in room dining

the minibar

A.R.C. Wine

A.R.C. or A Random Collection was founded in 2017 by Jess and James Audas. After relocating from Sydney, the couple opened a permaculture farm in West Gippsland, perched between the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges and Mount Baw Baw

This magical region has rich volcanic soils which produce wines of elegance, poise and character. The wines are fermented in a mixture of Amphora, large format wooden barrels and tanks. A.R.C. have a hands-off approach to winemaking, only using native yeasts and no additions except sulphur when required. This allows the wines to express themselves. It is the winemaker's objective to always let the fruit shine through, and for the wines to tell the story of the incredible site where they are grown and fermented.

Available for purchase in the minibar:

2022 A.R.C. Baw Baw White, Warragul South, Baw Baw Shire - $40

A vibrant field blend of 65% Sauvignon Blanc, 25% Semillon and 10% Riesling from a selection of blocks on the Warragul Vineyard. Grapes were picked separately, direct pressed to stainless steel tank where they wild fermented and were blended once dry. This years version of Baw Baw white is richer than past as they left the sauvignon on the vine a touch longer to try and gain some more tropical notes to balance out the amazing natural acidity.

2022 A.R.C. Baw Baw Red, Warragul South, Baw Baw Shire - $40

50% Cabernet, 40% Merlot, 10% Riesling. The Cabernet and Merlot were picked early and underwent a short eight day maceration on skins after being destemmed. The Riesling component spent 3 weeks on skins and after being pressed was added to the red ferment. The wine remained in stainless steel tanks on full lees. With notes of raspberry and cassis this light red is almost like pinot and does well either chilled or at room temperature.

Loch Brewery & Distillery

​Loch Brewery & Distillery is located in Loch, South Gippsland, specialising in traditional British style ales & fine spirits. Established by Craig Johnson and Mel Davies in 2012, after a tour of the UK to find the secrets to distilling a great whisky, they quickly learnt they must start with a great beer base, and so, alongside their spirit range, is a fantastic beer range.

Visit Loch Brewery & Distillery cellar door Friday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm at 42-44 Victoria Road, Loch.

Available for purchase in the minibar:

A limited release gin designed for the perfect G&T in mind. Locally-sourced and sustainably-harvested native botanicals are added to traditional gin botanicals and bergamot to provide a long, clean citrus finish.

G&T Gin 200ml - $36

Loch pale ale can 375ml - $9

Loch best bitter can 375ml - $9

Gurneys Cider

Gurneys Cider is a family affair, formed in 2016 by the Gurnett’s. After emigrating from Somerset, England, in 2001, they yearned for the traditional dry ciders they left behind, so they decided to make their own! The cidery is a magnificent 70 acre farm in Foster, South Gippsland, with thousands of heritage apple trees, the cider production shed and an award winning cellar door, all built using local and recycled materials.

River Drive Motel showcases the Riesling Piquette - A collaboration with Inverloch’s Dirty 3 Wines. It’s made by soaking pressed Riesling skins in water for 48 hours, pressing again and blending with freshly pressed crab apple juice to produce an electric wine- cider fusion! (8% abv)

Visit Gurneys Cidery cellar door Wednesday to Sunday 12pm to 4pm at 343 Fish Creek Foster Road, Foster.

Available for purchase in the minibar:

Gurneys riesling piquette 750ml - $35

Beagle Brewing

Beagle Brewing Co is a sought-after, small batch microbrewery in Kongwak. Brewed out of a small shed, with all natural and local ingredients, including South Gippsland's own rain water, each batch is truly unique. No two batches are ever the same, and flavours are often based on what is abundant in the garden or locally at the time. This experimental and location driven approach results in a beer which is almost a time stamp for the region's produce and creativity. River Drive Motel stocks Beagle's latest brews, and a beer you are likely to never see again. You can sample Beagle's next brew at Kongwak markets on Sundays or over the farm gate at 1493 Korumburra Wonthaggi Road, Kongwak. Just make sure you call Michael on 0411 589 122 to check it's not sold out!

Available for purchase in the minibar:

Beagle Brewing Co's latest concoction - $9

Strangelove Drinks

Like all great, dysfunctional things StrangeLove started in Byron Bay in 2012. Their original mission was to not be unemployed like everyone else in Byron. Their secondary mission was to create exciting & interesting non-alcoholic drinks. Drinks with big flavours and great packaging, that didn’t taste like the colour blue.

River Drive Motel stocks Strangelove's coastal tonic, a dry, low-bitterness tonic that - through a unique blend of delicate coastal botanicals - heroes the nuances of the Loch g&t gin. Expect all natural ingredients with flavours of Sicilian lemon, bergamot, old man saltbush, coastal thyme, cinchona, sea parsley, Murray River pink flake salt.

Available for purchase in the minibar:

Coastal tonic - $4.5

Water - $3

Sparkling water - $3

bobby drinks

Born and bred in regional Victoria, bobby has created a range of traditional tasting soft drinks with some health benefits. bobby contains a premium all-natural prebiotic, which can aid digestion, increase the good bacteria in your gut and improve general well-being. Brace yourself for a soft drink contradiction that tastes so good, you won't believe it's low in sugar and calories, and contains zero artificial flavours or sweeteners.
Available for purchase in the minibar:

bobby cola - $4.5

bobby lemon - $4.5

Senza non-alcoholic aperitif

Senza was created by Robin Wilson and Larissa Wolf-Tasker from Lake House Daylesford, who wanted to create an interesting non-alc aperitivo. Inspired by the classic spritz of Italy and dreamy days sitting by Lake Como, Senza has flavour notes of gentian root, cassia bark, bitter orange, caramel, tangerine peel, star anise and cinchona. Enjoy as is over ice with a slice of orange, or spike it with a splash of Vermouth or Aperitif. We mix it with Campari, Punt e Mes, Maidenii (Nocturne or Classic Vermouth), Antica Formula or Amaro Nonino.

Available for purchase in the minibar:

Senza - $4.5

Chappy's Chips

Chappy's chips started in the back of a food truck in Melbourne's inner-city. Now equipped with its own mini-chip factory in port-Melbourne, Chappy’s Snacks makes good quality, hand made, small batch, kettle-cooked chips with local ingredients and no nasties.

Chappy's cook their chips “the old fashioned way”. Kettle-cooked is essentially “slow cooked chips” in small batches. Starting the process at a low temperature and then gradually bringing the temperature up while continuously moving the cooking chips. The result is a diverse batch of chips with personality, flavour, and texture. Chappys are vegetarian, gluten free, 100% natural, no added preservatives, made with premium high oleic sunflower oil and non-gmo potatoes, South Australian sea salt, and mostly local ingredients.

Available for purchase in the mini bar:

Australian sea salt - $6.5

Dill pickle - $6.5

WAWA Chocolatier

Driven by an obsessive passion for chocolate and a love of local Gippsland and ethical produce, Wawa Chocolatier combines the biggest of ideas in the smallest of kitchens to bring you the delectable Wawa range.

Based in Strzelecki, Wawa produces small batches of handmade chocolate blocks using manual tempering techniques, locally grown and produced ingredients and the finest French couverture. They let the incredible ingredients dictate the direction of the recipes. The resulting flavour combinations are unique and sophisticated making them a wonderful chocolate experience.

Available for purchase in the minibar:

Toasted sourdough dark chocolate - $16.9

Ultra Culture Planetary Produce

Ultra Culture is a freaky fermented flavour factory focused on creating delicious conscious products. They make small batch ferments that honour ever-changing seasonal and local ingredients. They are hand made in East Brunswick, vegan, gluten free, good for your gut, the earth and animals.

River Drive Motel recommends the pineapple and mountain pepper hot sauce with your bbq or your oysters, seafood, eggs and anything that needs a funky kick. It's a tad sweet, not too hot but very tart, and has a great peppery lingering numbing sensation.
Available for purchase in the minibar:

Pineapple + mountain pepper hot sauce - $15

Mabu Mabu

Mabu Mabu is an Indigenous owned food business on a mission to make native ingredients the hero of the Australian kitchen. Their range of pantry items is titled ‘Kara Meta.’ In the language of the Meriam People of Mer Island in the Torres Strait, this means ‘my home.’ Their small batch products with Indigenous and tropical flavours are all made by hand and sourced from suppliers who are passionate about Australia's Indigenous food industry.

Available in the mini bar is Mabu Mabu Organic Tomato Sauce - a classic all-rounded sauce, great with meat, savoury pastries and hot chips. Made with organic tomatoes, bush tomato, powdered mustard, celery salt, garlic powder, onion powder, white vinegar, sugar, pepper, cayenne, salt.
Available for purchase in the minibar:

Organic tomato sauce - $14.50

Really Good

Really Good are a Melbourne based company making really good snacks.

Their licorice is a traditional batch style recipe hand-made with licorice root and molasses, achieving the perfect balance of taste and texture, resulting in the ultimate licorice experience. 100% Australian made.

Their salted beer nuts are a perfect way to turn up the party, ideal for all snack-time occasions. Available in 160g cans.
Available for purchase in the minibar:

Really Good choc covered licorice $10

Really Good salted beer nuts can $12.50

COMPLIMENTARY

Love Tea

Love Tea is the brainchild of Emma Watson and Damien Amos. At the time of inception in 2006 Emma and Damien were naturopathy students, passionate about creating a range of teas that promoted ethical and organic farming and that benefited peoples health and wellbeing.

Jumping forward to today, Love Tea is a small group of dedicated folk in regional Victoria, who share the passion of making the world a better place. They collaborate directly with growers and small scale operatives around the world to source organic herbs. Each product is thoughtfully designed to ensure optimum therapeutic benefit, exceptional flavour and minimal impact on the environment.

Loose leaf tea is available complimentary to room guests:

This English Breakfast is a blend of high grown, quality, mid and small leaf Ceylon tea, grown in the Uva province in Sri Lanka and fairly traded with local growers. It offers a delicate balance of sweet muscatel body with a fresh and enlivening finish.

The Australian Botanical combines locally grown lemon myrtle, eucalyptus, anise myrtle blended and organic lemongrass. This caffeine free blend has a refreshing and uplifting quality, reminiscent of the Australian outdoors.

Naturopath designed Calming is a herbal blend of chamomile, lemon balm and lavender. These herbs have been used traditionally as a nervous system tonic;

Dukes Coffee Roasters

Dukes Coffee Roasters carefully roasts some of the best organic coffees in the world. Dukes works closely with coffee growers, cooperatives and producer groups across Central and South America, Africa and Asia. Their coffee is ethically traded and sourced from individual farms or small cooperatives with strong sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices.

The Dukes Blend offers complexity, balance, body and flavour profile. It is sweet, versatile and complex, with vibrant notes of red apple, caramel, milk chocolate, and cherry. Designed to be enjoyed black and with milk.

Dukes blend coffee bags are available complimentary to room guests

Bass River Dairies

This is Tarwin Lowers most local milk. It is fresh, pure, non-homogenised and pasteurised, meaning that the cream rises to the top, just like the good old days! Just give it a little shake prior to consumption. Bass River Dairy do not standardise their milk, so it changes with the seasons. Bass River Dairies was awarded gold medal for their milk at the Dairy Industry of Australia competition 2022, and has a selection of award winning fine cheeses under the Bassine Specialty Cheeses moniker.

You can visit the dairy at Bassine Specialty Cheeses, 2125 Bass Highway Glen Forbes, and taste for yourself!

500ml pasteurised non-homogenised cows milk is available complimentary in all rooms.

COSMETICS TO PURCHASE

Ashley & Co

Ashley and Co. is a modern day scent company, based in Auckland, New Zealand. Established just over a decade ago by Jackie Ashley, Ashley & Co now sends their unique scent style worldwide.

Bound by a passion for scent, the Ashley & Co. range includes home perfume, hair, hand + body cleansing and nourishing - and even a range of cleaning essentials. “Our ethos is simple: scent is good for the soul. It stimulates our senses and makes us feel present. We make a range of products that people can use multiple times during their day, at home and on the move, making multiple moments of scent-filled magic”, says founder, Jackie Ashley.

Not beholden to a particular style or trend, Ashley & Co. strive for considered simplicity in their range, comfortably weaving into your day to day, uplifting and bringing joy. Centred on Scent. Practically Poetic. Designed for daily discoveries.

Complimentary cosmetics available in the rooms are:

Hand soap & body wash - Washup gone green in mortar & pestle

Shampoo - Wash locks in peppy & lucent

Conditioner - Soft locks in peppy & lucent

Available for purchase in the mini bar are:

Lip Punch - $15

Better Balm - $30

ROCC Naturals Toothpaste

ROCC Naturals is a breath of fresh air in Australian bathrooms. Born in Melbourne, Rocc toothpaste is made from naturally derived ingredients, no nasties or numbers, packed with all the good stuff like vitamins and minerals and is fully biodegradable, so its packaging won't outlive you.

Available at the mini bar is their signature fluoride free toothpaste. River mint refreshes, green tea is a natural antibacterial and antioxidant, calcium carbonate gently polishes and lauryl glucoside, a plant based gentle surfactant helps to remove debris. Forgot your toothbrush too? Roccs bamboo toothbrushes are compostable and cruelty free.

Available for purchase in the mini bar are:

River mint + green tea toothpaste - $10

Biodegradable bamboo toothbrush - $6

Standard Procedure Sunscreen

Born under the harsh Australian summer sun, Standard Procedure, is a range of sun and skin care made to withstand the toughest elements. Ethically made in their solar powered factory, minutes from the beach on the Sunshine Coast, they formulate their sunscreen to be reef friendly, free of paba, parabens, oxybenzone and octinoxate, and use native Australian super fruits full of antioxidants and vitamins A, B + C.

Available for purchase at the mini bar is:

Sunscreen 50+ with clip 60ml - $16