W: The sparkling dining room at Muse is something to savour, as it the food. Don't be entirely surprised if you spot a well-dressed woman literally bent over a dish, licking it clean. Creative flare features in every element of Scott Morrison's seasonal menu. Perhaps pretty little pickled turnip "gyoza" with local goat's cheese and tomato petals. Subtly smoked mackerel mousse with spikes of wasabi and soy-soaked avruga caviar. Or caramelly lamb rump with dollops of black garlic and crisp cavolo nero cigars. Sommelier Stephane Pommier is similarly inventive with local and international drops, whether a crisp Alsace white or full-bodied Hunter shiraz from Usher Tinkler.
Try tasting the Shiraz-Viognier - an excellent wine that goes perfect with roast lamb or roast beef. Simply divine.
W: There's room for a mini bus-load of wine tasters and a rash of first daters at Bimbadgen Estate. The view over the vineyards towards the Barrington Tops is expansive enough to cater for all comers. The vista is only improved by a plate of plump sauteed scallops with splotches of sweet corn and crisp chorizo cubes in the foreground. House-rolled gnocchi comes with gorgonzola cream and fried sage leaves, well matched with a glass of the estate's fruit-salad-fragrant gewurztraminer, and tender pork fillet with sweet apple rounds and rich red cabbage puree goes down a treat with a long-and-strong Hunter Valley chardonnay. The menu favours crowd-pleasing over creativity. But that lush hill-top outlook is reason enough to linger.
