The Curly Flat and Bekkers Tasting and Dinner

Date: 30 Sep 2015

Time: 19:00

location: The Don Restaurant, St Swithins Lane EC4N 8AD

Price: £ 145.00 (inc. VAT)

We are pleased to be the only UK merchant currently to be offering the wines of Curly Flat and Bekkers Vineyards; two estates that are easily producing some of the most exciting wines Macedon Ranges and McLaren Vale respectively. Production at both estates is minute and it is, in fact, near impossible to find the wines outside of the country as they are sold primarily to premier Australian merchants and restaurants. The opportunity to host a joint dinner with the winemaking teams of both estates seemed fortuitous - to say the least.

I hope that you will join us for this exclusive tasting and dinner with producers Phillip Moraghan and Jenifer Kolkka of Curly Flat and Toby and Emmanuelle Bekkers of their namesake estate. As there are only 16 spaces available, we are first extending the invitation to those clients who have purchased the wines of each estate. We are anticipating great interest in this event and would advise booking early.

Precise and poised, the wines of Curly Flat and Bekkers offer the freshness and elegance missing from many examples from Australia. I am not alone in my praise for these wines, as both estates have received high plaudits from wine critics. With class-leading Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in Macedon Ranges, Curly Flat produces Burgundian style wines with incredible finesse. It was Jancis Robinson who commented that the Chardonnay is an 'absolute dead ringer' for mature white Burgundy which should be 'force fed' to the French. Of the reds, she comments that it is 'some of the finest Australian Pinot Noir.' Although only in his third vintage, Toby Bekkers has already attracted a cult-like following. This should come as no surprise, as he is considered one of the top vintiulture consultants in the the McLaren Vale. Matthew Jukes commented of the 2012 Syrah: 'It is a near perfect interpretation, by its makers, of its vineyards and I adore it.' Same, I think, could be said of the Bekkers Grenache, and Grenach-Syrah blend.

We will begin the evening with a glass of Champagne at 7pm. The producers will then take you through five vintages in advance of dinner, partnering the remaining five vintages against a dinner prepared by The Don’s Head Chef. We anticipate the evening to conclude around 10.30pm. The full list of wines is as follows:

Pre-Dinner Tasting Wines
Curly Flat Chardonnay 2013
Curly Flat Pinot Noir 2013
Bekkers Syrah 2013
Bekkers Grenache 2012
Bekkers Syrah/Grenache 2012

Wines Paired with Dinner
Curly Flat Chardonnay 2006
Bekkers Syrah 2011
Bekkers Syrah 2012
Curly Flat Pinot Noir 2005
Curly Flat Pinot Noir 1999

We are really looking forward to this event. Not only will not only allow guests the chance to discuss each estate with the proprietors themselves, but also to taste a range of recent successes. I include below some information on each producer.

Tickets for the 10-wine tasting and dinner are £145 (including VAT). We have extended the invitation to select clients, but as there is only space for 16 guests, tickets will be made available on a first come, first serve basis.