Tamborine Mountain, Australia

Food and Wine on Tamborine Mountain

Today we spent the day on Tamborine Mountain, a plateau 580 meters (approximately 1,900 feet) above sea level and 25 km (approximately 16 miles) inland from Surfers Paradise south of Brisbane. The temperature on the plateau is 5-7 degrees Celsius (9-13 degrees Fahrenheit) lower than on the coast and the gentle winds made it an excellent day for walking. There are three villages on the plateau, Eagle Heights, North Tamborine and Mount Tamborine and the three have bandied together to provide the visitor with a eclectic mix of things to do, places to go and things to see.

There are three wineries on the plateau, and three more wineries in the valleys at the southern end of the range. Good restaurants, bed and breakfast accommodations, cottages for rent, gift and antique shops and artists shops and galleries line the road. Seven National Parks provide paths for walking and viewing the thick rainforest and tall eucalyptus trees and the rich variety of flora and fauna that grows on the mountain.

Jacquelynn reserved a table for us at D’Luscious, a small café adjoining the Heritage Winery tasting room. The table was outside under the canopy between the tasting room and the restaurant. The seats were exceptional, a love seat for two on one side of the table, padded wicker chairs on the other side, and to complete the ambiance a guitarist played and sang folk songs from his location on the other side of the tasting room entrance.

The Maitre D was enthusiastic about promoting his special so Colin chose one – pumpkin and basil ravioli with crisp panchetta and rocket in a white wine and cream sauce and I chose the other – seafood chowder with prawns, scallops and fresh snapper delivered that morning from the coast. Jacquelynn chose a potato, chive and cheese pancake served with crisp bacon and garden salad. We each chose a different flavor of milk shake and Colin added a glass of red wine from the Heritage winery tasting room next door. The restaurant discourages patrons from bringing their own wine and instead encourages them to buy a glass or a bottle of wine from the conveniently located tasting room.

The food was excellent, and the portions were large. The flavors melded well together in all three dishes and the food is highly recommended.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the milk shakes. At first proffering the shakes were merely flavored milk, Jacquelynn and I complained and more ice cream was added to thicken the shakes. Colin drank his wine and let Chloe drink the flavored milk. Very shortly after finishing the meal and paying, both Jacquelynn and I got stomach cramps that were most painful. We walked for a while to try and ease the cramps, and after 45 minutes or so and two trips to the bathroom mine went away. Jacquelynn’s persisted for the afternoon and evening.

Jacquelynn continued to walk with us as we visited art and antique and gift shops or sat outside with Chloe while Colin and I visited the Mount Tamborine winery tasting room and tasted cabernet-merlot, muscatel and chardonnay. All three of the wines left slightly unpleasant tastes in the mouth during the tasting.

We then drove down the mountain to the Mount Nathan winery where Jacquelynn stayed in the car with sleeping Chloe while Colin and I were ‘entertained’ by the third generation of the family Gibson who own the winery. Unfortunately the younger Gibson – studying history and English at college to become a schoolteacher – did not know much about the wine and though the port was very good, he could not tell us how the fortification took place. Instead he told us that the ‘brandied port’ got its flavor by having fortified wine poured into a barrels previously used to store brandy. The barrels were then spun around so the barrels gave up the flavor of the brandy but no alcohol to the fortified wine. An interesting concept, to say the least, and despite all this whirling around, the port tasted OK, so we bought a bottle.