It’s SPRING! Ready to celebrate the start of a new season, I enthusiastically made my way to Federation Square for the Spring Flavour Exchange. Held quarterly, the Flavour Exchange features seasonal flavours from local Victorian producers.  Armed with a stack of tasting tokens, I meandered around the enticing stalls nibbling on tasty bites and sipping local wine and cider. After a long, cold winter I was thrilled to sample the new food and drinks.

photo courtesy Dig + Fish

I love meeting representatives from local businesses and the Flavour Exchange is the perfect venue for this activity. Everyone I encountered was amazing.

Here are my recommendations from the spring tasting adventure:

For white wine, the surprise stand out was the Indigo Vineyard Chardonnay from Beechworth. Take this with a grain of salt – whites, and in particular Chardonnays, are not in my wheel-house. But this one was awesome. For reds, Peregrine Ridge might be lacking in a snazzy booth display, but their wines are excellent.

For food, I hate to sound like a broken record, but OMG Yarra Valley Pasta. Eat it now.

If you want to treat your kitchen to some high-quality local fare, many of the products are also available for purchase. Visit the Spring Flavour Exchange and your taste buds can kiss the winter time blues goodbye.

-Jenny
Jenny Schmidt is an event addict. She earned a BFA in theatre and has participated in arts festivals on three different continents (plus a couple of islands). When she’s not attending live shows, you can find her sampling the latest craft beer or sipping a classic cocktail.

The Spring Flavour Exchange runs September 3-4 2015, followed by the VIC100 Wine Awards on September 5  in Federation Square. Mark your calendars for Summer Flavour Exchange on 3-4 December.

Disclosure: The Plus Ones were invited guests of Dig + Fish.