Archive for the "Eating Out" Category

Turns out I don’t “know my Australian wines blindfolded”.

I’m not sure if my sense of sight, smell or taste let me down when I caught up with Meet & Wine on one of its regular wine club meetings at Meat and Wine at Westfield London last week.

Meat & Wine is the only restaurant of the worldwide chain in the UK. The menu includes a range of steaks as well as specialist meats such as kudu, ostrich and kangaroo. There is a huge wine list (at reasonable prices) to match your choice.  

Exposed stone, rich reds and browns, spacious seating with big tables, and candle-light reflecting off thousands of wine bottles in glass towers give a lush feel. It’s a steak house with a bit of class.

We had a wonderful intro from Ryan Morgan, representative of Rathbone Wine Group. He comes from the Margaret River region near Perth, which sounds simply fabulous: “You’re either a winemaker, a surfer, or you run an arts-and-crafts shop.”

Ryan ran through prominent Australian varieties and regions, and topped up our knowledge of vintages, alcohol content and price points before we began the blind tasting. 

Looking at the results, my team lacked both a nose and a palate, but knew approximately how much a wine should cost and how alcoholic it was.

Meet & Wine events offer different wine experiences each time – one popular summer event involved matching wines with barbecued meats. 

All the events are designed to improve your wine knowledge and palate while having fun. I’m no connoisseur and had a fabulous time. You just need to enjoy wine to have fun!

Next year, the Meet & Wine evenings will be quarterly, kicking off with a Valentines-themed evening of bubbles in February. Keep an eye on the site for more info.