What a burst of fruitful flavours and inspiring colours this weekend’s Gold Coast Food and Wine Expo was. Seeing so many uniquely traditional businesses all showcasing their talent created the feeling of tranquillity, or maybe it was just all the wine tasting that creating a bubbly atmosphere. The event consisted of 3 days of gourmet food, wine and celebrity chefs. The event was described as a food fantasy and an explosion of tastebuds by various people that attended the event on Sunday morning.
Celebrity Masterchef Ben Milbourne was present at the event to show off a fine selection of dishes ranging from a starter of Beef Carpaccio with Picco de Gialo, to a dessert of Coconut and Lime Panna Cotta with Lemon Curd Fruit Salsa. Other celebrity chefs in attendance included 2013 Masterchef Winner Emma Dean, Masterchef Celebrity Courtney Roulson, Head of Ten Restaurant Daisuke Miyake, Jamie Oliver Graduate Dennis Duncanson and Award Winning Sweets Ilias the Greek.
There was a specialised wine theatre by Luigi Bormioli Italy. The atmosphere of the theatre was enveloped in the smell of wine. For only ten dollars you were able to taste test a 2013 Sauvignon Blanc from Symphony Hill, a 2013 ‘Architect’ Chardonnay from Phillip Shaw, a 2006 Cabernet Merlot from Cherry Tree Hill Wines and a 2012 Shiraz Hentley Farm. It was a burst of wine flavours all around.
The Granite Belt Country stand offered information regarding various vineyards in wine country, such as: Bungawarra Wines, Golden Grove Estate, Heritage Wines, O’Reillys’s, Ballandean Estate Wines, Hidden Creek Wines, Moonrise Estate and Symphony Hill Wines, just to name a few. In addition, Winery Tours were offered at discounted rates through Cork ‘n Fork Winery Tours. So not only was the wine a bargain, but a weekend away with some wine and cheeses was a delight at a discounted price.
For the gents, an interesting whisky was also on offer by Starward. It was created in 2004 in Melbourne and it is deemed as a modern whisky for modern Australia. More information is available on their website at www.starward.com.au. For the ladies, there was Schlumberger Sparking Brut. It is been around since 1842 and comes in a golden bottle and has the slight pop of bubbles that floats around in your brain after one taste. For more information refer to www.schlumberger.at.
Certain wineries were also offering a membership and subscription to wines for a discounted price. This meant that you were able to try, buy and keep on getting that lovely taste of bubbles and grapes all year long. Peterson House Premium Sparkling wines were one of the many wineries offering this subscription.
For those designated drivers or non-drinkers, there were plenty of other options including a demonstration by pure water systems and a stall by Byron beans for creamy coffee.
Although the focus of the event was on wines, there were many different food stalls that offered a range of tastings varying from sauces and dips to cheeses and chocolates. After all, wine can’t always be drunk on its own, a few snacks add to those bursting flavours.
Jamroc Jamaican Jerk Chicken attended the event in promotion of their new store opening in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley. These meal options are offered at a reasonable price range from just $7 to around $30. For a flavour that your mouth won’t forget, try them out in Fortitude Valley or at Gold Coast’s Q Super Centre.
The Granite Belt dairy had a range of sample cheeses and information regarding their store in the granite belt, from nutty cheeses to creamy fetta the flavours were tantalising. In competition were In Season’s Gourmet Food at Molendinar and Witches Chase Cheese Company from Mount Tambourine. All around a comparison of all of their samples resulted in each Company having a different hint of flavour to their selection, making them incomparable. For the meat and sauce lovers there were a range of spreads on offer for sampling through Roza’s Gourmet Sauces with over 20 years of experience. Salumi Australia had traditional, raw tasting Salumi that mixed amazingly well with some cheese. Check out their range of salumi at www.salumi.com.au. Jac Wagyu offered ‘beef like no other’ with their station being a fourth generation family business in Northern NSW.
Finally for those with a sweet tooth were also catered for as karma cupcakes provided attention to detail in the appearance of their handcrafted cupcakes and the taste was impeccable… yum! Golosi were showcasing their savouries and sweets from their Gold Coast store on James Street. For jams, the Bramble Patch was a sweet paradise. Their jams have that real fruit flavour and their award winning strawberries are the reason for their popularity. Bryon Bay Chocolate Company offer Australia’s finest chocolate and it is a must have for all those chocoholics out there.
Overall, the event was a blast and it is destined to only get bigger if it is continued next year. Those that attended said it was well worth their weekend and that is should be a must attend event on the calendar. This event was proudly supported by Smeg, Granite Belt Wine Country, 90.9 SeaFM and all businesses in attendance.
Leave a Comment