Gin fans will find something for all tastes at Southern Wild Distillery. Photo / Supplied
Gin fans will find something for all tastes at Southern Wild Distillery. Photo / Supplied
On Tasmania's Cradle Tasting Trail, you'll find an assortment of experiences to suit everyone's tastes - just remember to pack stretchy trousers, writes Jennifer Johnston.
I'm sitting on a lounge chair that looks as if it's been extracted from a house decorated in the 1970s. The nearby circular pot-belly fireplace is stoked and cranking out plenty of heat. It's the atypical winter Tasmanian dream: when it's cold outside, head inside and sip red wine in front of a roaring fire. The owner of Prickly Mo winery and vineyard, Tim Lynch has transformed his family's shearing shed into a cellar door.
Inside the shed at Prickly Mo on the Cradle Tasting Trail. Photo / Supplied
In Eugenana (a 15-minute drive from Devonport), I've dropped in for a quick wine tasting before driving to the next venue on the Cradle Tasting Trail. I end up staying for the next 90 minutes, soaking up the fire's warmth and slowly sipping the large pour of his delicious 2017 Front Paddock Pinot Noir. But here, there's no need to rush.
Earlier this year I visited Tasmania's Cradle Mountain – a region that left a lasting impression on me as a lover of wilderness areas and trail hiking. In one of the visitor information centres, I found a brochure on the Cradle to Coast Tasting Trail, with a map listing 39 producers. Anyone who's frequented Tasmania knows the apple isle is a foodie's paradise, where the produce is fresh, flavoursome and often unique. The northwest – the top left-hand side of Australia's southernmost state – is blessed with rich soils and a temperate climate. The Cradle Coast Tasting Trail celebrates the best local produce from the region.
How to choose which producers to visit?
If I had a week, I could probably visit all 39 producers but given my mid-winter trip is a mix of business and leisure over four days, I had to narrow my focus. I plan to visit the producers near my accommodation and sample chocolate, raspberries, icecream, honey, cider, gin and wine. And knowing the treats on this tasting trail might stretch the band on my trousers, I've also selected a few wilderness areas to explore. (Hiking burns off calories to make room for the next tasting - right?)
Shelves laden with truffles at House of Anvers. Photo / Supplied
I face a dilemma at my first stop, numbers 11 and 12 on the Tasting Trail. Van Diemens Land Creamery or the Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm Cafe? It's a typically fresh mid-June day, the temperature is around 12Cs. Is icecream a good idea? Oh yes, it is as I wander into the open-plan outlet and spy the stocked display cabinet at Van Diemens Land Creamery. Deciding on a double cup with a large scoop of Raspberry Ripple and Swiss caramel and macadamia, I sit near the fireplace and work on my pressing problem.
Originally, I'd planned to drive to Corinna, the gateway to takayna / Tarkine Wilderness Region where I have two nights booked at Corinna Wilderness experience. But I'm informed recent heavy snowfalls have forced the closure of a section of the Murchison Highway. I cannot drive to Corinna, so, I manage to organise a Plan B: The Cove at Devonport, only a 35-minute drive away.
Sweet juicy raspberries
With accommodation sorted, I drive over to the Raspberry Farm Cafe, where raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries are grown on the 40ha property. I take a lakeside walk first before ordering a scone with cream and homemade raspberry jam and a slice of raspberry cheesecake. Both are delicious. I cannot finish the cheesecake; my waiter offers to box it for me so I can have it later at the Cove.
I'm staying in luxurious Cliffside Chalet One. Following a moonlight walk around a grassy knoll overlooking the Bass Strait and a relaxing bubble bath, I squeeze in that leftover cheesecake (life's tough on the Cradle Tasting Trail.)
Devonport to Stanley
A chocoholic from way back, I had to hold back on buying loads of handmade goodies from the House of Anvers in Latrobe. My personal favourites: the chocolate-covered soft meringue cookies and the orange fudge.
At Southern Wild Distillery, I enjoy a tasting flight of three handpicked gins and purchase a bottle of their award-winning Dasher + Fisher sloe gin to add to my burgeoning collection at home.
Sweet treats at Turners Beach Berry Patch. Photo / Supplied
The next day I sample mouth-watering ice cream at Turner's Beach Berry Patch before heading up the road to Ulverstone to the Tasmanian Pickled Onion Factory. At their Windows on Westella Cafe, I try a tasting platter with five pickled onion varieties paired with their Broad Acres wines. A trio pack of pickled onions was purchased to add to my already over-loaded suitcase.
Flavours galore at Tasmanian Pickled Onion Factory. Photo / Supplied
At Blue Hills Honey at Mawbanna, I try the recently awarded World's Best Leatherwood Honey (2022.), then it's over to Mole Creek near Mount Roland to find the Wandering Trout Taphouse, Tasmania's only off-grid brewery. Thankfully I don't like beer as I'd be paying excess baggage to fly home. (But their tapas are so appetising, I know I'm coming home heavier.)
With so many unique experiences on the Cradle Tasting Trail, I recommend giving yourself adequate time. Four days is not enough. My map is circled with all the places I have yet to try and those I want to go back to for more.
