A gala event
We may be thousands of miles from the nearest vineyard, but last night we transformed the galley into a festive, happenin’ scene that would rival any in Napa Valley.
Robert was a fine wine steward for the evening.
Or I should say Barossa Valley…I hosted a wine tasting event and featured five new Australian red wines that we got in this season for Polemart. Our selection this year is outstanding and wine aficionados down here are quite happy. We had a huge turnout, with 32 people enjoying the vino and a large handful of others who came for the ambience and company.
We sampled Penfolds Koonunga Hills Shiraz, Mirroll Creek Merlot, Somerton Shiraz/Cabernet/Merlot, Banrock Station Cabernet Merlot and Thomas Hardy Cabernet Sauvignon, each one paired with an exquisite appetizer prepared by our talented chefs.
Neil and Michael raising their glasses.
Neil is our sous chef, down here for his first winter and he is keeping us well-fed and happy. He’s got a devoted following for his Friday night steaks grilled to order and makes the best fried catfish and hush puppies outside of North Carolina, where he’s from.
Michael is back for his second winter and pampers us with mouth watering Thai food, the best homemade cinnamon rolls, his signature monkey bread and soon will be doing a Sunday brunch once a month, the return of BBIA or Biggest Brunch in Antarctica. The last photos of him on this blog were from the steamy hustle and bustle of Bangkok. He recently restarted his blog Cooking South.
Michael's miniature Beef Wellingtons with a wine reduction sauce, served with the Banrock Station cab merlot.
Francie is enjoying her first winter as well and has mastered the art of baking at altitude. We have fresh baked bread every day and desserts for lunch and dinner. This was her creation for the wine tasting, mini berry tarts paired with the cab sauvignon.
Baked Brie with crostini, made by Ice Cube beaker Claire after she warmed up from the fire drill. This was the perfect complement to the Somerton blend.
It was a lovely evening enjoyed by all and requests for another wine tasting are pouring in. I was thinking of next doing all Aussie whites…or a selection of our Kiwi wines…or the best of the California wines…or…
posted by Heidi @ 10:13 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Wow, that looks like quite the wine tasting event. Keep up the good work and thank you for taking the time to write such an interesting blog. I have been following your writing for several months now and I look forward to each new entry.
You could try whiskey tasting, but I doubt that it would be quite as high-brow.
The South Pole goes 5 star! No wonder it is so hard to get a job down there. The food looks awesome and evidently a good time was had by all. Hope you found my notes helpful.
Now try to tell me us Aussies don't make the best reds in the world!
Bob - glad you're enjoying the blog. It's fun to chronicle everyday life down here, which is bound to be a bit bizarre to the outside world but so normal to us.
Neal - remember the scotch tasting I did last year? Funny, how quickly people lost coherent speech that night.
Thanks again Tara - not only do Aussies make the best wines, they have the best names too. I just love saying Koonunga Hills.
Try saying Cookathama...
Quite elegant, Heidi. Looks better than last year (and _I_ remember the Scotch Tasting, even if some folks present might not have... Large Fun!)
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