Wine and dine made by Australian Chefs

I feel so horribly bad that this post has been almost 3 months late! It has just been horrible couple of months with work being crazy and life just going at the speed of light.

 

But I believe that when you have two special bottles of wine it should be opened up and poured into glasses to drink and share with friends in celebratory hurrahs. So yes, it is late and I'm so grateful that Wine Selectors have supplied me with two beautiful bottles (and have also waited patiently this post and review) for a me to celebrate with my two girlfriends for new house and to an up and coming marriage of our two close friends. 

 

Speaking of marriage, Wine Selectors gave us two bottles from their Chef Series to sample, which united Australia's favourite chefs with premium Australian wines, the marriage of food and wine! Five celebrated Australian chefs - Alastair McLeod, Frank Camorra, Guy Grossi, Ben O'Donoghue and Ian Parmenter spent time drawing on the expertise of Wine Selectors' Tasting Panel and the talent of hand-picked wine producers to adapt and mould the grapes into drops that capture the essence of the chefs' food philosophy. What resulted was beautiful selection of reds, whites and sparklings for the choosing.

 

I opted for a red and a sparkling white from two great Australian chefs. A Pinot Noir designed by Ian Parmenter and Alastair McLeod's designed Chardonnay Pinot Noir Sparkling.

 

 

To complement the wines we had an intimate dinner consisting of homemade lasagne, fetta and bocconcini salad and finished off with homemade apple crumble and custard.  

 

Ian Parmenter's Pinot Noir had a beautiful violet fragrant in a shade of vibrant cherry red. The pinot noir palate was nothing short of magnificent. Smooth, velvety, light tannins with sweetness of cherries. Complex in texture and flavour and so lovely. Such a pleasure to drink! Didn't want to share it with the girls and when it was done it was such a downer, I wanted another bottle. It'd definitely be one that would reward you now or leave it to age gracefully. Either way, BLISS.

 

 

Next bottle to open was the sparkling chardonnay pinot noir designed by chef, Alastair McLeod.

 

 

It opened with a lovely "POP" sound with a pale straw colour with extremely fine bead bubbles that lifts aromas of fresh brioche. The palate is a little bit acidic but has flavours of apple and grains. I thought I lacked the buttery-ness flavours of chardonnay, which I thought was a big lose. Nonetheless, the wine is perfectly balanced by powerful flavours and finesse along with a matched tightness of acid and mouth-filling texture and would benefit from aging.

 

 

 

I had a great night sharing the two bottles with two lovely ladies and of course watching the classic Princess Bride.

 

 

 It was nothing short of a lovely Saturday evening and Wine Selector's chef series is one I would definitely recommend you checking  it out and ordering. They also have other selections of reds, whites and sparklings on their site too. But the Chef Series is only available on their website and not at any outlet at all. I know I will be getting more of Ian Parmenter's Pinot Noir, such a pleasure to drink.

 

 

To order check out: Wine Selector's Chef series here

For other selection of Wine Selectors wines click here

 

Thank you Wine Selector for the two bottles I thoroughly enjoyed it!

 And thank you for your patience!

The Wine Store and Wine bar

I love discovering quaint little places around Western Australia. My latest discovery is a corner deli shop turned into a boutique wine store and bar on George street in Fremantle. Such a random place to find amazing wines and good food! It's in the middle of residential area!

The Wine Store is divided into two areas - the store stocks boutique wines sourced locally and around the world - from vintages in Burgundy and Bordeaux to joining the new-world - Argentinean revolution, wines from Portugal, brewing behind the iron curtain and winemaking at home in Australia and at such fair and affordable prices and the bar next door has a cellar downstairs (perfect for functions and perhaps a very intimate wedding reception!). Their team is also very knowledgeable (did you know Malbec actually originates from France. The French then brought the grapes over to Argentina where it thrived in the climate and now everyone thinks it originates from Argentina) and they really appreciate well made wines that are true to their vineyard and of course taste.

Then there is the food, the menu is European and South American inspired made with fresh, local Western Australia produce. Oh and of course cheap coffees with free babycinos (which is the way it should be!).

I had the privilege of being invited to the Yelp Elite event and getting a chance to check out the place and taste test their canapé menu.

The interior design is so nice and the cellar.. perfection for a function. Just look at the photos.

The interiors of the bar upstairs. Love the wallpaper

The cellar dining area - wines on display and right at the back is this beautiful wood table.

An intimate Wedding reception can be held here. If only I had a small family for an occasion like that. But unfortunately I don't. (These two photos are taken by the lovely Adam the photographer of Yelp - thank you muchly for allowing me to use these on my blog).

PLEASE NOTE: The mains shown in this post may not be what is available currently at the Wine Store as the menu changes often.

They also have a open kitchen were you really can see everything. I spent way too long hanging around watching them prep the food. 

On the night, Yelp provided the yelpers with canapés - This lovely ham and cheese croquette with salsa. Divine. I ate a bit too much of those yummy balls. 

Ham and cheese croquette

Then there was the beef empanadas with this nice chilli (hot meter of slight). It was packed with goodness and the pastry wasn't too thick either.



Beef empanadas 

Then the food came out for other people at the bar and I took the opportunity to photograph them and make them look as sexy as possible.

Salad

Fried fish heads

The two canapés didn't cut it, and we were still hungry and the menu looked so good so we stayed for dinner to sample more of the food. 

 Cousin and I - the obligatory toilet photo

 My obligatory social media update on my Samsung Galaxy S4 - the screen is so much bigger making it so idea for instagram and facebook and using blogger on the phone!

We ordered the stuffed field mushrooms to start. They gave us three rather large stuffed mushrooms with feta and breadcrumbs. It was rather tangy which was something I was not expecting. 

Stuffed mushrooms

I really wanted the gnocchi but with the urging of cousin and my health conscious kicking in I want with the half roasted quail and chorizo with sweet corn puree. 

Half roasted quail with chorizo and sweet corn puree 

The sweet corn puree was creamy and sweet and added the much needed flavour to the quail. With the quail they gave me the wrong half, I ended up with two wing pieces instead of a wing and thigh, which greatly diminished the amount of meat I got on my plate (and considering quails are already rather limited in meaty-ness).. it was little bit of a let down (especially when the canapes were so good!).

My cousin got the steak with fries. Her fries had old oil being used and were cold once it reached her. The steak itself was perfectly cooked medium with a tangy pesto sauce on top, which complemented the dish rather well. 

Steak and fries with pesto sauce

The Wine Store is a little gem of a place. It's ambiance is so chilled and with couches to lounge in with a glass of beautiful red or white or even sparkling in hand and with people you love nothing is more glorious. And hey if you want to buy a bottle of the wine you have on hand you can always pop in next door (before 8pm - the liquor store closes at 8:00pm) and get it for cheaper (they stock things not found anywhere else!). They also do breakfast and lunch and cheap (but good) coffee. 

I can't wait to come back with my friends and just spend the night talking, laughing, enjoying good wines and going through the small bites menu. Then going next door to get a bottle of the red we had so we enjoy it all over again at home.

**PLEASE NOTE THE MENU DOES CHANGE OFTEN SO PLEASE CHECK THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE TO SEE WHAT IS ON OFFER**

Disclaimer: The last few dishes were bought by us where the two canapes were part of the Yelp Elite function so thus were on the house!

Reminder: This website is under copyright so if photos are going to be used please kindly credit them back to me. All photos taken by me with my Chiro (Nikon D90) exception of the two that I have credited.

City of Perth Twilight Hawkers Market

The City of Perth Twilight Hawkers Market started back in January 2011 and it went on for a week. It was so popular that in November of that year (see post here) the council decided to bring it back to life. In fact, they expanded it to last the whole of the summer season. Since then it has grown, both in length that the market is on for, the size of the market, the number of stalls, and of course the number of crowds.

It's on once week, on Friday night starting at 5pm in Forrest Chase. There are foods from every nation possible. Mexican, Malaysian, Korean, Japanese, hot dogs - bratwurst or if you like Snags and Sons, satays, South American cuisines, cajuns, ribs etc. They even have dessert stands ranging from macaroons, ice creams, donuts, frozen yogurt etc. In fact you can even get fresh coconut and fruits!

 

 

  

 

 

 

The atmosphere is electric, filled with life, laughter, buskers, music and of course the smell of delicious food. Be prepared to bring ample cash as eftpos is not available. The price of dishes can range from $5 to $10.

 

 

All I can say is, I'm glad City of Perth arranges something like this. It brings people outside, it brings people together and it's just nice to enjoy the balmy summer evenings that Perth is so famously known for.

The markets are located at Forrest Place, Perth city every Friday from November right through until start of April. There are still a few Fridays left so check it out. Get in early and bet the crowds, with the markets opening at 5pm.

Twilight street market

Look what I ran into in the city..Blogging live from the location.. I present...The twilight food market... The same sort of one as earlier in the year except instead of just one month like last time it's on every Friday 'til March of next year. How awesome and I'm glad it is extended. Hopefully they will have more stalls as Fridays go on or at least a variety of different foods offered at the stalls instead of the same foods every Friday. :)

There is music, food and dining under the stars. It's perfect!!

I had the Moroccan dish - soo good didn't even take a photo.. You can see the empty plate of satisfaction.

Oh there is also a macaroon stall with really nice lemon macaroon! So refreshingly sweet sour awesomeness! Sorry only three left. The other flavours seemed to be a bit of a cop out as the ganache did not match the flavour it was suppose to be, but rather just sweetened cream. Still not bad.

We ended up buying another box to try more flavours!

There was also many other stalls, pizzas, bratwursts, satays, Indian curries, spud sticks, churro stand etc.

I'm glad stuff like this is on. It brings a little something to the city and makes it feel warmer, slightly safer and definitely more like a city with a sense of community.