Events

Sometimes all jobs have days where they just bite... And sometimes they don't! Last week I found myself chatting with Alistair and Sally from the Gorgeous Festival and now I get to spend 2 days at Serafino Winery in the beautiful Mclaren Vale listening to John Butler, Eskimo Joe, The Audreys, Lanie Lane and more whilst gorging on food from award winning restaurants like Willunga's Fino and the Vales Elbow Room. Ho Hum what a drag!!! Wait did I mention I'll also being taking some mates from winedirect.com.au and tasting and talking about wine from Serafino, Wirra Wirra, Olivers, Maxwell, Dowie Doole, Settlement, Chalk HIll and Yangarra. Yep, it's a burden I guess I'm just going to have to bear! Hold the Press!  Update! Alistair and Sally have generously provided 2 General Admission weekend tickets for you to win...FREE!  Yep, you read that right. Free! All you have to do is COMMENT on our Facebook post BEFORE midnight Sunday 17 November and you’re

I am a MAN....a simple MAN.... a MAN of colours.... I'm also a man who likes Wine and who hates Cancer so this month I'm joining a worthy band of brothers in the celebration of everything moustache! Join me as I strive to be the best moustache I can be and raise money to help the fight against Cancer. Join  me  and if you know other men or women who like moustaches and hate cancer, who like wine and hate cancer, who like vino and hate cancer and who like plonk and hate cancer tell them to make an ace donation aswell my brothers and sisters. Wonder over and visit me at MoBro.co/darrylpratt and please leave a couple of bob to help the cause. United we Mo. [caption id=attachment_1158 align=alignnone width=300 caption=Darryl - The day before the shave]

I was lucky enough these last few days to help with judging the Adelaide Review Hot 100. She is somewhat different to traditional wine shows in promoting emotional tasting and embracing those wines stimulating greatest pleasure at the time they traverse tonsils. The wine doesn't have to be clinically perfect, or made using only techniques from the 'canon'. There's no reward for a wine that might be an absolute belter in 5 years time, unless said wine offers the same pleasant thrashing in here and now. Fair call, given much of wine is necessarily cast loose quickly by companies for cash flow and then considered or chugged within 24 hours of disgorging our coin. Its a theory which works counterpoint to the big companies medals/massive/mawkish/maudlin/mediAOchre/munted marketing missive yet speaks directly to the punters that ultimately enjoy their fruits. K'n awesome. It also offers a very considered reworking of the traditional notion of terroir ... suggesting that wine may represent the

Some people get nervous sick or nervous shy but me, I get nervous tired. So as we arrived at the National Wine centre I was feeling unusually lethargic. All this changed when we reached the tasting room. Like the awkward teenager about to knock on the door for that first date I found myself equal parts excited and terrified. Not of the girls father this time but of the 24 white wines I had on the table in front of me. A small flight by many wine show standards but big enough to pop ones cherry on. With a big breathe I sat and thanks to the reassuring words from a couple of wiser heads I decided to jump in and get to the business.

Strolling my way through the whites starting with a cheeky Moscato and making my way through a few Pinot Grigos and finishing with a raft of Chardonnay via some Sauvignon Blanc in the middle. I started to relax and enjoy myself, as the process of wine judging became clearer to me I was able to visit the wines from a new point of view.

After recess

I love this time of year, mild Autumn weather sets in and a vigneron’s thoughts turn to getting precious fruit off the vine and into winery. This conjures for many wine drinkers a romantic notion of wine maker or grower walking through the vineyard chewing on a grape or two, a thoughtful look at the sky then a knowing nod to the vineyard manager that ‘it’s time’. The reality is somewhat different as I experienced again this year in McLaren vale as assistant dog’s body at Five Lazy Acres (nee Killibinbin Sandtrap), owned and operated by Liz and Ritchie Smith. It was an early start and we were out in the vineyard at 4am as the harvester started its rounds, the real back breaking work hadn’t started for us yet but I could see the stress levels rising as Ritchie began calculating in his head how much fruit was coming off and what it was going to convert to in real volume and ultimately income. Noel, senior member of the picking crew stood next to us still

I was lucky enough to go to Day on the Green at Leconfield Wines, McLaren Vale on the 27th of Jan. A massive lineup starting with Stephen Cummings; a great songwriter but not on top of his game this day. Maybe he could have used a glass or 2 of the Hamilton Cab 2011. I had a couple on the day and it is looking particularly tasty. Sunnyboys belted out their melodic teen angsty pop-rock, and the band were all in fine form. Some seriously snaky riffs slithered off the fretboard. Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons were decent, apart from the Wilbur Wilde/Joe Camilleri schtick - trading fat jokes in the intro to ‘Shape I’m In’ which conjured memories of the Hey Hey It’s Saturday revival. They sure play nicely together with their horns out tho. Tex Perkins and the Dark Horses were loquacious and limber loosey goosey - with some ripper tunes, Tex in spectacular voice and swagger, James Cruikshank beautifully nuanced on the geetar … much like the Hamilton Slate Quarry

Every Boxing Day for the last 12 years we have invited friends, family and orphans to our house for Boxing Day. Part of this tradition is to each year set a theme for both the food and in turn the piñata. This is no ordinary piñata - this piñata is designed and created by my husband and then decorated by our daughter Ruby. This year we had a Mexican Theme and the piñata was a pig called 'Habernero the Arse Blaster'. Along with

Barossa Gourmet Weekend was held on the 18th and 19th of August this year and whilst the weather was decidedly inclement – a great weekend seemed to be had by all who attended. We travelled up on the Sunday and first stop was Artisans of Barossa who represent John Duval, Massena, Schwarz, Sons of Eden, Spinifex, Teusner and Hobbs wines. This is a stunning modern cellar door which looks out over the vineyards in and around Vine Vale. The Artisans of Barossa Cellar Door is a fantastic concept seven winemakers with vastly different wine styles in their portfolios all at the same beautiful location. My tipple of choice at this winery was Sons of Eden 2011 Freya Riesling – limey with excellent length and not overly acidic. Onwards to our next stop which was Saltram Wine Estate. The Cellar Door is set in the original winery and the legendary Mamre Brook House. Again a lovely Cellar Door set in a more contemporary space. Here we enjoyed a new release to the range which was the Winemakers

The Adelaide Hot 100 ‘views wine like no other international wine show’ – this is a direct quote from the organizers of this innovative wine show event. Unlike other wine shows the Hot 100 immerses their judges in a cultural environment which is represented by way of culinary, artistic and musical individuals. Yep that’s right – no standing around clinical laboratory like tasting rooms for these judges – it’s up-market all the way with a tasting environment like no other. This year winedirect.com.au have partnered with The Adelaide Review with the launch of The Review Wine Club. All winning wines and selected wines from the Hot 100 will be available for purchase via The Review Wine Club. Our resident Wine Buyer, Matt Wallace will also have a role in this years wine show which we will share with you in the coming months. The 2012 Adelaide Review Hot 100 Winners will be announced on Thursday 18th October and the Hot 100 magazine will be released

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Legal Secretaries Day Champagne Breakfast as a guest of the Law Society South Australia. What a great morning, with over 140 Legal Secretaries in attendance (some even brought their boss along!). The morning started with a sumptuous breakfast of Eggs Benedict along with Fresh Seasonal Fruit and mouth watering pastries (all very low fat of course....NOT) – the sparkling was the very versatile Hardy’s The Riddle Brut Reserve NV (a low price bubbles that always over-delivers). Of course it wouldn’t be a Breakfast without a Fashion Parade. The fabulous Liza Emanuele presented her new seasons designs which highlighted the versatility from office to after hours all rolled into one. Every girl needs a wardrobe from Liza and I can assure you her range is very affordable. I can’t wait until next years event – what a great way to recognize the hard work of those in attendance whilst also raising much needed funds for the

On the coat tails of the wonderfully successful Melbourne GFWS we were off to Sydney for a repeat performance. The opportunity to showcase all the best of what NSW has to offer all gourmands was not missed with some amazing stands and fabulous produce on offer.