Bites

Talented winemaker Gordon Parker, who has worked at prestigious Great Southern wineries such as Plantagenet and Amberley, has forged his own label, Gordon parker Wines, and is making quite a stir.

You’ll find his wines being poured in Perth’s best restaurants, – Star Anise, Jackson’s and Soda among them. Now, to launch his label as well as share a selection from previous vintages, Ben Andrijasevich former Balthazar chef and now owner of Soda Café in North Beach, is hosting Mr Parker’s wines as part of a six-course degustation.

Mr Andrijasevich, a long time fan of Mr Parker’s skills as a winemaker, will host the event on Wednesday June 21 at his restaurant. The menu features curried goat ravioli, seared beef with grape tomato gumbo and stuffed artichoke with sherry glaze.

Mr Parker will be pouring his rose and sauvignon blanc/semillon blend, as well as wines that go back to 1999.

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MadFish Wines has added another name to its already impressive stable of wines with the launch this week of the 2004 MadFish Gold Turtle Shiraz.

The wine is the first release of a special wine made exclusively from the Frankland River in the Great Southern region.

The fruit from the above-average 2004 vintage was fermented in open stainless steel tanks and blended with a very small amount of Viognier, co-fermented with the shiraz.

The wine is an interesting example of what shiraz can do in the Frankland region.

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One wine dinner that creates more than its fair share of interest each year is Clairault’s annual feast.

Chief winemaker Will Sheilds will be on hand to show off some of his best vintages from this highly regarded winery.

The Clairault Wine Dinner will held at Social on Station Lounge Restaurant in Subiaco (above) on Thursday June 15. All wines chosen by Mr Sheilds have been matched to a five-course dinner prepared by Social’s executive chef, Amrit Sandhu.

A highlight is surely going to be a vertical cabernet tasting over four Clairault vintages – the variety considered Clairault’s strong suit.

Meanwhile the event highlights an exciting time for Social, in Subiaco’s trendy Station Street.

The Vodka Bar stocks one of Perth’s most serous arrays of vodkas, with 65 different local and imported varieties available.

Social offers a vodka tasting tray, which highlights the various subtleties of Absolut vodka and the immensely complex range of Van Gogh vodkas.