One of the things I like most about living in Canberra, is that you only need to drive for a few minutes and, suddenly, you’re in the countryside. Apart from being very picturesque, there are also some excellent wineries and eateries in the region that make venturing out of town well worthwhile, including Shaw Vineyard Estate winery and Flint in the Vines restaurant.

Although I grew up in Sydney, I’ve always been more of a suburbs than a city girl, and some of my favourite memories from my high school days are of time spent on the school’s farm. So it was with great pleasure that my friends and I set out last weekend for a drive through the countryside and to visit Shaw and Flint.

The drive itself was lovely—after some absolutely miserable weather during the week, we were blessed with a stunner of a day. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and we had lots of fun spotting sheep, cattle, goats and horses, and hoping for a kangaroo or two (none on the way out, but a whole mob on our way home). One of my companions was visiting from the UK, and found the differences between their sheep and our sheep quite interesting (apparently Australian sheep look more cuddly).

Our first stop was Shaw Vineyard Estate for a wine tasting, where we were greeted by the Cellar Door and Administration Manager, Tanya Olinder (nee Shaw—it’s a family business). Tanya’s parents head the Estate, and her brother and husband also work there. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, my alcohol tolerance is low at best, so I let my friends do the tasting and just watched their reactions (although I did have a few sips of some).

We started with the Cielo, which was a sparkling cuvee made from a Semillon grape and which we all (me included) thought was lovely. My friends then made their way through the whites (a Riesling and Semillon Sauvignon Blanc) and then the reds, starting with the lighter wines (Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Shiraz) and moving to the heavier ones (Cabernet Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon), before finishing on the sweet wines (Riscato and Botrytis Semillon—I joined in again at this point, the sweeter and less alcoholic a drink tastes, the more I’m likely to enjoy it).

It was entertaining watching my friends’ reactions while tasting the wines, with one of my friends first declaring that one of the whites was her favourite, and then changing her mind after she tried the Merlot and then the Cab Sauv (clearly she enjoyed them all). As someone who sadly can’t appreciate wine, I also found their descriptions interesting, particularly the Cab Merlot, which they said they really liked, but described as not a casual drinking wine, you’d need to have a meal with it to balance it out; and the Cab Shiraz, which they said had a bit of a kick, as in an aftertaste that got stronger as you swallowed it.

While we were tasting, Tanya told us a bit more about the Estate. It was established in 1998 and is one of the biggest vineyards in the region, with 85 acres (of 600) under vines (they also have merino and crossbreed sheep). They’ve won a number of awards, including a gold medal at the 2011 Vienna International Wine Challenge for their 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon. My friends clearly agreed the awards were deserved, as they each bought some wines to take home (or to the UK as gifts), and even I bought a bottle of their Laughter Series 2008 Semillon Riesling (the Laughter Series raises funds for Camp Quality, as part of the Estate’s charitable work).

After wine, it was definitely time for food, so, armed with a bottle of Riesling, we headed over to Flint in the Vines (while the two businesses are co-located, they are separate entities). Owned by Jai and Kate Dawson, Flint is a vineyard restaurant with a friendly and informal ambience. Even though it’s only three and a half years old, one of my friends observed that it felt much more established than that, and he was right—it had a comfortable, familiar feel, and the place was completely packed, with clientele ranging from young families to groups of 30-somethings and older couples.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I find it fun to just go to a restaurant and ask the staff what they recommend, and let that guide my decision, or just let them surprise us. This was one of those occasions, apart from one of the entrées which my friends and I knew we had to have.

The first dish to arrive was the aforementioned entrée: wood fired camembert served with rosemary and garlic, red wine glaze, apple compote and warmed ciabatta (seriously, unless you’re lactose intolerant, how could you say no to this??).

One of my friends and I had had this on a previous visit to Flint, and had finished the entire wheel of melty goodness between two of us. We felt a bit less guilty sharing it between three this time, but I can definitively say that next time—and every time—I go to Flint, I will be ordering the camembert, no matter how many other people are with me.

The other entrée we got was a surprise, which turned out to be a smoked trout brandade with trout roe, cornichons and crisp bread. None of us had ever had brandade before, but we quickly discovered that it was smooth but crumbly, delicious and very, very moreish.

After demolishing the camembert and the brandade, we felt like we might be getting a bit full, but we quickly changed our minds when our shared main arrived: lamb backstrap with lamb shoulder ragout, wilted spinach, sweet corn puree and red wine jus.

While all the food I’ve had at Flint has been delicious, one thing they do very, very well is lamb. I’d had the lamb shoulder before and was pleased to find the lamb backstrap was just as good, with the corn puree and spinach adding some lovely flavour and contrast in texture.

The lamb was accompanied by two sides: broccoli with goat’s cheese, almonds and lemon zest and roasted kipfler potatoes with green beans and truffle dill cream.

We found the broccoli to be particularly tasty, and the truffle in the dill cream added a bit of a delicious twist to the kipflers.

So by this point we probably should have stopped, but as you may know by now, I have trouble saying no to dessert. My friend and I had tried the chocolate and cherry clafoutis before (let me just say wow) so decided to branch out and share a baked cheesecake with walnut dacquoise and stewed rhubarb.

Apart from being very pretty, it also tasted nice, although the cheesecake tasted better eaten with the rhubarb than without (which makes sense, since it’s served that way!). Our other friend opted for the warm coconut rice pudding  with candied chilli, grated palm sugar and coconut ice cream.

While the friend I shared the cheesecake and I with are not huge fans of rice pudding, the reaction of the friend who ordered it was quite impressive. It sounds very clichéd, but there’s no better way to describe it: after taking his first taste, his face lit up like a child at Christmas, and remained that way until after he’d finished it.

We found Flint in the Vines to be a great venue for a relaxing catch up with friends, or, if you want something a bit more out of the ordinary, they’re currently hosting a number of special evenings as part of the Fireside Festival, including Fireside Fridays, live acoustic music on Wednesday nights and a Red and White Trivia Night. They also hold a number of other fun seasonal events during the year, including Moonlight Movies, Shakespeare in the Vines and something a bit different next year which I’m really looking forward to—Fawlty Towers in the Vines!

The essentials

The places: Shaw Vineyard Estate and Flint in the Vines
Where: 34 Isabel Drive, Murrumbateman
When: Shaw Vineyard Estate tasting and sales, 10am-5pm, Wednesday to Sunday; Flint in the Vines open for lunch Thursday to Sunday and public holidays, dinner Wednesday to Saturday.
Food: Flint offers a seasonal menu of wood-fired pizza (and camembert!), house-baked bread, fish, meat and vegetarian mains and a range of entrees, sides and desserts.
Drinks: Shaw Vineyard Estate wines (Flint also offers a limited number of French, New Zealand and other Australian wines)
Contact: Shaw Vineyard Estate: call 02 6227 5827, visit the website at www.shawvineyards.com.au or check out their Facebook page. Flint in the Vines: call 02 6227 5144, visit the website at www.flintinthevines.net.au or check out their Facebook page. Bookings are essential.

The author and her friends dined courtesy of Flint in the Vines and wined courtesy of Shaw Vineyard Estate. Nevertheless, this is an honest account of our experience, and previous visits were equally good.