Alex Cassegrain - Grape Escape

GRAPE

ESCAPE

NEWS FROM THE VINES with ALEX CASSEGRAIN

From Cassegrain Wines

We only have one chance per year to get everything right when it comes to harvest time, and the key determining factor is the weather.

The La Niña event, which occurred in spring and summer of 2020-21, has resulted in a generally cooler and longer growing season in many regions around NSW. Despite this, the grapes are looking quite good due to the care and hard work viticulturalists have been taking in managing their vineyards through some of these unprecedented weather events. A lot of pressure has been put onto vineyards to keep the vines and grapes healthy and free of disease which has a direct effect on wine quality. While the harvest around most of NSW is several weeks behind previous years, the forecast is starting to look a little bit more favourable for many of the regions we source our grapes from including Orange, Hilltops, Rylstone, Canberra and Tumbarumba. The overly wet weather has been great for foliage growth but now we need the vine to focus on sugar development in what is already a delayed season to ensure we can pick before it begins to get too cold. This is the type of year that we will be focused on, doing all we can to ensure the grapes get the best care resulting in a fantastic product at the time of bottling. Cassegrain’s 2021 Seasons range has been exceptional. The Seasons Spring Rosé, the Seasons Summer Sauvignon Blanc, and now the newlyreleased Seasons Autumn Syrah Sangiovese are a testament to the quality of the fruit grown despite difficult conditions the weather has thrown at us in 2020. We’re now looking forward to a vintage of exceptional fruit quality and high yield in 2022 from the smaller 2021 harvest.

LANCE

D U N N

BITTERSWEET

CAFE AND PATISSERIE

Homemade Labneh with blistered cherry tomatoes, baby spinach, smashed avocado on our soy and linseed sourdough.

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Bittersweet is known for their amazing desserts and beautiful meals, how have you kept your passion for creating this for as long as you have?

I’ve loved creating and cooking since I was a child so it’s something that is always going to be a passion of mine. I love making people remember their childhood favourites from either their parents’ or grandma’s cooking. Our meals and cakes will look different – taste the same as grandma, but presented by a chef.

What are your favourite ingredients to cook with?

Honestly butter would be my favourite ingredient to cook with! Closely followed by sugar. They both make everything taste good! In moderation of course I tell myself. And I do love butter on our fresh sourdough that we bake daily. The simple things.

Tell us about your special-order cakes?

We do still offer our celebration cakes and our most admired are our chocolate or toffee croquembouches. Everyone still loves a simple chocolate Mexican cake too. Not chilli or spiced, not as dense as a mud cake or light as a sponge – the perfect in between. We do love seeing all the different designs of what people want these days – it sure has progressed the last few years.

What it the most popular dish on the menu?

There are so many popular dishes on our menus that we have had for had on there for 14 years. Still our most favourite would be our mango and passionfruit roulade! Who doesn’t love that flavour combo, with fresh Chantilly cream and meringue? And let’s face it, it’s fruit, dairy and there’s eggs in there so it passes for breakfast and lunch also, right?

Over your years as a chef and business

I’ve loved owner, what are the creating and biggest changes you cooking since I was a have noticed when it child. I love making people remember comes to creating meals and putting together menus? their childhood Everyone is so spoilt favourites from their with so many options in parents’ or grandma’s our own town now. So, cooking. we are lucky to be able to stick to the old faithfuls and then also we get to be very diverse as everyone is open to try new things. So I guess the biggest change is that our customers are happy and open to try new things!

Where do you source your produce from?

We try and use our local suppliers and they are always looking after us!