Loving lunch

By Kath Gannaway
MARIE Lyons couldn’t find enough superlatives to describe the success of the 2010 Shortest Lunch held on the weekend.
“It was just amazing … awesome … absolutely the best so far,” she told the Mail on Monday morning.
It is the fourth time Ms Lyons and husband Murray who own Whispering Hills Winery in Seville have been part of the Yarra Valley Smaller Wineries’ Shortest Lunch event.
“We were expecting the worst with the weather and couldn’t believe the crowds. We had taxis arriving from the eastern suburbs and the comments from people were fantastic,” Ms Lyons said.
“This is not the easiest industry to be in and when you have a weekend like this it is just a fantastic feeling.
“Listening to the crowd and seeing the way they were reacting to the music I just thought ‘yes, this is what it is about’,” she said.
Michelle Ross and friends were among the crowds who rugged up and enjoyed the winter winery experience.
Ms Ross, business development officer with Yarra Ranges Council’s Economic Development department said her group went to Boat O’Craigo in Healesville for a hot and hearty main course and headed back to Yering Farm for dessert – their famous apple pie.
“I had three French friends in the group who have never been to the Yarra Valley before and they loved it,” she said.
While the Shortest Lunch was hardly hard work, Ms Ross said she enjoyed any chance to see different parts of the shire.
“Something like this is great for the local economy and it was really nice to see some of the smaller wineries.”
Boat O’Craigo sales manager Craig Fennell said the event was growing each year and agreed it was good for business with good numbers, great wine sales and lots of orders.
“We were very, very happy with it,” he said.