In the spider web of roads that make up country New South Wales, you have to turn off the highway to go to Griffith. Is it worth the detour? Absolutely. With great food and wine, multicultural heritage, and long history of innovation, Griffith is one of the State’s most vibrant small cities. Here are some of the many reasons why Griffith punches well above its weight.
Authentic experiences
If you wanted to sum up Griffith and the surrounding Riverina region in a nutshell, you need look no further than Piccolo Family Farm, a fully working farm and vineyard dedicated to produce, heritage and homegrown Riverina hospitality. Peter Piccolo is the quintessential ‘local boy from an immigrant family makes good’.
Like many in the district, he and his wife Rosa have Italian heritage but Peter, in his own words, “grew up in a boys’ home, raised by the church” and “off the street, met Rosa … we came out here 40 years ago as kids, me and Rosa, because we couldn’t afford to buy a block in town.”
The ‘here’ that Peter is referring to is a 20-acre former soldier settlement block on the outskirts of Griffith that he and Rosa have transformed into a flourishing agricultural and hospitality enterprise welcoming visitors by appointment.
Barely pausing to catch a breath, Peter shares the story of how they spent 40 years building their dream, using recycled materials to create a stunning home and chapel-style wedding venue, planting Italian grape varieties to make wine including Australia’s only Grechetto, and establishing a beautiful garden that supplies produce to Limone Dining, the highly acclaimed restaurant in town run by their son Luke and daughter-in-law Bonnie.
Authentic experiences like Piccolo Family Farm are not hard to find in Griffith. Waves of Italian migrants have come to the district, followed more recently by people from India, the South Pacific and many other cultures, all of whom bring colour and vibrancy to this friendly and welcoming city.
Piccolo Family Farm, Mallinson Road, Lake Wyangan; www.piccolofamilyfarm.com.au
Honouring heritage
The region is the traditional home of the Wiradjuri nation, the largest Aboriginal group in central New South Wales. European settlers arrived in the 1830s but it wasn’t until the early 20th century when the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area turned the naturally dry landscape into an agricultural powerhouse that people began flocking in from all over the world.
Today, Griffith is home to more than 60 nationalities. More than half the population has Italian ancestry, so you can expect to find some lively festivals, not to mention great food and wine. After the First World War, returned servicemen were granted blocks of land, and over time these were sold and consolidated into larger holdings.
The best place to get in touch with the city’s fascinating history is at the Griffith Pioneer Park Museum, an open-air museum of more than 40 buildings including an Italian Museum, Wine and Irrigation Museum, and other exhibits.
Griffith Pioneer Park Museum, 40 Remembrance Drive, Griffith; www.artsculture.griffith.nsw.gov.au
Enterprise and innovation
You’ve got to hand it to Griffith folk – they’re an enterprising lot. Visiting the region is an opportunity to be inspired by industries and producers who are doing some remarkable stuff.
Take Frank DalBon and his daughter, Natasha, who offer guided tours of the family farm, Morella Grove, highlighting its sustainable practices and inviting guests to taste the extra virgin olive oil and gourmet condiments that they distribute widely throughout the region. (I’ve even seen their products in the National Museum shop in Canberra.)
If you’ve ever tasted Murray River Cod, you’ll know what a magnificent fish it is. This native Australian fish is a threatened species, and that’s where Aquna steps in. Founded by local dry crop farmer, Mathew Ryan, Aquna Murray River Cod is a world leader in aquaculture and today a publicly listed company employing more than 120 people.
There are other Murray Cod farms but Aquna is the biggest by far, at the forefront of research into sustainable aquaculture, helping NSW and Victorian Fisheries re-stock waterways with more than a million fish a year, and producing a beautiful product that can be found on some of the country’s finest restaurant tables. There’s a small retail store in Lenehan Road, Griffith, if you’d like to buy some Murray Cod to take home.
Since 2023, Aquna has been producing Murray Cod caviar. Aquna Gold has a translucent golden hue and an exquisite, lightly salty, buttery flavour. What a treat to taste this, one of the world’s rarest caviars, during my visit to Griffith.
Aquna board member Roger Commins has Murray River Cod on the menu at Whitton Malt House, an impressive dining, event and accommodation venue that he has built a short drive from Griffith (more about it further in this post). Ever the innovator, Commins is one of the founding owners of Southern Cotton, a cotton gin next door to Whitton Malt House where visitors can see cotton being processed.
If you think visiting a cotton gin sounds boring, think again. Built by a group of locals when the cost of freighting their product for processing out of the region became a drain, this mammoth cotton gin is an extraordinary sight, especially between May and August when processing is in full swing. Cotton has become one of the region’s leading industries, overtaking rice and being steered by folk who are passionate about promoting the industry’s sustainability.
Robyn Turner is so inspired by how enterprising the community is, she gave up a successful career in Sydney to return to Griffith, where she grew up. She now runs Bella Vita Tours, introducing visitors to the delights of the region and sharing her passion in tailor-made small-group tours. “Once you’ve been here you know you’ve got to come again,” she says.
Morella Grove Olives, Farm 2530, 3743 Irrigation Way, Widgelli; +61 421 918 95; www.morellagrove.com.au
Aquna Retail Store, 15A Lenehan Road, Griffith; +61 2 6964 8852
Bella Vita Tours; +61 407 429 410; www.bellavitagriffithtours.com.au
So many places where you can eat well
For a city of just 27,000 people, you’ll be astounded at how well you can eat in Griffith.
Limone Dining could hold its head up high in a city many times the size. Chef Luke Piccolo draws on his Italian heritage and superb local produce, much of it from the Piccolo Family Farm, to produce sophisticated dishes that pair beautifully with their Lilias wines.
Try some lesser-known grape varieties such as their Grechetto sparkling and their Aglianico. And don’t forget to try their sumptuous Lemon Meringue Pie, which Luke’s mother Rosa has been making for the people of Griffith for more than 25 years.
La Scala Restaurant is an institution in Griffith. Established in 1977 by Onorato and Lina Vico and still family owned, its extensive Italian menu features perfectly cooked Riverina beef and a great line-up of pasta and woodfired pizzas, including its famous toppa. Don’t be put off by its motel location. Once inside, you’ll see what a classic, convivial atmosphere it is.
Zecca Handmade Italian sadly no longer opens at night. Its handmade pasta and authentic cucina povera dishes are outstanding. Open for breakfast and lunch in a gorgeous Art Deco building, its finely tuned dishes are served in a relaxed but stylish setting. Stock up the car with Zecca’s artisan dried pasta and other gourmet products.
More casual still but another nice breakfast or brunch stop is Cocoa & Bean Café, which serves fritters, breakfast wraps and generously portioned dishes, along with good coffee. All the cafés in Banna Avenue were pumping on the Saturday morning I visited, including La Piccola Grosseria, a small deli/café that looks like it’s been plucked straight out of Italy. A visit to Griffith wouldn’t be complete without popping into Bertoldo’s Pasticceria, a fourth-generation family bakery (est. 1952) making bread, biscotti, cannoli, gelato and nougat.
Just over 35 kilometres from Griffith, Whitton Malt House is an agri-tourism destination that I can’t recommend highly enough. A bonus is that its restaurant is open 7 days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The dinner menu earlier in the week is streamlined, but to find a place open every day in a regional area is a minor miracle. I loved this venue so much that I returned to dine again and stay overnight in the on-site accommodation, which is also lovely.
It’s not surprising that there are many places to eat well, given that Griffith and the Riverina region are often referred to as Australia’s food bowl. Other regions claim to be our food bowl but if you look at the Riverina’s output, it’s certainly a strong contender. Look at some of the statistics: All of McDonald’s gherkins are grown and processed here, all of Nudie’s orange juice comes from here, the region accounts for almost all of Australia’s rice production, it’s the country’s largest citrus growing region, it’s home to one of Australia’s top quail farms producing 35,000 quails a week. And that’s just for starters.
Limone Dining, 482 Banna Ave, Griffith; +61 2 6962 3777; www.limone.com.au
La Scala Restaurant, 2A Blumer Avenue, Griffith; +61 2 6962 4322; www.lascalarestaurant.com.au
Zecca Handmade Italian, 239 Banna Ave, Griffith; +61 2 6964 4050; www.zeccagriffith.com.au
Cocoa & Bean Café, 167 Yambil Street, Griffith; +61 417 922 409; www.cocoaandbean.com.au
Whitton Malt House, 783 Whitton Darlington Point Road, Whitton; +61 2 6955 2592; www.whittonmalthouse.com.au
Raise a glass to Griffith
If you fly to Griffith, you’ll see an avenue of big wine bottles in Remembrance Drive just as you leave the airport terminal. It’s a strong reminder of how the Riverina region is home to some world-renowned labels and dozens of other wine, beer and spirit producers who might not be as famous but are worth putting on your radar.
The best-known label by far is Casella’s Yellow Tail. Australia’s largest family-owned winery produces around 140 million bottles of wine a year, accounting for around 16% of Australia’s wine exports. Much of that production is Yellow Tail, which this year celebrates its 25thbirthday.
Casella doesn’t have a cellar door but when you drive by and see the scale of the operation, I guarantee you’ll be astounded. Casella also owns Australia’s fourth largest brewery, Yenda Brewing Co. It doesn’t do anything by halves.
The other world-renowned label coming out of the Riverina region is De Bortoli Wines’ Noble One, a pioneer of Australian dessert wine when it was created in 1982. Still an industry benchmark, this luscious Botrytis Semillon is on the wine list for $12 a glass at Whitton Malt House. You can also taste it at the De Bortoli cellar door, along with the even more intensely flavoured Black Noble in an experience called Taste the Noble.
While visiting De Bortoli, be sure to book in to see Emeri’s Garden, a beautiful 14-acre garden planted by the matriarch of the De Bortoli family. It’s clear how much passion has gone into creating the garden with its stone walls, winding paths, billabong and rock waterfall framing views of the Noble One vines.
Step into the ‘big barrel’ cellar door in Hanwood to taste McWilliam’s Wines and stock up on premium fortifieds from this historic winery. Another cellar door I recommend is Calabria Family Wines where you’ll experience genuine Italian hospitality and a bar menu featuring panini, pizza, arancini and antipasto. You can also book in for special experiences such as a vertical tasting of Three Bridges Durif or lunch in Bill Calabria’s private cellar.
One of the nicest things to do is kick back on the terrace at Yenda Wines where you can look out over the vines towards the hills of Cocoparra National Park. In this bucolic setting, the wine goes down a treat with a platter of locally made charcuterie, condiments and crackers.
Owner/winemaker Sam Brewer turns out some smart wines, with an emphasis on Italian varieties which flourish in the region and reflect its Italian heritage (although Brewer himself is perhaps the only local winemaker who doesn’t claim Italian ancestry). Around 23 acres of Yenda’s 70 acres of vines are certified organic, and it is from the organic vines that its Pinot Grigio, Petit Verdot and Montepulciano are sourced.
More than 60 varieties of grapes are grown in the Riverina, and the region has also become known for its craft beer and locally distilled spirits. A good place to sample them in one spot is Harvest HQ, a wine bar and event space in the Art Deco-style Old Ambulance Station. Book in for a tasting or order by the glass.
De Bortoli Wines & Emeri’s Garden, De Bortoli Road, Bilbul; +61 2 6966 0111; www.debortoli.com.au
McWilliam’s Hanwood Estate, Jack McWilliams Road, Hanwood; +61 2 6969 0800; www.mcwilliams.com.au
Calabria Family Wines, 1283 Brayne Road, Griffith; +61 2 6969 0850; www.calabriawines.com.au
Yarran Wines, 178 Myall Park Road, Yenda; +61 2 6968 1125; www.yarranwines.com.au
Harvest HQ, 125-127 Banna Avenue, Griffith; www.harvesthq.com.au
Celebrate at one of the many festivals
Griffith knows how to party. At Easter, there’s a party celebrating the end of vintage, while in October there’s Spring Fest, with open gardens, a street party and creative citrus sculptures lining Banna Avenue.
In August, A Taste of Italy is a week-long celebration of events including a hugely popular salami competition attracting hundreds of entries from amateur salami makers. On the last Sunday in August, the Festa del Salsicce (Salami Festival) long lunch at the Yoogali Club Oval is like a big Italian wedding and completely embodies the spirit that exists in this vibrant community.
Luke Beltrame, who along with Sam Brewer is a winemaker at Yarran Wines, says Italian traditions have been embraced far beyond the Italian diaspora. “It’s pretty normal for people to get together with their mates and make salami every year or passata sauce or some homemade limoncello,” he tells me. “You don’t have to be Italian; it’s rubbed off on everyone.”
Getting there (and some architectural gems)
Griffith sits on neither the Sturt Highway running from New South Wales to South Australia, nor the Newell Highway connecting Victoria with Queensland. It is, however, just a small detour for motorists on both these major highways and is absolutely worth the detour.
Griffith is on the east-west Burley Griffin Way and north-south Kidman Way touring routes. Both are sealed routes, the Kidman Way linking with Queensland’s Matilda Highway, a popular outback touring route.
The Burley Griffin Way links Canberra with Griffith and is named for the Chicago architect who designed both cities. You’ll see Griffin’s award-winning design for Canberra echoed in the radial pattern and grand avenues in Griffith and neighbouring Leeton.
Both Griffith and Leeton have Art Deco buildings that will appeal to anyone interested in design. Some of the most impressive are the Griffith Regional Art Gallery, Griffith Library, and Zecca restaurant (all in Banna Avenue). Leeton has the splendid Roxy Theatre and holds an Art Deco festival in July.
It’s worth popping into the Griffith Tourism Hub (1 Jondaryan Avenue, tel: 1800 681 141) for visitor information and a great selection of regional produce, including olive oil and balsamic vinegars, olives, condiments, honey, and sweet treats.
More information about Griffith here.
All photos © FoodWineTravel
With thanks to Destination NSW for hosting me for two nights at the lovely Gem Hotel in Griffith and introducing me to the city’s many attractions, its excellent food and wine, and enterprising local businesses.
Prior to that, I visited Griffith on an excellent tour with Chef Christophe and Josephine. I paid my own way and can highly recommend their La Dolce Vita gourmet tour.
On another self-funded visit, Maurie and I stayed and dined at the Whitton Malthouse, which we loved.
