What happens at our degustation wine dinners?Posted by joev prude on June 22nd, 2018 Well before we start the planning of a degustation dinner we have extensive discussions with wineries and the winemakers. This is to get an idea of what will be on offer and what will be special about the night. We are looking for a really good feature for the night so that it is really memorable. It could be back vintages, multi-award winning wines, vertical tastings, museum stock etc. When we have that something special we are then able to start looking for the wines that will be featured on the night, and it can’t be the same old same old. They need to be the right wines for your degustation Wine Dinner. Once we have the wines the chefs can get down to planning the menu and matching wines with the right food. This requires experience and trial to get the mix right. Our head chef is a master at this and has outstanding international wine knowledge to match. On the night you will be greeted with a glass of bubbles on arrival and canapés to get your taste buds going. This is a great time to start mingling and meet some of the other guests before the serious drinking and dining starts. 7 pm we move into the Bistro, we encourage long table seating so you have an opportunity to mix, chat and compare comments on the food and wine being matched for the night. Tom Porter our Bistro manager will have finished decanting and poured the first glass for the night. This is when we have a quick introduction to the evening and explain the first couple of wines and a little about the degustation ahead. We make sure we do not bore you with speeches; we prefer to entertain you with information and great stories. Lately, we have arranged for live music during the evening to add to the whole experience for the night, a light background finger style guitarist. The evening is followed by 5 courses of beautifully matched food and wine artfully prepared by our chefs. Wine is poured for each course and top ups are offered as you go. During the night the winemaker will surprise you with a special wine, this could be a museum wine, back vintage or….. The night will finish about 10:30 after desert and chatting with the rest of the guests, a great night would be had by all. Like it? Share it! More by this author |