An Amazing Wine Appreciation Lunch at Fraser’s

Disclosure: Fraser’s invited Mr. Spittoon and myself along to their first From Trellis to Terrace: Tales from the Vine luncheon.

Mr. Spittoon and I are still reminiscing about this lunch. We had such a wonderful afternoon full of great wine, food and company when we recently attended one of Fraser’s From Trellis to Terrace: Tales from the Vine wine lunches. I have never been to a wine lunch or dinner quite like it and I have to admit I just loved how the afternoon played out. I tried new wines, tasted amazing food and learnt some really cool new things about wine and WA.

Fraser’s is doing a series of these intimate wine lunches throughout the year (see the schedule at the bottom of this post). It’s a long table style lunch, with approximately 18 people. At the table we were joined by wine guru, Peter Forrestal alongside winemaker Guy Lyons from Forest Hill Vineyard. The menu was expertly designed to match the beautiful tipples from Forest Hill Estate. While we feasted (Mr. Spittoon and I literally couldn’t eat dinner that night, we were so full!) Guy and Peter chatted to us all about wine.

The lunch had such a relaxed vibe and everyone sitting around us had an awesome time. There were some great discussions about things like the temperature we drink wines at (too hot or cold could hinder the overall experience of a wine), around old world winemaking and natural winemaking and about trialling different things in the winemaking process like ferment temps, amount of wild yeast and about not sticking to a recipe. There was some very cool discussions happening and I have to admit I really admire Guy and his approach to wine. At one stage I felt like hooting and hollering when he said something to the point of:

People try to tell you what wines you should and shouldn’t like, don’t listen to them, listen to your own taste buds instead.

It was definitely a lunch for people who are passionate about wine, about drinking it and talking about it. Seeing as there are so few wine appreciation/educational classes in Perth this is quite a good alternative if you want to learn a bit more about wine whilst treating your taste buds to a delicious day out. Plus at $110pp you’re getting every cent worth and more in my opinion!

We tried a good selection of the Forest Hill wines from Riesling to Gewurtztraimer (which we discussed quite in-depth as to why a lot of people don’t drink this varietal much and I found it interesting that the presumption is because it’s hard to say), Chardonnay, Shiraz and Cabernet.

What also got my wine geek juices going was that Guy had brought up some new wine which was still fermenting and had not yet been filtered for us to try (it reminded me of Burcak we drank in Prague!) alongside some Shiraz and Cabernet grapes to try off the Forest Hill vines. I love these behind the scene insights into the wine world!

The food and service were nothing short of spectacular. William and his team took great care of us when it came to making sure we were all well wined and fed. The head chef came out at various stages of the afternoon to explain the food to us. We were all in awe about the time and effort that went into every single dish, it’s no wonder it all tasted amazing.

Some of the delectable bites included:

• Mt Barker chicken which was in brine for 3 days and then cooked on a cup (think beer can chicken) with lots of butter and the gravy served up with the chicken was insanely good!
• The royal blue potatoes were out of this world and we found out why our potatoes at home never taste this good – it’s because the process of making them involves boiling them, freezing them, frying them, freezing them again and then frying them again to create the softest fluffiest potato in the world
• Creme Brulee ice-cream which was literally a fully made creme brulee that was then turned into an ice-cream.. drool!

Okay I am going to shut up now and let the photos do the talking – be warned you may need to clean up a pile of drool afterwards!

There is no doubt I would highly recommend wining and dining at Fraser’s particularly if you can get to one of these wine lunches – I’m sure you’ll be thanking me afterwards! Here’s the full details for all the upcoming Trellis to Terrace lunches:

Date: Saturday, 2 April – 12.30-4.00pm
Guest: Leeuwin Estate (WA)

Date: Saturday, 9 April – 12.30-4.00pm
Guest: Andrew Watson– Woodlands Wines (WA)

Date: Saturday, 30 April – 12.30-4.00pm
Guest: Elizabeth Reed – Flor Marche’ Wines (WA)

Date: Saturday, 14 May – 12.30-4.00pm
Guest: Dan Coward – Shaw & Smith Winery (SA) and Tolpuddle Vineyard (TAS)

Date: Saturday, 10 September – 12.30-4.00pm
Guest: Dan Pannell – Picardy Wines (WA)

Date: Saturday, 24 September – 12.30-4.00pm
Guest:  Samuels Gorge (SA)

Date: Saturday, 15 October – 12.30-4.00pm
Guest: Conor van der Reest – Moorilla Vineyard (TAS)

Date: Saturday, 29 October – 12.30-4.00pm
Guest: Vasse Felix (WA)

For more details on the lunches and Fraser’s restaurant, please check out their website here. To see more pictures, check out my Facebook Album here.