Little Wolf Osteria

To build with shipping containers seems to be the latest hype, but the charcoal colours of the steel combined with lots of dark timber and glass walls do nicely blend into the environment of the surrounding vineyards and old gum trees; it is a quite a picturesque and beautiful approach to the Mitolo Wines cellar door and restaurant.

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The restaurant is attached to the cellar door and we definitely recommend to have a tasting first – Mitolo produces some truly amazing wines, from the ‘entry level’ Jester series to the Small Batch and Single Vineyard series.  We for example settled on the Jester Sangiovese Rose rather than the Small Batch range Mitolo Grenache Rose after our tasting: the Sangiovese Rose, fresh and crisp with a long dry finish, was just the perfect match for the hot summers day food we chose.

Not for a summers lunch – but you have to try the Angela Shiraz – absolutely stunning.

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The restaurant attached to the cellar door, wouldn’t have been amiss in inner Sydney or Melbourne; stylish and ultra-modern – beautiful to look at, but - and that is the only minor criticism we have - given the building materials used, it always has been a bit too noisy for us (might also be a sign that we are getting old ...)

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But to be fair, that doesn't really matter any more, once you start indulging in the food on offer. And this for us has been the biggest transformation when Bocca di Lupo, their original fining dining restaurant was been reborn as Little Wolf, with an osteria style truly Italian menu. We thought the food at Booca di Lupo was beautiful to look at but we missed the flavour explosion - what a difference today, beautifully designed but hearty meals and full of flavour. Simply delicious!

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Now, traditionally an Osteria in Italy is a wine bar serving wine and simple, hearty Italian fare, usually only limited choices and with plates meant for sharing. The new menu certainly meets part of that definition, with smaller and larger  plates on offer. Think gnochetti, pizza, arrosticini ...  beautiful pasta and all the way to cotoletta milanese.

All truly Italian, hearty and not overly complicated but oh so delicious. Still very much fine dining destination and not for a quick snack, but other than in a traditional osteria you won't be limited on choices.

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We only picked a few items of the menu - but definitely will go for one of the 'Da Noi' (feed me) or 'La Parnada' (long lunch) options next time -- it's just too hard to decide what to have.