Welcome to Bright, the home of the Billy Button Cellar Door in the foothills of the Australian Alps. Not only have we been blessed with an abundance of natural splendour, we are also spoilt for choice when it comes to local dining options. Looking for the best places to eat in Bright? Here are a few of our all-time favourite local venues to discover.
Cheese and wine are a timeless pairing, but picking the best combinations can be tricky when there are so many options. Of course, it’s important to start with flavours you like, but a little expert knowledge can go a long way when it comes to picking a cheese that will amplify the flavours of your favourite wine, or conversely, a complementary wine to pour with a cheese you love.
Durif wine is a grape varietal that dates back to the 1800s. It’s a spicy, full-flavoured, full-bodied red wine with intense colour and robust, mouth-drying tannins.
Amphorae (or ‘Giara’) are terracotta containers of basically between 400 and 600 litres, but can be larger. This completely ancient technology is now in use by modern winemakers in Italy, France, California and now Australia.
Make your barbeque to the next level with this favourite recipe from our winemaker Glenn James. It features sensational lamb chops served with a light salsa verde and smoky eggplant – utterly delicious.
Mulled wine is a classic cool weather recipe that sees red wine gently heated with warming spices and citrus for an ultra-cosy winter drink. Mulled wine dates back to the 2nd century, when it was drunk by the Romans who used it to fortify themselves against the cold winter days and nights. As the Romans conquered much of Europe, their love for mulled wine spread across their empire and the regions they traded with.
Try this fattoush salad recipe with your Billy Button wine. This popular Middle Eastern dish is easy to make and uses fresh herbs, spices and vegetables.
Grüner Veltliner, Austria’s most widely planted grape variety, is gaining popularity in the cooler climate wine regions of Australia, including our own Alpine Valleys.
This is a favourite recipe of ours, adapted from Matt and Lentil’s Grown & Gathered. We like to cook ours in our bakers’ wood oven over winter, so we can cook it at a lower temperature over a longer time. We love the range of herbs and the resulting flavour is amazing.
Due to the catastrophic smoke taint in our Alpine Valleys vineyards in 2020 and our call for a ‘no harvest’ we went a little further afield to find fruit to harvest for our Billy Button vintage that year. In doing so we added a further four grape varieties not handled before at Billy Button. Jo received a call from winemaker Lillian Carter of Symphonia Vineyard near Myrrhee in the King Valley. Lilian knew we were in deep trouble and offered a small parcel of Symphonia’s ‘Petit Manseng’ to help us out. Originally only meant to be making a special guest appearance in the Billy Button varietal range, it was decided that this parcel of ‘Manseng’ was a keeper!
