Melbourne Royal has some brand new digs at the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds. The beautiful venue received a multi-million dollar facelift over COVID and is bursting to host you and your party. We were lucky to experience it in its full glory for the 2021 Melbourne Royal Wine Awards.
Melbourne Royal has been hosting its awards since 1844 (if I heard correctly!) — also, if only they’d saved a few drops from that inaugural gala — and its 2021 vintage certainly held up to its reputation as being Melbourne wine’s night of nights. Viticulturists, hobbyists and enthusiasts were ready to sample, over a four course, multi-wine matched (I just made up that term because each course was paired with two wines) extravaganza.
I mean, look at that table. We were in for a wine marathon and I couldn’t have been more chuffed.
While the joys of the whites were delightful to savour, this writer is a red wine boy at heart. The pairer’s choices didn’t disappoint and our Plumm wine glasses were bliss to sip from. Note to self: must buy Plumm’s entire sommelier glass series for all of my robust red requirements.
My absolute favourite for the night was the Ethereal One McLaren Vale Grenache. The first sip coated my palate with blackberry velvet and then the body melted down my throat like warm honey. Winner if the most coveted prize on the night, the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy, was Fallen Giants Winery, 2019 Shiraz. I suspect you might have a tough time getting this one at Dan’s over the next few weeks!
