Wine without BS

No BS Events - A Pineapple for a Pinot

 

It's been over five years since I've hosted a wine event in Australia so I am very excited to announce my Pineapple for a Pinot event to be held back where it all began in 2009... at Fix Wine bar in Sydney, on May 18th.

This event idea all started when I was sent two Pinot's to try and I noticed both were priced at exactly $50. I then got talking to some wino friends of mine, all who seemed to have a $50 bottle or Pinot, or two, lying around and we discussed a simple tasting of these wines to see which we thought was the best for $50.

To cut a short story even shorter, that tasting concept is now my first 'No BS' event since returning to Sydney after a few years in California. Drawing on the growth of the 'shared economy' this is also my first BYO event with all guests kindly asked to bring a bottle of Pinot Noir that has a recommended retail price of $50 (give or take a fiver) that will be shared with the group.

Fix Wine Bar have kindly offered to create a matching four-course dinner for just $95 including our corkage charges

Tickets must be purchased in advance from my Event Brite page here

Seats will be limited to 14 and once you've purchased your ticket I kindly ask that you let me know via email what Pinot you'd like to bring and I'll be keeping a list of wines so that there are little to no double ups. Please also keep in mind that for the event to be fair it is BYO a $50 bottle per person.

I look forward to seeing a few old faces and some new ones as well!

 

 

 

No BS events - 4th of July Degustation with Mumu Grill

I have been wanting to hold an all American wine dinner for years now and what better timing for it than on the 4th of July! For those of you who may not already know I am moving to the US later this year which means this could very well be the last NoBS wine event in Australia for some time and I'd love to see as many of my previous event goers as can make it, as well as welcome any new faces that would like come along and celebrate this occasion with me and my good friends at Mumu Grill.

Craig from Mumu Grill in Crows Nest has put together an awesome all American inspired menu and Michael Nolan from Wine Experience has helped out with a great selection of US wines.

Check out our planned menu and wines*

Menu
Organic Wagyu Cheese burgers on arrival
New York Clam Chowder with Jalapeno Corn Bread.
Crab Cakes with Chipotle Aioli
New York Sirloin with Blue Cheese Macaroni
Planked Salmon with Dill Mustard and Sides
USA Pork baby Back Ribs with Coleslaw
White Chocolate Banoffee Pie

Wines
Gallo Family Vineyards White Zindandel - California
Kung Fu Girl Riesling - Washington
AZ Stronghold Tazi White Blend - Arizona
Chateau St Jean Chardonnay - California
Cristom Mt Jefferson Pinot Noir - Oregon
Seghesio Zinfandel - California
Staggs Leap Napa Cabernet - California

 

Food with all wines is just $115 per person but we are also offering the Food only for $69.

 

To book simply call Mumu Grill on 9460 6877

I am honestly getting hungry just thinking about this event and I cannot wait to show you that, contrary to some people's opinions, America does makes some fantastic wines which unfortunately are rather hard to get here in Australia. So grab a group of friends and/or family, call the number above and join me and my friends and family for this not to be missed special event!

*While we plan to stick as close to the menu and wines as listed some minor changes may be made to improve the food and wine matching experiences or due to availability of the wines which are being sent over from the US just for this event!

No BS Events - Odd & Rare Varieties tasting wrap up!

Saturday 28th April 2012  was a completely perfect Sydney Autumn day for wine tasting and the beautiful rooftop space at Luxe Studios provided the perfect venue for this unique event. After incredible support from over twenty Australian wineries and one international importer, the tasting featured no less than 48 different wines made from over 36 different alternative grape varieties!

Around 70 people attended the event and I was thrilled to see a few of the producers turn up to see their wines in action. 

From all the feedback sheets that were handed in I can confirm the below results.

Most loved white wine was the K1 by Geoff Hardy 2010 Arneis

Most loved red wine and the overall most loved wine at the event was the By Jingo 2008 Montepulciano 

Another indicator of some crowd favourites is the fact that the following wines had no leftovers whatsover!

Elefante 2010 Blanco 
Cleggett Wines 2011 Shalistin/White Cabernet Sauvignon
Cleggett Wines 2010 Sparkling Bronze Cabernet 

I must say on a personal note, the Best's Wines 2010 Pinot Meunier was my pick for the day and a full review of this wine will be posted shortly!

I would like to take this opportunity for thanking all the wineries who participated in this event, as without their support and generosity and event with this much diversity simply wouldn't be possible. I would also like to thank everyone who came along to the event, Claudia Bowman from McIntosh & Bowman Cheesemongers for the amazing Cheese platter and a very special thank you to Laura, from Luxe Studios, who made putting on this event so incredibly simple and one of the most common comments was how perfect the venue was!

And, for anyone who thought this was my biggest and best event yet... watch this space!

No BS Events - Odd & Rare Varieties tasting

(Artwork by Rod Clifford)

I am excited to announce my first event of 2012 and the first No BS Wine event in Australia since 2010!

The Odd & Rare Varieties tasting is an event I have wanted to put on for some time now and on April 28th you can enjoy what I am sure will be one of the largest and most unique collections of alternative wine varieties ever assembled upon a Sydney rooftop!

Shiraz, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc... none of these wines are welcome at this event. Expect things like Montepulciano, Sagrantino, Petit Mensing, Tinta Molle and many many more!

In another first for No BS Events, Wine Australia have been kind enough to include this event as an official event of the A+ Australian Wine Celebration promotion. From April 12th to 29th we will see almost 100 wine events around the country that celebrates the diversity and excellence of Australian wines and I have no doubt this event will have the least amount of BS!

This event is going to be a blast and apart from a fantastic range of wines we will also have a selection of fine cheeses available courtesy of McIntosh & Bowman Cheese mongers.

When: Saturday April 28th from 1pm til 4pm
Where: Luxe Studio's, 279 - 283 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst

Tickets are only $39.95 + handling fee and available here

(Luxe Studio's Rooftop Terrace, Liverpool St, Sydney)

No BS Events - All American Wines Dinner

It has been a long time between drinks for 'No BS' wine events in Sydney and I am proud to announce that the drought is over and Sydney wine fans are in for a real treat! In conjunction with Ian Lindsey, from USA Wines Direct and Mumu Grill in Crows Nest, we bring you my All American Wines Dinner!

With an all American Wine lineup and a fantastic, American inspired, seven course meal you will have the chance to enjoy a truly unique event. Interest in this event has been strong so to ensure we can welcome as many of you as possible we are offering this event on two separate evening. We look forward to seeing you and sharing a glass or two of All American Wine!

When - Wednesday May 4th and Thursday May 5th at 7pm
Where - Mumu Grill, 70-76 Alexander Street Crows Nest NSW 2065 (Click here for Map location)
Cost - $120 per person including all wine and a seven course meal
Bookings - To book please call the team at Mumu Grill on 02 9460 6877, payments via credit card at time of booking.

'No BS' Gold Coast Charity Wine Dinner - Summer wines in vogue

 

The final 'No BS' Wine event for 2010 will be held in the Gold Coast on November 18th and all profits from this event will be donated to the Leukaemia Foundation of QLD, thanks to my co-host for the evening, Kirsty Mailer. The wine theme for the evening will be 'Summer Wines in Vogue' and will showcase a great selection of wines, gratuitously donated by Amadio Wines and Holly's Garden, that make perfect summer time drinking!

The event will kick off at 7pm at Fellini Restaurant, located on Level 1 of the  Marina Mirage, Main Beach, where guests will enjoy a three course meal matched with no less than six wines.

Tickets are $95 per person and places are strictly limited to 35.

To secure your place at this great event and to help raise money for this worth cause please email me directly on stewart@winewithoutbs.com.au to express your interest and receive payment information.

 

 

No BS Wine Event - PinotFest

 

The next 'No BS' wine event is one that comes at the request of the many loyal Pinot fans that I have met over the past year or so. I have had a few people say things to me like "I'd come to a Pinot event... but that's about it!". So here it is, a 100% Pinot Noir wine event that, despite taking a while to get organised, promises to be exactly what the Pinot Noir fans attending have been waiting for.

All guests on the night will be treated to a four course meal and no less than nine Pinot Noir based wines. For the die hard Pinot fans there is the optional tenth glass of Burgundy Grand Cru for an additional cost. It will also be a pleasure to welcome Riedel Australia CEO, Mark Baulderstone, to this event. Mark has been kind enough to bring along the Riedel 'Grand Cru' glasses (pictured) for those taking up the chance to experience a wine of this quality.

 

The night's complete wine list is as follows,

Pfeiffer Wines – 2007 Pfizz Red (Rutherglen, VIC)
Amisfield – 2008 'Saignee'  Rosé (Central Otago, NZ)
Timo Mayer – 2009  ‘Bloody Hill’ Pinot Noir (Yarra Valley, VIC)
Faisan Estate – 1998 Pinot Noir (Orange, NSW)
Villa Maria - 2008 ‘Single Vineyard Southern Clays’ Pinot Noir (Marlborough, NZ)
Two Sisters – 2006 Pinot Noir (Central Otago, NZ)
Elk Cove - 2008 Willamette Pinot Noir (Oregon, USA)
Morandé Edición Limitada - 2007 Pinot Noir (Casablanca Valley, Chile)
Aurélien Verdet  Gevrey-Chambertin - 2007 (Burgundy, France)

 Optional Grand Cru
Dupont-Tisserandot Charmes Chambertin – 2007 ‘Grand Cru’ (Burgundy, France) 

 

I am also happy to announce that winemaker, Michael Walker, from Faisan Estate will also be joining us on the night and he has very kindly supplied us with his 1998 Pinot for the night. I have tried this wine on three occasions now and simply love it! I am also pretty excited about my inclusion from Chile as it is a rather interesting wine. You can read my full review of that wine here.

At the time of writing there are actually just a few tickets left so if you would like to join us please email me ASAP on stewart@winewithoutbs.com.au . Tickets are $95 per person and a glass of the Grand Cru an additional $40. This event is being held on the 20th of October from 7pm at Fix St James Wine Bar and Restaurant, located at 111 Elizabeth Street, Sydney CBD.

 

 

'No BS' New Zealand Wine Dinner

I was very honoured recently when the New Zealand wine body, NZ Wine, approached me and asked if I was interested in hosting a dinner to showcase NZ Wine to wine and food loving social media types. I don't need much of an excuse to put on a dinner as it is but being considered by an industry body to become part of a series of events for NZ Wine week was one of the better ones I've had lately!

NZ Wine will be holding a trade and consumer tasting at Cruise Bar in Circular Quay's overseas passenger terminal on the 7th of September 2010. A diverse range of Zew Zealand wineries will be showing off their new release wines at these two tasting events. To bring an interactive social media component to the event attendees at the trade tasting are being encouraged to talk directly to the wineries in New Zealand about the wines being tasted via Twitter. I have been given the chance to bring a dozen wine lovers keen to tweet about wine to that tasting and then hand pick a bottle, or two, each to bring back to the restaurant for the larger group to try over dinner.

So for those of you that will be joining us for dinner, if you are also free between 3pm and 4pm and keen to join me at the trade tasting at Cruise Bar please let me know asap as it will be first in best dressed to make up the dozen or so I can bring along. The dinner is open to all food and wine lovers who trust my group at the trade tasting to pick out a great selection of wines for them to enjoy over dinner.

I hope you can join us at this great event and details are below,

When: 7pm on Tuesday the 7th of September
Where: Etch Restaurant, Intercontinental Hotel, 117 Macquarie st, Sydney.
Price: $65 per person, includes a three course meal and wine

 

No BS Winter Reds Dinner Round Up

 
  
After the great success of my first interstate wine dinner in Brisbane back in May I had no hesitation in taking up an offer from The Highway Hotel to come across to Adelaide and host another interstate event. Visiting South Australia in July meant the theme of "Winter Reds" was obvious and based on the number of events in the region with the same name I score zero points for originality.

I must say before I go on that organising this event was an absolute breeze due in no small part to the efforts and enthusiasm of The Highway Hotels manager, Tom Williamson. His team quickly put together an amazing hearty winter menu (below) and not long after that we had three South Australia wine makers from three different regions all keen to be a part of the night. Using only social media to market the event we ended up with a total of 38 guests (myself and the winemakers included), my biggest event to date!

Our attending winemakers on the night were David Bowley from Vinteloper (McLaren Vale), Greg Clayfield from Zema Estate (Coonawarra) and Michael Datta from MDV Wines, who sources grapes from a variety of regions including Eden and Barossa Valley's.

The wine list for the night was as follows,

Black Chook Sparkling Shiraz NV
MDV 2008 Eden Valley Grenache
Zema Estate 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon
Vinteloper 2008 Shiraz
Zema Estate 2005 'Family Selection' Cabernet Sauvignon
Pfeiffer Wines Rutherglen Muscat NV

Kicking the night off with a sparkling red seemed the only way to go and the Black Chook Sparkling Shiraz NV didn't disappoint. For $15 it is great value and would have most of its competitors in this price range and even higher pretty well beat. As our first course arrived we moved on to the MDV 08 Grenanche being the lighter style of wines on show that night. We also decided to break up the two Zema Cabernet's so the Grenache was tried along side the Zema Estate 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon. Two very different wines from two very different regions, hence comparing the two wines is silly. Walking around the room collecting feedback from the group it was clear though that the MDV Grenache was the crowd favourite, not just at the start but out of the entire night. I recently reviewed this wine so won't go on about it any further and you can read my complete review here. Not to take anything anyway from the Zema 2006 Cabernet though, as at $22 a bottle, this is as good a Cabernet as I've had for the money with an outstanding reputation for consistent quality.

Next we were onto our main course which was paired with the Vinteloper 2008 Shiraz and the Zema Estate 'Family Selection' 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon. Both of these wines are top notch and no one I spoke to on the night could pick a favourite between them, they are both just great wines that I highly recommend! I have reviewed the Vinteloper 2008 Shiraz previously so again, please read more on this wine here.

The Zema Estate 'Family Selection" 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon is the current flagship release Cabernet from Zema Estate and rated 94 by James Halliday. At $40 a bottle it is also good value and has intense dark fruit flavours with a good balance of oak. It was a real treat for me to be trying this wine for the first time while sitting next to its creator, Greg Clayfield.

 From left to right: Greg Clayfield from Zema, David Bowley from Vinteloper (Tall guy), Michael Datta from MDV Wines (short guy front of David), Francis Wong from Adelaide City Council and Stewart Noble (that's me)

The night ended with an amazing Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding Desert complete with a chocolate spoon! Knowing the menu in advance I knew nothing was going to pair better with this desert (particularly in winter) than a good Muscat and the Pfeiffer Wines Rutherglen Muscat NV went perfectly. A big thank you is owed to Paul from Pfeiffer wines for getting the Muscat to Adelaide with such short notice.

I really couldn't have asked for anymore from this event. The room looked fantastic, the food was great and there wasn't a single wine on the night not enjoyed by all! So thank you to everyone that made it all come together so well and an equally big thanks is owed to all the fantastic people who attended the evening. I had such a great time I can't wait to go back to Adelaide and do it all again, albeit with a slightly more original theme next time!

Web links

The Highway Hotel- MDV Wines- Zema Estate-  Vinteloper-  Pfeiffer Wines

No BS Wine Event - Winter Reds Dinner, Adelaide July 8th

The biggest 'No BS' Event to date looks like being my Winter Reds Dinner at the Highway Hotel in Adelaide on July 8th! Three great boutique wine makers from three different South Australian Wine regions will be bringing along a great collection of big, hearty red wines to go with a fantastic  winter menu thanks to the awesome team at The HWY!

 

Here is a fancy looking flyer to check out all the details, but if you couldn't be stuffed with that and just want to get yourself a seat ASAP, call the Highway to book your seat now on (08) 8297 8155

Cost is $80 a head which includes a three course meal and plenty of great red wine!