A Tasmanian food & wine journey

Exactly a year ago I flew to Sydney for our friend Des's wedding. I'm not going to think about the year in-between but instead dive back into that trip and remember the stunning food and wine we enjoyed in Tasmania.

After a few wonderful days exploring Sydney we left the tropical weather and flew to Hobart, and to what felt like the Winter! Having flown at this point 24 hours from the UK winter to

arrive back in it I was a little gutted! We did have the odd hour of sunshine when I could take off my winter jacket and the food and wine we experienced was outstanding. It might be a year on but I remember the trip as if it were yesterday and I wanted to share it with you in case you're thinking of going, or are interested in the food scene we found. Researching where to eat before the trip was hard as there was such a great selection of top rated restaurants, these were a few of the ones we tried and loved.

Our first stop was Hobart where we enjoyed a lovely night at an Italian restaurant that our friend Des had recommended. The restaurant was in Battery point in Hobart which is a pretty area of town full of quaint 19th century sandstone and weatherboard cottages, a nice place for a mooch and a coffee on a sunny morning.

Da Angelo's is such a warm relaxed place, buzzing with a friendly energy where children were welcome. Such a nice vibe after the London restaurant scene which isn't always so relaxed. I kicked off the evening with a glass of a local sparkling wine Bay of Fires Cuvee it was tangy, fresh and tart. Another first for me that night, believe it or not, was pasta puttanesca! I think I'd been scarred as a kid in the 80's by dried up salty anchovies on pizzas and wouldn't go near them as an adult, but man did I love that pasta - it was smoky and salty and umami, I want more of it!! Nick has been in charge of trying to recreate it at home, he seems to have a way with anchovies.

The next meal we had in Hobart was at Aloft. Oh-My-God that was amazing!

|The crayfish and fennel seed and black vinegar dumplings I ate there were truly stunning, some of the best Asian food I've ever eaten. When I said this to the waitress she said someone the night before had eaten them for a starter and then ordered them for dessert too as she felt the same! If you get a chance to eat here do. The space is airy and light, stripped back light Scandi wood with a huge floor to ceiling windows overlooking the harbour. The wine list by the glass was short but stunning, they had selected the wines so well to compliment the Asian food. Dumpling image courtesy of Aloft.

We drove to the North of the country next for a night in Launceston and a part of the trip I was really looking forward to - the wine tour!! From a wine making perspective Tasmania is considered a cool climate environment for wine with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir being the most popular grapes. Cool climate wines are characteristically taste green, like tart fruit and have high acidity. This is because they don't have the sunshine and warmth to ripen the grapes in the same way as a hotter climate. If you're interested in reading more this is a good site There are so many cellar doors to visit I almost didn't know where to start so I booked an evening wine tour with Tamar Valley Wine Tours which turned out to be a great choice. Terry, who owns the company, picked us up from our hotel in Launceston and drove us to two local "cellar doors" to taste their wines and have some amazing food.

We were the only people on the tour so it felt like a luxury private trip! Terry was really friendly and as we drove to the first cellar he chatted away about local history and life in Tas. First stop was Loira Vines and if I could have moved into the space I would have done. The husband and wife team who had bought the cellar door a few years before have created a beautiful space: light, airy, modern and most importantly friendly and welcoming. One of the owners, Adrian used to be a publican and was such a great host, we sat at the bar, tasted his beautiful wines and had a lovely chat. What more could you want! Adrian said that he'd set out to develop a range of wines which could be drunk on their own in a bar rather than needing to be paired with food and he definitely achieved that, the range was easy drinking and mellow, very in tune with the vibe of the place. His lovely wife (apologies, whose name I've forgotten) served us this amazing platter as part of the price of the wine tour. It all tasted divine, but the standout was the "41 degree South" hot smoked salmon, wow, I could eat that all day long. I did try and recreate hot smoked salmon when I got home and it went very wrong, I'll leave that one to the experts. Next stop on the tour was Swinging Gate wines with Doug and Nellie the cover dog of "Wine Dogs of Australia". What Doug doesn't know about growing grapes and making wine isn't worth knowing. After having tasted a fair few wines at Loira Vines we went onto to taste about 18 of Doug's! Doug is so passionate and knowledgeable about his craft that it was a joy to spend time with him, taste his wines and hear about his journey developing them. I would go back in a heartbeat to spend more time with him and hear more about the business of making wine.

Terry turned up to scoop us up into the van and take us back to our hotel. What I loved about both wine producers was that they were complete self starters who had got into wine making relatively recently, I think Doug bought his vineyard in 2014 and studied horticulture to learn how to cultivate the grapes. I love that "can do" spirit and found it really inspiring.

We continued down the coast and settled into Binalong Bay for a few nights at Kingfisher cottage, the word "picture window" was made for the view from the lounge.

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Binalong Bay is tiny and luckily we were right next door to the only restaurant in town: Meresta, as well as dinning in you can take away the most amazing garlic and prawn pizza's which we did and ate them at home overlooking the bay. They also served small takeaway cashew nut ice creams made by the Cashew Creamery These were so creamy and delicious, they're made with cashews and fresh Tasmanian spring water, I tried to recreate these at home....but again with no success, maybe it was my lack of Tasmanian Spring water! You can buy these in the US and Canada but not the UK, I'd 100% recommend them.

Last stop was fish and chips by the harbour in Bicheno, striped trumpeter and chips to be exact. This no frills place was recommended by a local guide who I took a hike with, we got talking and he said the fish and chips here were the best as they fried whatever fish they caught that day. He was so right. I think eating great fish and chips by the sea is one of life's simple pleasures.

So that is my whistle stop tour of Tas. We might have been unlucky with the weather but we were very lucky with the people we met and the food and wine we enjoyed.