3rd Annual Australian Grand Tasting:
In Celebration of the Start of Vintage 2001
For a day, the land down under became quite clearly the land up and over the top in wine, and specialty foods such as olive oils, cheese, fish, honeys and nuts. The crowds sweeping down 18th Street proved that New York has a true affinity for Australian wines and a curiosity to know more about the vast culinary heritage of the country. As a result of an effort of the Australian Wine Bureau, Australia is now the largest importer of wine to the states only behind France and Italy, and with over 300 wines sampled at this event, the popularity is steadily growing.
The event highlights were quite easily the array of beautiful sea creatures aligned on ice. A whole Tasmanian Salmon was carved into bite-sized servings and mingled nicely with caviar on crackers. The cheeses varied from a Stokes Point smoked cheddar to Endeavour Blues and creamy Persian feta from the Yarrow Valley Dairy. In addition, Viva olive oil had a delicious variety of green and black olives to taste and to compare with the end product, first pressed oil. The delightful stars of the evening, however were the Paton Macadamia nuts sampled both roasted and honeyed as well as chocolate covered. Creamy and smooth textured, the Macadamia nut is indigenous to Australia and were not introduced to Hawaii until the late 1800's, thus only proving that Australia is the original source of many hidden wonders.
Words and images by Jenine Lurie
