EAT: IMMERSE WINERY, YARRA VALLEY
There are no shortages of wineries in Victoria's Yarra Valley that excel at making the vines and produce of the region shine in their wines and food menus. Add quiet achiever Immerse Winery to the list of places to visit when in the Yarra Valley.
Immerse Winery appears to make more of a mark as a wedding destination than that of a wining and dining destination in the Yarra Valley, especially compared to some of the other more known wineries. But as it turns out, they also serve lunch on Saturdays and Sundays. Start with some entrees like the fragrant and freshly soft house baked bread, the delicate lemon myrtle crusted calamari salad or equally tender pulled confit duck leg salad. Although for those with less of an appetite, the sizes of both salads were generous enough to be of a main portion. Note, these generous portion sizes also carried through to the mains we had ordered. The quality of the fresh produce was evident in both the salmon and snapper fillets. Steering slightly left of field, the silky vanilla mash was certainly an interesting accompaniment to the salmon, although perhaps an acquired taste for some. The vibrancy in flavours from the dukkah crumb, pearl cous cous and freekah salad, and the chimmi churri hummus ensured no boring bites when it came to the snapper. It seems the absolute best was left for last with our pick of the coconut and pandan bombe Alaska dessert. Featuring two of the few Asian dessert ingredients I actually enjoy, the fragrant flavours of coconut and pandan complement one another to a T, and worked equally as well with a torched meringue exterior of the bombe Alaska dessert.
Immerse Baked Bread - with chef's choice dip, olives, oil and salt.
Lemon myrtle calamari - on mizuna and red elk salad, coriander and mint dressing with succulents.
Pulled confit duck leg - on quinoa, fennel, orange, walnut and roquette, with citrus dressing.
Salmon fillet - on vanilla mash potato, with asparagus, edamame and caper cornichon butter sauce.
Dukkah crumbed Snapper fillet - on pearl cous cous, freekah, burghal and golden raisins salad with a chimmi churri hummus.
Rosemary and garlic roasted potatoes.
Coconut and pandan bombe Alaska - with lychee puree and sago.
Immerse Winery
1548 Melba Highway,
Dixons Creek, Yarra Valley, Victoria, 3775.
03 5965 2444
Disclosure: I dined as a guest of Immerse Winery. All opinions expressed in this post are based entirely on my experience and observations made during the time of my visit.