Wine Dinner - Tuesday 22nd September

[Gallagags]

Amy & Michael paid up.

[gwagensteve]

Cheers guys.

I've called on my standby to fill the house.

It's going to be a great night. All wines will be shown blind so none of us know what we're tasting. This is always heaps of fun.

Steve.

[gwagensteve]

I was at an American wine tasting Phil was hosting today, and he's pretty excited about Tuesday night. He's apparently smashed the challenge wines.

Steve.

[Filmic]

We got a start time yet? Just wasn't sure If I missed it.

[gwagensteve]

7.00pm. Sorry if I hadn't made that clear earlier

Steve.

[Filmic]

Cool

Enough time to give cat a jab before I head in

[gwagensteve]

Well, that was a triumph. Huge thanks to everyone who came along and really engaged with what I was aiming to do. I think some preconceptions were smashed.

Steve.

[Greg]

Great night Steve and phil!

And congrats to me for identifying a wine

[gwagensteve]

I'll post the full list of wines tonight.

[gwagensteve]

Hi all, once again, thanks for coming along, I had a great night and I reckon everyone else did too.

Scopri excelled themselves with the food. The quality and service was very smart, as was the wine matching. Couldn't recommend them enough.

Here are the wines.

Bubbles:

Larmandier Bernier Terre de Vertus Blanc de Blancs 1er Cru Champagne, 2009 ($150)

This was Seonaid's Challenge wine, Dry Champagne. Fair to say no new ground was broken here for her, but it was a lovely choice

Whites:

Willem Kurt Vermentino Alpine Valleys 2014 ($26)
Domaine Zind-Humbrecht Terroir Riesling Alsace 2012 ($45)

Served with A Kingfish carpaccio.

McWilliams Mt Pleasant Lovedale Semillion Hunter Valley 1998 ($95)
Domaine Rewa Chardonnay Central Otago 2013 ($56)

Served with King George Whiting

Quite a few people had nominated whites of various styles as their challenge wine, an I had nominated natural wine as my challenge. This bracket of whites really turned some people around. The Chardonnay was very nearly my wine of the night and can almost be considered a natural wine, so that was a big surprise for me.

Reds:

Gemtree Luna Roja Tempranillo McLaren Vale 2014 ($27)
Conde de Valdemar Gran Riserva Rioja 2007 ($51)

Served with Veal, Lamb and Pork pasta

Gros Nore Bandol 2010 (Magnum, $132)
Nebbiolo (sorry, didn't get the details ($99)

Served with Osso Bucco

Tempranillo had been nominated as Greg and Fels Challenge wine, and the Bandol and Neb are certainly wines that are a bit outside the normal range of drinking locally. The Bandol came through as wine of the night. I was supposed to bring a Natural Syrah (Bobar Estate Syrah, Yarra Valley, 2013, $31) but didn't due to a misunderstanding. I'm glad I didn't as the Neb was lovely and the Syrah would have been my challenge wine (and I have tasted it before)

Stanton & Killeen Vintage Port 2006

Served with Cheese

And that was that.

Phil was an excellent host and guide. Hopefully we can get another one going for next year.

Steve.