BeauVine Food & Wine Festival – Perth

BeauVine started out as a side event for the Beaufort Street Festival in 2015 and due to its popularity it has come back bigger and better in 2016! Last year I wasn’t able to make it to this new food & wine festival so I definitely made sure it was on my calendar this year and what a wonderful wine-y time I had! I discovered some new tipples and reacquainted myself with some old favourites. Find out about my highlights and the pros of this festival…

Firstly a big thank you to BeauVine and Jump Climb for inviting me along. It was the perfect way to end the week – especially since the festival takes place in Birdwood Square just off Beaufort Street – which is on my way home.

There was a bit of chill in the air last night, however I rugged up pretty good and with a bit of red wine in me, I was doing pretty well. I can imagine everyone at the festival today will be rather warm though! So what did I think of the festival overall and what were my highlights? Read on winos:

BeauVine Pros:

• The styling – I just loved the styling of this event! It was all so beautiful from the all the lights to the wooden stalls and the gorgeous fresh flowers. Kudos to whoever did the styling and all the design work for the festival as it was just stunning
• The layout – There was so much room to meander! It wasn’t cramped at all (well not when I was there from 5-7pm) and there was so much space for activities and to chill. I loved the giant jenga and connect four alongside couches and chill out areas
• Wine Selection – My taste buds were definitely happy with the line-up of wine exhibitors from awesome local winos like Dormilona, Woodlands, 3 Drops, Faber Vineyard, House of Cards, Petition and Voyager Estate to some interstate producers like Torbreck and Brown Brothers – it was a nice mix of different wineries
• The food – I wish I had eaten more while it wasn’t busy as the prices were pretty good. I had a sticky ginger-wine pork bao from Lucky Chan’s for $7 and I could see the huge slices of pizza coming out of Mack Daddy’s for only $6!
• Free supplies – A wine festival isn’t responsible if it doesn’t supply free water, so I was happy to see free water on offer, plus I saw on the BeauVine Facebook page this morning that they also have free sunscreen for the day sessions – you’ve got to love sun-smarts!
• The extras – Not only is there an awesome selection of wine, beer, spirits, beverages, and food but there’s also art and retail stalls to stock up on goodies from like Kookery (mentioned below in the highlights), XO Tea and more (see map at bottom of post)

BeauVine Highlights:

I wish I had the time and stamina to get around all the stalls as I am sure every single one had something awesome going on! From the stalls I got around, here are some of my highlights:

• Woodlands 2015 Chloe Chardonnay – if you are a Chardy lover like me, then make a point to try this beauty!
• 3 Drops Rose – this is a brand new release for the 3 drops team and it’s a stunner + I have always been a fan of their Riesling
• Voyager Estate 2013 Chardonnay – yep another Chardy to try if you haven’t already
• Harvey River Estate from the Geographe region – it’s the first time I have come across this winery and they sure have some crackers + the customer service was brilliant!
• Arlewood Estate – very impressed with their straight Semillon and the 2014 Chardonnay
• Snake & Herring 2016 ‘Bizarre Love Triangle – a super tasty wine and it’s a blend of Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer + The Pinot Noir went down like a treat!
• Dormilona – as always I love their quirky wine selection, these guys make natural wines from organic and biodynamic grapes. Make sure to try the Pet Nat! Oh and I also loved the grassy flower-pot ice buckets – super cute!
• Windance Wines – as always it’s great to see these guys, from the whites to the reds, you’ll be in wino heaven
• Kookery – I love their wino bags (see pic above)
• Plus with your ticket you get a FREE tasting glass to take home and all wine tastings are FREE!

All up, I had a great time and I would HIGHLY recommend going this weekend if you have time or putting it into your calendar for next year. As always, my top tip for any wine and food festival is to get there early if you want to chat to winemakers, brewers and exhibitors as once the crowds come, it gets a bit difficult to do that. Bring on BeauVine 2017 I say!!

PS: I really want that big inflatable wine bottle for my backyard!

PSS: See more pictures in my BeauVine Facebook album.