Celebrating contemporary regionality and when romance becomes reality

Two hundred and sixty five people attended the inaugural Rocks Vintage Dinner on Friday night and feasted under the stars on regional food and wine from Orange, Mudgee and the Hunter Valley – regions of New South Wales known for their outstanding produce and wine.

The scene was set for a classic wine vintage style feast: Jack Mundy Place and Kendall Lane in the Rocks were transformed – five long tables, appropriately named after wines styles, with the vintage theme carried through with vintage white lace tablecloths, eclectic old china plates for salt and pepper and crystal vases of bright red dahlias. Stunning vintage lamp shades and fairy lights were strung up and guests were entertained with an eclectic mix of musicians. Passers by were agog, wanting to know when the next one was planned so they too could experience this unique event. While long seated lunches and dinners have been held elsewhere we think this is a first for Sydney.

It was all theatre as the Rocks Farmers’ Market stalls were transformed into food and wine destinations, serving regional food cooked by local Rocks’ heros Pony Lounge & Dining, Sake Restaurant & Bar, Wine Odyssey, Guylian Belgian Chocolate Café and La Renaissance Café Patisserie accompanied by some of the best wines from NSW.

Hunter Valley
Polin & Polin
Tulloch 
Tyrrell’s

Mudgee
Lowe
Optimiste

Orange
Cumulus
La Colline
Mayfield

Each food menu item was matched to at least two wines and also beer from nearby Harts Pub, providing guests with a few different options. Matches included:

Pony Lounge & Dining’s slow roasted Mirrool Creek lamb leg and rocket, lemon and shaved fennel salad with salsa verde

Matching wines
2008 Tinja Pinot Gris – Mudgee
2008 Tulloch Cabernet – Hunter
2006 Polin & Polin Limb of Addy Shiraz – Hunter Valley

Sake Restaurant & Bar’s Quigley’s Smokehouse smoked yellowfin tuna, avocado and cucumber inside out sushi roll
Matching wines
2009 Polin & Polin Tudor Chardonnay – Hunter Valley
2009 Tyrrell’s Lost Block Semillon – Hunter Valley
2008 Tinja Pinot Noir – Mudgee

Wine Odyssey’s seared kangaroo loin with smoked eggplant caviar, red onion jam and Fourjay Farms hazelnut jus
Matching wines
2006 Optimiste Petit Verdot – Mudgee
2005 Lowe Shiraz – Mudgee
2006 Lowe Reserve Zinfandel – Mudgee

Guylian Belgian Chocolate Café’s traditional carrot cake with carrot crème brulee, pineapple gel and Guylian white chocolate mousse made with Chanteclair Farm free-range eggs
Matching wines
Tulloch NV Verscato – Hunter Valley
2009 Cumulus Rolling Pink – Orange

La Renaissance Café Patisserie’s Pukara Estate olive oil and Murray River Pink salted caramel macaroon
Matching wines
2009 Cumulus Rolling Moscato – Orange
Tulloch NV Sweetie Dessert Style Semillon – Hunter Valley

Currency for the evening was in the form of ‘rocks’ – valued at $5 each. Food plates were two or three ‘rocks’ and glasses of wine were one or two ‘rocks’.

This was a culmination of a programme which last year saw the regions of NSW being featured in the Rocks Farmers Markets on Fridays and Saturdays. I have enjoyed my involvement with these projects with Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority and was thrilled with the outcome with this event.

I hope this is the beginning of a fabulous tradition of celebrating wine vintage under the stars feast-style in The Rocks.