Event - Fenix

This is the last event held at Fenix as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival and was called Good Wine, Bad Wine.

The event description was as follows:

Some rules are meant to be broken! Or when it comes to food and wine matching perhaps they are not. Each of the five courses will feature a traditional wine pairing and an alternative beverage matching. Then the floor will be thrown open for discussion, appreciation or disgust.

Once again we're in the same private room and yet again it's been configured in a new way and proved to be an excellent formation to get people involved in the discussion.



On arrival we are offered a choice of Martini or Knappstein Reserve Lager while we wait. Tonight's host was Patrick Walsh.




Yabbies: Jasmine, Tapioca, Lychee
2005 Cavallina Grecanico, Sicily, Italy
2004 Marenco Scrapona Moscato D'Asti, Piedmonte, Italy

We began with yabbies that had been seared on just one side and they were served atop tapioca that was studded with pieces of lychee and fragranced by jasmine flowers.

The two wines were total opposites, the Grecanico dry and the Moscato, sweet and spritzy. It was interesting to discover that you could drink both wines with this dish, though I tended to prefer the Moscato - frankly I don't need much of an excuse to indulge in a glass of Moscato. I felt that the Grecanico, depending on the combination of flavours you'd just ingested seemed to just die in the mouth, it's flavour ending abruptly whereas the Moscato tended to linger.


Tomatoes, Tomatoes: sorbet of white chocolate and sorrel, basil dust
2006 Scorpo Pinot Gris, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
2005 Somerbury Estate Jones Road Chardonnay, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria

A mix of local Yarra Valley tomatoes including green zebras and tomatillo served in a tomato broth and a gorgeous sorrel and white chocolate sorbet.






36 Hour Cooked Lamb: baby leek, eggplant, hazelnuts
2005 Bass Phillip Gamay, Gippsland, Victoria
Tappeto Volante, Biella, Italy

Lamb neck cooked at 55°C for 36 hours draped with baby leeks and served ontop of an eggplant puree with a splattering of crushed hazelnuts.

The Gamay was a wine in need of food - not quite the type that you could just sip. As the Tappeto Volante is a beer it was met with trepidation and the usual unwillingness to taste it. This was probably the least enjoyed round by the group judging by the still full glasses dotting the table.



Brie
NV Chambers Rosewood Vineyards Muscadelle, Rutherglen, Victoria
2005 Punt Road Botrytis Semillon, Yarra Valley, Victoria

Isn't that such a gorgeous sight? Ooozingly beautiful and served alongside braised witlof.

Although the Punt Road proved to be the more popular match, overwhelming we all wanted to just drink the Muscadelle.


Tahitian Vanilla Mousse: sorbet of cucumber, tropical flavours
NV Yarrabank Crème de Cuvee, Yarra Valley, Victoria
Dave the Bar Mans Sour Apple Shot

There's been a last minute change and we won't be having the green apple sorbet shown on the menu but the Vanilla Mousse as tasted at the Future of Desserts Event.

Some sipped, some passed it by and others "shot" the shot as intended. Quite the cleansing drop.

The details:

Fenix can be found at
680 Victoria Street Richmond
(03) 9427 8500

Open:
Tuesday - Sunday for Lunch
Tuesday - Saturday for Dinner

web
http://www.fenix.com.au