The Spectacular Entwined in the Valley Degustation Dinner 2016

A week ago to the day, I had one of the most amazing food and wine experiences of the year. Entwined in the Valley, happens every year in the Swan Valley and the degustation dinner is the show-stopping finale of the weekend. Whether you’re a foodie, wino or simply enjoy getting all jazzed up for a night of pure luxury – this degustation dinner is one to put on the calendar.

There’s always a celebrity chef involved alongside some of Perth’s best chefs and of course, you can’t go wrong with all the tasty Swan Valley wines. This year’s menu was simply amazing and Ray Jordan choose some awesome wine matches for the dishes. I apologise in advance for my photos which are going to cause you major food & wine envy!

A big thanks to the City of Swan who brought me onboard this year as the official blogger for Entwined in the Valley – I absolutely love being involved in Perth’s Valley of Taste and sharing it with you guys. Mr. Spittoon and I were honoured to be their guests at the degustation dinner and thank fully neither of us tripped or spilt wine down ourselves which is pretty typical for a clumsy couple like us. We were in top form obviously!

If you have been reading the blog of late, then you may have seen my exclusive interview with Ray Jordan where I spoke to him about the wine matches for the evening. I have to admit there were some cracking wine matches. They were the kind of matches where both the food and wine enhanced the other seamlessly. Keep reading to find out what wines he matched with what.

The foodie talent for the evening was headlined by Anna Polyviou (the Punk Princess of Pastry as she’s known) with local Chefs; Hadleigh Troy (Restaurant Amuse), Kiren Mainwaring (Co-op Dining and Swan Valley Humane Food Ambassador) and Michael Hartnell (Mandoon Estate and Swan Valley Humane Food Ambassador). The evening was MC’ed by Caroline Taylor – The Human Foodist who definitely brought some laughs to the table. Make sure to check out Caroline’s Swan Valley Grilled fig, goats curd and Vinocotto bruschetta she recently shared with us.

So enough blabbing, let’s get into what we ate and drank on the night and drool over all the pictures 🙂

The Menu

Course 1: Eucalyptus Smoked Rainbow Trout, Spring Legumes Nasturtium, Jujube
Rainbow trout hot smoked over eucalyptus bark with peas, Edgecombe Brothers broad beans, snow peas, French beans and an artichoke and sorrel ice cream matched with the John Kosovich 2011 Chenin Blanc.

Course 2: Beetroot, Ricotta, Dill and Oyster Salt
Wood roasted beetroot, ewe’s milk ricotta, oyster salt and dill gremolata matched with the Pinelli Estate 2016 Breanna Rose.

Course 3: Asparagus, Black Mussel, Buttermilk and Wild Onion
Char grilled asparagus with poached Albany black mussels, buttermilk emulsion, foraged wild onion puree, sprouted and fried buckwheat matched with the Garbin Estate 2016 Verdelho.

Course 4: Chicken, Miso, Almond and Carrots
Chicken breast stuffed with chicken mousse, crispy chicken skin, miso cured egg yolk, almond cream and coloured carrots matched with the Oakover 2015 Clockwork Shiraz.

Course 5: Dig In
Olive dirt, Healy’s Pyengana cheddar rocks, cracker crumbs and micro herbs matched with the Mandoon Estate Old vine 2014 Shiraz.

Course 6: Summer by Anna Polyviou
Inspired by summery vibes. An explosion of passionfruit, mango, coconut, banana and coriander matched with Funk Cider’s Coconut Cider.

Course 7: Anna’s Mess by Anna Polyviou
Chocolate sphere filled with Berry Sweet Berry Farm strawberries, raspberry, vanilla and mascarpone. Smash, and devour (hence why we were given plastic aprons to put on prior to digging into it)! Matched with the Sittella 2013 Cane Cut Verdelho.

It’s really hard to choose a favourite however my savoury and sweet standouts would have to be course 5 and course 6. Super tasty and the wine matches were on point! I literally took about 150 photos at the dinner – everything looked so amazing, check out my Facebook album for a few more drool-worthy photos 🙂

Bring on Entwined in the Valley 2017 I say!