Macedonia in the Swan Valley at Little Black Dog Vineyard
Opa! It’s an Eastern European way to say ‘cheers’. And by goodness did I say (yell) it a few times last Sunday. Yes I was just a little bit thrilled to be at the brand spanking new Little Black Dog Wines property in the Swan Valley. A huge thanks to Tash and family for inviting us along, we had an absolute ball.
The Event..
This new player on the wine scene has recently began selling their boutique wines to the market online and what better way to celebrate than a pop-up wine event. The event occurred over the 2015 Vintage Weekend in the Swan Valley.
Vintage Weekend has been running for a few years now and is how the Swan Valley peeps like to celebrate the end of the 2015 harvest and all the hard work that was put in. The best thing is, all these vineyard and winery workers who’ve been busting their butts for the last 3 months let us mere wine drinkers join them in the celebrations – me likey!
The Little Black Dog event was ‘A Taste of Eastern Europe Long Table Lunch’ which ran from 12-5pm on their property in Upper Swan. I had tried the delicious Little Black Dog Sparkling Chenin Blanc over Christmas, but other than that I didn’t really know what to expect. Therefore I had my flute at the ready as that bubbles is simply to die for, and only $20!
Setting the scene..
An absolutely beautiful marquee had been set up alongside the vines. I’m not sure who did all the décor but it was stunning. Poor Mr. Spittoon was nearly running for the hills when I blurted out with ‘oh my gosh it’s so pretty eyes’ that it would be the perfect wedding reception setting (we’re not married nor engaged, hence the sacredness in his eyes!).
The tables were adorned with white table clothes and cute hessian bag table runners with lace. Gorgeous jars of fresh yellow, white and green florals were dotted along the table and we had our very own little hessian & lace bag for our knives and folks. One of the super cute touches I loved were the little chalkboard wine glass labels with little pots of chalk on the table telling you to ‘write your name on your glasses. The bar, which naturally we sat the closest to was made up of wine barrels and old crates with stencil art – totally funky. And like with any great event the bar was well stocked! I loved the rustic and very humble style to it all, it oozed pretty nature, spring and romance for me.
The Trandos heritage..
Okay enough of that, I really should let the pictures do the talking! The Trandos family come from Macedonia in Eastern Europe and by goodness did they bring Macedonia to the Swan Valley on this day. It was fabulous! From the little Macedonian trinkets around the event to the traditional music and of course the dancing. No one could wipe the smiles off their faces! Haha but then again that could potentially have something to do with the special grappa I could see around the show in shot glasses 😉
Norm, Roza and daughter Natasha were our hosts on the day. Well actually no they weren’t – they welcomed everyone into the family! It felt more like a family get together, yes there were some speeches and such but it was mostly a group of very happy people eating, dancing and drinking. The video below proves it – go Roza!
The food..
I absolutely LOVED that all the food at the event was traditional Macedonia fare. The Macedonian cuisine is a combination of Balkan & Mediterranean foods – it’s full of fresh herbs and spices and my oh my we need more Macedonian restaurants in Perth!
When we sat down there were lovely big bowls of marinated green & black olives with fresh parsley as well as a cheese board and tasty stuffed peppers. There was literally so much food and such little time for my tummy to do this event justice.
Apparently Roza and Natasha had been up to the crazy hours of the morning cooking, and it was so worth it ladies! From the Macedonian sausage to the ‘polneti piperki’ oven roasted capsicums stuffed with beef, rice & vegetables to the ‘maznik’ handmade pastry filled with crumbled feta, it was foodie heaven! And the food just kept on coming!
After the starters and mains I was stuffed but it would be rude not to have dessert right? Again we had an amazing selection of traditional foods, as well as Shiraz grapes off the vines and the cutest (and tastiest) little dog cupcakes which I actually found out the other day were chocolate wine cupcakes made with the Trandos Red Blend! No wonder I liked them so much!
Check out the mouth-watering menu below:
The Wine (saving the best for last)..
Of course all the AMAZING food was washed down with plenty of liquid. Hydration is always a top priority of mine 😉 I set out to try all the wines and I just about managed it. Of course not full glasses of each, otherwise I would have been on the floor by 5pm! My picks of the day was the 2011 Chardonnay ($17.50), the bubbles of course ($20), the Trandos Blend ($16.50) and the Shiraz ($20). Actually everything was pretty darn good that we got a bottle of each to takeaway, oops! Or should I say opa!
All up it was a fab day with great wine, food and company. A big shout out to our fellow wine lovers at our table who seemed to be just as boozy as Mr. Spittoon and I. And once again many thanks to the Trandos family and we can’t wait to hear about the next pop-up event!
Check out more photos from the event on my Facebook page.
Find out more about Little Black Dog Wines..
For more information on Little Black Dog Wines, please check out their website, or contact with them on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Opa!
