This is a favourite recipe of ours, adapted from Matt and Lentil’s Grown & Gathered. We like to cook ours in our bakers’ wood oven over winter, so we can cook it at a lower temperature over a longer time. We love the range of herbs and the resulting flavour is amazing.
With around 30,000 tourism beds in the Alpine Valleys region of Victoria, there is certainly no shortage of places to stay when visiting Bright. In fact, the hardest part about choosing where to stay is navigating the bounty of options to find the accommodation that best suits your needs. From camping to family-friendly stays, secluded luxury villas and boutique alpine cottages, navigate where to stay with our insider’s guide to Bright’s best accommodation.
Prosecco is the world’s most popular sparkling wine and is gaining prominence here in Australia. In this article, winemaker Jo Marsh discusses all things Prosecco – from how they are made to how they taste – and introduces the five unique styles of Prosecco she makes here at Billy Button.
Victoria’s alpine country offers snow-capped mountains, skiing and cosy chalets in winter; hiking, mountain biking, fishing and wild swimming in summer; and excellent eating and drinking throughout the year. The High Country is a diverse landscape that offers plenty of activities for adventure seekers, couples, food and wine lovers, and families, and the charming town of Bright is at the heart of the action. Surrounded by mountains and located on the Ovens River, Bright and its nearby villages of Porepunkah and Wandiligong offer a huge selection of experiences year-round. Here are 10 things to do in Bright right now.
Welcome to Bright, the home of the Billy Button Cellar Door in the foothills of the Australian Alps. Not only have we been blessed with an abundance of natural splendour, we are also spoilt for choice when it comes to local dining options. Looking for the best places to eat in Bright? Here are a few of our all-time favourite local venues to discover.
A short 30km drive up the Valley from the popular Victorian getaway of Bright, you’ll find the quaint town of Myrtleford. It’s the perfect holiday destination, rich in character and Italian culture with a strong community spirit. Not only is Myrtleford the home of the Billy Button Cellar Door that we share with Bush Track Wines, it’s a thriving hub of activity which makes for a memorable trip away, a weekend escape from Melbourne (only 240km away) or a short stint from regional NSW.
Due to the catastrophic smoke taint in our Alpine Valleys vineyards and our call for a ‘no harvest’ we went a little further afield to find fruit to harvest for our Billy Button 2020 vintage. In doing so we added a further four grape varieties not handled before at Billy Button. Jo received a call from winemaker Lillian Carter of Symphonia Vineyard near Myrrhee in the King Valley. Lilian knew we were in deep trouble and offered a small parcel of Symphonia’s ‘Petit Manseng’ to help us out. Jo readily accepted the offer as she had seen some lovely examples of ‘Petit Manseng’ each year at the Australian Alternate Varieties Wineshow from some of the 20 or so producers in Australia including our Alpine Valleys friends at Ringer Reef!
Amphorae (or ‘Giara’) are terracotta containers of basically between 400 and 600 litres, but can be larger. This completely ancient technology is now in use by modern winemakers in Italy, France, California and now Australia.
The 2020 vintage had its issues but we were able to get a few different varietals out for you to enjoy. Luckily our growers and the local community have rallied in tough times. We were still able to secure fruit from within Victoria from the Chalmers Vineyard in Heathcote, the famous Drumborg Vineyard and from a long term friend and grower in Bendigo. We also harvested with some Riesling from Croucher.
Visiting the Alpine Valleys in Victoria and love wine? Head to Myrtleford where you will find our new cellar door, in partnership with our friends at Bush Track Wines. After a summer of bushfires, smoke and anxiety, we’re relieved to finally throw the doors open to welcome locals and tourists alike to our second home in Myrtleford. Bring your empty esky and fill it with a fabulous selection of delicious and interesting wines and cheeses from local producers.
