out of the showroom were, “you can’t break it so have fun!” And have fun, I did!

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Let’s start with a disclaimer that my blog is called “le bon vivant”for a reason. I am known to have expensive taste when it comes to most things in life so I do drive a pretty fancy car (not a BMW though). My two friends who accompanied me for the weekend adventures both also happen to be BMW owners. So even though between the three of us we have our fair share of experiences in the realm of luxury cars, we were positively blown away by the overall experience of this BMW M435i convertible. More on this dream machine a bit later…

The itinerary took us through the city and out to Gundaroo first to Old Saint Luke’s Studio followed by Capital Wines and Grazing, then on to Murrumbateman to Tallangandra Hill Winery and Robyn Rowe chocolates.

Getting behind the wheel of the M435i convertible is a luxury experience from the start. Keyless access system means no need to go digging in the handbag for the key. The sporty leather bucket seats hug your bottom for ultimate comfort and electric seat controls with memory function remembers your bottom so swapping drivers is effortless as the seat will automatically adjust itself according to your preferred setting. Genius! Strap on the seatbelt, push the start button, connect your iphone via bluetooth, pump some tunes loud in the top of the range Harman Kardon sound system and you are good to go. The iDrive navigation system is easy to use, intuitive and having the voice control functionality makes things that much easier. Oh and let’s take a moment to appreciate the glorious seat warmers. My body is having seat warmer withdrawals following the comforts from this weekend of driving!

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The gadgets don’t stop there. There’s the all impressive head-up display that projects the speed you are travelling and information from the navigation system directly on the windscreen in front of you! Then there’s the cruise control with braking function, park distance control camera system and rear view camera- all of which means this machine can pretty much drive itself.

Once we got on the road I was amazed and what a fabulous drive the M435i convertible was. It’s incredibly responsive, comfortable and when you put the pedal to the metal it really goes and the sound it makes while doing this is enough to awaken the car enthusiast in anyone. I read that this little star can go from 0-100km/h in 5.1 seconds. I may or may not have put that to the test.

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We arrived at our first stop on the itinerary; Old Saint Luke’s Studio in Gundaroo, where we fell in love with the remote country location and the beautiful rustic setting.

After walking through the gallery and admiring the gorgeous wood-fired ceramics we were given a tour of the studio where we saw the impressive nine metre long wood-fired kiln and also a pottery class in action. Old Saint Luke’s studio is open on weekends and public holidays and it is well worth a visit to appreciate and stock up on some wonderful ceramics.

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If you are interested in learning the art of pottery, contact Ian and Moraig at the studio for details of their weekly classes. And for something even more special, if you’ve always wanted a pizza oven in your backyard here’s your chance; book in for the full day pizza oven building workshop on 17 August where you can learn to build a domestic scale wood-fired pizza/bread oven from inexpensive and easily accessible materials. The full day informative and fun workshop is $100 per person and will include a delicious pizza lunch as well as recipes and cooking tips.

We went back out in to our beautiful carriage and the sun was shining, the sky was a clear blue and we all agreed that it was time to drop the top. And then we may have gotten slightly carried away and spent forty five minutes doing a photo shoot of the car before we actually set off but how could we not- the contrast of the gorgeous shiny red M435i convertible against the cloudless blue sky and the terracotta earth was made for photographing!

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 Back on the road, and we set off on the 10km drive with the top down and this was exhilarating driving at its best. Yes, it was only 12 degrees outside and you may think we were mad for doing this, but when you are driving a $145k dream machine (yes, that’s how much this little beauty cost!) top-down driving comes with certain comforts. The retractable hard top opens and closes so quickly at the press of a button and even when driving slowly! With the top down and windows up it makes for particularly effective insulation and absorbs vibrations and noises. And then for added comfort all you need to do is blast the heaters as well as the seat warmers which makes the top down driving experience fun with a capital F, even in the middle of winter.

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We arrived at Capital Wines suitably wind-swept, for a spot of pre-lunch wine tasting and got to experience four lovely wines matched with food. The blue cheese and honey was a perfect pairing for the citrus notes of 2013 The Whip Riesling (below). The 2013 Foreign Minister Sangiovese was made for food and worked specially well with the salty and savoury flavours of the grilled prosciutto wrapped figs with Gorgonzola. We finished the wine tasting with a flagship wine, the 2011 Kyeema Vineyard Reserve Merlot; a silky smooth wine that builds up on the palate.

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During Fireside Festival weekends in August, Capital Wines’ cellar door is offering a delicious Comfort Food Epicurean Lunch menu where you can enjoy four hearty winter dishes matched with Ministry series wines for $40 per person. Check the festival website and get booking.

Next we walked around the corner to the charming surrounds of Grazing Restaurant where we were treated to the most delicious four course chef’s selection menu that was big on flavours and made using the most freshest and seasonal ingredients.

First course was a wonderfully fresh olive oil poached yellowfin tuna served with crisp octopus, chorizo custard and cauliflower. This was paired with a 2013 Barton Estate Semillon Sauvignon Blanc.

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 Then we had the 18 hour slow cooked pork belly with braised carrot, soubise and prune relish paired with a 2013 Mount Majura Pinot Gris. The pork belly was deliciously tender and melted in the mouth, the carrot had lovely caramelisation and the tangy prune relish was the perfect pairing to cut through the creamy richness of the soubise.

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Next up was free range chicken breast with winter truffle fois gras, celeriac crumble, savoy and shitake paired with a 2011 Long Rail Gully Cabernet Sauvignon. This was a dish of ultimate decadence that had us approaching food coma territory.

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But there was always going to be room for dessert, specially when chef Kurt Neumann sent us three different desserts to sample in order to make the most of our dining experience.

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We indulged in the most delicious frozen caramel and salted hazelnut custard parfait, a creamed white rice pudding with poached pear, maple granola ad wattle seed yoghurt and a toasted flour-less blood orange cake with fennel, coffee dukkah, orange butter and marmalade ice cream. Yes, we ate a lot, drank just as much and well and truly made the most of our winter dining indulgence by the fire in the grand old dining room of Grazing.

If you like the look and sound of all this deliciousness make sure you don’t miss out on Grazing’s trademark Duck and Pinot dinners on just for two nights during Fireside Festival. For $165 per head, a six course duck degustation matched with seven Pinot Noirs from local, interstate and international wineries is on offer on Friday 22 and Saturday 23 August.

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The next day after a lazy late start we set off to Murrumbateman to continue on our foodie adventures. We were lucky to be treated to another perfect winter day, and driving through the city we couldn’t help but notice the admiring glances that our shiny red M435i convertible was receiving as it cruised through city traffic.

After another leg of rather enjoyable driving we arrived at the tranquil surrounds of Robyn Rowe Chocolates, where Robyn and Dennis gave us a lovely welcome and prepared for us what must be every chocoholics dream.

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 We were each treated to a plate of three chocolates of our choice plus a small edible chocolate dish and chocolate spoon, homemade vanilla and chocolate ice cream and a cup of hot chocolate!

 A visit to Robyn Rowe’s Chocolate d’Or is a must for any chocolate lover as you not only get a chance to sample a delicious range of hand crafted chocolates but also see Robyn herself working away in her kitchen, making chocolate magic. And the good news is that the chocoholic treats that we had are available for $18 per person during weekends. And if you are on the look out to increase your chocolate knowledge (shouldn’t we all?) Robyn Rowe will be running chocolate appreciation evenings every Wednesday in August for $50 per person so make sure you don’t miss out.

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The final stop on our weekend of foodie adventures was a spot of wine tasting at Tallagandra Hill Winery where we sampled a range of their wines. The “Cecelia”un-oaked chardonnay was memorable for it’s tropical fruit flavours as well as the story behind the name and the 2013 Shiraz Viognier was another winner due to big spicy notes. And then there was the unusual “Sassy” red, a cabernet franc best served chilled that had us all thinking about summer and barbecue weather.

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Then it was time to get back on board our dream machine and enjoy the last long ride back to Canberra. From the narrow, windy country roads to the long, straight highway and then through the stop-start traffic of city roads the BMW M435i convertible was an absolute pleasure to drive. It handled all road conditions with such ease, had all the comforts one needs for a short city hop or a long drive. And then there was the all important looks side of things; the M435i convertible is an absolute stunner that’s got me having serious convertible withdrawals since returning the car to Rolfe Classic on Monday morning.

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 It was the perfect weekend of luxury driving combined with delicious food and wine. A big thank you goes to Rolfe Classic BMW for giving me the opportunity to experience the wonders of the all new BMW 4 series convertible and The Poacher’s Way for treating us to some unforgettable food and wine experiences. And a very special thank you to HerCanberra for this wonderful collaboration opportunity and to all you valued readers for having me here.

the essentials

What: The Fireside Festival
When: Until the end of August
Where: Venues around The Poachers Way
Web: thepoachersway.com.au/fireside-festival/