STELLA BELLA WINES
OTRO VINO

Complimentary tasting in the Wine Loft from Thursday, 3 to Sunday, 6 October 2024

This weekend we are exploring Otro Vino by Stella Bella Wines. Otro Vino meaning “other wine” is a creative launch of playful and flavoursome wines, perfect for a summer barbeque. Open to taste this weekend in the Wine Loft is their Chardonnay, Rosé, and, Tuscan Red Blend ‘The Italian’. The wines are generous, bright with natural acidity, and deliciously textural. Enjoy by the glass or by the bottle all weekend long.

These Kransky sausages are seasoned with garlic, cracked pepper and caraway, before being smoked and cooked. Serve on a sourdough roll with sauerkraut & condiments of your choice, and enjoy!

This weekend in the Wine Loft, the team will be pouring the inaugural release of Fraser Gallop’s Innovation Range Chardonnay & Cabernet Sauvignon. These wines are expressive, creative, experimental, artisanal, and elegant - reflecting the quality of their single-vineyard site and the different approaches in their making. The Innovation Chardonnay is distinctly different to the Parterre & Palladian Chardonnays, downplaying the influence of oak to let the fruit and vineyard it comes from shine through. As with the Chardonnay, the Cabernet Sauvignon is all about lush fruit, varietal character and vineyard expression showing the best that Wilyabrup has to offer, with gorgeous flavours of blue and black fruit.

Enjoy this award-winning rosé wine from the world-renowned Domaine de la Grande Séouve in Provence. Well established as one of the most definitive Provence rosé wines, AIX is a stunning example of what the region has to offer. The 2023 AIX Rosé is a bright, pale pink colour in the glass. A swirl lifts the intense nose of fresh peach juice, raspberries, and white floral blossom to the fore. Fresh stone fruit, raspberries, and the classic cranberry tang lead the palate and balance the fine acid tension. The AIX Rosé 2023 finishes with a refreshingly long, dry, and balanced mineral line. This wine is sure to satisfy during the warmer months - now available in our Wine Loft.Open for complimentary tasting this weekend, Thursday 12 September - Sunday 15 September!

Join us for a one-off event in the Wine Loft with our exceptional Cheesemonger, Cindy Colling. Cindy will present and crack a whole wheel of this outstanding natural lactose free cheese made using thistle rennet from Piemonte, Italy.

Using vegetable rennet the Fiandino farms have created, first in the world, the Kinara method, which sees the use of the flowers of the Cynara cardunculus plant (thistle), a common wild cardoon which also grows naturally on the mountains, that turns into "real vegetable rennet". This is an alternative, rare and sought after, to the traditional animal rennet, capable of contributing in a decisive way to the "zero lactose" of the Kinara® and to provide it organoleptic features original and pleasant. The cheeses obtained with this method can be distinguished for their softness and for fragrances and flavours full and delicate, where all the goodness of milk of the Fiandino Farms is expressed in its best way.

It takes considerable skill to produce a hard cheese using thistle rennet that will mature evenly for such a long time (18 months minimum) and create such a rich, deep flavour with a balanced sweet-savoury bite to finish. The texture is slightly softer than Parmesan: smooth; even and moist – perfect for shaving into salads, serving with antipasti or grating into baked dishes.

Fattorie Fiandino is an artisan cheesery committed to sustainable farming practices and using their own milk and 100% locally sourced milk less than 7 kms away.

Join us at our Italian Wine Showcase in the Loft this Saturday, 31 August 2024 for a complimentary tasting. In preparation for this Father’s day weekend the Wine Loft team has put together a selection of over 25 Italian wines - from the delicate sparkling wines of the North to the rich volcanic reds grown on the slopes of Mount Etna in the South, join us in tasting through the diverse variety that Italy has to offer. As a part of our celebrations, our brilliant Cheesemonger, Cindy Colling will be cracking open a wheel of Gran which is not to be missed!

In celebration of National Pinot Day this Sunday, 18 August the Wine Loft will be opening a trio of Australian wines from three classic regions renowned for their highly awarded Pinot Noir. Open to taste and available by the glass from Thursday to Sunday, we will be pouring Murdoch Hill 2023 from the Adelaide Hills, Giant Steps 2023 from the Yarra Valley and Stonier’s 2022 Pinot Noir from the Mornington Peninsula. Pop up to the Wine Loft Bar and enjoy a tasting with our team - stay for a glass or two of your favourite Pinot and enjoy something from our menu.

OPEN TO TASTE:

Murdoch Hill Pinot Noir 2023, Adelaide Hills
Giant Steps Pinot Noir 2023, Yarra Valley
Stonier Pinot Noir 2022, Mornington Peninsula

This weekend the Wine Loft is pouring a trio of wonderful wintery reds from Swan Valley legends Vino Volta. Between the pair, Garth Cliff & Kristen McGann have 40 years of winemaking experience and have found themselves crafting wines in small batches, showcasing single vineyards and blends if the growing season demands it, making the most expressive & delicious wines they can. Join winemaker Garth Cliff this Friday 9 August from 4 PM - 6 PM in the Wine Loft Bar to taste Vino Volta’s ‘Post Modernism’ Grenache, ‘Love Sick Puppy’ Dolcetto & ‘La Chingadera’ Red Blend.

This weekend in the Wine Loft we are featuring two fantastic value Italian red wines. From Sicily, Cantina Cellaro’s ‘Bacaro’ is a wonderful, rustic, Nero d’Avola that is full of lovely floral fruit, delicate spice and a lovely ripe palate. From the village of Crecchio in the province of Chieti, Tenuta Ulisse’s Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is a rich, hearty wine with notes of ripe black cherries and subtle earthy dried herb notes and spice.

Salumi Australia has spent the past decade consciously crafting fermented and gently aged smallgoods among the rolling green hills of the Byron Bay hinterland in Bundjalung country. They are focused on preserving authentic artisan values, embracing the time-honoured techniques of traditional salumi makers. This weekend, we will have two delicious products available to taste from Salumi Australia in our Charcuterie Department. Sopressa Milano a red wine & pepper infused free range salami and Salsiccia Sarda, a Sardinian style free range Salami.

For the last weekend of our 4-part tasting series, we will taste another French wine vs one from the Swan Valley. From Chinon in the Loire Valley, we have Charles Joguet's ‘Les Petites Roches’ Chenin Blanc which we will taste next to Corymbia's ‘Rocket’s Vineyard' Chenin Blanc from Swan Valley. Chenin Blanc is an incredibly dynamic and versatile example of a wine that can appeal to many tastes and match with so many dishes, which is why it is consistently a favourite of ours. Both wines are open for a complimentary tasting and available by the glass in the Wine Loft this weekend from Thursday, 25 July - Sunday 28 July.

Join us for an evening in the Wine Loft with our exceptional Cheesemonger, Cindy Colling. Cindy will be presenting and cracking a full wheel of this outstanding raw milk cheddar from the Inner Hebrides. Our Wine Loft team have chosen two Italian wines that complement the hard, crumbly and full flavoured nature of this cloth bound cheddar.

Taste this unique cheese and these two wines whilst learning all about Sgriob-ruadh farm and the Reade family. For those would like to linger longer, Cindy has put together a wonderful cheese board featuring the Farmhouse Cheddar that is perfect to share. The wines on tasting are available to purchase by the glass or bottle. Our full food and by the glass menu is available.

Sgriob-ruadh is a family-run dairy farm on the Isle of Mull in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides. The Reade family have been dairy farming for 50+ years and making cheese for over four decades. The award-winning Traditional Farmhouse Isle of Mull Cheese has been made by the family since 1980. This hearty, full-flavoured Scottish Farmhouse Cheddar is fresh, grassy and herbaceous taste that lingers.

Cantina Cellaro 'Bacaro' Nero d'Avola 2022 from Sicily and Tenuta Ulisse Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2022 from Abruzzo will be open to taste alongside the cheese.

Complimentary event. No bookings necessary.

Complimentary tasting this Saturday, 20 July from 11 am - 1 pm! Epiros Organic Feta PDO cheese is produced exclusively from Greek, organic, pasteurized goat and sheep milk. It has a smooth and creamy texture, rich and tangy taste profile, excellent aftertaste and is perfect enjoyed in a salad, or alongside heirloom tomatoes.

Continuing our Tour de France in the Loft, this week we are looking at Rhone Valley vs Central Victorian reds. We have the Mas de Libian ‘Bout d’Zan’ from Cotes du Rhone and Place of Changing Winds' Syrah No.2 open to taste this weekend. If you like a French style Syrah or a Rhone Valley blend, then drop by to taste these two dynamic wines this weekend, or enjoy a glass or bottle in the Wine Loft Bar.

To celebrate Bastille Day this Sunday, 14 July, we have Hubert Gourmet joining us in store for a complimentary tasting from 11 AM - 1 PM. We will have Traditional Duck Foies Gras and Duck Terrine with Green Peppercorn from Comtesse du Barry available to taste. Comtesse du Barry use French meat in their Terrines & Foies Gras, and all of their products are produced in their local factory in the South of France.

Our Wine Loft team have selected two chardonnays for complimentary tasting this weekend in a Burgundy vs Margaret River themed tasting. We have the L.A.S. Vino Chardonnay from Margaret River versus the Verget ‘Terres et Pierres’ Chardonnay from Macon, in Burgundy's South. Enjoy a tasting, or by the glass in the loft alongside our French Cheese Board or Charcuterie, available all weekend!