Reviews
THE AGE GOOD FOOD GUIDE
2010 THE AGE GOOD FOOD GUIDE: 15/20 1 Hat
THE AGE GOOD FOOD GUIDE
2009 WINE SERVICE AWARD: Rocco Esposito
THE AGE GOOD FOOD GUIDE
2009 THE AGE GOOD FOOD GUIDE: 15.5/20 1 Hat
THE AGE GOOD FOOD GUIDE
2008 THE AGE GOOD FOOD GUIDE: 15/20 1 HAT
The Age Good Food Guide
2007 The Age Good Food Guide 14/20
The Age Good Food Guide
2006 The Age Good Food Guide 14/20
AUSTRALIAN GOURMET TRAVELLER
2010 Australian Restaurant Guide: 1 STAR 2 GLASSES
AUSTRALIAN GOURMET TRAVELLER
2009 Australian Restaurant Guide: 1 STAR 2 GLASSES
Reviews
THE AGE GOOD FOOD GUIDE 2009
RESTAURANT REVIEW
Wardens Food & Wine: 15.5/20
Wine is important to Rocco Esposito and his enoteca-cum-restaurant, Wardens. Rocco's wines reflect styles that suit Douglas Elders mostly contemporary Italian food.
A warming hybrid of Old and New Worlds with real regional pride thrown in.
THE AGE GOOD FOOD GUIDE 2009
WINE SERVICE AWARD
(Previously Sommelier of the Year)
He's ebullient yet focused and always engaging-and he knows as much about wine at this fine country restaurant as he does about its modern Italian food. While Esposito — an Italian — has an obvious affinity with the wines of his birth nation, he's equally erudite on the rest of Europe and Australia, and passionate about 'his' region of Beechworth.
WINE LISTS
by Jane Faulkner, for The Age Good Food Guide 2009
“We don't mind whether the person advising us on the wine list is a sommelier, a waiter or an owner, so long as they know what they're talking about. Our unanimous choice of this years winner — Rocco Esposito, waiter, wine expert and restaurant owner at Wardens Food & Wine in Beechworth — is the epitome of that. If only we could clone him.”
GOURMET TRAVELLER
2009 AUSTRALIAN RESTAURANT GUIDE
Wardens Food & Wine: 1 Star, 2 Glasses
There's a wine and food renaissance happening in Victoria's north-east and at Wardens, Rocco Esposito has put himself at the centre of it. Wine, coffee and service are Esposito's forte; chef Douglas Elder concentrates on his own passion: Italian inspired food from local produce. Wardens is the kind of place we all need in our lives, or road trips.
THE AGE GOOD FOOD GUIDE 2008
RESTAURANT REVIEW
Wardens Food & Wine: 15/20
The North-East's answer to Melbourne Wine Room. Rocco and Lisa Esposito bring impeccable hospitality skills from the big smoke to a wine bar/dining room that would cut it anywhere. Chef Douglas Elder is a tree-changer with CBD credentials, and Italy is his thing too. A Gem.
Herald Sun
Tuesday, June 14th 2005Stephen Downes Dining out Review
Wardens score: 18/20
In Summary: Wardens is the best thing about Beechworth. (But have a look at Ned';s cell and other historic sited and buildings too, if you haven't already.) The wine list is extensive, top drops quite expensive. But there is considerable relief in the high $20s and low $30s, and three whites and three reds come by the glass.
Service is excellent.
The Age Good Weekend
October 22nd 2005Dining á la carte
Country Hotels, wineries with views, rural food.
Wardens Food & Wine: This rustically swank Med restaurant and wine room, housed in the old wardens pub, is a lively addition to Beechworth. Run by the experienced Rocco Esposito (formerly of Cecconi's), it's seasonal offerings include whole Harrietville trout, pan-fried Welsh black beef and crème Catalan with a blood orange and mint salad.
Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine
December 200545 favourite world wine lists
What use is five-star fare without a finely chosen drop to match? Here our vinous sleuths take in dining venues from Melbourne to the Maldives to bring you top lists from the global wine trail.
Here's a wine bar in a quiet country town selling and serving damn fine booze, and it's not often that you can say that. By fine I mean excellent boutique Australian labels and then a rash of Italian and French and Spanish, a selection of them always by the glass. You can walk in on a hot January afternoon with the sun blazing onto the pavements and order a glass of Castagna Rosé, an Italian pinot grigio or something more substantial, and you always know that the selections have been put there with care.
Rocco Esposito, who runs and owns Wardens, has a blessed wine-selection policy: “I don't listen to what people tell me about their wines. I just listen to what my mouth tells me. If I don't like it, why should I sell it?”
- Campbell Mattinson