Month: March 2016

Bianca Vigna Prosecco @ The George Hotel South Melbourne

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Bianca Vigna Prosecco

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

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Rob Dolan Blanc de Blanc @ Port Phillip Mussel Festival

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ROB DOLAN BLANC DE BLANC

March in Melbourne is often one of our warmest months, even though it's technically the first month of Autumn. So when it comes to weather, you can never be entirely sure what you're going to get.

As with most of my recent escapades, the sun came out and gave us its best display, allowing for a prolonged and unexpected day out for me and my Sparkling companion.

I hadn't been to this particular event before, even though South Melbourne Market is a place I frequent at least every couple of weeks. So for this reason I was expecting that the "festival" was perhaps going to be more of a "sale" pointing you to the many seafood vendors there.

Instead I was overjoyed to see that street (Cecil St) on the east side of the market where the main strip of  restaurants and cafes are was closed off and filled with marquees, umbrellas and tables for people to really engage.

We had arrived around 1pm so it was in full swing by that time, and we were lucky enough to get a standing table with a tiny bit of shade available.

Whilst I held the table, my companion for the day went off to explore the various stands, which were by well known Melbourne restaurants who were selling their own particular style of mussel fare. Some were spicy Mexican, some were more subtle, but either way, it was all there to be enjoyed, perused and devoured.

And of course what better accompaniment than a glass of sparkling wine that magically appeared in front of me along with my plate of steamed mussels courtesy of my partner in crime for the day.

What I tasted was the not-too-sweet flavour of Rob Dolan Blanc de Blanc from  Rob Dolan Wines Black Label range. It had that beautiful pale straw colour that I love to see in a sparkling wine, with a flavour I can only describe as fresh yet delicate. Nothing overpowering here, just a very drinkable drop that I did enjoy whilst listening to the buzz of the crowds and the live music.

As this was a spontaneous visit, we missed much of the scheduled mussel cooking demonstrations by various top restaurants, but that didn't take away from the great vibe of the day as a whole. The live musicians, roaming performers and just experiencing South Melbourne Market in a different way was fantastic.

So book yourself and some friends in for next year. For more information and inspiration on the day that was, visit http://southmelbournemarket.com.au/mussel-fest/ 

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King Valley Proseccos : Dal Zotto, Chrismont, Pizzini @ MFWF

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DAL ZOTTO, PIZZINI, CHRISMONT

Prosecco Road Leads to Southgate

The city of Melbourne has many seasons, and ask anyone who visits and they'll say we get them all in one day.

In a lot of places, when the weather starts to cool down, so does the opportunity to go to great events. But in Melbourne, there's always something happening and Autumn is no exception.

Each year in March the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival brings us the delights of our amazing, world class culinary scene. And this year we went along to the event called "Prosecco Road Leads to Southgate" where an amazing collection of our most spectacular Victorian Prosecco makers transformed Southgate's promenade into a lively, vibrant scene of wine tasting accompanied by food, live music and hoards of people destined to appreciate the delights on offer.

Strolling on a glorious sunny Autumn day, meandering through the crowds and having a chat with many was nothing short of a divine way to spend a day. And so many options on offer it was almost impossible to know where to begin.

Dal Zotto's offering included Non-Vintage Pucino Prosecco, 2014 Vintage Pucino Prosecco and their amazing 2014 L'Immingrante Prosecco, all of which were stunning.

Pizzini had their Prosecco and also the low-alcohol Brachetto, which is perfect for late breakfast and brunch drinkers.

Chrismont had their incredible La Zona Prosecco, which I've already covered in a separate blog entry earlier this year.

Brown Brothers and Sam Miranda also had their sparkling on show but we didn't quite get to them and I look forward to trying them when I next visit the King Valley.

Lots of people, live music and bocce games amongst the wine tasting created a relaxed yet buzzing vibe.

Further along Southbank promenade was the River Graze, where there was a pop-up seafood festival, Crown Riverwalk hosted the Oakridge Urban Vineyard where members of the public were invited to take part in grape squashing and the more intricate nuances of winemaking. The AVPN Pizza Fest provided a space in which to meander through the many pizza makers with their staff furiously finishing dough by traditional hand kneading methods facing Melbourne's Yarra river with the relaxed crowds happily devouring their creations at the many tables on offer. Also nearby was a Veuve Clicquot Airstream bar with it's bright orange-yellow tables.

The Urban dairy at Queensbridge Square was also a great place to check out all things cheesy and creamy with of course, it's own bar as well. 

There was just seriously so much on offer at this year's MFWF that even with some serious planning you could not possibly attend every available event or event properly enjoy each section along Southbank and everything else happening along the Yarra. The superb weather made sure the masses were out in full force making for a vibrant, fun filled weekend no matter where you chose to be.

For next year, I've got the ticketed event, City Cellar on my MFWF 'must do' list.

Plan early for next year's MFWF by following them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and their website: http://www.melbournefoodandwine.com.au

 

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