Hentley Farm Dinner at National Wine Centre

June 28, 2013May 19, 2016 - Alex Prichard Leave a comment

disclaimer: I was the National Wine Centre‘s guest at this dinner.

date: Wednedsay 26 June 2013

If you follow the Eating Adelaide calendar (and the sporadic Friday posts on Facebook) you’ll know that throughout the year, the National Wine Centre (NWC) has been hosting a series of wine dinners. In my pre-baby life, I would have been all over attending events like this but those kind of activities have slowed down somewhat in the last almost 4 years, so while I’ve been able to tell you about them happening, there have been no first hand accounts.

Luckily for me, the National Wine Centre extended an invitation to attend the Hentley Farm dinner. I was thrilled that I was able to accept (thank you, Andy, for not only taking on baby sitting duties but also dealing with the flat battery due to some idiot leaving the car’s lights on) but also very interested because Hentley Farm is a winery that has a good reputation (both for its wines and its cellar door restaurant). It’s somewhat remiss of me not to be familiar with their wines so this was an opportunity to fix that.

So I spent a good month looking forward to this meal, and finally headed along to the centre’s Vines dining room, feeling a bit self conscious that I’d be walking into the event solo but figuring that I would at least recognise Lucy from the NWC.

The evening started with mingling, the Hentley Farm Riesling (the only wine for which grapes are not sourced from Hentley Farm’s Barossa estate) and delicious kingfish canapés, served with finely shaved radish, kohlrabi and fennel and finished with a Meyer lemon purée. These worked really well with the vegetables providing texture and layers of flavour and the lemon purée finishing off the morsel cleanly with a tasty citrus zip.

It came time to sit down and I headed off to my table, and sat down next to a couple. I turned to introduce myself to the woman next to me. “Hi, I’m …” I started, only to have my sentence finished. Yes, only in Adelaide can you head along to a dinner and randomly sit next to someone you went to school with and haven’t seen in the last n years!

Katie now works for the design company which does lots of work with the NWC, but since leaving school she’s done a couple of degrees, worked in the US and done the family thing. So there was a reasonable amount to catch up on.

Also at the table was Andrew Quinn and Keith Hentschke, Hentley Farm’s winemaker and owner respectively, as well as some NWC staff and guests. Both Keith and Andrew spoke between courses to introduce the wines and Hentley Farm story. I thought that they struck the balance between being informative and entertaining really well and I loved that they chose not to use the lectern but wander around the room a little (something that only works if you’re confident and can project your voice!). It made their talks feel more like chats and I think it definitely encouraged questions.

First course was a trio of entrées: belly pork, duck confit and black sausage, served with haricot beans. While I really liked the concept of this dish, I thought that the black sausage was a little bit lacklustre. My time in England was spent eating a lot of full English breakfasts and forming some very strong opinions on black pudding and I’m yet to find one in Adelaide that cuts the mustard. Which is a shame because pork belly and black pudding is one of those really classic combinations. The entrée was served with the 2012 “The Stray Mongrel” (a Grenache Shiraz Zinfandel blend) and the 2012 Zinfandel. My pick of these two wines (both in terms of the wine and the wine and food match) was the straight Zin. In particular I thought it worked really well with the anise flavours in the duck.

Next up was, what was for me, the star dish of the dinner. Venison loin, served with chestnut and celeriac, date compôte and pickled blueberries. I love venison and celeriac but have to admit I was a bit nervous about the date compôte. I’m a bit funny about fruit in savoury things – especially something that might be so obviously sweet as dates. But my goodness – it worked really well and next time I am cooking something gamey (probably relatively soon, as I have some pheasants coming my way) I’ll definitely be experimenting. I was also really impressed that the venison was served beautifully pink. Well done to the kitchen. Too often meat served at functions will be overcooked and dried out – something that is both easier to do and avoids any complaints from the well done brigade. Congratulations to the kitchen at the NWC.

This course was paired with 2011 The Beauty and 2010 The Beast. Both Shirazes but wines that receive very different treatment. The Beauty is 3% Viognier (cofermented) and sees 40% new French oak, whereas The Beast is 100% Shiraz and sees 80% new oak. Now, based on those descriptions alone, I would probably choose The Beauty as my pick, but on the evening, The Beast really stood out as the stand out wine (of the dinner) for me.

The final course saw the 2010 Clos Otto Shiraz served with Ossau-Iraty: a French sheep’s milk cheese (which also happens to be one of my favourite cheeses). The cheese came with some hazelnut baguette and black cherry jelly. While the baguette was neither here nor there for me, the black cherry jelly was excellent (served with some crushed hazelnuts on top) and a really clever change from serving quince paste.

The meal wrapped up with door prizes, some wine specials if you wanted to buy wines and, naturally, coffee and chocoMe chocolates.

I think it’s obvious that I had a great time: some of my favourite things to eat were served, along with some very classy wines. The real litmus test with events like this is – would I spend my own money? And unreservedly, I can say I would. The dinners are usually around $100-$120 a head and they are set menus, so if you are a picky eater they might not work for you. But if you like food and wine you should have a ball.

And you might even sit next to someone you went to school with …

The next dinner is on Wednesday 17 July and it will feature wines of the Hunter Valley. More details are available on the National Wine Centre site. The dinners do usually sell out so if you are interested in heading to one – don’t dawdle!

Loft Oyster and Wine Bar

May 30, 2013 - Alex Leave a comment

date of visit: Wednesday 22 May 2013

disclaimer: I was a guest at the Loft launch party.

how every good party should wrap up …

With licensing laws changing to accommodate small bars and an increasing number of wine bars, I think it’s obvious to all that Adelaide’s bar scene is undergoing a subtle change. While there may be some very real concerns about whether or not Adelaide can sustain all these venues, the people behind Loft Oyster and Wine Bar* certainly think it can.

Loft is a massive, first floor bar at the Morphett Street end of Gouger Street. It actually opened about a month ago and a friend hosted his farewell drinks there a couple of weeks back. I was unable to head out that night but fortunately, karma looked on me kindly and an invitation to the official launch party landed in my inbox.

Once the issue of what to wear had been solved (and yes, if you’re heading somewhere straight from work this does represent a dilemma!), and we’d eaten some dinner, it was time for my friend and me to head to Loft.

The red carpet was out for the VIPs and we headed upstairs to be greeted with glasses of Louis Roederer Champagne. One of my biggest pet peeves of all time is people referring to random sparkling wine as Champagne. In Adelaide, of all places, we should know better. I’ve been to weddings in very flash hotels here where guests are offered “Champagne” only for it to be Australian sparkling wine (and not even locally produced). So I was thrilled that the invitation delivered on its promise, because a wine bar that messed that up would really suffer in the credibility stakes!

The bar runs along one side and the room is broken up at the far end by a circular curtain. The street facing side of the room has a balcony which was all opened up. This was fantastic because even though it was a relatively cool night, it helped keep the interior area cool and comfortable. The downside was, of course, that people were smoking on the balcony, and every now and then you’d get a breeze of slightly less than fresh air. I’m not sure how you’d fix that but maybe something the Loft management can consider is designating part of the balcony a smoking area and keeping the doors and windows there closed.

Being a launch party, I’m not in a position to comment on the usual beverage selection (or prices) but I was really impressed with a large counter which played host to an interesting and broad selection of white wines. Someone with more than a passing interest in wine put it together: there aren’t many venues where you can find Ducks in a Row Fiano side by side with Greywacke Wild Ferment Sauvignon Blanc and a Chablis … (name dropping over, I promise!).

unfortunately not my bar at home …

I didn’t try any of the canapés (yes, perhaps I ate too much at dinner) but my friend, purely in the interests of research and the integrity of this review, tried an oyster which received a thumbs up.

Loft was formally launched by Ben Tolstoshev of The Lane, with a very short and sweet speech that allowed everyone to get back to the serious socialising!

Loft is open Wednesday – Sunday and for wine drinkers I’d say it’s a must visit venue. For everyone else, I’d head along and check it out because you’re bound to find something you’ll enjoy. I know I’ll be heading back to take a serious look at those white wines …

* Loft’s website is under development: currently it’s just a landing page.

Nepenthe Twilight Tasting

April 19, 2013 - Alex Leave a comment

disclaimer: I was Nepenthe’s guest at the tasting

date: Friday 5 April 2013

I think we all know I am something of a wine geek (or bore, depending on your point of view, I guess). So when an email arrived inviting me to a special twilight tasting at Nepenthe Wines, in the beautiful Adelaide Hills I was always going to make the effort to attend.

Most wineries can lay claim to some pretty stunning scenery but Nepenthe is especially pretty, with the cellar door sitting on top of a hill overlooking vineyards, the view punctuated by a massive gum tree. But don’t believe me: my guest, who had not been to Nepenthe before, admitted the location had her second guessing her own wedding venue!

This tasting was a one off event by Nepenthe to launch the Autumn “club pack”. Six wines were paired with six different canapés which sounds quite formal. But that wasn’t really the case at all. As guests arrived they were greeted with the Altitude Sauvignon Blanc and, as it was such a beautiful evening, people soon spread themselves out across the cellar door’s verandah and onto the lawn. This meant that I, at least, ended up tasting everything in what was probably the wrong order. The staff ended up pouring quite a few different wines that weren’t on the main list, so it ended up being a great opportunity to try a range of the Nepenthe wines.

The absolute stand out wine of the evening for me was the Altitude Pinot Gris. I do not say this lightly. If you know me, you know that I will avoid Pinot Grigio at pretty much all costs. Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio are the same grape: one is the French name and one the Italian. However, using the different names on labels is not mere pretension on the part of the winemaker or the marketer. The Italians and the French make the grape into wines of very different styles and here in Australia, the use of the Italian or French name is trying to communicate something of the style to the consumer.

The Italian Pinot Grigio tends to be a light bodied, easy drinking quaffer of a wine. It’s inoffensive, light and refreshing. Understandably, it has many fans and it’s increasingly popular as a by the glass option in pubs and restaurants here in Australia. The French Pinot Gris (most commonly from the Alsace region in eastern France) is a little different: it has a bit of weight, oomph and spice.

The Nepenthe Altitude Pinot Gris delivers on that promise. It has that bit of weight, it certainly has spice, but it retains the acidity that makes it refreshing to drink. It’s interesting and, because we always need a bit of wine jargon – it’s textural. I actually went to a bottle shop the next day and bought a bottle (I was going to buy one on the night but by the I made that decision so had everyone else and there was a queue!).

The warm evening meant that I wasn’t really in a red wine mood, but I didn’t pass up the opportunity to try the 2009 Good Doctor Pinot Noir, and my red wine drinking friend gave a thumbs up to the two Shirazes (Altitude and Gate Block).

I have to mention the food. The catering was by Two Brothers and while I won’t pretend that absolutely every canapé was on song there were a few dishes that were amazing.

The sweet potato and avocado salsa on rye was amazing. I don’t like sweet potato particularly but this was so creamy and zingy: the balance between sweet potato, avocado and lime was absolutely spot on. They looked perfect and tasted even better. Absolutely the highlight of the canapés for me – testified by the fact that there is no photo because I was too busy eating it!

The Kerala prawn fritters, served on what looked to be some kind of prawn cracker, were lovely too and the pastry on the kingfish and beetroot tarts was beautifully short and thin (though I did think the quark needed a bit more oomph to it to stand up to, and cut through, the beetroot).

Overall, I thought this was a really lovely event. It was free for Nepenthe’s VIP club members and a really great way of making people feel a bit special and showcasing both the winery and the wines. The numbers were kept low so everything felt very intimate and there was always an opportunity to chat to staff.