Bianca Vigna Prosecco @ The George Hotel South Melbourne

SO March 13, 2016May 7, 2016

On the same day as the Port Phillip Mussel festival at South Melbourne Market, we decided that a more lingering afternoon was on order, given the beautiful sunlight we had been blessed with on this spectacular Autumn afternoon in Melbourne.

My sparkling companion and I moved on to The George Hotel, diagonally opposite the market, on the corner of Cecil and Coventry Streets. As a market regular, I had often passed it, and only once so far had I eaten there, so it presented us with another opportunity for the day.

Because of the sheer volume of people at the Mussel Festival, no doubt many of the crowd had decided the pub was a good people watching spot as well. The George has a decent amount of outdoor bench and table seating, which is great as it promotes chatting amongst both friends and strangers.

The inside was buzzing with people but the day was too good to sit indoors, so we grabbed a spot outside with a group of strangers and had a fabulous afternoon chatting with them about life, food, what we were drinking...

Which brings me to the next taste-test that I did on the day. Most pubs have one, maybe two sparkling wines on offer, but The George Hotel gave me four to choose from! There was Stony Peak NV Brut (Central Victoria), Bianca Vigna Prosecco (Italy) and Les Petites Vignettes Chardonnay Pinot Noir (France) and Louis Roederer NV (France). The first three available by the glass, the latter, available only by the bottle.

How wonderful they've covered 3 fabulous winemaking regions of the world.

I went straight for the Bianca Vigna Prosecco, but with a bit of apprehension, as I haven't yet found an Italian sparkling that I'm truly enamoured with, compared to our Prosecco makers of the King Valley in Victoria.

Luckily, this one didn't disappoint. It had the beautiful pale hue and taste-wise, what I'm learning to be the taste of pear and dry finish I really love.

To accompany my Prosecco, I had the Three Cheese Arancini Balls with Fire Roasted Capsicum Sauce served on a bed of rocket and parmesan, plus the more-ish beer battered chips.

Our newly made friends questioned why I was drinking sparkling wine in a pub. It's always interesting to me the image that is formed in people's minds about those of us who love our bubbles. These people seemed to think that a love of bubbles instantly means one of a few things: (1) That you are somehow upper class, or want to be, (2) That you are a "party" person, and (3) That you're an elitist of sorts because you're not drinking beer.

When I explained that it's a simple thing: I just really like it and love tasting new incarnations of it, they still thought I should be drinking what everyone else is drinking. But that's not me. Being a sheep is nothing I've ever done, and I'm not about to start now.

Bring on more bubbles I say! And thankfully, they certainly did…kindly buying myself and my sparkling companion the next 3 rounds – including the almost-fluorescent Aperol Spritz – making for a much more "bubbly" afternoon that either of us had expected.

For more information about The George Hotel South Melbourne, visit : http://www.tgsm.com.au

Share this:

La Zona Prosecco by Chrismont, King Valley, Victoria

SO February 3, 2016February 23, 2016

I have been waiting for ages to write about this particular sparkling wine, because it is high up on the list of favourites for me. The winemakers of the King Valley in Victoria certainly know how to romance my taste buds, and Chrismont makes this stunning Prosecco that just never fails to please me.

It's fizzy, light, delicate and satisfying all at the same time. And whilst packaging and labels don't affect the flavour of the wine, they've got the label design right as well. It's elegant and sophisticated, has tones of classical eras gone by, and yet somehow still modern...representing the La Zona Prosecco beautifully.

I had some guests over for what I like to call my "couch dinners". Instead of being too formal at the dining table and making people think they've come to a dinner party, this is food set up on a coffee table so all can kick back and relax on the couch, talk, drink, laugh and maybe take in a movie or whatever is on the box that night.

It casual setting, but that doesn’t mean lazy food. To go with Chrismont's La Zona Prosecco, I absolutely had to make some proper pasta – the hand made variety. And on this particular night I decided some silky pappardelle would be perfect. It's an old recipe, made with smashed up broccoli, garlic, anchovies and chilli as the "sauce" with a couple of other ingredients to top it off.

Needless to say it was a real hit, complimented the food perfectly as it just sings in unison with Parmigiano Reggiano we added.

It’s the perfect pre-dinner drink, dinner drink and after dinner drink!

#‎KingValley. #‎iloveprosecco #‎proseccotime #‎friends #‎family #‎couchtime #‎lazona #‎lazonaprosecco #‎kingvalleyprosecco #‎sparklingobsession

Share this:

Maschio Dei Cavallieri Prosecco

SO January 27, 2016February 17, 2016

So lately it seems I've been drinking more Prosecco than champagne. This hasn't been a deliberate thing, just something that's happened organically through people bringing me bottles to try and restaurants and bars having a Prosecco as the sparkling wine of choice on their menus.

A recent visit to a friend's place saw me greeted with a lovely cheese board and a bottle of Prosecco on offer. This one was another Italian DOC one, and was called Maschio Dei Cavallieri.

I can't say much about it that I haven't already said about other Proseccos I've had the pleasure of drinking of late, except that it was definitely drinkable by my standards. And in case this is the first post of mine you've read, what I mean by that is that I seem to sway towards the sparkling wines with the lighter coloured tones and more delicate flavours.

So what I will say is that it went down well with the food on offer, worked well with the lovely crumbly strong cheddar and overall was a respectable experience.

At the end of the day, it's just such a subjective thing, and for me, the company I am in will always outweigh the quality of the wine or food.

#proseccotime #iloveprosecco #italiansparkling #wine #champagne #ilovechampagne #sparklingobsession #cheese #wineandcheese #cheeseboard #friends

Share this:

RIALTO PROSECCO NV @ Arbory Bar Melbourne

SO January 26, 2016February 9, 2016

On a gloriously sunny Australia Day a walk around the stunning city of Melbourne is the perfect thing to do. Lots happening, people everywhere and plenty to see. And with the Australian Open tennis tournament in full swing, that means even more people flocking to the city from all over Australia and abroad to enjoy what the world’s elite tennis players have dubbed the “Happy Slam”.

My sparkling companion today is keen to get to one of the many pop up food stalls at the Australian Open Festival along Birrarung Marr – an area along Melbourne’s Yarra river that’s long and large, perfect for festivals and open air events of all kinds.

Being Melbourne, the food capital of Australia (and a place that competes side-by-side with other global cities in the culinary arena) the pop up stalls were not what a tourist would expect. There was no predictable greasy junk food, but instead a selection from some of the best restaurants and bars this city has to offer. Feel like some Thai food? Sure. Some Mexican or French? Of course. Authentic, high quality gelato in a myriad of flavours? Definitely. Greek street food? Yep. Modern Australian, naturally.

So we wandered through a well arranged space where we passed by Combi, Gelato Messina, Huxtable featuring Mr Claws, Huxtaburger, Lavazza, Mamasita, Uncle, Gazi, Organisc Avenue Juices, Cobb Lane, Canadian Club Racquet Club, Heineken & Jacob’s Creek Bar, Estelle and Mistress.

We were looking for a place to sit, chat, eat, drink and watch the tennis match de jour.

Of course it was super busy, but we managed to find a shady spot under a tree and park ourselves there for a couple of hours, enjoying the surrounds.

At one point, we decided to move from our space, and check out one of the other big screens at the Canadian Club Racquet Club. This was situated on one of the steep, sloping grassy areas. Great, we thought. No problem seeing the screen here, as impossible for anyone to block your view. So we bought some food and attempted to sit on the grassy slope, and soon discovered it was no easy feat. It was just too steep. I couldn’t even put my handbag down on the grass next to me – it had to go behind me so that it didn’t slide down the hill! And, the game just finished, so we had positioned ourselves pretty much to see nothing...oh well....

Deciding to move on from there, we were considering going across to the other side of the river, but something made us stick to the side we were on, and I mentioned to my companion that I had yet to visit The Arbory Bar – one of Melbourne’s newest, hippest places to be. It’s a cleverly designed area, in what was previously an unused space next to Flinders Street Station, right on the riverfront.

Being a long, narrow space, there are amazing views of this beautiful city making no seat a bad one, plus sexy beats pumping out from the sound system that give the place it’s super cool, yet relaxed vibe. We were in a great spot. Right opposite one of the cocktail bars and under the canopy of trees, making us feel far away from it all and yet still right in the midst.

Ahhh....finally time for a proper drink! And on the list of sparkling wines is an Italian Prosecco! So far, I haven’t been as enamoured by the Italian originals, even though they are the genuine article, but being the eternal optimist, I will give this one a try. Called Rialto Prosecco NV, my sparkling companion treats me to a glass whilst they sip on a specially prepared mocktail, lovingly created by an extremely accommodating and creative barman.

But back to the Rialto Prosecco. Pale in colour than most of the Italian DOC varieties I’ve tried so far, I am now excited to try this one, as I’ve gravitated towards sparkling wines that are less bright yellow. It was beautifully chilled and with that dry, but not too dry taste that I have come to adore. Sipping this cheery beverage on a warm summer’s late afternoon, watching the world on the other side of the Yarra go by, I am reminded what a wonderful city Melbourne is as those perfectly formed bubbles make their way through my body and bring me to a state of perfect relaxation and sheer contentment.

There was some irony, though....sipping Rialto Prosecco whilst looking at Eureka Tower, instead of Melbourne’s Rialto building. Still, it took nothing away from the pleasure of the afternoon and the pursuit of my Sparkling Obsession.

#RialtoProseccoNV #proseccotime #iloveprosecco #ItalianProsecco #ItalianSparkling #ArboryBarMelbourne #AusOpen2016 #sparklingobsession

Share this:

Tag: iloveprosecco

Bianca Vigna Prosecco @ The George Hotel South Melbourne