We’re reg­u­lars at Cel­lar-Vate’s Wine­mak­ers’ Din­ners, because we love meet­ing the wine­mak­ers, we love New Zealand wine, and we love hav­ing it matched with tasty tasty food. But we’re not just patri­ot­ic racial­ists, oh no. We’ll drink wine from any­where! And that’s why we’re excit­ed about the upcom­ing Euro­pean Wines Tast­ing in the Cab­i­net Room above the Back­bencher next Wednes­day Octo­ber 22 at 6pm:

The thriv­ing wine indus­try in New Zealand and Aus­tralia has pro­vid­ed us with a vast array of superb wine to savour or cel­lar, but it’s easy to for­get about the ancient viti­cul­tur­al tra­di­tions of Europe. As imports of Euro­pean wines grow steadi­ly, there is now a great selec­tion avail­able. How­ev­er, the region­al denom­i­na­tions and clas­si­fi­ca­tions can be intim­i­dat­ing, and the New Zealand wine indus­try’s focus on sin­gle vari­etals means we are often cau­tious about buy­ing Euro­pean wines because we don’t know what they are made from. This is a shame, as Euro­pean wines often rep­re­sent great val­ue, and due to their food-friend­ly nature are great to enjoy with friends and fam­i­ly. This tast­ing is an oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn about some unfa­mil­iar grape vari­eties, which grapes you should expect to find in wines from dif­fer­ent regions (and there­fore how the wine should taste), and to nav­i­gate some unac­cus­tomed flavours.

Tick­ets are $40 for sev­en wines matched with six small cours­es with matched wine, and book­ings are still avail­able if you email becs[at]cellar-vate.co.nz. We’ll see you there — we’ll be the ones hold­ing out our glass­es for a top-up.

UPDATE: Here’s the menu for tomor­row:

  • Il Fol­lo Pros­ec­co
     On arrival
  • Colle Sec­co Trebbiano2006
    Spaghet­ti with pars­ley, olive oil, gar­lic and pre­served lemon
  • Fat­tori Pinot Gri­gio 2004
    Sauteed cala­mari, yel­low cap­sicum, white bal­sam­ic, zuchin­ni, toma­to con­casse, gar­lic, olive oil
  • Colle Cav­a­lieri Mon­tepul­ciano 2006
    Smoked chick­en, mush­room, olive and toma­to riga­toni
  • Chateau Beauch­ene Cotes du Rhone Grand Reserve 2006
     Roast­ed pork bel­ly, bal­sam­ic glaze, slow roast­ed toma­toes, whole roast­ed gar­lic bulbs
  • Chateau Lar­roque Bor­deaux 2005
    Char­grilled porter­house, rubbed with rock­salt and thyme, with bit­ter choco­late jus and skin chips
  • Domaine Georges Michel Autumn Fol­ly 2004
     Cheese plat­ter