by brandsa2018

8 beer gardens you have to sit in this summer

The sun is out, the days are getting longer, and did someone say beer garden?

We went in search of the perfect South Australian outdoor oasis, and we found heaps! Here are eight of the best.

Cathedral Hotel – North Adelaide

Have you been searching for a beautiful heritage listed North Adelaide bar with a renovated rooftop? The search is over! The Cathedral took out SA’s Best Pub Burger in the 2016 SA Pub Burger Challenge, so you can be sure the classic pub fare won’t disappoint.

Here’s their menu, we recommend the beef burger and a glass of Jim Barry Watervale Riesling (Clare Valley).

The sun sets over Adelaide from the Cathedral rooftop garden. Image: Cathedral Hotel via Instagram.

The Cathedral Hotel knows burgers. Image: Cathedral Hotel via Instagram.

Hotel Elliot – Port Elliot

Heading to Middleton for a surf? Or perhaps a beachside getaway is calling your name. Either way, this well-frequented local pub located in picturesque Port Elliot has everything you want, with a sensational beer garden to boot.

A  five-minute stroll from Horseshoe Bay and a short walk to whale spotting favourite Freeman Lookout, you can also catch the Cockle Train or Steam Ranger with the Port Elliot Railway Station situated just outside the hotel.

Here’s their menu, we recommend the Coopers Ale battered garfish fillets, served with the Elliot salad, chips and house aioli. Pair with a Coopers Pale Ale of course!

The Hotel Elliot beer garden is waiting for you! Image: Hotel Elliot via Instagram.

Fish and chips on the Fleurieu at Hotel Elliot. Image: Hotel Elliot via Instagram.

The Republic – Norwood

Built in 1880, the Republic Hotel has undergone extensive renovations with sleek results. This beer garden is perfect for a Saturday arvo with the girls after shopping your new summer look on The Parade.

Here’s their bar menu, we recommend the charcuterie board with cured meats, SA olives, cornichons and ciabatta, and pair with an Espresso Martini (or three).

The only thing better than an espresso martini is three espresso martinis. Image: Republic Norwood via Instagram.

Some of the local produce on offer at Republic Norwood. Image: Republic Hotel via Instagram.

Bridgewater Inn – Bridgewater

Only a 20-minute drive from Adelaide, the Bridgewater Inn is the perfect Adelaide Hills escape. Nestled among lush greenery, relax in the garden with unrivalled views of Cox’s Creek.

Here’s their menu, we recommend the Cox chicken breast schnitzel (500g) with one of their signature toppings such as parmigiana (napolitana sauce, cheese and ham),  Mexican (smashed avocado, bacon, jalapeno, sour cream),  Kilpatrick (bacon, Worcestershire sauce and cheese) or garlic prawns in a cream sauce. Match with a Rockford Alicante Bouchet rosé (Barossa Valley), you know it’s a good idea.

Just in case you didn’t know you were in the Adelaide Hills. Image: Bridgewater Inn via Facebook.

These mega schnitzels will make a return visitor out of you, that’s a promise. Image: Bridgewater Inn via Facebook.

The Edinburgh Hotel – Mitcham

Ask anyone in the foothills of Southern Adelaide if they know The Ed, and not only will they know it, they’re probably sitting in its garden as you speak.

The famed Ed garden (renowned colloquially as one of Adelaide’s best) is bordered by pergolas, vines and lush gardens. The fellas love it here (and so do the kids).

Here’s their menu, we recommend The Ed signature flatbreads with heirloom and semi-dried tomato salsa with buffalo mozzarella, basil and pine nut pesto and smoked salmon with capers, feta, avocado, rocket and fresh lemon. Pair with a refreshing local gin and tonic served with citrus.

A family friendly atmosphere that will have you settling in from day to night. Image: The Edinburgh Hotel website.

What’s more refreshing in summer than a gin and tonic? It’s ok, we’ll wait. Image: The Ed via Instagram.

The Feathers Hotel – Burnside 

They won Best Beer Garden in Australia in 2017. Enough said.

Here’s their Terrace menu, we recommend any of the sociable plates, especially where cheese is involved. Match with a Howard Vineyard “Clover” sparkling wine (Adelaide Hills) and welcome, you’ve arrived in paradise.

Weekend goals. Image: supplied.

You had us at sociable plates. Image: supplied.

Parkside Hotel – Parkside

It’s impossible not to salute the Parkside Hotel at how different it is from it’s former state. The recently renovated venue is turning heads as one of the main hangs for South Aussies this coming summer.

And not only is there current beer garden greatness, there is also future beer garden greatness to come! A family friendly outdoor area (separate from main beer garden) on its way with completion due in the next couple of days. There is also another outdoor area which is in the construction phase, due for opening in the coming months.

So make sure you check it out.

Here’s their menu, we recommend the prawn and heirloom tomato pizza with SA king prawns, chilli, rocket and basil paired with an Aperol Spritz.

Your summer hideaway in bustling Parkside. Image: supplied.

What’s a pizza between friends? Image: Parkside Hotel via Facebook.

Port Admiral Hotel – Port Adelaide

This Port Adelaide pub, with its nautical vibes and bustling atmosphere, is quickly gaining a reputation as a bucket list must-see.

Adelaide’s oldest building (established in 1849 on Black Diamond Corner), the Port Admiral is a tip-of-the-hat to SA history and it’s really, really cool.

Here’s their menu, we recommend the Port Admiral fried chicken wings (500g or 1kg) with buffalo, Thai, sweet and sour or barbecue dressing. Pair with an Applewood Distillery whiskey or a Port Local house brew – a collaboration between the Port Admiral and Pirate Life.

The Port Admiral Hotel, Adelaide’s oldest building. Image: Port Admiral Hotel website.

Warning: these wings are addictive. Image: Port Admiral Hotel via Instagram.

Header image features The Feathers Hotel.

Visit I Choose SA to meet the people building business and industry in SA, and to find out how your choices make a difference to our state.

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by brandsa2018

Windmill Theatre one of SA’s best exports

Local theatre company Windmill Theatre Co looks set to continue its march onto the world stage in 2019, building on its success as one of South Australia’s best creative exports.

Windmill, founded in 2002, creates quirky, funny, thought provoking theatre for children and families. Some of the best known shows include Grug, Pinocchio and Big Bad Wolf.

Following a recent period of growth and expansion, the company has now positioned itself as one of the most innovative and in-demand theatre companies in the world, touring productions nationally and internationally, including to New York, China, Canada and New Zealand.

December will see a new pinnacle for the company when hit musical Rumpelstiltskin plays at Europe’s largest centre for the arts, the Southbank Centre in London.

Elena Carapetis, left, Alirio Zavarce, Matt Crook and Michaela Burger in ‘Rumpelstiltskin’. Photo by Shane Reid.

“That’s a really big deal for us,” says Rose Myers, Windmill’s artistic director, who directed and co-wrote the show.

”We’re taking a company of 20 people over and we will be there for a month in the heart of London.

“It’s a co-production with the State Theatre Company which premiered in Adelaide a couple of years ago. It is a big thrill to take that on the road.”

Taking great SA productions out to the world is not just about playing to bigger audiences, it’s about building cultural ties and artistic networks overseas that feed back into the state, says Rose, who has been at the helm since 2009.

“Touring is important because we make the work and there is a lot of investment poured into it,” she says. “SA is a small state and we have a small audience, but you get into a market place like China or America where the audience is huge and you are amortising your investment and generating employment for our artists and that helps keep great artists here in SA because they know they can make a living here.

Paul Capsis, left, and Ezra Juanta on stage. Photo by Shane Reid.

“It’s also just great cultural diplomacy. We’re trying to make trade links with China and this is all about cultural exchange and taking pieces of Australia over there and sharing culture which is really important.”

Over the last 16 years Windmill has done 59 regional, national and international tours taking in 247 cities across 28 countries and five continents. So far this year the company has already toured Scotland and NZ and is at the tail end of a regional stint with a 14-town, 18-week tour of Big Bad Wolf.

Beep, a production for under fives which premiered in 2017, is currently on a nine-week, five-city tour of mainland China and returns to Adelaide for the DreamBIG Children’s Festival next May, before heading to Sydney next July and Western Australia later in 2019.

Antoine Jelk, left, Kialea Nadine Williams and Ezra Juanta star in ‘Beep’. Photo by Shane Reid.

A new production in the 2019 season is Baba Yaga (ages 7+), a co-production with Scotland’s Imaginate Festival, which will have its premiere at the 2019 Adelaide Festival, following a sold out season at the 2018 Edinburgh International Children’s Festival.

The story is a new take on an old Russian folktale and has been co-created by Rose Myers, Scottish theatre maker Shona Reppe and Christine Johnston, of Kransky Sisters fame, who also plays the lead role. The show will tour in China, Ireland and England next year.

Windmill’s 2019 season also sees the return of the award-winning production Girl Asleep (ages 14+) which was first presented at the Adelaide Festival in 2014 as part of a trilogy that included Fugitive and School Dance.

Imaginate and Windmill Theatre’s ‘Baba Yaga’. Photo by Rob McDougall.

The production went on to be developed into a film, premiering at the 2015 Adelaide Film Festival and going on to achieve critical acclaim globally, screening in 114 cities across 21 countries, and winning numerous awards.

“It’s a coming of age show set in 1970s,” Rose explains. ”It’s very funny and loosely based on Sleeping Beauty. It stars a lot of great SA actors such as Ellen Steele and Amber McMahon who’s brilliant.

“There’s a lot of interest because a people have seen the movie and kids are now studying the movie at school.”

The success of Girl Asleep resulted in the company announcing the launch of Windmill Pictures in 2017, a new arm of the company dedicated to developing screen projects from its live theatre repertoire.

Rose says SA is the perfect place to create great film works.

Ellen Steele in ‘Girl Asleep’. Photo by Shane Reid.

“Girl Asleep was supported by a great initiative called The Hive, through Amanda Duthie and Katrina Sedgwick at the Adelaide Film Festival,” she says. “It’s just all about innovation and I feel like in some of the bigger states you wouldn’t get that opportunity.

“This has opened up whole other dialogues and whole other ways we can generate more content and industries in Adelaide. That film was very successful and now we are exploring more film production opportunities and ways to bring more money into SA in that industry.”

Rose says it’s a privilege to be part of the team at Windmill as the company continues to be driven to make great works for young people.

“It’s always a joy for me,” she says. “I was in the audience watching Big Bad Wolf in Darling Harbour and I realised I never get sick of watching an audience get excited by the work.”

Header image features Christine Johnston in Baba Yaga. Photo by Rob McDougall.

Visit I Choose SA to meet the people building business and industry in SA, and to find out how your choices make a difference to our state.

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by brandsa2018

12 ways to choose SA in Rundle Mall this Christmas

Christmas is a time for giving and with the festive season officially upon us, it’s time to do the rounds and buy something special for our loved ones.

There’s no better time to choose local than the lead up to Christmas, and with Adelaide’s premier shopping precinct launching its festive decorations last week, Rundle Mall is set to sparkle.

So give back to SA this Christmas by supporting local businesses in Rundle Mall when embarking on your Christmas gift hunt. When you choose SA you’re supporting local families, jobs and the future of our small businesses.

Here are 12 ways to choose SA in Rundle Mall before the big man in red visits at Christmas.

1. Go nuts at Charlesworth

This long-standing family business has been around in SA since 1934. The fresh nuts are cooked on site and a number of nut, dried fruit, chocolate and confectionery gift baskets, boxes and platters are sure to be a winner around the table on Christmas Day. Charlesworth also have bake-at-home packs of Christmas cake, muffins, pudding and continental panforté.

2. Indulge at Haigh’s

Australia’s oldest family-owned chocolate company is a must-visit every year, because what is Christmas without something a little special? Located on the historic Beehive Corner, Haigh’s Chocolates has an extensive Christmas collection of boxed and loose choccies and truffles, advent calendars, gift tins, chocolate filled stockings, bon bons and hampers. Editor’s note: one can’t go by the devilishly moreish berrychocs and the dark ginger chocolate bars.

3. Buy something you won’t find elsewhere

Regent Arcade gift shop Have you met Charlie is full of wares made by independent artists and makers from around the world, with many of them from SA. You’ll find gifts by local makers Ettie Ink, Kindred Self, One Seed, Tea 4 Two and more. While many of the wares will delight the ladies, you’ll also find gifts for blokes, babies and the home.

4. Visit Australia’s largest speciality hat shop

Adelaide Hatters has been around for more than 25 years and is the largest hat shop in the country, spread across two floors in Adelaide Arcade. The store stocks a number of classic hat brands as well as hard-to-find speciality items. Whether it’s a funky sunhat, stunning headpiece, or a stylish cap – there’s a hat for every occasion, as they say.

5. Discover ‘every bear that ever there was’

Located in Regent Arcade, The Teddy Bear Shop has been home to Australia’s largest range of bears for almost 30 years. You’ll find rare collector bears and popular classics that make a memorable gift for little ones of friends or family members. Discover your inner child while browsing the bears big and small.

6. Check out the local produce window display

Take a wander along the mall and you’ll notice a dozen different window displays scattered throughout, each one individually crafted with a different theme. Behind one of the windows is a beautiful festival table setting featuring SA produce such as Haigh’s, Woodside Cheese Wrights, Riverland citrus fruit and Charlesworth Nuts. We won’t give the secret away on the other 11 displays, check them out for yourself!

What’s behind the beautiful local produce window display.

7. Get party season ready at BNKR

Find a knock-out party dress at BNKR, home to labels produced by Adelaide-based Australian Fashion Labels, including C/MEO Collective, Finders Keepers, Keepsake and The Fifth Label. You’ll find stand out and versatile pieces that are on-trend, but most importantly, designed here in Adelaide.

8. Choose chocolates almost too good to eat

Just Bliss Chocolates are hand-painted, delicate creations boxed up beautifully and will make a perfect gift for the luxurious chocolate lover. The store stocks chocolate pralines, truffles, rocky road, chocolate blocks and chocolate spoons, as well as complete gift boxes. Flavours include gin and tonic, Barossa shiraz, whiskey caramel, espresso martini!

9. Buy bath bombs so delicious you’ll wanna eat ’em

Oh Deer Sugar in Regent Arcade is the non-edible bakery handcrafting food for the skin. Launched by “two vegan girls” Sharni and Nikki, these bath products replicate our favourite desserts, waffles, chocolate blocks, and Turkish delights in the form of bath bombs and body scrubs. The Christmas range is inspired Christmas favourites including gingerbread men, candy canes, and even The Grinch! All products are vegan, ingredients ethically source and packaging recyclable.

A giant gingerbread bath bomb.

10. Brew a tea from T BAR

Know someone mad about tea? We bet that at T BAR, you’ll find them a tea they’ve never tried. T BAR stocks 120 blends and varieties sourced from all over the world including loose leaf black teas, beautiful green teas, herbal teas and white teas. T BAR was co-founded by Peggy Veloudos in 1991 and was Adelaide’s first tea salon.

11. Find your beauty fix 

Hebe & Co in Regent Arcade is a skin care store with a range of cruelty free and vegan products, many of them SA and Australian made. You’ll find organic body wash with scents of mandarin, patchouli, geranium and cedarwood, bright liquid to matte lipsticks, breathable nail polishes, natural perfumes and makeup palettes.

Editor’s note: one must treat the hands to Yard Skincare’s hand cream (a favourite is the mandarin and kunzea with maracuja oil) stocked at Hebe & Co. It’s made in the Adelaide Hills from a concentrated blend of antioxidants and plant actives and will satisfy the fussiest of hand cream obsessors!

12. Fill up at Soonta

Kill off the hunger pangs by choosing a local food vendor in the mall, Soonta being a good choice. This year marks the 10th anniversary for the Vietnamese eatery which does a mean banh mi, crunchy salad bowls, delicious noodle and rice bowls and smaller eats such as cold rolls and spring rolls.

Visit I Choose SA to meet the people building business and industry in SA, and to find out how your choices make a difference to our state.

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by brandsa2018

Slowing it down in the world of craft

In an industry consumed with fast fashion and big brands, Adelaide shoemaker Matea Gluscevic is proving that slow and sustainable is best when it comes to the world of custom-made creations.

“I can’t really participate in fast fashion or trends because by the time a trend comes and goes, I’m only at the research, development and pattern making stages,” says Matea from her workshop at creative hub The Mill on Angas Street, Adelaide.

“My satisfaction comes from making something that I know will last a long time. I want somebody to be able to have my shoes for ages.”

The 30-year-old designer and maker launched her own shoe brand just over a year ago, with the first order placed by a woman in Portland, Oregon, in the US who had spotted Matea’s shoes on Instagram.

Matea’s workspace at The Mill. Photo by Christopher Arblaster.

Since then Matea’s brand has transitioned through a few name changes and different style directions, from minimalistic and basic block coloured sandals to more futuristic and colourful designs.

Her label underwent a rebrand recently to become Matea Gluscevic Handmade, – in response to Matea’s desire to adopt to a more genuine and sincere style suited to her own personal taste.

The shoes are made to order, taking about three weeks to craft from sustainably sourced materials including wild kangaroo leather, cork and recycled rubber.

The vegetable tanned kangaroo leather is considered more environmentally friendly than typical chrome tanned bovine leather and is sourced from South Australian kangaroo leather tannery Vacel Leather in Adelaide’s north.

“Veg tan leather is made using bark tannins, so it’s better for the environment … I would rather not have too much of a guilty conscience in terms of what I’m doing,” Matea says.

“Even the rubber I use is made from 20% recycled content.”

These custom fit house slippers feature green holographic vinyl, yellow kangaroo leather and a medium density orthopaedic insole.

Matea has been a resident at The Mill for three years, with the first two years of her tenure spent as a sculptor and installation artist.

She brought with her qualifications in shoemaking as well as a Bachelor of Visual Art specialising in sculpture and installation from the University of Adelaide. She even studied a year of dental technology to learn more practical skills with plastering and mould making.

Matea admits that life as an artist can be a tough gig compared to a regular nine-to-five job, and so she works on weekends as a bartender and is also an event manager for a dance party held at an Adelaide nightspot roughly once a month.

Matea’s shoes are made to order and take about three weeks to create. Photo by Michael Papez.

“In terms of being a maker I prefer it here in Adelaide, the environment is better and it feels like a more supportive scene,” she says.

While the life of a craftsperson is usually seen as one spent tucked away in a one-person studio, Matea’s everyday surroundings are quite the opposite.

Although she occupies her own dedicated workspace at The Mill, she’s surrounded by a number of like-minded creators, artists, makers, writers and designers – some emerging, others established.

There’s JamFactory trained jeweller Tanis Blines who shares a studio with her husband John Blines, an artist whose works are entrenched in medical and behavioural science.

Other associate artists include Lisa Penny of Hey Reflect’o, furniture designer Robyn Wood, ceramicist Kate O’Callaghan and tattoo studio XO L’Avant.

Furniture by Peter Fong.

Illustrator and furniture designer Peter Fong has been at The Mill since its establishment in 2013.

Graduating with a visual communications degree at the UniSA, Peter went on to become a freelance illustrator using traditional tools of nibs and ink.

Peter’s portfolio includes wine labels and magazine illustrations and says Adelaide’s close-knit community means he’s rarely had to promote his brand to find work.

He recently pushed the pen to the side to pursue his love for woodwork and furniture design and is preparing to launch his first collection of custom furniture including tables and stools in the near future.

“I mainly use hand tools and try not to use many screws or nails, it’s all joinery,” Peter says.

“I just love building things that last. It makes me happy seeing something down the road and saying ‘yep, it’s still there’.”

A sideboard by Peter Fong.

Industry in focus: Craft industries

Throughout the months of November and December, the state’s craft industries will be celebrated as part of I Choose SA.

South Australian craftspeople make up some of our most creative thinkers and makers of sustainable and innovative goods. Read more craft stories here.

Visit I Choose SA to meet the people building business and industry in SA, and to find out how your choices make a difference to our state.

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Shop South Australia is home to a unique collection of over 300 South Australian gifts and goods from more than 70 local makers and producers. Choose local and Shop South Australia.

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by brandsa2018

Casting carp as a prized fish cuisine

A Murray Mallee fishing and processing business is keen to transform the humble carp’s image from pest to prized eating fish after already successfully casting another runt of the seafood world as a culinary darling.

Tracy Hill, the joint owner of Coorong Wild Seafood with husband Glen, is renowned for her work around the Coorong yelloweye mullet and now believes it’s time to explore carp’s “great eating potential”.

She’s been busy turning the pest fish clogging the nation’s mighty Murray River into fish cakes, sausages and mince with positive feedback at their unique fish cellar door.

Even chefs are being won over, with The Olfactory Inn at Strathalbyn currently serving a char grilled carp belly with a crispy and zesty carp spring roll in its dining room.

“We believe it’s the next big thing, and we’ve formed a corporation with some other fishermen in New South Wales and Victoria calling it a solution for carp across the whole basin,” Tracy says from their Meningie business.

“Now we need to tackle the problem with people’s perception that a pest fish equates to bad taste.

“We’ve discovered carp is really nice to eat, it’s the most eaten farmed fish in the world.”

Tracy and Glen Hill are turning an infamous pest fish into a delicacy.

It’s yet another brave and environmentally friendly plan for the inspiring couple, this year named as one of three finalists in the sustainability category of the South Australian Food Industry Awards, announced on November 23.

Coorong Wild Seafood is also in the running for the Primary Produce Award.

Their business is well recognised for its low-impact approach to fishing for mullet, mulloway and carp in their beautiful coastal wilderness.

Tracy says it’s an honour to be up against two other great local businesses in the sustainability category also helping to contribute to the state’s food industry that generated $17.6 billion in revenue for SA in 2016/2017.

The other two finalists, Ashton Valley Fresh juices and Newman’s Horseradish are examples of food businesses playing a part in SA’s craft food industry.

Ashton Valley Fresh is a juice brand run by Ceravolo Orchards in the Adelaide Hills and is spearheading innovations to reduce its food waste to zero. The juice company is also up for the innovation in food and business excellence titles.

Newman’s Horseradish at Langhorne Creek is in the running for three accolades, the sustainability, business excellence and consumer awards. Brian and Anne Meakins grow their horseradish on the banks of the Bremer River, building their own processing plant in 1992 and now filling up to 4000 jars a week to supply 95% of the SA market.

Coorong Wild Seafood’s story also stretches back to 1990s when Glen bought his first fishing licence and soon realised he was better off processing the catch himself, setting up a facility two years later.

The business sells direct to restaurants, butcher shops and supermarkets while netting a host of awards.

Its world-first environmental management plan received national and international recognition in 1998, with its operations happening partly in the Coorong National Park – a RAMSAR listed wetland of international significance teeming with wildlife.

Then, a few years ago, the humble mullet that is the mainstay of the business turned food royalty.

The charred carp belly, carp spring roll, black sesame and soy, and tempura spring onion dish at The Olfactory Inn.

Coorong Wild Seafood won top prize in the prestigious delicious Produce Award with the judging panel including renowned chefs Matt Moran and Shannon Bennett along with SA kitchen star performer Maggie Beer.

Tracy’s name was also added to the Women’s Industry Network Seafood Community roll of honour in October last year, and she’s just been voted onto the local Coorong council.

She’s particularly vocal about encouraging Australians to “read the labels” and ensure they are eating fish caught sustainably.

The company is keen to spread its wild catch message through running classes at the local school and launching tours and a fish cellar door in 2016.

It also shares its story at a weekly stall run by Trevor Bowden at the Adelaide Showground Farmers’ Market at Wayville.

This week, Tracy is busy preparing for a coach filled with 48 tourists that Glen will first meet to share stories of fishing and managing the Coorong environment.

When tourists arrives at their Meningie business, they see a filleting demonstration before sampling tasty mullet, carp and mulloway morsels prepared by Tracy and served on their family home’s verandah.

Plans are underway to launch more bespoke tours, kicking off with a Tasting Australia event in SA next April.

“We’re taking people out to the Coorong and we’re going to set a net so they’ll be able to pull their own fish out, then fillet themselves so they can have a sashimi style tasting,” Tracy says.

“Then we’ll cook some up too and then head back to our place with a lunch with local wine.

“I’m just astounded at the opportunities that appear when you are proactive and you put yourself out there and give things a go, it’s amazing what can happen.”

Industry in focus: Craft industries

Throughout the months of November and December, the state’s craft industries will be celebrated as part of I Choose SA.

South Australian craftspeople make up some of our most creative thinkers and makers of sustainable and innovative goods. Read more craft stories here.

Visit I Choose SA to meet the people building business and industry in SA, and to find out how your choices make a difference to our state.

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Shop South Australia is home to a unique collection of over 300 South Australian gifts and goods from more than 70 local makers and producers. Choose local and Shop South Australia.

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Got a good story? Nominate a story from your region.
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by brandsa2018

Adelaide Hills apple dynasty growing fresh success

Working with family can have its own set of advantages and disadvantages, but Adelaide Hills food technologist Joyce Ceravolo wouldn’t have it any other way.

The 29-year-old is a fourth-generation family member of Ashton-based fruit growers Ceravolo Orchards, producers of apples, pears, cherries and strawberries.

Studying law and chemical engineering at university, Joyce had ambitions to enter the cosmetics industry and even worked in dairy processing before the call of the family business was something she couldn’t ignore.

She now works alongside her brother Joseph, and together the siblings have taken the reigns of Ceravolo Orchards’ juicing business Ashton Valley Fresh.

The wholesale fresh cider and drinking juice business complements the family’s core operation, Ceravolo Orchards, which has seven growing sites across the Adelaide Hills and a strawberry farm at Myponga, all up employing about 150 people seasonally.

The Ceravolos have been involved in fruit growing and market gardening in the Hills for decades, with Joyce’s great-grandparents migrating from Italy to Australia in the 1950s.

The Ceravolo family of Ashton Valley Fresh and Ceravolo Orchards, from left, siblings Joseph and Joyce and their parents Sandra and Tony. Photo by James Knowler.

Her grandfather can still be spotted on a tractor chugging away in the orchards, while her father Tony and her other brother Ralph rise in the wee hours of the morning to truck wholesale fruit to the South Australian Produce Market in Pooraka.

Together, the Ceravolos run a multi-layered operation, with each generation of the family bringing a different work ethic and fresh ideas to ensure they stay in the game.

“We are all different,” Joyce says. “My grandparents’ generation is the careful, hard-working generation and my dad’s generation learnt to work smart but still thought everyone should work harder. My two brothers and myself very much employ the school of thought that if something can be made computerised or made easier, let’s do that.”

Ashton Valley Fresh was born in 2008 from a desire to expand the business’s portfolio and give local growers better returns on less than perfect fruit.

In 2013 Joyce and Joseph stepped in to run the juicing business with Joyce taking on the role of quality assurance manager, and Joseph becoming production manager.

“Joseph had never worked in food processing before, and I had come from dairy processing, so we both had a very steep learning curve together and it was incredibly challenging for the first two years,” Joyce says.

“But now we work together fantastically and I can’t imagine working with anybody else. We have an amazing synergy, we’re both forward thinkers, we like a fast-paced environment and we like innovation. It’s been really fun.”

Ashton Valley Fresh’s Hills Harvest juices.

The core part of Ashton Valley Fresh is juicing apples for the cider industry, with Hills Cider Company one of its major partners.

Joyce says the bulk juice side of the business continues to grow between 15–30% year on year, depending on the quality of the season.

Ashton Valley Fresh also has its own line of still and sparkling juices, free from added sugars and sold in supermarkets, greengrocers and other specialty retailers.

But it’s not just fruit and juice that keeps the Ceravolos busy.

On December 8 they’ll celebrate the opening of Lot 100, a cellar door, restaurant and function space in Nairne in the Adelaide Hills.

The combined production facility and visitor experience is a collaboration between Ashton Valley Fresh and three fellow local businesses, Hills Cider Company, Adelaide Hills Distillery and Mismatch Brewing Company.

“The benefit of joining with those companies is that we’re going to have a real paddock-to-plate experience there,” Joyce says.

“People are going to be able to see apples on the trees, the distillery processing the waste product from those apples, and see Mismatch brewing beer from our strawberry juice. Essentially it will give people that immersive experience so they can understand why their food costs what it does, why they should pay a premium price and why SA is an amazing place to do those things.”

This year is momentous for another important reason, Joyce is expecting her first child in December, and the Ceravolos are also in the running for a number of SA Food Industry Awards, announced on November 23.

Joyce is nominated for the Next Generation Award and her father Tony is up for the Leader Award. Ashton Valley Fresh is also in the running for the Business Excellence Award, Innovation in Food Award and the Sustainability Award.

Food South Australia CEO Catherine Sayer says Joyce is a great example of an emerging leader who has strong support from her family.

“Joyce has taken on leadership positions with the Apple and Pear Growers Association of SA and has recently joined the Food SA board so not only is she experiencing leadership in the family business, she is doing so industry wide,” she says.

The Ceravolo family in their Ashton orchard. Photo by Tricia Watkinson.

Catherine says strong leadership is critical for business and the state’s economy.

“The SA food and beverage industry is largely made up of privately, often family owned businesses so it is critical to have strong leadership from within these businesses to in turn support business and the state’s economy to grow,” she says.

Regardless of the outcome of the awards night, Joyce is confident about her place in the state’s food industry, and the prosperity of the sector as a whole.

“This can be an unpopular opinion, but I think the food industry is without a doubt the sexiest industry in SA,” she says.

“Food is one of the most fast-paced, forward thinking industries … a lot of people talk about defence and how innovative that is, but food is 10 times more innovative from where I sit.

“There are so many jobs for a wide range of people. There is room for those who like science, technology, hands-on production roles, and we need people who can work with computers and design programs to make our businesses more efficient.

“We want to make sure we keep attracting creative and committed young people. If you lack that commitment and passion, this isn’t the industry for you because you’re feeding people, you’re giving people what they put into their bodies, which is a huge responsibility.

“I’m very passionate about this subject in case you can’t tell!”

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Renmark Irrigation Trust setting the standard for 125 years

The Renmark Irrigation Trust (RIT) in South Australia’s Riverland has been leading the way since 1893 in ensuring horticulturalists receive water as efficiently as possible.

The organisation oversees the management of River Murray irrigation water in Renmark and its infrastructure serves more than 600 irrigators throughout the area.

This month the RIT will celebrate its 125th anniversary, using the milestone to reflect back on more than a century of Riverland history.

RIT presiding member Peter Duggin, a wine grapegrower and third generation irrigator, says Renmark’s permanent plantings of citrus, almonds, avocados, persimmons and wine grapes depend on a reliable source of irrigation water.

Renmark irrigators were the first in Australia to replace their water channels with pipes in the 1970s.

Peter says during the early days of settlement, water as it still is today, was an important resource for the town’s growers.

RIT presiding member Peter Duggin.

By WWI, Renmark had two big wineries, a dried fruit packing co-operative and a cannery. Riverland towns were a major supplier of produce during the two world wars.

“For a soldier in a trench in France or Gallipoli it would have been like Christmas to receive a can of sweet peaches or some dried fruit, instead of just bully beef or biscuits,” Peter says.

Members of the RIT pay rates to access River Murray water in the Renmark irrigation settlement, which was established by Canadian born brothers William and George Chaffey in 1887.

The RIT was initially operated by the two brothers, but the collapse of Australia’s banks in 1893 made the organisation unviable.

On December 23, 1893, the RIT became Renmark’s first local government authority after the SA Parliament passed a statute giving it the authority to manage the irrigation settlement for its members.

The RIT has been leading the way in managing the resource of River Murray water since then.

In April, Renmark became the world’s first irrigation operator to receive global ‘gold’ certification against the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) International Water Stewardship Standard.

The RIT has led the way in modernising irrigation in Australia with irrigation channels like this one, pictured in 1893, being replaced by pipes as early as the 1970s. Photo: RIT McIntosh Collection.

The award recognises world best practice in delivery efficiency, water quality, management of environmental water and water governance.

The RIT has almost completed two years of a five-year Memorandum of Understanding with the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder to deliver environmental water to rejuvenate flood plains around Renmark, which had been cleared of their native trees and vegetation.

“Bird life is unbelievable in a couple of spots, we even have black swans breeding, lots of birds have been spotted, and the frogs are unbelievable,” Peter says.

The environmental watering is a Murray Darling Basin Plan initiative, which was legislated by the Federal Parliament in 2012.

Unlike some irrigators in the eastern states, the RIT sees the Basin Plan’s implementation by 2024 as an opportunity and a chance to work more closely with governments at a state and federal level.

Black swans are breeding and floodplains have been rejuvenated due to the RIT’s environmental watering program.

Peter says the organisation instigated the development of the SEE (Social, Economic Environmental) Renmark 2024 Alliance in 2013 to respond to the challenges of the Murray Darling Basin Plan.

The alliance also has representatives from Renmark Paringa Council, Destination Riverland and Regional Development Australia.

Projects such as irrigation modernisation and a scoping study of the Renmark airport have been proposed.

“We have so far attracted $18.5 million into Renmark,” Peter says.

The 125th birthday celebrations begin later this month with guided walking tours of the Renmark Irrigation Trust’s historic building and pumping station.

Chief of the Australian Army, Lieutenant General Rick Burr who grew up in Renmark, will also be the guest speaker at an event in the town on December 23 to mark the RIT’s milestone.

More information can be found here.

Header image: SATC/Adam Bruzzone.

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by brandsa2018

We love our wine … but what happens to the barrels?

South Australians love their wine, but what happens to the barrels once they’ve reached the end of their useful life?

Barossa Valley craftsman Peter Ruchs has a few imaginative second uses for aged oak wine barrels – fashioning them into lasting homewares pieces such as cheeseboards, platters, and tea light candle holders.

The up-cycling idea was born when Peter, also a winemaker, took home a couple of wine barrels that were destined to be thrown out or used for firewood and decided to make something from them.

His daughter Kristal caught sight of what he was crafting and saw an opportunity to sell the homewares products – each uniquely stained and scarred from years spent ageing wine – at local markets.

Winestains duo Peter Ruchs, front, and daughter Kristal.

The backyard hobby turned into a full-blown business – Winestains – run by the father and daughter duo from their workshop at Williamstown in the Barossa Valley.

“To be able to make something from a product that is no longer useful is really important to us,” says Kristal, who looks after administration and marketing.

“Wine barrels are worth over $1000 and the timber is in the top 10% of the oak, so it’s quality timber.”

The old wine barrels are sourced from local wineries. All parts of the barrel is reused and recycled including the metal hoops which become handles on the cheese boards.

Most of the homewares are sold within Australia, through Winestain’s online shop, on the Shop South Australia marketplace and also through shops, boutiques and galleries across SA, Victoria and NSW.

Winestains’ cheeseboards and platters will make the perfect Christmas gift for foodies or picnickers.

Kristal says their last local market appearance for the year is on November 23-25 at the Bowerbird Design Market.

She says social media has played a big part in lifting the profile of local artisans and craftspeople who might otherwise only create their wares as a sideline job or hobby.

“I am seeing a trend of consumers understanding what is involved in creating something unique, and the importance of local artisans and makers,” Kristal says.

Fellow craftsperson Tali Strauss is also passionate about giving old-wine barrels a second chance at life.

He runs Tubbies Australia, a Barossa Valley cooperage that manufactures quality port and spirit maturation kegs from American oak ex-wine barrels sourced from local wineries.

The kegs are sold to general consumers or fortified winemakers who store fortified wines in them, as the richness and character of the oak adds to the maturation process.

A Tubbies Australia maturation keg in the walnut stain with steel hoops.

Tali entered the craft industry 30 years ago after working in fashion and advertising for many years but in the end longing to “get back to doing something with my hands”.

“I saw an opportunity 30 years ago with wine barrels, I knew the wine industry at the time had trouble disposing of them,” he says.

“So I moved into buying barrels and doing them up in all sorts of ways; as an example we were selling them as half wine barrels to garden centres and hardware stores.”

Then Tali hired a retired experienced cooper to teach him the traditional cooperage methods of crafting oak timbers into kegs.

Tubbies Australia is one of Australia’s few coopers, a proud and traditional trade that dates back thousands of years but is often seen as a bit of a dying art.

“There aren’t many coopers around and it’s a big process to hire someone and for them to learn the trade,” Tali says.

“You can’t learn coopering by going and doing a TAFE course, you can learn machining, but you have to learn coopering on the job and it takes about four years.

“Tubbies cooperage has evolved to become the largest manufacturer of port and spirit kegs in Australia.”

Industry in focus: Craft industries

Throughout the months of November and December, the state’s craft industries will be celebrated as part of I Choose SA.

South Australian craftspeople make up some of our most creative thinkers and makers of sustainable and innovative goods. Read more craft stories here.

Visit I Choose SA to meet the people building business and industry in SA, and to find out how your choices make a difference to our state.

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Shop South Australia is home to a unique collection of over 300 South Australian gifts and goods from more than 70 local makers and producers. Choose local and Shop South Australia.

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by brandsa2018

d’Arenberg Cube wins International Best of Wine Tourism Award

McLaren Vale’s flamboyant d’Arenberg Cube has again been recognised for its bespoke structure and design after taking out an international wine tourism award in Adelaide on November 8.

The Rubik’s cube-inspired five storey cellar door, restaurant and gallery was awarded the coveted International Best of Wine Tourism Award, held at a gala dinner as part of the Great Wine Capitals annual meeting.

The d’Arenberg Cube was designed by leading Aussie winemaker Chester Osborn and opened in early 2018. It is one of the most expensive cellar doors in the world and has received much publicity for its originality, sensory experiences and impressive views.

The exterior is made entirely from glass, combined with a complex pattern adorning the façade.

The d’Arenberg Cube was lauded at the Best of Wine Tourism Awards night as a building masterpiece offering guests a chance to lose themselves among stunning views and interactive, educational and gastronomical experiences.

Photo by SATC.

Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Tim Whetstone, described the attraction as an “iconic piece of architecture, immersed among vineyards at McLaren Vale”.

“Its design provides a stark contrast to the natural beauty of the vineyard surroundings to create a venue that is anything but ordinary,” he says.

“Visitation has surpassed expectations, which speaks for itself – it’s seen as the place to be for a unique wine experience.”

The Best of Wine Tourism Awards celebrate innovation and excellence in wine tourism across the 10 Great Wine Capitals of the World, in which Adelaide, South Australia, is one.

SA is hosting the annual meeting (November 3–9) for the first time since becoming a member of the exclusive Great Wine Capitals Global Network in 2016. International wine industry heavyweights have been exploring SA’s wine regions for the past several days.

The d’Arenberg Cube was chosen as the international award winner among six other SA Best of Wine Tourism Award winners, below. International and ‘best of’ award winners are presented from each Great Wine Capital.

Local Best of Wine Tourism Award Winners

•  Inkwell Wines, McLaren Vale (Accommodation)
• d’Arenberg, McLaren Vale (Architecture and Landscape)
• Coriole Vineyards, McLaren Vale (Art and Culture)
• Penfolds Magill Estate, Adelaide Hills (Innovative Wine Tourism Experience)
• Gemtree Wines, McLaren Vale (Sustainable Wine Tourism Practices)
•  The Lane Vineyards, Adelaide Hills (Wine Tourism Restaurants)
•  Elderton Wines, Barossa (Wine Tourism Services)

For the first time, the public will be able to vote for their favourite SA (from list above) and international wine tourism experience as part of the International Best of Wine Tourism Public Choice Award.

Mr Whetstone says the people’s choice award is a chance to further boost SA’s wine profile globally.

“I encourage you to put forward your vote from our local winners to take out the public choice award,” he adds.

Click here to vote. Voting closes November 22.

Visit I Choose SA to meet the people building business and industry in SA, and to find out how your choices make a difference to our state.

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by brandsa2018

Global wine experts taste the best of SA, a Great Wine Capital

South Australia’s wine regions are being showcased on the world stage this week as the state plays host to an international gathering of wine industry heavyweights.

The Great Wine Capitals annual meeting is being held on November 3–9 and marks Adelaide’s first hosting of the event since joining the exclusive global network in 2016.

About 100 delegates from the ten Great Wine Capitals of the world have descended on the state’s wine regions and capital city to explore the theme ‘Old World; New World; Our World’.

The Great Wine Capitals is an exclusive network of ten cities, each home to internationally renowned wine regions. Members include Bilbao/Rioja (Spain), Bordeaux (France) Lausanne (Switzerland), Mainz Rheinhessen (Germany), Mendoza (Argentina), Porto (Portugal), San Francisco Napa Valley (US), Valparaiso Casablanca Valley (Chile), and Verona (Italy).

Government leaders and representatives, wine industry associations, wineries, viticulturists, academics, chambers of commerce, media and key influencers will undertake the week-long exploration of SA.

Great Wine Capitals delegates Pascal Faugere, left, Jacques Faurens, PIRSA’s Jo Collins, Sylvain Boivert, Penfolds’ Peter Gago and Patrick Seguin. Photo by Andy Steven Photography.

Delegates will enjoy a range of culinary experiences across Adelaide’s CBD, the Clare Valley, Riverland, Coonawarra, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Langhorne Creek and Adelaide Hills.

A gala dinner on November 8 at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens will reveal the International Best of Wine Tourism award winners, giving recognition to the top wineries from across the 10 capitals.

PIRSA’s executive director agriculture, food and wine, Jo Collins, says the successful bid for Adelaide to host the 2018 AGM has been two years in the making. Last year’s global gathering was held in Chile.

She says the benefits of SA playing host include the building of ongoing relationships with world leaders in wine, as well as showing delegates first-hand “what we do and how well we do it”.

“Wine is a product you experience rather than merely consume,” Jo says.

“For our network colleagues to have the opportunity to enjoy the diversity of our wine in unique locations and in the company of great people will create lasting memories and relationships.”

Delegates began the week-long tour by exploring Adelaide’s CBD. Photo by Andy Steven Photography.

Jo says members of the Great Wine Capitals network don’t view each other as competitors, but rather help to promote each another and work together to help grow and protect the industry on a global scale.

Since Adelaide, South Australia, was unanimously voted to become a Great Wine Capital, a number of collaborations and activations have unfolded including a partnership between Bordeaux’s KEDGE Business School and the University of Adelaide to accelerate wine industry education.

Wine museum La Cité du Vin in Bordeaux is another benefit, with a selection of SA wines on show and available for tasting to thousands of visitors.

SA winemaker Peter Gago, who is behind Australia’s most iconic wine, Penfolds Grange, was appointed the inaugural Great Wine Capitals global ambassador in 2017.

Peter often travels overseas during non-vintage to spread the word about the network and SA’s wine industry as a whole.

Great Wine Capitals global ambassador Peter Gago shares with delegates at Penfolds. Photo by Andy Steven Photography.

He says there is still work to be done in getting the word out about the Great Wine Capitals network, however people are familiar with the names of SA’s wine regions.

“In terms of the world of wine I have been speaking at Wine Spectator’s New York Wine Experience and I have found that people have no issue with talking about Adelaide, people are aware of it and know of these places like the Coonawarra, Clare Valley and Adelaide Hills,” Peter says.

SA is home to 18 wine regions, 720 wineries, 3400 grapegrowers, and 350 cellar doors – 200 of them within an hour’s drive of the city.

Our state produces 80% of the country’s premium wine, and we are also home to some of the oldest vines in the world thanks to rigorous biosecurity measures that have kept our vines free from the pest phylloxera.

At any one time almost one billion bottles of wine sit on tables and in cellars around the world with SA’s name on them.

Adelaide, South Australia’s membership to the Great Wine Capitals Global Network is a collaboration between the SA Wine Industry Association, PIRSA, the SA Tourism Commission and Brand South Australia.

Visit I Choose SA to meet the people building business and industry in SA, and to find out how your choices make a difference to our state.

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