Hello,

I'm seeking advice on a wine dinner that I am putting togther. It is to
be an introduction to Australian wine for 3 couples who eat and drink
wine together. We have done some research on Australian cusine and have
lots of idea's, but would really like to build the food around the
wine. ( I have located some Kangaroo and Alligator that I would love to
work in if possible)

I'd like to get an overview of regions and styles. I am having probably
5-6 courses (including desert) with a total of 8-12 wines. I need to
keep the total wine buget under $240 US. (Please remember that we are
tasting these wines, not guzzling them all down, so it is easy to try 2
or 3 per course.)

Any advice as to regions styles, vinyards and vintages would be
appreciated.


THANX

CHRIS

burb wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I'm seeking advice on a wine dinner that I am putting togther. It is to
> be an introduction to Australian wine for 3 couples who eat and drink
> wine together. We have done some research on Australian cusine and have
> lots of idea's, but would really like to build the food around the
> wine. ( I have located some Kangaroo and Alligator that I would love to
> work in if possible)
>
> I'd like to get an overview of regions and styles. I am having probably
> 5-6 courses (including desert) with a total of 8-12 wines. I need to
> keep the total wine buget under $240 US. (Please remember that we are
> tasting these wines, not guzzling them all down, so it is easy to try 2
> or 3 per course.)
>
> Any advice as to regions styles, vinyards and vintages would be
> appreciated.
>
>
> THANX
>
> CHRIS

Hello Chris,

Firstly to my knowledge the only alligators we have here are in zoos. We
have crocodiles.

My first suggestion for a desert wine would be De Bortoli Noble One 2002
if you can get your hands on it. It retails here for about $23AU. Its
won an awful lot of stuff.

Actually it might help with more info on the menu.

But typical Australian regions you might consider are the Barossa,
McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills, Margaret River, Mornington Peninsula,
Yarra Valley, Hunter Valley, Mudgee, Orange, actually there is about
56-ish designated areas, most if not all of which you can pick up some
good examples.

But at ~$20US a bottle, you could pick up some real gems.

I guess maybe a little more info might help.

And there is a heap of websites covering this sort of thing. A real gem
of a site is http://www.nicks.com.au/ . Though you may struggle to get
some of the wines in the US. This
http://www.winediva.com.au/regions/regions.asp has a bit about regions.
This has discussion about Aus wines
http://www.auswine.com.au/forum/index.php . This has maps
http://www.winebase.com.au/ozmaps.htm . This
http://www.winebase.com.au/oznzlink.htm has a listing [not all, its a
bit outdated] of wineries.



Mat.

In article >, says...
>
>Hello,
>
>I'm seeking advice on a wine dinner that I am putting togther. It is to
>be an introduction to Australian wine for 3 couples who eat and drink
>wine together. We have done some research on Australian cusine and have
>lots of idea's, but would really like to build the food around the
>wine. ( I have located some Kangaroo and Alligator that I would love to
>work in if possible)
>
>I'd like to get an overview of regions and styles. I am having probably
>5-6 courses (including desert) with a total of 8-12 wines. I need to
>keep the total wine buget under $240 US. (Please remember that we are
>tasting these wines, not guzzling them all down, so it is easy to try 2
>or 3 per course.)
>
>Any advice as to regions styles, vinyards and vintages would be
>appreciated.
>
>
>THANX
>
>CHRIS

Chris,

You might want to do a quick Google.Groups search for this very topic in this
NG. Some months back there was discussion on exactly what you are seeking. I
do not recall the suggestions, or I'd save you the search. One problem is that
you might not spur some of the same folk, who commented on that thread, to
post to this one, and the suggestions were great.

However, I do not recall anyone ever coming up with a wine pairing for
vegamite! <G>

Good luck, and let us all know how the dinner goes, plus furnish some TNs on
your wines.

Hunt

In article >, says...
>
>Hello,
>
>I'm seeking advice on a wine dinner that I am putting togther. It is to
>be an introduction to Australian wine for 3 couples who eat and drink
>wine together. We have done some research on Australian cusine and have
>lots of idea's, but would really like to build the food around the
>wine. ( I have located some Kangaroo and Alligator that I would love to
>work in if possible)
>
>I'd like to get an overview of regions and styles. I am having probably
>5-6 courses (including desert) with a total of 8-12 wines. I need to
>keep the total wine buget under $240 US. (Please remember that we are
>tasting these wines, not guzzling them all down, so it is easy to try 2
>or 3 per course.)
>
>Any advice as to regions styles, vinyards and vintages would be
>appreciated.
>
>
>THANX
>
>CHRIS

Chris,

You might want to do a quick Google.Groups search for this very topic in this
NG. Some months back there was discussion on exactly what you are seeking. I
do not recall the suggestions, or I'd save you the search. One problem is that
you might not spur some of the same folk, who commented on that thread, to
post to this one, and the suggestions were great.

However, I do not recall anyone ever coming up with a wine pairing for
vegamite! <G>

Good luck, and let us all know how the dinner goes, plus furnish some TNs on
your wines.

Hunt

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 21:34:25 -0400, burb > wrote:

>Hello,
>
>I'm seeking advice on a wine dinner that I am putting togther. It is to
>be an introduction to Australian wine for 3 couples who eat and drink
>wine together. We have done some research on Australian cusine and have
>lots of idea's, but would really like to build the food around the
>wine. ( I have located some Kangaroo and Alligator that I would love to
>work in if possible)
>
>I'd like to get an overview of regions and styles. I am having probably
>5-6 courses (including desert) with a total of 8-12 wines. I need to
>keep the total wine buget under $240 US. (Please remember that we are
>tasting these wines, not guzzling them all down, so it is easy to try 2
>or 3 per course.)
>
>Any advice as to regions styles, vinyards and vintages would be
>appreciated.

Matt and Hunt have already offered some excellent advice. You've got a
broad range to work with, and a reasonable budget if managed
carefully. I'd keep the total budget in mind rather than dividing by
number of bottles and seeking an average cost such as $25/bottle. That
way you can explore the relationship of various price points to
(hopefully) quality.

I'd suggest defining a methodology for your wine selection. By that I
mean focusing on creating a situation in which you might explore
Australian wine regions in comparison to each other or Australian
varietal focus.

So, you might compare a Shiraz from Barossa to McLaren to Yarra, etc.
Or, you could look at one major producer (not as much fun as seeking
out boutique wineries), such as Penfolds and compare a flight of
Shiraz or Cabs at various price points from Penfold. That might depend
upon having a very well stocked local source for Oz wines.

Be sure to look at what they are doing with grapes that don't seem to
get as much focus in other regions such as Petit Verdot and Grenache
along with the more prominent Aussie wines such as Cab Sauv, Shiraz
and Chardonnay.

And, don't forget some stickies--great sweet white stuff on the front
of the dinner and some wonderful "ports" on the back side.

Report back in detail--that is your assignment.



Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
www.thunderchief.org
www.thundertales.blogspot.com

burb wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I'm seeking advice on a wine dinner that I am putting togther. It is to
> be an introduction to Australian wine for 3 couples who eat and drink
> wine together. We have done some research on Australian cusine and have
> lots of idea's, but would really like to build the food around the
> wine. ( I have located some Kangaroo and Alligator that I would love to
> work in if possible)
>
> I'd like to get an overview of regions and styles. I am having probably
> 5-6 courses (including desert) with a total of 8-12 wines. I need to
> keep the total wine buget under $240 US. (Please remember that we are
> tasting these wines, not guzzling them all down, so it is easy to try 2
> or 3 per course.)
>
> Any advice as to regions styles, vinyards and vintages would be
> appreciated.
>
>
> THANX
>
> CHRIS
Beware the kangaroo, crocodile, & emu, although they are australian
animals they are not, repeat not every day aussy meals. They are tough,
strong & chewy. Try them yourself before inflicting them on friends.
marshall

marshall wrote:


>
> Beware the kangaroo, crocodile, & emu, although they are australian
> animals they are not, repeat not every day aussy meals. They are tough,
> strong & chewy. Try them yourself before inflicting them on friends.
> marshall


I'm a bit squeemish about eating animals on the coat of arms, so I've
never had them.

But I hear from a lot of ppl they are not any of these things when well
prepared.


Mat.

marshall wrote:


>
> Beware the kangaroo, crocodile, & emu, although they are australian
> animals they are not, repeat not every day aussy meals. They are tough,
> strong & chewy. Try them yourself before inflicting them on friends.
> marshall


I'm a bit squeemish about eating animals on the coat of arms, so I've
never had them.

But I hear from a lot of ppl they are not any of these things when well
prepared.


Mat.

Kangaroo is actually an excellent meat. It oxidises quite readily so needs
to be well looked after prior to cooking. The good cuts need to be very
lightly cooked and then it is extremely tender and flavoursome.

"marshall" > wrote in message
...
> burb wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> I'm seeking advice on a wine dinner that I am putting togther. It is to
>> be an introduction to Australian wine for 3 couples who eat and drink
>> wine together. We have done some research on Australian cusine and have
>> lots of idea's, but would really like to build the food around the
>> wine. ( I have located some Kangaroo and Alligator that I would love to
>> work in if possible)
>>
>> I'd like to get an overview of regions and styles. I am having probably
>> 5-6 courses (including desert) with a total of 8-12 wines. I need to
>> keep the total wine buget under $240 US. (Please remember that we are
>> tasting these wines, not guzzling them all down, so it is easy to try 2
>> or 3 per course.)
>>
>> Any advice as to regions styles, vinyards and vintages would be
>> appreciated. THANX CHRIS
> Beware the kangaroo, crocodile, & emu, although they are australian
> animals they are not, repeat not every day aussy meals. They are tough,
> strong & chewy. Try them yourself before inflicting them on friends.
> marshall

Thanx to all who offered suggestions.

Chris






In article >, burb > wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I'm seeking advice on a wine dinner that I am putting togther. It is to
> be an introduction to Australian wine for 3 couples who eat and drink
> wine together. We have done some research on Australian cusine and have
> lots of idea's, but would really like to build the food around the
> wine. ( I have located some Kangaroo and Alligator that I would love to
> work in if possible)
>
> I'd like to get an overview of regions and styles. I am having probably
> 5-6 courses (including desert) with a total of 8-12 wines. I need to
> keep the total wine buget under $240 US. (Please remember that we are
> tasting these wines, not guzzling them all down, so it is easy to try 2
> or 3 per course.)
>
> Any advice as to regions styles, vinyards and vintages would be
> appreciated.
>
>
> THANX
>
> CHRIS

In article >, says...
>
>Thanx to all who offered suggestions.
>
>Chris

Chris, I've been meaning to comment, alligator/croc, while I have not had
croc, alligator is quite good. I'd opt for a big OZ Chard, like Penfolds'
Yatarna, with most preps I've had.

This weekend, we had an ostrich meatloaf (not quite emu), and it called for a
Shiraz (not the CA/US Cab that was served). Nice, but needed some "soul" in
the recipe.

Hunt