Showing posts with label wine and food events. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wine and food events. Show all posts

12 November 2014

Producteurs Plaimont and Serge Dansereau: a special night of the wine and food of south-west France November 20th

This will be a special night of wine and food in Sydney. Serge Dansereau and his team at Bathers' Pavilion Restaurant, have put together this fantastic menu and we have matched some special wines from south west France. Serge has recently returned from touring the region so we are sure the food will be inspired!

The matched wines feature some excellent wines from the Producteurs Plaimont, one of the very best producers in the region. 

Export Manager Anais Breham will be present. She will be bringing her wine expertise and giving us also some insights into the rich history and food and wine culture of the region. This region has been producing wines from ancient indigenous grape varieties since the times of Benedictine monks and the pilgrims walking the Campostella de Santiago. By embracing modern wine-making techniques, Producteurs Plaimont have brought these previously "secret" grape varieties and good value wines to the world's stage.

The good folk of this region enjoy an unparalleled quality of life and "joie de vivre"- including slow food and wonderful wines to match. 

Come and find out some of the secrets!

For bookings please call 9969 5050 or email eat@batherspavilion.com.au



20 October 2014

Melbourne French Festival Paris to Provence November 21-23


The Team at DiscoverVin is excited to be participating in the Paris to Provence Festival in Melbourne November 21-23.

To whet your appetite here is the Paris to Provence Web Series - Gabriel Gaté cooking at home!

By the way you will find our friend Gabriel Gate in some of our earlier our earlier blogs, cooking with some DiscoverVin wines.



7 June 2014

Bordeaux Wine Festival - Fete le Vin!



One of the worlds great wine festivals unfolds this month on June 26th to June 29th. Held on the banks of the Garonne river in the UNESCO World Heritage listed city of Bordeaux a series of wine tastings, wine events, concerts will take place. 

A spectacular son et lumiere (sound and light show) is projected onto the magnificent buildings around Place de la Bourse (refer photo) and fireworks are launched from barges on the river. 

There is so much more to the city of Bordeaux but wine is integral to the economy and heritage of the city. On this one week-end every second year the Bordelaise and visitors from across the world celebrate the wines of Bordeaux!

This festival is definitely worth planning around for any trip to France.

More details on the Bordeaux Fete le Vin website

8 April 2014

A (very) long lunch at Melbourne Food and Wine Festival


As part of the 2014 Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, it was a great pleasure to collaborate with  Damien, Daniel, Georgie, Lincoln and the team at Van Haandel and Comme to stage a french Long Lunch. The theme of the festival in 2014 was water and we spoke about the influence of the great rivers and Gironde estuary of the Bordeaux region in shaping terroir and the production of premium wines. Some great food and wine was served and everyone seemed to have a great afternoon! 




Luckily the weather was perfect and 85 people came along for this superb food and wine event in Alfred Place.

First up was the entrees: Baked Oysters, leeks, comté gruyere & Vin Jaune; Mussel and saffron soup, fennel, basil; Cassoulet of garlic snails. 

The oysters were washed down with the delicious Grand Bateau Bordeaux Blanc 2012 A semillon/sauvignon blend made by the grand cru team at Chateau Beycheville and given 91 points recently in the Courier Mail in Brisbane.



We then moved onto the ever popular Chateau La Rayre Bergerac Rosé 2012 which was great with the mussel soup and with the cassoulet (and on its own!) . It was a burst of colour and flavour! 



On to a platter of main courses. Squab, grapes, foie gras parfait. Beef, vol au vent, Bordelaise sauce. 2 delicious and inexpensive reds showing off the left and right bank of Bordeaux - Château Senilhac la Prade, 2009 and Château Truquet, 2011. (The Senilhac La Prade has now sold out, but something similar from the same excellent vintage is Chateau Haut-Belian 2009 )




Cheese platters arrived followed by desserts to share- madelines, canelé, lemon curd and cream. Dessert wine was poured- the delightful Chateau Le Pradey 2009 Sainte-Croix-du-Mont just across the Garonne river from Sauternes (but selling for a fraction of the price of Sauternes and Barsac wines).

Surprisingly, nobody was in a hurry to leave! 

For information on upcoming events, sign up for our monthly mailing list at info@discovervin.com.au or keep an eye on our events page.




12 January 2014

Bordeaux Dinner Brisbane January 31, 2014


menu c'est bon brisbane bordeaux dinner January 31, 2014
DiscoverVin was pleased to do another food and wine event with Celine Damour and her team at C'est Bon restaurant in Woolloongabba on January 31st.



This restaurant has a loyal following and is well known for its award winning cuisine. It is a bastion of french culture, cuisine and hospitality.

The Bordeaux dinner featured 6 courses and matched wines...




 domaine de la croix rose magnum











Guests were welcomed with a refreshing glass of rosé by Domaine de la Croix Irresistable cru classé from Provence. Poured from magnums and accompanied by an amuse -bouche of Bayonne Ham, it was a great start to the evening. Domaine de la Croix  is a classy, crisp rosé from a premium producer. 


It comes in a stunning bottle. The magnum certainly turns heads at events and dinner parties.

This is currently one of our best selling wines and so it was not really a surprise it was so well enjoyed by all as an aperitif.






The first sit down course was a beautiful dish- Monkfish in a pastry case with a rich red wine sauce. 

It was perhaps a little unusual to have a red wine sauce with fish, but since monkfish is a fairly robust fish, it worked well. 

And certainly what worked extremely well was the wine match. The delicious semillon/sauvignon blanc blend from the Graves appellation of Bordeaux- 
Chateau Haut Peyrous-Pêche au Carrelet-Graves Blanc 2010. This organic white wine is made by Marc Darroze who recommends that it is served with fish dishes or eel. It was perfect with the monkfish. Many commented that this textural dry white wine was the match of the night. 




Next up was one of our favourites, duck breast with a peach sauce which was beautifully cooked (not overdone) and with a lovely sauce taking advantage of a seasonal ingredient.

The wine was really special and one that we have not often had the chance to show at a dinner: Clos des Quatres Vents 2007 from the Margaux appellation on the left bank of Bordeaux. 


Clos des Quatre Vents consists of a tiny 1.2 hectare plot planted with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.  The proprietor is Luc Thienpont. The estate produces only 6000 bottles/500 cases from a vineyard planted with very old vines with an average age of 80 years old.  The vineyard is situated on a plateau at the entrance to the town of Margaux, surrounded by Cru Classée vineyards.
This wine was made by Jacques Boissenot, wine consultant to four of the five First Growths of the Médoc, and named Winemaker of the Decade in 2010 by the Chinese Bordeaux Guide to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the publication.
It showed its obvious class, with layered deep fruit, fine tannins. It has balance, poise and restraint. Wonderful!







The main course was a rich beef stew- boeuf carbonnade. We served 2 older Bordeaux wines. 

Chateau Lannessan 2004 and Chateau Rollan de By 2006.

Both married beautifully with the rich beef dish. The room was divided on which was better. Some preferred the Lannesan with its soft integrated tannins and some preferred the Rollan de By, a classy wine currently being served in Air France business class ! 




We then had a refreshing pre-dessert, an apricot and fennel sorbet, which sharpened our palettes for desert.

Dessert was spectacular, a pear poached in sauternes , sitting on a hazelnut biscuit base and surrounded by a cinnamon and chocolate sauce.

To accompany this was a classic sauternes from a small family producer Chateau de Rolland 2007 .  The "10 best list" in France in 2013 named this wine in the 10 best value Bordeaux wines

It was perfect with the pears and a great way to finish a wonderful night  of great food and wines.

18 May 2013

South West France Dinner Bathers Pavilion May 23rd 2013


We are very much looking forward to seeing our Sydney friends this week at a south-west France dinner at Bathers Pavilion in Sydney. 

The menu looks fantastic and the wines will be great!

This will be your chance to explore (or re-aquaint yourself) with the food and wine of this beautiful region of France.

At the time of writing this, tickets are selling fast. Please contact Bathers Pavilion on 0299695050 or eat@batherspavillion.com.au for bookings or for more information. 

We look forward to seeing you there. If you can't make it, follow the blog and we will post some photos/details after the event!


Jeeper Royale Champagne Dinner

Join us for a very special Jeeper Royale Champagne 5 course degustation.  Sam Ferjou of Champagne Jeeper, DiscoverVin and Rosé Roya...