Rose & Pinot Noir

What a great way to end the week - Rose & Pinot Noir with Pizza on a friday night!

Once again the line up didnt disappoint, we had old world, new world, some made close to Melbourne and Adelaide Hills made an appearance.

Bird in Hand D&B Pour Les Amour Rose - 2014, 11.5% Alc.
This was my pick of the Rose's, made from Pinot Noir grapes - dry in style, pronounced nose with confectionery aromas.  A very balanced, easy drinking - initial thoughts were that it was an old world style due to the dry and complex nature

Poggerino Aurora Toscana Rosato - 2013, 13% Alc.
Italian Rose, off dry, floral on the nose, savoury style - fantastic food wine!

Casa Lluch Valencia Rosado - 2013, 11.5% Alc
This was a really interesting wine compared to previous two - Spanish wine, honeysuckle on the nose, then on the palate dry and a bit spicy, capsicum, cherry, very luscious mouthfeel.  definitely a food wine.

Scotchman Hill Pinot Noir (Bellarine Peninsula) - 2012, 13.5% Alc.
Stylistic Pinot Noir characteristics of cherry, red fruits on the nose, on the palate complex - meaty, savoury, quite warming - Duck fat poatoes & Roast duck required.

Lindemans Bin 99 Pinot Noir - 2014, 13% Alc
Confectionery and slightly sweet on the nose, soft red fruit on the palate.  Approachable easy to drink style.

Te Mania Reserve (Nelson, NZ) - 2011, 13.5%
This is was a cherry fruit bomb on the nose, red fruits, slight confectionary notes.  On the palate, dry style, fruit driven but slight savoury touch - very well balanced, my personal favourite from the Pinot Noir line up.

Penfolds Cellar Reserve Pinot Noir (Adelaide Hills) - 2013, 14%
This is a great wine, perfect with food - great cherry, red fruit on the nose - complexity on the palate but overall well balanced and very enjoyable

New Chapter in 2015 - Melbourne Grapenights

Welcome to 2015 and the next chapter of grapenights.  I have moved to Melbourne and look forward to continuing my wine journey.

I have hosted 2 Grapenight events in Melbourne so far, attended the Riesling Riot event and also was also very happy to attend Adelaide Hills Crush in January with the original Grapenights crew.

Summer Sippers...17th January 2015

Adelaide Hills Crush Festival - 25th January 2015
www.adelaidehillscrushfestival.com.au
It was great to catch up with the original grapenights crew and go to one of my favourite wine regions in Australia.  We were able to check out the following wineries, tasted some sparkling, chardonnay and the pick of the day was the Rose from Artwine. Thankyou to Julia for organising us.

• Deviation Road
• Artwine
• Tomich Hill
• Bird in Hand

Riesling Riot - 8th February 2015
www.rieslingdownunder.com.au

This was held at the Docklands, there were some amazing Rieslings from all over the world.
 My picks for the day were - Brundlmayer in Kamptal Austria and Chateau Ste Michelle in Washington DC

European Theme.....Welcome Spring!

After our winter hibernation, the Grapenights wine tasting group re united on Friday 7th September.
The European theme was inspired by my recent visit to Europe where I traveled through France, Italy, Hungary and Croatia.  During my travels I tasted food and wines from different producers, there were so many I cant name them all.  One my highlights was a visit to Epernay, the home of Champagne and Moet & Chandon. Love Champagne!!

The wines we enjoyed for European Grape night;

From France.... Louis Bouillot Blanc de Blancs, matched well with a Mediterranean antipasto platter

From Hungary....Laposa 2011 Rizling, combined with dutch style voulet vents

From Italy, near Tuscany.....Tenuta Le Calcinaie 2010 Vernaccia Di San Gimignano, enjoyed with a vegetarian Lasanga

Also from Italy.....Tramin Pinot Grigio, enjoyed with antipasto featured in the picture above.  Special mention to the Woodside Cheese Wrights Monet Goat Cheese - sensational!

Final wine from Italy....Castello Romitorio 2009 Chanti Colli Senesi, enjoyed with a delicious spinach and ricotta cannelloni

All the wines were enjoyed by all and offered us something new and different than what we would generally enjoy on a Friday evening. 

The Chanti was the number one pick, it was the only red wine we had, however despite no competition with other red varieties, the complex flavours, its dry style with peppery taste on the palate kept us coming back for another sip.

The Best value of the five was the first wine, for French Champagne, the Louis Bouillot Blanc de Blancs offered exceptional value.

Next Grape nights will be Spanish Speaking countries and held on Friday 5th October.
Cant wait to see our Spanish inspired delights and wines!

 

Bay of Shoals Wines - Wine Tasting Night

Friday 22nd June has been locked in the diary.  The Grapenights group will be gathering to taste the latest release wines from Bay of Shoals, Kangaroo Island.  This will include the 2012 Sauvignon Blanc, 2008 Tawny as well as the new Riesling and 2009 red wines - Hill Shiraz and Beach Shiraz.

Grape Escape to Clare Valley Gourmet Weekend

The Grapenights concept has evolved to a Grape Escape this month.....last weekend the usual suspects and some additional friends departed Adelaide and travelled 2 hours north to the beautiful Clare Valley.
Congratulations to Clare Valley Gourmet Weekend organisers - we all had a fabulous time!!

We started the day with a stop at Mintaro, as we drove through the town the historic cottages caught our eye, with many a comment made.  After a visit to the Maze, we played a giant game of chess before moving onto our lunch stop.
We enjoyed lunch at Stone bridge wines.  We feasted on gourmet wood oven pizzas, a farmyard special, vegetarian and a scrumptious smoked salmon pizza.
The rain stayed away for most of the day, a light shower called for some closeness under the marquee while a local band entertained us.
The third and final stop before returning to Adelaide was the highlight. 
Little Red Grape....a regional cellar door, showcasing over 14 boutique wine producers from the region put on a great show. 

The next Grape nights will be on 22nd June, Bay of Shoals Wines from Kangaroo Island will be showcasing their range and showing us what Kangaroo Island can offer.
Loving the regional evolution!

Kangaroo Island Signature Dish

The 2012 inaugural Kangaroo Island Seafood Feastival was held last weekend in Kingscote, Kangaroo Island.
Saturday 28th April 2012

I was lucky enough to make the trip across the water to attend the opening function, My BBQ Rules dinner by Pete Evans on friday evening and the Feastival on the Kingscote wharf on Saturday 28th April.

As I approached the Kingscote wharf I was taken back by the lighting which has been erected, highlighting the historic wharf area, it looked fantastic. 
Kangaroo Island Spirits were up to their usual delights creating some amazing cocktails, my favourite was the Margarita, although the coriander special was a close second.  The oysters were delicious, freshly delivered to the wharf area.
My BBQ Rules dinner stood out from the crowd,  the entree, fresh figs & sheep's ricotta set the scene for a decedent evening.  The main was cooked at the end of each table, with each table having their own BBQ & chef (Pete of course!!) the whiting with tomato salsa was outstanding.  Dessert was a local Kangaroo Island cheese platter and who could forget the wines - Dudley wines, located on the east coast of Kangaroo Island.  If you haven't been to their new cellar door on Cape Willoughby road, get out there and check out the view, taste some wine and have a gourmet pizza!

Saturday was a highlight for me as I was asked to be a judge for the Tourism Kangaroo Island Signature Dish competition.  As chair of Tourism Kangaroo Island, Pierre Gregor was the master of ceremonies.  Pierre introduced the 4 contestants, each of extremely high standard and it was very difficult to pick a winner. 

The winner was Tony Nolan, here is the description of this dish.  All I can say is, get over to Kangaroo Island, get some local whiting & produce and get cooking - you wont regret it.  Some pictures below to share my weekend....

The winning dish was Kangaroo Island King George Whiting groached (grilled and poached) with False Cape Silver Mermaid, topped with Kangaroo Island Capers and Island Pure Haloumi Cheese flamed with KIS Lime and Ginger Spirit, served with Locklands Potatos, KI Fresh lettuce medley Fryars free range eggs, Latitude 36 homey Mustard dressing and Emu bay chilli chutney, Is Good samphire and KI Pure canola oil aoli.

Alternate Varieties

Our fourth evening.....19^th April, Pebbles was the perfect party host!

The theme – Alternate Varieties.  I find it a nice change to try something different other than the varieties we are all used to drinking on a regular basis.  April represents a change in seasons and this Grapenights was a change to our usual favourites and we had some amazing wines, enjoy!

The wines we enjoyed tonight ranged from sparkling dessert wine to an unforgettable Zinfandel from Barossa Valley and unique varieties in between.  Tonight the food matches were exceptional, careful consideration was given to contrast the flavours and textures of the food with the wine.

The wines we enjoyed were...

2011 Pikes Pinot Gris (Clare Valley):  This wine was very fresh, floral, easy to drink.  Food match was dips plate, natural yogurt based beetroot dip & veggie sticks

2011 Houghton Chardonnay Verdelho (WA): Well balanced wine, chardonnay style with Verdelho provided additional stone fruit flavours.  Smoked salmon & horseradish provided a nice contrast to the flavours in the wine, very tasty!

2010 Tscharke Savagnin (Barossa Valley): This surprised the crowd, demonstrating apricot & oak characters we thought it could be a Viogner, the new variety Savagnin (otherwise known as Alberino) was a good match with satay chicken skewers.

2006 Temple Bruer Shiraz Malbec (Langhorne Creek): The Malbec was distinctive on the nose, blended with Shiraz provided a subtle finish and perfect match with dark chocolate for a post dinner delight!

2006 Irvine Zinfandel (Barossa Valley): A very distinctive nose, beautifully developed fruit characters, a truly great wine.  Food match was toasted sourdough with Kangaroo Island Source beetroot relish, Island Pure Haloumi & fresh rocket.

Nebbilo: In traditional Italian style, this is a light style red wine, good for a summer red or well suited to dessert – caramel tarts & chocolate covered fruit delights.

D’arenberg The Stump Jump Fizzy Sticky (McLaren Vale): A botrytis style, subtle sticky honey flavours, good food match with cheese platter – Mersey Valley cheese & fig paste on lavosh!

Pick of the Day.....2006 Irvine Zinfandel, another great Barossa wine!!

Value Wine........D’arenberg the Stump Jump Fizzy Sticky which was purchased at $11

Special Mention....

To Cherrie – “you can put that on your cornflakes” was said about several of the wines tasted, particularly of the Stump Jump Fizzy Sticky

Our next Grapenight’s is a Grape Escape to Clare Valley for Gourmet Weekend – 19^th & 20^th May 2012.  See you there!!