Bliss in Ballarat

Well believe it or not, last weekend, on Sunday, I found perfect bliss in Ballarat. J and I drove out to Ballarat in order to attend an art exhibition opening party at the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery. The exhibition was great, paintings full of Australian colour and life, but what I was really impressed with was the catering... Marion (the artist) lives in Meredith, and the Meredith Dairy provided all the beautiful cheese that was available to taste. I tried all of them and I couldn't pick a winner... Oh, OK, if I had to it would be the Meredith Blue which is a divine mild blue cheese with 'flavours reminiscent of the Frech Roquefort cheese'. The one I would most like to try from Meredith Dairy (but did not make an appearance at the gallery on Sunday) is called 'Caprini', which means 'baby goat' in Italian, this chesse sounds really delightful, from its 'thimble shape' to its 'initially muchroomy' flavour this one is definitely on my list. The bliss did not quite finish with the chesse though, we also had wine... The vineyard is called Clyde Park, and the wine they provided for the opening was a 2001 Pinot Noir. Clyde Park is a 100% estate grown operation and the Pinot that we had on Sunday, which had apparently been 'matured in Frech Oak for 12 months, was really special. Thanks Marion for the invite and thanks Meredith and Clyde Park for making me stay longer than I probably would have otherwise...