Ten great food and wine spots in Ballarat

On the surface, it's hard to see Ballarat as a great foodie destination. But scratch a little harder and there are heaps of great little spots popping up around the place.

Here, I'll run through ten great suggestions for somewhere terrific to eat and drink if you're visiting our great town or even if you live here and need a suggestion to get you up and moving for some new tastes.


1. Breakfast at L'Espresso.

A Ballarat institution. Some ripper ways to kick off the day here. I personally love the Parmesan Scrambled Eggs, a freshly squeezed OJ and a long macchiato, but there are myriad choices to keep you and yours happy and content. A top spot to pick up some cool new tunes from Greg's CD selection too!

2. CAKE Bakeshop, in Main Road

Can thoroughly recommend the "Red Velvet" cupcakes and get into some truly wicked "Grounded Pleasures" hot chocolate.

3. John Harbour, Butcher

One of our town's legends. He and his band o' butchers are permanently cheery (even on the crowded Saturday mornings) and provide consistently excellent meat. Any cut you want, plus some great smallgoods seasonally ranging from Christmas Hams to haggis!

4. Eclectic Tastes

Serving truly excellent coffee, a constantly changing menu of interesting lunches, and a must-have lemon-curd muffin after.

5. Beers at the Lake View

No better place to be in the afternoon as the sun sets over a shimmering Lake Wendouree. Some ice-cold Coopers Pale or Asahi on tap, and plenty more choices (inc. a cheeky Mitchell Harris Rosé or Fumé) in the fridge...

6. Forge Pizza

Rock up to pick up your brilliant crispy-crusted pizza and you'll see this joint is absolutely pumping. expect a bit of a wait for your dinner, but it's ABSOLUTELY worth it.

7. Campanas' Stockade Cellars

Love wandering around Campanas', always some new and interesting drops to tantalise the tastebuds, and now with a rocking deli it's got a bit of everything. Brilliant smallgoods and a great range of cheeses and other bits and pieces. A massive selection of wines both local and from afar. You can really spend ages in here.

8. Craig's Royal Hotel

When it comes to institutions, this is it. An amazing restoration of the original 1850s hotel, it now has brilliant meals 7 NIGHTS A WEEK. The absolute go-to choice especially on those difficult Sunday thru Tuesday nights...

9. The Ballaarat

This "old society" club has been restored into a fantastic restaurant with really good modern cuisine and some ripper local wines. Get in and try it out, it's excellent.

10. Dessert and Wines at Lydiard Wine Bar

This is the ideal way to see out the night. The dessert tasting platter is a particular sensation, and the extensive wine list showcases the best of our region. A very cool venue to relax and savour the tastes and ambience...


So there you go, a few suggestion for your next little jaunt.
I'll update with some newies to try out soon....

A walk through the vineyard

The Peerick Vineyard at Moonambel

 Great to have a walk through the gorgeous Peerick vineyard out of Moonambel today. What a great little oasis in the Pyrenees! Vineyard looking great. Disease free so far... 
Cabernet almost through flowering.
Looks like lower yields this year which will hopefully translate into some good concentration of flavour.
Fingers crossed for more sunny days like today!!

The Mitchell Harris 2012 Fumé 

Wine Fiction: The Irrestible Inheritance of Wilberforce

Righto, time for another dip into the world of wine fiction. This time, beginning with a bottle of 1982 Petrus, we're entering the enviable life of Wilberforce.

Wilberforce might just have it all. A great job, gorgeous wife and, enticingly, a cellar of maybe 10,000 bottles of the world's greatest wines.

Without giving too much away though, perhaps this Charlie and the Chocolate Factory style romp through the finest Bordeaux and Burgundies around might not be all Pomerol and skittles. It's a challenging read, and not always a fun one, but one that drags you in.

I found that Paul Torday has crafted an intriguing mystery here as the reader has to keep delving to find how such a brilliant legacy of wines could leave Wilberforce with a touch of cork taint.

One for the Bordeaux-philes.

I rate it 3 and a half glasses of '82 Petrus...

John Harris takes the Helm full-time at Mitchell Harris

It's an exciting day as Johnno joins us full-time today, as we take Mitchell Harris to a new level.

He'll be straight into it too, with a massive list of jobs over the next few months as we grow our once tiny weekend venture into the wine company we hoped for.

Some of Johnno's job list:

Disgorge our 2008 Sabre by Mitchell Harris sparkling. (due Dec. 2011)
Start work on permits, licences etc for our new urban winery in Ballarat.
Start fitting out the new winery HQ.
Keep working through the growing season with our vineyard crew in Moonambel.

So you'll see Johnno out and about more often now, and we can't wait to see the magic he'll create now he's with us full-time...

The Mitchell Harris Winery (-to-be) ...a sneak peek!

The great old facade of our new Mitchell Harris home.

This month we've made some terrific new leaps ahead in the Mitchell Harris adventure. One of the most exciting is the purchase of a new headquarters for Mitchell Harris Wines. Hopefully over the next few months to a year we'll see the advent of a new urban Cellar Door, and a warehouse and cellar for our goods, and potentially even start doing some of our smaller batch winemaking right here in the middle of Ballarat!

The old ledger book circa 1896

We've been lucky enough to find a terrific old shop and warehouse that started life as a stables / livery in the 1890s, and became what was probably one of Ballarat's first motor garages around the time of WW1. It spent the next few decades as a canvas / tent-maker's workshop, and since the mid-70s has been an electrical motor workshop.

Heaps of great old Victorian details (in need of some love...)

Our new home is right in the middle of Ballarat's CBD.

A panorama view of Ballarat from the back balcony.

Tons of character, tons of history and tons of space. Just what we need...

The cluttered but characterful front-of-house, hopefully soon-to-be our Cellar Door.

Johnno's new world in the old bluestone stables / garage / workshop (WINERY!!)

Over the next few months we'll post more pics and let you know as soon as you pop in for a glass or two!

Mitchell Harris Wines at Spring Graze Ballarat

A few pictures from a great night at Lydiard Wine Bar this week. Spring Graze was a satellite event of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival and showcased the best of fresh spring produce along with the range of Mitchell Harris wines.

We hand-disgorged a dozen bottles of our new sparkling, Sabre, which was served with fresh plump oysters. The dry, aperitif style was a brilliant match for this seafood canapé.

A Thai salad of spanner crab showed off chef Damien Jones' heritage in Thai cuisine brilliantly, and was matched with our 2011 Sauvignon Blanc Fumé, and our 2011 Rosé.

Through the night we patched in Johnno from his wine-show judging in Canberra, to introduce the sneak preview of Sabre. A great way to bring him in as a part of the evening, but obviously he would have preferred to indulge....

An incredible main of a rare rolled roast of Goldfields Spring Lamb was some of the best lamb I've ever tasted, and a brilliant centrepiece with our reds, 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2009 Shiraz.

And a sublime way to finish the night was a dessert of blue cheese, pear and apple, matched with the fruit richness of our Special Release Muscat.

Make sure if you get a chance to drop into Lydiard Wine Bar in Ballarat

Special thanks to Alicia's sister Sally for the gorgeous images...

 www.sallymckay.com.au 

Mitchell Harris 2011 Rosé : Jane Faulkner's The Age review.

So there you have it... get into some crisp zesty Rosé for the warmer days ahead.

If you're in the area, have a taste of our Rosé at Lamaro's, South Melbourne.

You can purchase Mitchell Harris Rosé at:

Barrique Wine Store, Healesville
Campana's Stockade Cellars, Ballarat.

or email us at info@mitchellharris.com.au

Don't forget the Spring has Sprung pack!!

This week’s weather is just too good....

Yep, with this year’s early spring, we’ve decided to release our Spring has Sprung Pack early...

A couple of our classic faves along with the two latest releases, the 2011 Rosé and the 2010 Sangiovese.

Here’s the deal...

3 x 2010 Sauvignon Blanc Fumé - The always more-ish Fumé, has a great balance of fruit and complexity and is a great match for food or the next bottle...

3 x 2011 Rosé - The last vintage sold out in record time, so don’t miss out on this terrific, crisp, dry mash-up of Pinot Noir and Sangiovese...

3 x 2010 Sangiovese - The perfect spring drop, fresh and savoury. The ideal food-matching red for the warmer days ahead.

3 x 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon - Our most popular drop. Drink it now for its great cool-climate characters or lay it down for 5 years and your patience will be rewarded.

Until the end of September, we’re releasing our Spring has Sprung Pack for just $240.

$240 with FREE DELIVERY ANYWHERE IN VICTORIA

That’s a saving SAVING OF $42 PLUS FREIGHT off the RRP.

We’d love for you all to get a taste of our new releases and share them with your friends in the longer, warmer nights ahead, so get on board and simply email us back with an order at:

info@mitchellharris.com.au

Spring Celebration at Lydiard Wine Bar

Mitchell Harris Wines is delighted to be teaming up with incredibly talented head chef, Damien Jones, to deliver a Spring Feast as part of the Spring Graze with Melbourne Food and Wine. The flavours of the season will be beautifully presented in a four course dinner with wine matchings from Mitchell Harris, including the launch of our much awaited 2008 sparkling wine, Sabre. Fresh oysters, plump and full of flavour, will be the highlight of canape time, suitably toasted with the 2008 Sabre. The entree of spanner crab, in the height of their season, will be accompanied by the Mitchell Harris 2010 Sauvignon Blanc Fumé and 2011 Rosé. The main course of the Goldfields Spring lamb, from local butcher John Harbour, is guaranteed to deliver the sweetest flavours of Spring. The wines poured with this course will be the Gold medal winning 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2009 Shiraz to really tempt the palate. And if you can fit anything else in, Damien's delicious dessert matched with the Mitchell Harris Muscat is sure to impress. So, don't miss out on being the first to sample the 2008 Sabre and with the promise of exquisite food and wine highlighting some of Ballarat's finest produce, this is the best way to celebrate Spring with style! Thursday September 29th, 7pm Lydiard St Wine Bar 15 Lydiard St North, Ballarat $95 per guest includes a four course dinner with wine matchings Booking essential 5327 2787 or enquiries@lydiardwinebar.com.au

Mitchell Harris Success at the Ballarat Wine Show

This week saw the annual Ballarat Wine Show take place at Bray Raceway.

The competition sees entries from Ballarat and the surrounding wine regions: Grampians, Pyrenees, Bendigo, Heathcote, Macedon and Geelong.

A great chance for us to benchmark some of our new releases and see what some of the other great producers in our area our doing.

And, of course, a bit of love for some of our babies. This even included a silver (rare for a pinkie) for our 2011 Rosé. A great lid-dipping to Johnno for his great work in crafting our current range, which is finding its way onto wine-lists around the country.

The Finale!! The 2011 Mitchell Harris tipping comp is down to the wire!!

Welcome to the finale tipsters!!!

The final round, the crowning glory, finito, the consummation of a nail biting season...it all comes down to this week! Every year since its inception, the MH footy tipping has come down to the last round. It's the sheer desperation of our tipsters to get their hands on a case of the good stuff and 2011 is no different.
We have three punters sitting on 141 pts each - the Wiley Whiteheads, Krazy KC and just to ensure nepotism is alive and well Old Mitch is in amongst it as well. And don't go writing off Killer Kingy....he is only one point off the pace and could easily run over the top of any unsuspecting tipsters!

Onto the ball game...At least the MH tipping comp has a bit more riding on it than this final round. The top 8 is finalised and the bottom 9 have got the eskies packed for the footy trip already.

The round kicks off tomorrow night with a top 2 clash between the Cats and Pies. This should be a ripper of a game except for the minor fact that nothing is riding on it. Both teams know who they'll be playing in the first week, but perhaps the pussy cats might have a bit more grunt about them after going down to Sydney at the Cattery last week.
The term "General Soreness" has been taken to whole new level this week for the Hawks, who have got 8 players putting their feet up including the skipper. The Buddy and Cyril show will also have an RDO as the Hawks finally end the long, long season for the Suns.

There's going to be more strapping tape, nurofen & deep heat on the plane over from WA than fit Dockers players this Saturday as they limp over the line against the Bulldogs. It's the swan song for Big Bad Bazza and the Doggies should finish up with the 4 points.
Up to the SCG and it's a home final as the prize for the Bloods this week if they can knock off the Brisbane Lions on Saturday arvo.

The Blues have been pretty consistent this year & are going about their business beautifully. New dad Juddy has enough Brownlows in the trophy cabinet not let the idea of another distract him from the main prize this year, but the loss to the Hawks a couple weeks back may have rattled the blue baggers I reckon. Are they tough enough to take their finals campaign further? A good old fashion flogging of the Saints who have managed to get their act together & keep their pants on for the last few months will give them a confidence boost, but the Saints too are on a roll after flogging the Roos, & this match should be an absolute beauty.

Two teams that every Victorian loves to hate from time to time (or always). The Crows have shown a bit from time to time through out the season but have really lacked the depth to be of much threat. The Weagles on the other hand have been all class & are back to their formidable best. Reminiscent of their form in the early 90’s the Eagles could on their day give any team in the top 8 a real run for their money, & will be far too strong for the Crows.

What a season for these two coachless clubs. Port went backwards at an ever increasing rate of knots and the Dees really just continued to struggle every week, occasionally showing glimpses of potential. A murky future for both clubs playing for pride this weekend.

Did the AFL really think these two teams would be fighting it out for something better than 9th spot? Yes folks to finish off the home & away season for 2011 the Tigers will be fighting desperately to try & steal the ladder position that they have had a mortgage on for the last ten years. This will be an all out fight to the death for the much coveted 9th spot on the ladder. The Tiges are on a bit of rare form but in typical tiger fashion it will be too little too late, and in typical shin boner fashion it will be another season where North had the spirit but lacked the calibre.

So, go get 'em tipsters and take it home in the last round!!

Mitch, Lis, Johnno and Shan

3 rounds left tipsters!! Good luck!

Only 3 rounds to go tipsters..and a little test for you all last week to see who really values my tipping prowess. Did anyone really miss the Friday words of wisdom? Perhaps not...

Speaking of words of wisdom..a brief mention of the latest review for our 2009 Mitchell Harris Shiraz. It's a top little drop and Campbell Mattinson, co-author of The Big Red Wine Book thought so too -

"It’s plummy and nutty and fractionally spicy, with gentle eucalypt and creamy oak giving the wine lots of attractive lift. The finish is still coming together but the tannin is fine and the fruit pure. Wouldn’t be surprised if I rate this higher in a couple of year’s time. Gorgeous dark plum fruit flavour."

This latest Shiraz release is heading out the door quicker than Rocket Eade so be sure to shoot us a line on info@mitchellharris.com.au to grab yourself a bottle or two.

Last week it was Big Gazza "The Juganaut" Jones sitting high and mighty on the top of the Round 21 ladder being the only MH tipster to nail 8 last week! Very impressive form..but yet not quite enough to reel in KC or the Whiteheads. Both of these in form tipsters are siting two clear with only three rounds left, Old Mitch, Killer Kingy and ChitChat Champions snapping at their heels.

It's the Cyril and Buddy show tomorrow night at Etihad as the Hawkers come up against the Blue Baggers. This sellout game should be a cracker with a top four spot potentially on the line for Carlton. Of note, the Blues are yet to knock off anyone higher than them on the ladder.

Well, the Crows have certainly come out fighting since showing their coach the front door and this week should be no different against a weary ol' Suns side. The Gold Coast boys are dragging their feet and looking ahead to Schoolies week.

West Coast are looking to snaffle themselves a top four spot and therefore a home final this week - quite an impressive turnaround from the 2010 wooden spooners. They're up against the Bombers who are not big fans of the trip across the Nullabor - 1 win from 11 trips...Eagles for me.

It's the Kangaroos and Dockers on Saturday night with both teams fighting it out for the Tigers' traditional 9th spot on the ladder. Long and lanky Sandilands is limping out onto the track and won't have enough  to stop the Roos on a mission.

In an AFL first, the Brisbane Lions head down to the MCG for the Collingwood Football Club Saturday night footy clinic. In this unique opportunity, the Lions will get some hands on football lessons from Buckley & Malthouse, and if time allows may even be able to a have a shot at kicking a goal or two themselves. A slaughter is predicted.

‘From St Kilda to Kings Cross, is 14 hours on a bus’ sings Paul Kelly. The Saints will be taking more conventional transportation to the ANZ Stadium for a game that will decide the order at the tail end of the top 8. This game should be a beauty & both teams are pretty evenly matched. The Saints have redeemed themselves somewhat this season, but are still a little shaky. Both teams a good each way bet.

Port Rootyadadalaide host the Doggies sans Rocket Rodney Eade after his unceremonious dismissal during the week. Another game that won’t make any difference to the finals make up this year. Sad to see Rocket dumped. At least he saves $79 on his air fare. We wish Rocket well & suspect that he’ll pop up at another club next year.

On Sunday evening at the G the hapless Dees face the toothless Tigers. Both teams have failed to impress in 2011 and are merely playing for a bit of pride. If they are not playing for pride, then they are deliberately not playing for draft picks.

Well, tipsters, get cracking and snap up your own bottle of MH this week!

Cheers, Mitch, Johnno, Lis & Shan

Wine Industry Smallgoods Smackdown - making the Mitchell Harris entries...

After growing a couple of porkers ourselves in the first part of the year, then despatching them a couple of weeks ago, it was time to put our beautiful home-grown, free-range pork into use in some smallgoods.

Last night we put together these salamis and chorizos as seen here in the video....

In a few weeks these products will head off to compete in WISS ... the Wine Industry Smallgoods Smackdown... against meat tasties from other winemakers throughout the country.

Wish us luck, and enjoy the video, with a soundtrack "Hours" by talented Ballarat musos Dan Houlihan & Brett Augustine.

Round 20 Mitchell Harris Mates. Get Tipping!!

Welcome to Round 20 tipsters!

 

Round 19 results proved interesting as Old Mitch suffered a dose of the Colliwobbles and has slipped back down the ladder to fourth. KC remains dominant, now two clear with only 5 rounds to go! KC does love a glass or three of MH, so the winning prize would suit her to a tee...but come on tipsters let's reel her in! Robbo "Mad Bob" Peeples took home the chocolates last week in a tightly fought tussle for the No.1 spot. A bottle of MH's finest on the way to his door - about time he poured himself something different to that Buckshot drop...

 

It's Friday night footy time! Just a shame it's between Saints and Freo, possibly two of the dullest teams in the comp to watch...but it's 7th V 8th so one of these teams will be aiming to cement their top 8 spot. Still no Sandilands for the Dockers makes it a tough gig for them. Definitely a glass of MH Cabernet required to get you through this one..

What a week for the Melbourne Demons..imploding from the inside out. A 36 goal drubbing last week reflective of perhaps far deeper strife in the inner workings at Demonland. Let's hope they can give the Bluebaggers a bit of run on Saturday under caretaker coach Viney and not repeat their "bruise-free" footy from earlier in the season.

The Gold Coast Suns are heading south to the Cattery but skipper Gazza will not be running out onto the old turf this week. He'll be perched on the bench next to Karmichael Hunt who is still huffing and puffing from last week. The Cats will be looking to top the 186 point win of last week..

It's a big inclusion for the Bombers on Saturday night with Fletcher pulling on the tight shorts again but it's do or die time for HIrdy's boys and their finals chances and those Bloods will be a tough opponent.  A close one...with a lot at stake.

Pies V Port. Ahhh dear, how to make this game interesting...? Really....Port playing and it's over in Adelaide? Can it get worse? The Pies could probably duck up to the Adelaide Hills for a glass of Savvy and a cheese platter and still make it back in time to wipe the Power off the field.

The Crows are heading north to the Gabba on Sunday to give their new coach another chance to bag a win. Vossy's boys will put up a bit of a fight and I reckon this could be a close fought tussle between the two interstaters. The two darlings of Tassie are heading to the Apple Isle this Sunday and whilst the Kangas have been travelling ok of late they might have left their run for finals just a little bit too late especially up against an in form Hawks.

And for the Sunday evening showdown it's West Coast at home to the Tiges. Richmond are looking to bag their seventh loss in a row and the Eagles are most likely the ones to dish that up to them.

       
Righto MH Mates, get tipping!

Cheers, Mitch, Johnno, Lis & Shan

Welcome to Round 19 of Mitchell Harris Footy Tipping!

G'day tipsters and welcome to Round 19!

Johnno and Shan are hitting Sin City this weekend to show the MH range to some top little Sydney nosh spots, including our freshly bottled 2011 Rose! So for all you Sydney folk, get on down to Four in Hand, La Scala and Fix St James for your MH fix but stay tuned for some new Sydney hot spots to indulge in a glass or two. 

Last week it was Agent 86 who came home with the goods pipping out a mere 30 tipsters who nailed 8 for Rd 18! But it was KC who was left muttering "Ahh...missed it by that much.." as she came a very close second.

KC and Old mitch are still travelling neck and neck with both pulling out an 8 pick last week whilst Killer Kingy is hanging on for third as this Mitchell Harris tipping comp looks like going down to the wire yet again!

It will be action aplenty on Friday night as the Kangas finally get themselves a high rating timeslot when they match up to the Bluebaggers. The Roo boys have been strutting their stuff of late and should give Carlton a bit of a run for their money. In form skipper Juddy and midfielder Eddie Betts (who sounds like he should be the frontman for a rock band) will be ensuring this is not a reality.

The Eagles whipped the proverbial pants off the Doggies earlier this year with a 137 point drubbing, so the Bulldogs will certainly be out to avenge that loss on Saturday arvo. The Weagles have been playing some very consistent footy this year and will be tough to knock off the perch.

The Dees head off down the Princes Highway to the Cattery on Saturday with a nervous coach facing a tough run home with the Cats, Blues and Eagles still to come. Neil Craig has offered him a lift to Centrelink on Monday morning so it's not all bad.... 

The Suns held their own in the 2nd half against the Pies last week but the Saints are back on the Finals train after barrelling their way back into the 8 last week. The Hawks soar west on Saturday night in a match up with the Freo wharfies. Two teams in fine form, this game should be a little ripper but the home ground advantage might just tip the scales Freo's way.

It's no Anzac Day, but the Pies and Bombers clash on Sunday should be a good one. The freight train that is the Collingwood football machine continues on it's way to it's one day in September whilst the SA showdown wraps up the round for us. The coaching casualty of last week might just be enough to get Adelaide over the line. 

Cheers all, Lis, Mitch, Johnno & Shan

Round 17 Mitchell Harris Mates. Get Tipping!!

Welcome to Rd 17 tipsters, we really are heading to the pointy end of the season now and it was Sizzling Sam McKay who was the only MH tipster to come home with 7 tips last week...hot stuff..

Old Mitch must have contracted a case of the Colliwobbles last week and was only able to pick 4 winners so it's closer than the fat man next to you on a plane at the top of the leaderboard now. Come on tipsters, surely we can knock KC and Old Mitch off the top in the next few weeks, let's keep it interesting, pick a few roughies and come in the last round to snatch victory!

Speaking of roughies, there's a few interesting match ups this week so this could be the round for some upsets..

A friday night game in the city of churches? Who would have thought... The Dons fly over there to clash with the Crows and after a new Brisbane Rugby League team has hijacked their "Bombers" title, Hirdy and his boys will come out fighting.

On Saturday arvo the Tiges are at home to Gold Coast in Cairns....huh? Yep..that's right.. I'm not quite sure who they are planning to fill the stands with, perhaps a few random backpackers with not much else to do. Richmond have got a bit of a point to prove after a couple of shockers and the Gold Coast lads are starting to look a little leg weary, most likely wishing they'd stuck to their surfing and theme park rides...

It's a sell-out at the G on Saturday with 85000 Carlton and Collingwood fans - scary? Yes. This should be an absolute cracker of a game with two serious grand final contenders. But the way the Pies tore apart the Roos last week, Carlton should be a tad nervous...
West Coast are coming across the Nullabor on Saturday night to fight it out with the Saints at Etihad. They were able to knock the Blues off at this very stadium a few weeks ago and just don't seem to give up - so the Saints will have their work cut out for them.

So anyway, I thought Richmond and Gold Coast in Cairns was odd, how about Melbourne V Port Adelaide in Darwin? Melbourne really need to win this game to stay in finals contention, but given the Power are sitting in the bottom 2 it's highly likely they'll get thrashed just to frustrate their supporters a little more... Look out Mt Hotham, there'll be some angry Volvo drivers around on Sunday!

It's been overtime for the medicos at Fremantle this week and with the Big Bad Sandilands out again, the Dockers will have a tough match up against Sydney with the home ground advantage. Also on Sunday arvo the Cats head north for some sunshine and what should be a fairly easy win over the Lions.
And to wrap it all up the Doggies take on the Roos at the phone dome on Sunday evening. The Dogs appear to be hitting their straps at the right end of the season whilst the bounce seems to have well and truly gone from the Roo boys.

Well that's it tipsters, get tipping and good luck!

Shan, Mitch, Johnno & Lis

Mitchell Harris Smallgoods for the SMACKDOWN!

How could we NOT be a part of WISS?


Born from a love of all things dead animal, the Wine Industry Smallgoods Smackdown is a smallgoods challenge for winemakers who play with meat. The competition - to decide who has the best tasting smallgoods. 


Wine bon vivants Mike Bennie and Dave Brookes are co-founders and co-Chair of Judges for this most prestigious of competitions. All winemakers who cure, cook, dehydrate, spice, pummel, puree, hang or smoke are eligible to enter their meat goods.


So under the watchful eye of co-opted Mitchell Harris bro, Mick Harris, some fine porkers have met their match and entered the world of WINEMAKERS MAKING MEATS!

Here are a few shots of a recent salami-day at MH HQ...

The Pork Grind...

Filling the tubes...

Lookin' goooood....

Mitch's surgical knots at work...

Into the cellar...

The Golden By-product... crackling...

So come on winemakers, time to measure your meat against ours in Mike & Dave's challenge... the Wine Industry Smallgoods Smackdown! 

Don't forget to follow @mikerism101 and @vino_freakism  for all the goss on TWITTER, and follow us @mitchell_harris to see the progress of our meats!

A Momentary Cyber-Interruption for Mitchell Harris

With a massive cyber-attack on our hosting provider late last week, it seems www.mitchellharris.com.au has been removed from the interwebz momentarily.

This means there as been no website and our email info@mitchellharris.com.au have been out of action for the last few days.

Rest assured, Shan is on the job of getting the site and email up and going ASAP and it'll soon be back bigger than ever.

Until then, we'll keep our news going via this blog,

Emails can be sent to mitchellharriswines@gmail.com

Or you can call Shannyn on 0438 301 471

We apologize for the outage, and hope to have our info back for you as soon as we possibly can...

Cheers

The Mitchell Harris Team

Rd 13 Mitchell Harris Footy Tipping preview..Good Luck!

G'day tipsters and welcome to Round 13! We're well and truly into the second half of the season now and as the ash cloud clears we can still see our three amigos of KC, "Killer" Kingy and Old Mitch sitting proudly atop the leaderboard, with KC sneaking further ahead with an 8 pick last week. Speaking of picking 8, special mention must be made of Kirsten from ChitChat Media who scored 8 with an unbelievable margin of zip, nil, nada, zilch, nothing, sweet fanny adams.....Nice work!!

Onto the ball game..

The round kicks off on Friday night with a couple of nervous coaches and two teams that have lost four in a row. The Western Bullies take on Adelaide at the phone dome and whilst both teams have lost themselves a finals berth there's a fair bit of pride up for grabs. Bulldogs have possibly been a little bit less hopeless and should get over the line. 

Tassie in June..Brrrr..the Gold Coast will be packing their uggies to head south to the Apple Isle on Saturday and after their Launceston flight landed in Hobart last night they'll probably just be happy to get away with out being smashed by the Hawks.

Roos V Bombers on Saturday arvo. This match up should be a little corker. Hirdy's purple patch appears to have gone a murky shade of brown and North have got a couple of good inclusions. Look out for the Roo boys in a close one.

Brisbane and Richmond both have their volcano travel woes, with the Lions scoring an extra couple of balmy Melbourne days and the Tiges jumping on a bus home from Sydney. What is more troublesome for Richmond is they were all wearing "doona suits" on the bus - and photos were taken....geez!  They clash up north at the Gabba with the Tiges hot favourites.

Whilst the pussy cats are absolutely flying along, St Kilda are slowly and steadily sneaking their way back to the eight. Geelong have lost bad boy Selwood but should be able to keep the Sainters at bay.

Big Bad Sandilands is out for the Dockers this week and that's a Big Bad sign. The wharfies are playing Melbourne who are riding the rollercoaster that is their 2011 season. From whipping the Bombers one week to getting pantsed by the Pies last week. Who would know, but the home ground advantage could get them home.

The Bluebaggers are looking very much at home in the top four, playing some high quality football. They meet the Swannies on Sunday who have also found some good form in the middle part of the season. This should be a ripper game, but the class of the Carlton skipper through the midfield could be too much for the Bloods.

And to wrap it all up, it'll be a blood bath over in the West. The Weagles V Port. The Power are coming off a bye and no-one does well coming off the bye, especially not the struggling Port Adelaide.

Good luck tipsters and have a great weekend! Let's see if another 24 of you can pick 8!!!

 

 Lis, Mitch, Johnno and Shan

Another Mitchell Harris SABRE-ing

Knocking the top off another trial of our new sparkling, SABRE...

Round 11 is here! MH Footy Tipping..

Some so called "footy experts" were trying to tell me at the start of the week that if you tipped 8 last week, then you truly knew nothing about footy...Surely that's not right, hey Kyles?? It is simply quality research and some inside knowledge. Kylie "Macca" MacFarlane has pedigree and has been on the winner's list before, so look out at the top of the ladder, here she comes! Speaking of the top of the ladder...it's the formidable trio of KC, Kingy and old mitch still on the podium and well clear of the rest of the punters.



Onto the footy...



Some one more famous than me once said 'if at first you fail then try, try again'. The Dee's get another chance to post a win on Friday night this time their task won't be any easier against the Bombers who come off a bye after their loss to the tiges the week before. The Dee's have been branded marshmallows, & will have to swallow a few cups of quick-set & harden the f*ck up if they are to have any hope. Do it for Jimmy, do it for Olivia, do it for anyone! Come on - pull ya fingers out boys! We love it when your winning.

The Dogs make the short trek down Geelong Rd to Skilled Stadium the home of the highly skilled Geelong Pivotonians. This clash could be a beauty but these old dogs are far from convincing this year & will need to learn a few new tricks unless they want a complete flogging from the pussies who haven't lost a game at home since Brownless was a pup.

The Weagles are the real deal this year & will teach the Suns a lesson or two on Saturday arvo. Perhaps not the ideal way for Gaz to celebrate his 200th. Bad luck Gaz, but congratulations anyway! Oh & by the way Gaz, you are right, your old man was a freaky genius!

The Saint's have finally forgotten about  their summer hijinks & have got their mind back on the game & are B.I.T! Still don't love em, but it is good to see them back in the winner's circle after a beating the Dockers on their own turf last week. However, despite their lovable & whacky coach, the Pies are a formidable outfit. Saints to beat the Pies. Yeah right. As Carbon Caton aka Darryl Kerrigan once said, "Tell em they're dreamin' ".

According to the bookies, the Swans are fairly evenly poised on about a buck ninety each to win this one at the Jabba. Must be some home ground advantage! Vossy has already said his boys aren't a hope in hell to play finals, which could be a bit of smoke screen, but I think he's he's on to something! Great to see bustling Browny back into the action for the Lions, but I reckon the Swans will get this one!

On Sunday the Dockers head across the Nullabor to the hallowed turf of the MCG to meet the Hawks who were red hot last week aginst the doggies. No Sandilands no Freo. Hawks to dish out a big bowl of pain to the Dockers.

Does 13th vs 14th qualify for match of the round? Doubt it! Nice to see the Roos going in as favourites for a match for once though. But can they beat the Crows?? The pressure is on for both teams to retain a bit of pride. Hard to split & hard to get too excited about this one!
And to wrap up the weekend, the Blues head over to the AAMI amphitheatre to take on the powerless Port. The Tiges deserve 3 weeks off, not just this one, for losing to Port last week. There will be no one there to throw Port another lifeline this weekend. Port to win two in a row.

Tell em they're dreamin!