Howard 25 November 2009 Events 8 Comments  Print This Post  Email This Post

Good food, good wine and good people. To many people, these are the essential ingredients to a good life or at least a good Friday night. Wine makers and attendees of this Kings Vault event tend to agree, after having a chat with them all at the limited time only and innovative pop up bar, Kings vault. By the way, is ‘pop up bar’ the new black ? I keep seeing this word every where.

I’m not one to revel in PR spill, but I think the concept itself is a great idea. Kings Vault is a Victorian Government initiative. Bringing out a ’boutique’ winery from Victoria and allowing Sydney siders the chance to taste the wine and food from this region in a casual enviroment is very clever.

Inside, the setting is intimate and moody. The organisers did a great job of creating a cellar like feel, it doesn’t feel like your regular watering hole. I could definitely see this type of concept appealing to the small/pop-up bar market.

Anyway, we got a chance to hear a few stories from the King Valley wine makers. They included Fred and Joel Pizzini (Pizzini Wines),Arnie Pizzini (Chrismont), Sam Miranda (Sam Miranda King Valley) and Otto and Michael Dal Zotto (Dal Zotto Estate). These names will probably not mean anything for most people (including myself before I attended). But the thing is, they weren’t here to sell their wine, instead they happily shared stories of what life is like growing up in King Valley and what a privilege it is to live and make a living there. 

This evening was all about the wine and food, it involved an intimate tasting session with matching food and wine. Ten ranges of wine were available, from whites to red. Each wine had their own story, how it was developed, what influenced it and what food it was good to be eaten with. The conversation was casual and unpretentious, I really enjoyed it and felt unintimidated despite my basic wine palette and knowledge. I go about as far as ” this tastes great “.

The food & wine from King Valley

The focus here was local produce, local chefs and of course local wine. There was nothing extravagant about the food, it was hearty and simple, stuff which can be enjoyed with a nice glass of red or white. It’s indicative of the lifestyle in King Valley, good food and good wine. Food which doesn’t need to go through a thermomix or cost $50 a plate, it’s just fresh local produce made with love.

The wine was fantastic, my favourites were the Sam Miranda Barbera Shiraz 2008 and Pizzini Verduzzo 2009. They were crisp and refreshing and were good matches with the food.

Range of anti pasto

First up was a huge platter of anti pasto, big enough to share between 6 people and still have left overs.  The cheese here was amazing, with the highlight being the goats cheese. This massive platter includes various breads and lavosh, succulent olives and jam. It’s the type of arrangement I can imagine eating in the King Valley looking over a vineyard, I long to visit it one day.

left to right : grilled eggplant - fennel, walnut and mandarin salad, prosciutto

 This plate was just WOW, apologies for my limited vocabulary. The ingredients at face value are simple, but you got to give credit for how the chef can create such harmony with all the flavours and textures. The salad and prosciutto was the highlight for me. People were freely eating these anti pasto with their hands, accompanied with crunchy bread and sipping on different wines all along a massive communal table. It felt like a massive dinner party, with everyone sharing stories and just chatting away as if we have seen each other before. It was such a great vibe to be in.

Olive tapanade wrapped in sage leaves , deep fried.

 It seemed there was a collective sigh of ” mmmm yum ” when everyone bit into these morsels. Olive tapenade wrapped in sage leaves were lightly fried resulting in the perfect bar snack. I’m going to try make these at home.

The last course was a massive plate of duck, falling off the bone with copious amounts of vegetables and crispy fried basil (I think).

So what did I get out of this session, and is it something which should happen more often ? I think so. It’s all about real food, real wine and real people. Wine made with passion, with Italian influences and not just made for mass consumption. The opportunity to speak to the wine makers who are willing to listen to the seasoned wine buff and the backyard uneducated wine drinker like myself.

The King’s Vault pop up bar is open from 18th – 27th November, between 6.30pm – 11pm. There will be wines available by the glass starting at $10. There are only a few days left so if you are curious about King Valley wine and food, check it out. For more info it’s best to visit the website at http://www.whereiskingsvault.com.au

Let’s see how successful this initiative is, hopefully they come back next year.

* The King’s Vault is an one-off event and only available in Sydney *

Howard attended this event thanks to Edwina from Yarn PR

Where is King’s Vault?
20 McLachlan Avenue
Darlinghurst (Rushcutter Bay)
NSW 2011