How do you like your .....?
I admit I've been slacking with the blog posts these past
few weeks – but only because I've been busy with work and my recent completion
of the WSET (Wine and Spirits
Education Trust) Level 3 course.
MTC had me in 5-6 days a week, so things are good – but busy. Any spare time apart from work was
spent studying for the exam that took place last week.
I think it went fairly well. The exam had three parts: a
multiple choice section consisting of 50 questions, a short answer section, and
finally the blind tasting. I
thought I had nailed the tasting part: one white and one red to evaluate, write
notes and guess the varietal. I
would have bet all my pennies on a New Zealand Chardonnay for the white and
Beaujolais village for the red….. One out of two ain’t bad, I guess. The white turned out to be a flippin’
Soave! I couldn’t believe it – its flavor profile mirrored a chardonnay
perfectly. The cherry bubble gum
characteristic of the red screamed Beaujolais to me – and son of gun , so it
was. The only next level to complete is the Diploma, but I am not
sure if I will have the nerve, time, or money to achieve it. I would have to really dedicate myself to
make it a success.
Monday is always my day off so everyone's worst weekday has
become my Friday now. That said, for the past few weeks I have been taking
advantage of going to restaurants around the city that clients have been
recommending. Meatball Wine Bar
was my first pit stop and I have to say I had a lovely little afternoon.
Success with restaurants or bars I believe rests, without a
doubt, on hours of planning, hard work, dedication and sacrifice. However, the
key ingredient in any eatery is to create something unique and different, instead
of trying to master too many things at once. For instance, MTC does only cheese. No breakfast, no lunch,
no sweet desserts – just cheese.
Meatball Wine Bar in Melbourne has the same philosophy: This funky old school looking kind of
place does meatballs – nothing else. I walked in at about 3 in the afternoon – that perfect
time between lunch and after work nibbles and drinks. I sat at the bar and was greeted by the friendly bar man
Ben, who used to live in Regina of all places. The menu was focused on …..you guessed it! Meatballs. The best way to try the
different types they had was to order the mini balls. I went with chicken, pork
and beef. ( For my vegetarian
friends, they had a fish and vegan option.) These little balls were served with three different sauces
for condiments. They were
delicious, the pork ball was crowned king and I washed everything down nicely
with a glass of pecorino wine from Italy.
I had never had this varietal before and I have to say it was lovely. It had a light gold color, a bouquet of
loads of white fruit, pear and a bit of
jasmine, with a nice weight on the palate with lively acidity. I would
guess it had a bit of lees contact, but it did not take away from the freshness
of the wine. The finish was clean and long. I was so excited to try something I had
never had before and I have to say I loved it! So different.
For my next dish, I decided I would go with the lamb balls –
these were a bit bigger in size and absolutely gorgeous. The balls rested on top of couscous,
and came with a slice of fresh foccacia bread. Perfect for rounding up the dill yogurt that laid on
top. So many different flavors
were hitting my taste buds – it
was a crazy party in my mouth, but it all fit perfectly well. The balls were moist and packed with
flavor. Ben had not steered me
wrongly yet, so I asked him to recommend a wine that would pair well with the
lamb balls. He presented Scott – a
wine with Italian varietals, but came from the Adelaide Hills in Australia. I have
been reading about Italian varieties being planted in the King Valley area, and
that they were doing pretty damn well, but how could that be? Only Italy does the best Italian wine!!
I have to admit that I was skeptical before tasting, but I gave it a shot.
Again, I was really surprised and pleased with the outcome: plump, rich, and
bold but it had amazing drinkability. A cool climate wine that was loaded with round black
fruit, soft sweet spice and
beautiful acidity. The oak was well integrated and the
tannins were present, but soft grained.
The bold flavors of the wine complemented the bold flavors of the lamb,
and I was one happy girl.
Barman Ben was really pleasant and we had a good ol’ chat
that afternoon. Just as important,
the quality of the food was good and equally fun. I definitely intend to go back and try other funky little
wines on their list – and of course try a new meatball or two.
www.meatballandwinebar.com.au
