Eat, drink, be merry
The Sunday Age
Sunday March 14, 2010
A lot of fun at this year's festival revolves around wine, reports Jane Faulkner.STANDING at the top of the steep Cannubi hill in Barolo, in Italy's Piedmont region, looking down at the vineyards, can make a person dizzy with joy. It is here where perhaps the finest, most perfumed, extraordinary nebbiolo grows - used for making barolo wines that can send aficionados into a spin. Winemaker Chiara Boschis can vouch for that - she's seen it firsthand.Beginners approaching Italy's mighty barolo for the first time can be overwhelmed - confused, even, by its often big and powerful tannins, and therefore, question the wine's appeal. It's not an unreasonable response. So how to explain the variety's charisma? ''Charm, class and mystery are what create allure,'' says Boschis, owner of the E. Pira e Figli winery. ''Barolo has all three of these characteristics but sometimes expresses them at different points in its lifecycle. When it is young, the tannins can be quite strong - but remember, wine is for food and tannins need food to be appreciated. As it ages, the three qualities come together and barolo seduces its drinker through its complex balance of fruit, tannins and alcohol.''It's why during the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival next week, her two barolo wines will feature at a couple of dinners and lunches and so will she. Boschis is finally coming Down Under as a guest of the festival.Italy is the international drawcard this year, with the focus on Piedmont's greatest wines, which is why the wines of G.D. Vajra, and barbaresco's most famous producer, Gaja, are making appearances. Gaia Gaja, daughter of the irrepressible Angelo Gaja, a man who has done much to promote nebbiolo to the rest of the world, and Giuseppe Vaira, the 24-year-old recently graduated winemaker working at his family's business, are also guests. All three will share centre stage in one masterclass, part of the Acqua Panna Global Wine Experience, on Saturday, March 21 - but, sorry to add, it is booked out. Those who have tickets will enjoy tasting, and talking with the trio - not just barolo and barbaresco but also dolcetto and barbera, the other enticing Piedmontese reds.''I love them as well,'' says Boschis, ''and what I like depends on my mood and the food I am eating. I am not always in the mood for king [as barolo is known] or the food that accompanies it [rich, hearty meat-based dishes]. Instead, sometimes I like the prince [barbera] or the soldier [dolcetto].''To have these three great producers in Melbourne at the one time is a coup. It also represents how international and more focused the wine component of the festival is becoming. At long last.''Having been involved for a number of years now,'' says Ben Edwards, the festival's newly appointed creative director of wine and moderator for the masterclasses, ''too often the wine program took a back seat to the food program. But now we're taking it to a new level and this year sees wine events that appeal to all wine consumers from the bottom end to geeks. There is something for everyone.''Part of the strategy to improve the wine program is to lure big names from the global wine scene to the festival. ''This is to give a real international feel to Melbourne while celebrating the great wines of Victoria, of Australia and the rest of the world,'' Edwards says. ''It's about context.''The Acqua Panna global wine experience masterclasses, and the more interactive, informal sessions under the wine retreat umbrella, will most likely be sold out by now, but it's worth checking just in case a spare ticket or two are available (as some were just before going to print). Certainly those who got in early will be spoiled by the calibre of wines and speakers.At the event titled Great Wines of the World from a Great Cellar, one of the first to sell out, Rockpool co-owner David Doyle, whose cellar is regarded by many as one of the world's finest (as it should be, as it's reportedly worth about $40 million), will sit alongside sommelier David Lawler, wine authority James Halliday and Langton's wine auctioneer and Master of Wine Andrew Caillard. Lawler, Rockpool Melbourne's head sommelier, says a large part of the masterclass will be a discussion of great wines and the merits of cellaring young wines to turn them into aged beauties.There's also a dinner at Rockpool on Sunday night, March 21, with all four panellists tasting mature wines that have benefitted from cellaring. The wines chosen from Doyle's cellar will be spectacular and revealed on the night. Tickets cost $700 for this experience.Now, back to those Italians. In Melbourne at Sarti on Thursday night, March 18, Giuseppe Vaira and the Vajra wines - a current-vintage barolo and possibly a 1998, barbera and others will be matched to a five-course degustation menu created by Italian whiz Riccardo Momesso (tickets costs $150, bookings on 9639 7822). The next night, on Friday, March 19, at an informal dinner at Port Phillip Estate Winery at Red Hill, Boschis is showcasing wines including her gorgeous Cannubi barolo from the 2005 and '06 vintages plus her excellent barbera and dolcetto (tickets are $225, bookings on 5989 4444).There are many regional wine events worth checking out, and plenty of less star-struck but equally fun gigs, such as learning about sake, which is much more than the drink of choice in Japanese restaurants. Sake is starting to appear in more restaurants as an alternative to beer or wine, particularly if seafood or other south-east Asian dishes are being served. It's a gorgeous drink. Toshi Maeda, known as the ''sake master'', along with Andre Bishop from Nihonshu Shochu & Sake bar, will host tastings on March 22 and 23 at 6pm. Tickets cost $70 and include tasting seven premium sakes with Japanese snacks at Nihonshu in Lonsdale Street.While ramping up the wine program is Ben Edwards' ambition, what he would dearly love to see in 2010 is ''people coming away from a masterclass or tasting or dinner having really learnt something about the given topic. Too often the mystique of wine gets in the way and people are bamboozled by the bullshit. I want them to say 'hey, I get this', and for that to be a starting point for further education or to just enjoy wine for wine's sake. It's booze - it's fun and liberating.'' Bookings for wine dinners or lunches should be made directly to the restaurants but for all details go to melbournefoodandwine.com.au. Age and WineStyle writer Jane Faulkner is a presenter and MC at several events during this year's Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.
© 2010 The Sunday Age