I live in Melbourne, so forgive me for getting excited about a dose of warmer weather, but I was talking to a friend recently about the change of season and the way in which spring just always seems to leap out of nowhere.
As I walked away I was thinking about the way in which the weather influences what I drink and started thinking about what to drink in the coming weeks.
As much as I love to follow the season (especially with what I eat!) I have to admit that I have a couple of all-rounders, wines that I drink hot, cold, wet or dry, my anytime wines. I mentioned here in my last blog post that Pinot is one of those great all-year-round wines.
The other major wine style I will drink anytime and anywhere is sparkling wine and Champagne. Offer me one and you’ll barely finish the sentence before I’ll be reaching for a glass. Part of it for me is the keen association with celebration. It’s pretty rare you don’t toast something brilliant when you pop a cork on a bottle of good fizz.
What’s often surprising though is the huge variety of different styles of sparkling wines and Champagnes. Though Champagne refers to only those wines produced in the famous French wine region, there is a huge range of styles to choose from.
The same goes for sparkling wines, often taking their inspiration from Champagne and using the same grape varieties grown in other parts of the winemaking world. Then there’s Prosecco from Italy, Cava from Spain and our very own Australian sparkling red, mostly made with big, rich Shiraz.
To celebrate the fact that things are hotting up and that the calendar is getting busier as we head to the end of the year, I thought we’d do an event that celebrates all things great in the world of sparkling and Champagne.
Join myself and Dan Buckle, chief winemaker at Domaine Chandon in the Yarra Valley, as we take a one-night tour through all the different colours and flavours of great wine with bubbles. We have some very special bottles, some things you’ve never tasted before and all of them matched to the brilliant menu of Soul’s new Executive Chef (and an old mate of mine) Reuben Radonich.
The event is at Peppers Soul on the beautiful Gold Coast on October 2nd. You’ll find all the details and more when you check out the Peppers Gourmet Food Trail.
Cheers and see you at Peppers!
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