From Barolo to Burgundy
Benchmark the world of wine with Melbourne Food and Wine Festival
Media release
Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, Melbourne, Victoria [©Great Wine Capitals]
With some of the globe’s best wine identities trailblazing their way to Melbourne in March (12 – 23 March, 2010), Melbourne Food and Wine Festival’s fortnight-long wine program sees Italy’s hottest producers join a roll-call of world-class Australian winemakers, sommeliers, writers and other experts.
Returning to Langham Melbourne MasterClass, Acqua Panna Global Wine Experience decants into exclusive 2.5-hour sessions. The wine obsessed can expect to journey through Piedmont with earthmother Chiara Boschis, young philosopher Giuseppe Vaira and regional forerunner Gaia Gaja; to traverse Burgundy from north to south; to philosophise with Australia’s First Families of Wine; and to make a privileged foray into one of the best cellars in the world, Rockpool restaurateur David Lawler’s $40 million private collection.
The Festival will also bring lovers of good food – and good drops – closer to the world of wine at the intimate, informal but enlightening Wine Retreat, new to Langham Melbourne MasterClass in 2010 – and the perfect complement to Chef MasterClass sessions. Ben Edwards, head of the Australian Sommeliers Association and right on the zeitgeist when it comes to the global trend of sparkling wines, has put together a dazzling all-female panel session, with more insightful, vinous chatter – not forgetting tasting – to be done.
Should you miss a highly coveted MasterClass seat, five exclusive MasterClass Winemaker Dinners will grace the tables of Rockpool Bar & Grill, Sarti, Sosta Cucina, the Stokehouse and Lamaro’s – dip into Italy’s greatest wines, the Austrailan First Families of Wine stable or David Lawler’s impressive cellar.
Just as the Festival dishes up the culinary Stars of America, associate winemaker Bob Coleman(Chateau St. Jean, San Francisco) will join US culinary leading lights David Kinch, Nobu Matsuhisa, April Bloomfield, Nancy Silverton and Josiah Citrin for a series of exclusive wine dinners at Crown’s top restaurants.
Further vinous offerings from America, North and South, will be available for sampling at The United Wines of the Americas, part of Sommeliers Australia’s impressive program. Also expect champagne on the tips of your lips, as well as the zenith of food and wine matching.
Imbibe further vinous wisdom from Victoria’s veteran winemakers, but also our emerging wine guns. Tahbilk’s Alister Purbrick will join forces with Guy Grossi (Grossi Florentino) and Robin Wickens (The Deanery) for two special events in celebration of the winery’s 150th anniversary. Compare releases from the Tahbilk museum over Grossi’s five-course degustation menu at 150 Years, 3 Generations, 2 Families, 1 Dinner, or taste precious Tahbilk wines to complement Wickens’ tasting plates at 150 Years of Tahbilk.
The Deanery will also open its doors in celebration of The Youngbloods of Rutherglen (Nick Brown, Jen Pfeiffer, Susie Campbell, Christobelle Andreson and Damien Cofield) for an alfresco laneway lunch; nearby, Trunk will call in The Young Bunch (Dominique Portet’s Ben Portet, All Saints Estate’s Nick Brown, Dal Zotto’s Christian Dal Zotto, Eminence’s Clare Burder, Plunkett Fowles’ Matt Fowles and Scion Vineyard’s Rowly Milhinch), hailing from several Victorian wine regions.
The Festival’s boutique riverside wine market, Cellar Door at Southgate, returns in 2010 – bringing more than 60 of Victoria’s boutique wineries to the heart of the city. There’s no weekend more favourable for lovers of fine drops to stock their cellars for home celebrations to come, tasting their way around the best of Victoria’s wine country and cheese dairies at the mini farmers’ market, on foot.
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