19/05/2026
It started innocently enough.
A chilly autumn day sparked a light hearted conversation as to what constitutes a good home made sausage roll. Handy tips and advice, that special ingredient that nan used to include. Good, wholesome winery banter.
But left unchecked we know how these things go.
Cracks soon started to appear in once cordial relations, heated discussions about vegetable content, cellar divides over meat ratios and virtue signalling about homemade puff pastry. Voices began to strain, fingers were pointed, traditional family recipes were derided and if we're being honest, lines were crossed. As David Gray opines in This Year's Love, 'heart's get torn when that hurt gets thrown'.
And so, to avoid the winery being completely torn asunder by a savoury baked good we were left with only one option - the first annual Warrabilla Wines Bit Of A Sausage Fest.
One entry per person.
Wine show conditions.
A blind tasting.
No condiments.
Judges decision final.
🍷 Barry had scale on his side, a girthy number that got bonus points for incorporating Rutherglen Muscat into the mix
🦌 David's Myrrhee Valley mystery bag was a home grown affair with venison from the long paddock, and his own apples and fresh chilli playing a part.
🍄🟫Deb's vegan offering saw mushroom and pine nuts doing the heavy lifting. A great effort, and naturally, all of the expected mushroom jokes were made.
🐷 Fierce competitor Stacey offered up a well presented, compact entry. An old school affair with pleasing porkiness.
🪴 Dark horse Rob surprised with a lovely aromatic little number. Well seasoned with good use of herbs.
🇮🇹 Lennie offered up a tasty little slice of Italy . Pork, pancetta, sage and apple. The spelt pastry was a nice touch, though left some traditionalists aghast.
🥓 Peta's was all about the presentation - a great home made pastry, with Murray River Smokehouse bacon the hero ingredient. A heavy hitter in a petite package.
👩🍳Laura's was a traditional masterpiece. Perfectly porky with high fat content, though murmurings of commercial collusion rippled through the judging panel.
🐔 Amy's much vaunted proprietary mince mix lived up to the hype. High veg content, with a little chicken mince to lighten the affair.
🍰 Emma wisely side-stepped the whole shemozzle and brought a cake.
After judges points were tallied, and all of the obligatory recounts had taken place, we were faced with a three way tie between Peta, Laura and Amy. Selflessly, Smithy offered himself up to judge another round of each, with Amy being judged the eventual winner.
Family hands on the scales? Nepotism in the workplace? Daddy's favourite? Absolutely, but nevertheless it was an all time great sausage roll - well done Amy 🙌
Now let us put all of this behind us and never speak of it again. Though have I told you about the secret ingredient in my leek and potato soup???
