UnWined Subiaco 2017 – My Tasty Highlights

There’s no doubt that UnWined is one of my favourite wine and food festivals of the year. 2017 marks the 7th year this annual event has been held. And it keeps getting better and better. We’ve made it 6 out of the 7 years –  so you can probably say I’m a bit of a fan girl for the event.

While talking to Richard (the owner of CMS Events) at their 20th birthday celebration last night, I think we may have hit the nail on the head as to why patrons and exhibitors alike really enjoy the festival – it’s the flow of the event. A lot of thought actually goes into the layout of the festival to get the right ‘flow’ and it just works.

Yesterday Mr. Spittoon and I had a fab day. We arrived about 12pm and being the UnWined fans that we are, we stayed right until the end. Before I get stuck into our tasty highlights, I just want to say a big thanks to CMS Events for inviting Mr. Spittoon and I along – it’s say to say we’re already looking forward to UnWined Subiaco 2018!

The Club Lounge

This is the second year, UnWined has offered a VIP experience. Tickets for the Club Lounge were $115 this year which included; entry into the festival, entry into the private Club Lounge area, a Plumm glass to keep and take home at the end, VIP toilets, wine by the glass & beer and a gourmet buffet of food from 1:30pm until 3pm.

Our day we spent visiting the exhibitors in-between breaks in the Club Lounge to simply sit back and relax. It’s also safe to say I consumed my fair share of oysters. Between the oysters, sliders and noodle salad – my tummy was pretty satisfied!

Willow Bridge Estate

I haven’t really come across these guys at a festival before however I have sipped on their Dragonfly Chardonnay on numerous occasions at the Merrywell. It was great to try more wines and also meet the owner who was manning the stall. It was the 2017 Blanc de Blancs that both Mr. Spittoon and I really loved and couldn’t walk away without buying a bottle of. The 2017 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon, a 60/40 blend was also very delicious.

Harman Estate

Harman were actually right beside Willow Bridge and they are a brand we become very familiar with at City Wine because they’d just released their Pisco (a brandy type spirit typically made in Peru and Chile). Before we got onto the hard stuff we tried the bubbles which is always a favourite and their 2015 Chardonnay is an absolute stunner of wine. Once our palates were warmed up we moved onto the Pisco. They now have a Ginger and Ginseng Pisco which both Mr. Spittoon and I totally swooned over and we ended up buying a bottle for $70 – absolutely delicious. I am also quite a fan of the Pisco sour. Later in the day, we ended up finding ourselves back at Harman’s sipping on their Ginger Slushie and I also had a Pisco Sour cocktail to end the day.

Gilberts

You may have seen that earlier in the year we actually visited the Gilberts cellar door in Mt Barker – so it’s safe to say we are familiar with the Gilberts wine range. It was great to bump into Clint and Gemma again. The new 2017 Riesling is a stunner and as always the Chardonnay’s produced by these guys are a favourite of mine. Even if you think you don’t like Chardy, please give them a go as you they may just surprise you!

Pandemonium Estate

As always it’s great to see the Swan Valley represented at events like this. Pandemonium Estate and Faber Vineyard were at the festival this year. This was actually the first stop for the day for us – the Moscato was a great wine to warm up the palate for the day!

The Lake House

You cannot miss The Lake House from Denmark as not only do you have a wonderful range of wines to try but they also typically have their VinoFood range of sauces, jams, salsa, etc to try. actually if you had a look in my fridge right now, you’d see numerous VinoFood products – I can’t get enough of them!

After Hours

To be honest I haven’t really tried a lot of wine from these guys and I really should have sooner as they have a delicious line-up. It was the 2015 Chardonnay that captured my attention – so smooth and flavoursome.

De Bortoli

I think this might have been the only non WA wine brand at the festival. We’re big fans of De Bortoli and have been for a number of years. Their Prosecco always goes down well and I really enjoyed trying some of their ‘Down the Lane’ range. The Pinot Grigio & Arneis white blend was very interesting and the Gris de Gris rose was very smashable!

Piadina Bar – Italian Street Kitchen

You’d think after all the food in the Club Lounge we’d be full, which we were, however we couldn’t walk past the Piadina stall without ordering one of their cute antipasti boards. These guys specialise in making their own flatbread which I have to admit was very tasty! The antipasti went down very well with our wines.

Alongside the above there were a number of old favourites of mine which I would definitely suggest visiting today if you’re heading along. These include the likes of 3 Drops, Talisman (trying the Arida rose is a must!), Bunn, Cape Grace, Clairault Streicker, Fermoy Estate, Fifth Estate, Frankland Estate, Happs, Redgate and more! One stall I really wanted to get to but unfortunately didn’t make it around many of the reds, was Corymbia which had 1 red wine on taste. I haven’t come across these guys before, so would have loved to try their red. If you go today, please try it and let me know how you go! Oh and also go on a free rickshaw tour!

A big thanks again to CMS Events, see you at UnWined Subiaco 2018!