Wine Selectors Chef Series

After almost 2 years of documenting our food adventures in Sydney and abroad, it’s clear that we have definitely developed a taste for eating out at restaurants…but we must admit that there are some days that we just feel like staying in and cooking some homemade favourites or trying out new recipes. The cold, wet and miserable winter we’ve been having in Sydney has been the perfect excuse for me to gather our family and friends to road test a couple of new recipes paired with 2 exclusive wines from the Wine Selectors Chef Series range. These wines are hand picked by some of Australia’s most well-known chefs to match with their signature cuisines and are only available through Wine Selectors and the chefs’ restaurants.

First up we trialled the La Rosa Tradición Sparkling Rosé 2005 selected by Frank Camorra, who is the Spanish-born chef heading up the famous MoVida restaurants in Melbourne and Sydney. This gorgeous sparkling wine is sourced from a winery in the Pyrenees in Victoria and has lovely fruity notes, including hints of strawberry which complemented our homemade tapas of Catalonian Tomato Bread and Garlic Mayonnaise with hot shoestring fries which we made using the recipes from MoVida Spanish Basics. Both the tapas were quite garlic heavy and we found that the light bubbles and fruitiness of the Sparkling Rosé helped to mellow out the potency of the garlic. It was also a great companion for the Prawn and Chorizo Paella that the boy whipped up for the main course of our homecooked Spanish feast. The Rosé isn’t as strong as a red wine but can still bring out a spectrum of flavours from the spiced meat in the chorizo to the freshness of the seafood in the paella.

 Frank Camorra La Rosa Tradición Sparkling Rosé 2005, $33.60 per bottle

Catalonian Tomato Bread (Olive oil, Garlic and Tomatoes),  Garlic Mayonnaise (Alioli) with hot shoestring fries from MoVida Spanish Basics recipes and Sauteed Mushrooms with Italian Herbs

Prawn and Chorizo Paella

Our second wine was the Grossi Barbera 2011 which is a cool climate King Valley red wine selected by Guy Grossi, who was most recently seen as a guest judge on My Kitchen Rules 2013 and is head of the Grossi Restaurants in Melbourne. Although Guy Grossi’s signature cuisine is Italian, we decided to pair this stronger wine with plenty of meat cooked on a Korean BBQ hotplate at home to see if it lived up to expectations as a wine that complements meaty sauces. The Barbera did end up holding its own against the many plates of grilled beef, lamb and chicken we ate that night as it is a more full bodied wine.  It was a hit with the family, thanks to its pleasant after taste and personally, even though I am not generally a fan of red wines, I found that this Barbera was quite easy on the palate with pleasing cherry flavours.

Grossi Barbera 2011, $29.75 per bottle

Home cooked Korean BBQ

All in all, both of these fantastic wines live up to their billing as wines which celebrate the “union of food and wine” as they were winners in our opinion and also in the eyes of our family and friends. The great news for our readers is that Excuse Me Waiter has partnered with Wine Selectors to giveaway these 2 featured Chef Series wines to one lucky reader!

This competition has now closed.

Special thanks to Wine Selectors Australia and AtomicSearch

9 Comments

  • Amy says:

    Hey this is my application for the competition – 1. For the 2005 Rose I would add it both INTO and alongside squishy Turkish Delight to give it that fruity sweetness, double whammy; 2. For the 2011 Grossi Barbera since it’s cherry-like I’d be keen to have it with steak&kidney pie (pie tin!) for a hearty winter meal, to get my sweat on and keep warm

  • Michelle P says:

    I would pair these wines with some hearty italian food, like pizzas and pastas!

  • milkteaxx says:

    i dont drink wine but i think it would be perfect for a poached pear with vanilla chantilly cream and ice cream!

  • Sarah says:

    I love red wine!!! I would have it with a classic rump steak, and the other with some freshly shucked oysters!

  • Will says:

    These wines would go great with my barbeque in summer! Match it with some bbq prawns and lamb rack and your ready to go

  • Tara says:

    It’s my birthday next week, pick me pleaseeeee!!!
    I would cook my special spaghetti cabonara and garlic bread to go with both these wines!

  • Kate R says:

    I would cook a sirloin steak along with green prawn salad with mangos!

  • Lillian Lam says:

    I think the wines would go well with a sirloin and also side of cous cous salad

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