Floodlight Dinner 31st January 2011

It has been a while since Mistress of the Vine has stepped into a fine dining restaurant and not been there to eat.. The world of the 2 hatter is far from how I roll at the moment, so as you can imagine it was a slight shock to the system when I arrived at Rockpool restaurant last night to help out  for the Floodlight dinner.

To give you a bit of background, last month Queensland was hit by the most  devastating floods Australia has seen since the seventies. Thirty people died  and at one stage over 500 people were missing. Most were found though, at the last count 9 people were still unaccounted for. Over 21, 000 homes had some form of flood damage, with 3, 600 homes evacuated. The damage bill for the QLD floods has been estimated at over 5.6 billion dollars which is devastating, when you think we have gone straight from a global financial crisis  into a natural disaster; brings a tear to your eye doesn’t it.

So last night the hospitality industry in Sydney rallied around to do our bit. The brainchild of Colin Fassnidge from the Four in Hand Restaurant and Phil Wood of Sydney’s Rockpool Restaurant, which from my understanding came about from an afternoon at the pub and twitter!! The evening was a who’s who of the Sydney restaurant scene. There was Alex Hubert from Bird Cow Fish who organized all the prizes and auction items, James Johnston from World Wine Estates who organised the wine for the event; chefs from Pendolino, Balzac and Lucios. Sommeliers from Cotton Duck, Quay,Bilsons and Love Tilly Devine and  Owners and Restaurant managers from Tabou, Buzo and the Four in Hand and of course little old me representing well… me and of course bloodwood.

The evening was Mced by Simon Thompson and Simon Marnie, who did a great job by spurring all that attended to spend a fortune; we ended up raising over $70, 000 dollars and as the evening was entirely sponsored –  Neil Perry donated Rockpool, all the food was donated and  as we all donated our time, every single cent of that $70,ooo heads straight up north to help our fellow countrymen and women in need.

A very enjoyable night for a  worthy cause and big well done and pat on the back for all who made it possible. I feel very proud to be a part of my industry today.

Kisses MOV xx

All Content © 2011 Mistress of the Vine

Vinous Imports Tasting

It’s spring! Finally the weather is starting to get warmer, the bees are doing their pollination thing, rabbits are starting to …. well do what rabbits do and it’s the beginning of the spring tasting season.

Mistress of the Vine today headed to the first tasting for the week . Held by Tim Stock’s Vinous Solutions the line up was certainly impressive. I have often supported Tim Stock in various restaurants where I have written the wine list. He has a great palate and his portfolio certainly reflects this.  I was impressed with nearly all the wines that were on show today, especially the Champagne Andre Jacquart, Domaine Bruno Sorg – the Sylvaner was awesome,  Domaine Jean-Paul et Benoit Droin ( 2008 Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru has to be the best example of Chablis I have looked at in a long time)  and Clotilde Davenne.

Tim always strives to source  producers who are doing something a little different. He focuses on wine makers making real  wines that represent where they come from, with sound techniques and from vineyards that use organic, bio-dynamic  and sustainable vineyard practices.

Well done Mr Stock on your latest round of imports. All were impressive.  I shall post my tasting notes and I look forward to working – and drinking them in the very near future!!!

Kisses.

MOV xx

All Content © 2010 Mistress of the Vine