We all like something new, and Feast & Vine is not only new, it’s fascinating….

Last night I attended a showcase for a relatively new company in Wellington, Feast & Vine (www.feastandvine.com) who presents wine and food pairings while exploring the whole arena of flavour.

With only a perfunctory idea of what I was going to experience, I arrived in a beautiful dining room decked out in evening fare at Finc. Café.  With a myriad of glasses on the table and a series of condiments, I knew this would be something different.

The evening was hosted by the very warm Donna McCormack of Feast & Vine who comes with a wealth of experience from the wine-rich area of northern California, and with a passion for the exceptional flavours of New Zealand wine.

My role is not to give away the secrets, but the theme of the event is to experiment with flavours by tasting food with different wines, then perhaps adding a dash of a condiment.  The results are fascinating and the taste buds can rock from nervous alarm to unctuous delight in a moment.

What did I learn?  Lots.  One favourite lesson was not to add acid with acid.  We were asked to try a touch of lemon juice on the tongue followed by a sip of riesling afterwards.  Great facial expressions…..

The tasting and commentary was expertly provided by Carl and Nicola from Wineseeker (www.wineseeker.co.nz) who know their stuff!  It is great to see people passionate about their subject hold an audience and entertain.

As always I left with a firm conviction that we have incredible talent in this city.  To have a new and refreshing angle on wine and food is exciting;  especially in a city where food and wine is a mainstay to our entertainment and almost our identity as the café capital.

I can see Feast & Vine filling a very tasty niche in our city of many flavours!

Have a happy one -

Jennifer

Scoopit

Digg

Reddit

Del.icio.us

Jennifer Looman is the director of Wild About Wellington Limited http://www.wildaboutwellington.co.nz a tour company specialising in themed tours of the city for local and international guests. Her great loves are Wellington, exploring other cultures, presenting ideas and information with a passion and her family. Her background includes 20 years in IT but tourism is the vocation of her dreams!