Call for Wine Tasting Volunteers
We need you and your friends to bring your tastebuds along to help us construct the winelist for our new Wine Bar and Restaurant at Elysium. We have over 100 wines which need to be sampled, critiqued and assessed.
What does one do when there's a call for wine tasting volunteers — answer it of course! Monday's $40 per person event for 3 courses including wine sampling was already booked out when I replied to Porcellino's email so thankfully they held another event the following night. Due to receiving over 100 bottles of wine it was in their livers best interest to share the responsibility with others in working out which wines they would be adding to their wine list for the new Elysium Restaurant and proposed Wine Bar soon to be completed in the The Spot. Porcellino is Italian for piglet and I surely became one in terms of sampling all the wines on offer to try and work out my favourite — I counted 53 in total for the night. Overall most of the wines were nice but there were some which I didn't like at all, for instance the 2008 i Heathcote Sangiovese 2008 and the overpowering bouquet of the 2008 Neagles Rock Semillon Sauvignon Blanc.
The humble and down-to-earth Chef Micah Rogers provided 3 delicious courses although I was hoping one of them would have been a dessert to end on a sweet note. To start everyone had the Wild mushroom brushchetta with goats feta and truffle oil followed by a very tasty Prawn and chorizo risotto with peas, cherry tomato and crab stock. For mains the decent sized Herb crusted roast lamb rump with parsnip puree, sauteéd green beans and red wine sauce went well with the 2006 Glen Eldon Merlot or 2009 Andrew Peace Merlot and was cooked nicely although could have possibly been a little rarer for me. It will be interesting to see what will be chosen as the final wine selection. Service was friendly and attentive.
My wine favourites of the night were:
• 2010 Riposte Pinot Gris (nice bouquet, nice on its own)
• 2010 Lobster Paddock Sauvignon Blanc
• 2009 Andrew Peace Merlot (smooth)
• 2010 Harewood Estate Riesling
• 2006 Glen Eldon Merlot (nice on its own)
• 2009 Elephant Hill Sauvignon Blanc
• 2008 White Haven Gewurztraminer Marlborough
• 2005 Falls Wine Cabernet Merlot Vintage
• 2009 Bella Modella Sangiovese
SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Friendly service, Nice food, Comfortable seating, Reasonable prices for quality dishes, Kids menu available
CONS: BYO $3 pp, Some hit and miss wines on the night, Liver damage if not careful
MUST TRY: Prawn and chorizo risotto, Other menu items
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11 bottles of wine to start the tasting notes
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
Usual menu
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
More wines to sample for those with a strong liver
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