Winespeake – beautiful wine and food

Could this be the most exciting wine store and cafe outside the major Australian cities? We are constantly amazed by what the owners are doing here in country Victoria in the pleasant town of Daylesford.

Walking into this establishment is like entering a food and wine fairyland. It is quite an uncommon sight in country Australia to find such a well-stocked venue with many of the most interesting food items and an excellent wine display which includes a number of natural wines to tempt people such as ourselves who do not drink wines where the grapes have been sprayed with dangerous chemicals.

The owners are providing an important service in the venue with such interesting foodstuffs and interesting wines that can form the basis of an excellent meal at home or for those who are travelling through Daylesford, a wonderful place to stock up for dinner in an Air B and B or for a picnic in one of the many attractive sights in country Victoria.

The space is large and roughly divided with the entry area being like a mini delicatessen, to the right there are window seats where you can enjoy the food offerings and maybe a glass or two of the amazing wine selection, and then, from the centre of the space to the back there is there is the famous wine selection where you can peruse the selection of local and overseas wines where we love spending time marvelling at their carefully curated selection.

The wine selection at Winespeake is comprehensive (with some of the natural wines we import from France on display here) and the food and coffee very appealing. The wines are also very reasonably priced.

Wines that we have noted here include a Jean Francois Ganevat Les Chamois du Paradis from the Jura, the Charles Dufour ‘Bulles de Comptoir’ #13 Cuisine du Dimanche (a young natural producer who is creating fantastic Champagnes) and Elise Dechannes Absolue Grès which is another Champagne by a young woman who has converted her small holding to organic and is now producing wonderful Champagnes.

There is also Domaine Derain Allez Goutons Aligoté (which is one that we import allowing customers to enjoy the rapidly emerging Aligoté grape variety), the ever reliable Mount Mary Chardonnay, the Clos de Tue-Bœuf Frileuse from the Cheverny district in the Loire Valley where some great wines are produced.

Tempier Bandol Rose, imported by our friend Andrew Guard from coastal Provence is another excellent example of a great wine. (A Tempier red may have been the first natural wine that we ever drank having had it a number of times in the 1980s including at the famous Chez Panisse) and the iconic Jean Foillard Cote du Py Morgon which was one of the first natural wines to herald in the new era.

So, as you can see from the small selection at Winespeake that we have chosen to highlight here, this is a serious wine shop and well-worth a visit.

We will also let them talk in their own words as we agree with every word in this paragraph from their Web site:

With the ethos fixed firmly around small production, biological and healthy vineyard management, minimal intervention in the cellar…these wines have become the most sought after all around the World. The delicatessen items are sourced much the same way. 

We have also included Winespeake in our story about eating in Victorian country venues here.

You can see more information, especially about their wine on the Winespeake Website here.

14 Hargraves St, Castlemaine VIC 3450