The Grand Hotel, Richmond Fine Swine and Good Wine

Last Tuesday night I was invited to join acclaimed winemaker Adam Foster, and Katie McCormack, Dave Yuncan and the team at the Grand Hotel to celebrate the arrival of spring. Although the spring weather was a bit lacking, the warmth of the crowd at the Grand more than made up for it.

We started downstairs where we started with a cheeky Coopers Pale Ale before making our way upstairs to the dining room foyer where we were treated to Broadbean and Mint Grissini with some of the best Ricotta I think I've ever had, and a salad of Quinoa and Flathead in Witlof leaves. The Apertivo were served alongside the Foster e Rocco Fiano- a bright, young white with beautiful floral notes and a great textural mouthfeel.

Antipasto was the standout course- A silky carpaccio of Cobia with an even silkier eggyolk dressing. This was balanced with lightly pickled enoki, crumblings of parmgiano-reggiano and fresh baby basil, beet sprouts and lemon balm (I think). This gorgeous, indulgent fish course matched perfectly against the Foster e Rocco Rosé, the dryness of this exceptional wine cut right through the fattiness of the cobia and went down almost too well!

The Primo course of Duck Agnolotti was really let down by the plating choice, but otherwise was a delicious rich pasta course which sat nicely with the both the '11 and '14 Sangiovese. The 2014 in the Nuovo style was my personal favourite red for the night- a bright fruity red well supported with hints of fennel and tobacco.

The theatre of serving a suckling pig was well played as Secondi, and with a supporting cast of honey roasted baby beets and carrots, rosemary roasted potatoes and Insalata di rughetta e parmagiano-regianno could not fail to impress. The crisp skin of the pork was impeccable and the meat moist and beautifully infused with tonnes of natural flavour- a real testament to the breeders at Western Plains Pork.
We moved on to the Syrahmi L'Imposteur Grenache. This was a very special wine, and clearly the winemakers baby, grown on 60 year old vines, the wine displays deep ruby/purple colour, gorgeously fragrant nose of famboise, kirsch and black raspberries with dried herbs de Provence. Dense and medium bodied – it offers sweet ripe black cherries, earth, scents of white pepper and cured meats, juicy with glycerin but round with no hard edges and velvet soft tannins.

A rather sharp scottish cheddar, served alongside a baked apple and purple carrot accompanied they final wine course from Syrahmi. This really showed Adams passion for winemaking, comparing two vintages of his Heathcote Shiraz- the 2010 Siren and 2013 Demi. The 2013 shows how much emphasis Syrahmi focuses on quality over quantity, only using the finest fruit to make the best of an unfortunate year.

The evening was finished with silky white chocolate, citris and pistachio, and bitter dark chocolate truffles made in house by the incredibly talented kitchen with a much needed double ristretto. All in all, a great evening and can't wait to head back to the grand to check out their al a carte menu. 

xox