Guest registration now available for Wolf Blass Dinner

UPDATE: We are now sold out for the Wolf Blass Dinner!

See you at the Listel!

100% Official - "Howl with Wolf" on September 24th

Wolf Blass in his element

Well, it is 100% official - the dinner with Wolf Blass is definitely on!

This will probably be his last visit to Canada - this dinner is not to be missed.

It is being held at the Listel Hotel in the Impressionist Gallery on September 24th.

Executive Chef Chris Whittaker has put together another fantastic pairing dinner for us, to compliment the fabulous wines.  (Recently, AWAS did a wine dinner at the Listel with 4 wine Principals from NZ, and one of them said it was "the best wine dinner I have been to all year!".  That says a lot!)

Registration is now available online at Karelo by clicking here.  This event will sell out fast, so don't wait.  Seating is limited.

If you want more information, including the food and wine pairings, it is available by clicking HERE.

See you there!

-Randy Saunders

Newsflash - Wine Dinner with Wolf Blass

Wolf Blass' Biography
"Behind the Bow Tie"

We haven't even got to the official start of the 2011/2012 season and we're already changing the calendar!

Wolf Blass, renowned wine maker and bigger-than-life Australian, is coming to Canada for his final visit, and has put aside Saturday, September 24th for a fabulous dinner with us.  We're working to finalise the menu and wines for this event as quickly as we can, but wanted to give you a heads-up now so you can put aside the date. 

Yes, we aren't kidding.  Yes, THAT Wolf Blass!  What a way to start our 30th anniversary season!

Seating for this dinner will be limited, so you should act quickly once the event notice arrives and reservations open.  We hope to have the notice out to you next week.  We don't have the pricing set yet, but expect it to be in line with our gala-type dinners.

As a result of the dinner with Wolf Blass in September, we will be rescheduling the “Blends & Beyond” tasting for Spring 2012.

- Sean Haffey

The Gala Dinner: (another) Vintage Evening - January 20th, 2011

We were fortunate to have the wonderful Tramonto Restaurant at the River Rock Resort Casino all to ourselves on this perfect evening.  Executive Chef Sylvain Cuerrier and his expert staff went all out for us.  His specially chosen menu was not only expertly prepared but also superbly matched to our 2001 Cellar choices.  Everything was utterly delicious at our annual Gala Dinner.

Reds all lined up and ready to go

The wines were in phenomenal shape, showing that Australian wines will age extremely well.  One of them, the d'Arenberg Bonzai Vines McLaren Vale GSM, was very youthful, drinking like a 2 year old wine!  It still has many good years ahead of it.

The staff of the restaurant were very professional and we were provided with excellent service.  Thank you to all!

Dining Room at Tramonto

Standout Pairings/Standout Wines

• Pine Mushroom Ragout, Sable Fish, Ashed Quebec Artisan Goat Cheese, Motoyaki Glaze, with Pewsey Vale Eden Valley Riesling 2001 - The still-bright acidity of this beautiful mature Riesling pierced through the luscious texture of this dish to provide textbook flavors, and paired especially well with the  Motoyaki.  Fabulous.

Pewsey Vale Riesling Eden Valley 2001

• Truffled Cauliflower Veloute, Parmigiano Reggiano, with Cockfighter's Ghost Tasmania Pinot Noir 2005 - Layers of harmony here, with the earthy nature of this superb Tasmania Pinot working well with the mild truffle, while suiting the Parmigiano component perfectly. 

Two delicious 2005 Pinot's - Cockfighters Ghost Tasmania 
and Mt. Difficulty Central Otago

• A duo of Braised Pork Cheek, Venison Style, and Pork Fore Shoulder Roast, Parsnip Puree, Australian Shiraz Confit, Vichy style Carrots, Dauphin Potato, with Warrenmang Pyrenees Victoria Shiraz 2001 - The intentionally rustic, old fashioned style of this dish was well suited to a moderate, traditional shiraz like the Warrenmang.  A real feast of flavors! 

-Randy Saunders

Exploring McLaren Vale with Mark Davidson - Sept 30th, 2010

(This will be the first of a series of retrospective blog posts describing the events of our 2010/2011 season.)

We were excited to be in a new venue, the Marriott Vancouver Pinnacle Downtown.  Mark Davidson was kind enough to join us and guide us through nine interesting wines, accompanied by a delicious 5 course meal especially selected and prepared for us by Executive Chef James Burnett.

Mark Davidson

This event showed us the tremendous diversity of wines that are beginning to come out of McLaren Vale.  This region has a wealth of wine types and styles.

Many thanks to Mark and the extremely professional staff at the Marriott Pinnacle.

Standout Dishes:

- Roast Duck Breast, Sour Cherry Reduction, Celeriac Puree

- Dark Chocolate Mousse Cake, Port Soaked Figs

Standout Wines:

Red Heads Studio Nebbiolo 2005

Pertaringa "The Full Fronti" 20 year old Liqueur Frontignac NV

- Randy Saunders