While it sounds the ideal title for a children’s television programme about cuddly animals, Woody Nook is, in fact, the name of a 17-acre vineyard and an associated restaurant.

Associated but far apart – the vineyard is in the Margaret River region of Western Australia and the restaurant is on the borders of Oxfordshire and Berkshire, not far from Wallingford. Both have the same owners in Jane and Peter Bailey who believe that the “same elegant but rustic ambience” characterises both properties.

Their climates, of course, could hardly be more different, for while Australia has been sweltering through an ultimately disastrous heatwave, Woody Nook at Woodcote has endured the same freezing conditions lately as the rest of the UK. The snow began in earnest a few days after my Sunday lunchtime visit with Rosemarie and her mother. With commendable intrepidity, I thought, our photographer Ed Nix made his way along treacherous roads last Friday to take the pictures you can see on this page.

My expectation, hearing of the Oz connection, was that I would find the restaurant staffed by the likes of Barry Mackenzie and Crocodile Dundee, serving Vegemite sandwiches and assorted bush tucker. In fact, the waiting staff is largely French, under affable manager Michel Rosso, from Nice, and the range of dishes predominantly British (some local to Berkshire), though Australian fare – kangaroo and barramundi, for instance – is sometimes made available to complement the range of Woody Nook wines. Cooking is in the capable hands of chef Stuart Shepherd, who has worked at the restaurant for eight years since its days (under different ownership) as Ricci’s on the Green.

His Sunday lunch, as we discovered, provides excellent quality and value, at £15.50 for two courses and £19.50 for three. Besides the dishes I shall be mentioning presently, the starters included home-cured vodka and dill salmon with rocket salad and orange soup, Parma ham with a poached red pear, and cured meats with game terrine.

Main courses featured truffle ravioli with tomato sauce, pan-fried cod, fillet of Nile perch in bacon, and T-bone steaks (for a £5 supplement). As for puds, we saw wonderful-looking fruit pavlovas being delivered to an adjacent table. It turned out that these had been specially ordered, though: baked ricotta, ice creams and crème brûlée were those being offered besides our choices.

To start, I had herb-crusted Cornish sardines. There were two of them, served headless and filleted, which made them very easy to eat, with a dollop of lemon and garlic mayonnaise. Rosemarie had minestrone soup, light and traditional in style and served with what was said to be “crispy croutons” but was, regrettably, one piddly thin toasted slice cut from a baguette. Olive had smooth chicken liver and cognac parfait with port jelly. She thought it very good.

By this time we had already broached our bottle of Woody Nook Sauvignon Blanc, which had all the delicate and refreshing herbiness associated with this grape. It proved an ideal accompaniment to my main course, a good-size grilled sea bass served with smoked salmon butter and wilted pak choi. My traditionally minded companions both went for roast meat – Rosemarie the rare beef, which came in thick, just slightly rare slices with Yorkshire pudding, and Olive the slow-roasted leg of Welsh lamb. A side dish of brussels, carrots, turnips and rosemary roasted potatoes was supplied.

Glasses of Woody Nook Cabernet Sauvignon and its Killdog Creek Shiraz were sampled (the latter was perfect with the lamb) and with the plate of excellent local cheeses that followed. This shared delight brought award-winning gorgonzola-like Barkham Blue; yellow-rind Spenwood from ewes’ milk; creamy Wigmore with white rind and hints of ammonia; and runny Waterloo made with creamy Guernsey milk.

This was enough for me, but Rosemarie sampled the warm chocolate fondant, which was not liquid enough at its centre, and her mum enjoyed a sticky toffee pudding made special with a Suchard sauce as well as the usual caramel type. A fine lunch.