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