Clare Valley Gourmet Weekend – May 17-20

More than 37 Clare Valley wineries will take part in the annual Gourmet Weekend from this Friday, with events such as blending sessions and masterclasses, cellar door picnics, live music sessions and long lunches. Highlights include a Grand Gourmet Long Table Degustation Dinner at Pikes’ Wines’ SLATE restaurant, featuring five courses paired with current-release and museum-release wine; Manga, Mangia! at Mitchell Wines, which will feature Italian street food from the Andre’s Cucina + Polenta Bar team; a Gourmet Picnic at Paulett Wines showcasing freshly shucked oysters and sliders from Bush DeVine Café; Comida y Vino at Kilikanoon Wines, with Spanish tapas from Comida Catering plus acoustic Latin music, and a Sunday Sesh at Matriarch & Rogue serving up craft beers and dumplings galore from Humpty’s Dumplings. Six wineries are also teaming up with chef Stuart Oldfield and his team from Hand Made Catering to present The Gourmet Hub in the Clare Valley Showgrounds. See the full program here.

Micro Wine Market – May 18

New cellar door Ferg’s Stepney – which you may have read about last month on CityMag – is hosting a Micro Wine Market this Saturday from 2-7pm. It will focus on small-production winemakers (Slow Lane, Vanguardist Wines, Hustle & Vine, Year Wines), with patrons able to taste wines and buy bottles to take home. The free – and dog-friendly – event will also see the TacoCat food truck on site at the 8A Union Street cellar door.

Get Baked – May 18

TaCHs Stroopwafels will be on site at Get Baked.

This new market event at 230 Flinders Street promises “the most decedent dessert makers all under one roof”, including bakers and dessert food trucks serving up sweet treats such as donuts, macarons, cupcakes, full-sized cakes, brownies and crepes. Among those on site will be TaCHs Grand Stroopwafels, with its signature Dutch stroopwafels, and  Evi’s Grecian Delights, with a range of gourmet baklava. There’s even sweet treats for your four-legged friend. Get Baked is being presented by Market To Market from 10am.

Red October’s Russian dumpling classes – May 18-26

Gilbert Street Russian bar and restaurant Red October is hosting a series of hands-on dumpling-making classes this month. Participants will learn to make three different types of dumplings from scratch, including making and rolling the dough, filing and hand-wrapping dumplings, then cooking – and, of course, eating them. Classes run from midday until 2pm on May 18, 19, 25 and 26, with tickets costing $123 (available here). Read more on CityMag.

World Chardonnay Day – May 23

2KW Bar and Restaurant is celebrating World Chardonnay Day next Thursday with an event that seeks to debunk the myth of ABC (Anything But Chardonnay). It will show the diversity of Chardonnay styles on offer with a face-off between SA and WA wines from Tapanappa (Adelaide Hills) and Vasse Felix (Margaret River). All wines will be poured blind, and guests get to taste and pick their favourites. Tickets (here) are $90 including canapes.

Earthsip pop-up wine event – May 24

Sustainability is the focus of this event at Tandanya Gallery (253 Grenfell Street), which will showcase 15 SA wine producers “who have made changes to the way they operate for the betterment of the land and their wines”. Among the wineries represented will be Unico Zelo, Deviation Road, Yangarra Estate, Gemtree, Temple Bruer and Cape Jaffa. Earthsip runs from 5-8pm, and guests can collect a souvenir glass on entry for $5, which will enable them to purchase wine by the glass or bottle. There will also be live music.

Adelaide Wine Markets – May 25

Wine, beer, cider and gin tastings and sales from more than 25 SA small and boutique producers will be on offer when the Adelaide Wine Markets pop up at The Market Shed on Holland this month. Tickets ($30 plus booking fee) for the 5-10pm event include tastings, a take-home glass and live music, with food also available for purchase.

Unico End of Vintage Party – May 31

Hills winery Unico Zelo is celebrating the end of vintage “and months and months of hard work” with a party at The Stag Public House from 6pm on May 31. It’s promising lots of wine – of course – plus cocktails from Never Never Gin, cider from Lobo Cider and beers from Little Bang. Skin Contact will be providing the tunes, raffles will run all night, and for a gold coin donation to charity you can even flick wine at a giant canvas – AKA the Unico Pollock Wall. Tickets (here) are $22.

The Travelling Table – June 6-9

Vietnamese food will be the focus of one of The Travelling Table dinners. Photo: Saige Prime

This multicultural culinary experience will return over the June long weekend, with a series of four-course, long-table dinners ($66 each) at the Unley Town Hall showcasing the food of SA’s Filipino, Vietnamese and Sri Lankan communities. Chef John Stamatakis will work with representatives of each of the featured communities to curate the menus for the dinners. The Travelling Table will also host three cooking workshops ($48 each) at Unley Town Hall and Pirate Life Brewing, offering the opportunity to taste and learn how to cook Filipino, Vietnamese or Sri Lankan family recipes passed down through generations.

World Gin Day Dinner at Apothecary 1800 – June 8

Join distiller Sacha La Forgia from the Adelaide Hills Distillery for this $98pp four-course dinner at Apothecary 1800, which will see dishes including citrus-cured snapper, seared scallops and juniper-cured duck matched with the distillery’s 78 Degrees Classic Dry Gin, Sunset Gin, Green Ant Gin and Womad Gin. See full menu details here here.

Sea & Vines Festival – June 8-10

Sea & Vines 2018 at Alpha Box & Dice.

McLaren Vale’s three-day festival returns over the June long weekend, with 44 events across 27 venues. Ticketed events include a $75 three-course meal at Swell Taphouse (with 16 local beers on tap and DJs spinning tunes), a Familial Feast at d’Arry’s Verandah Restaurant featuring five shared courses plus nibbles ($105 or $155 including wine), a three-course long lunch with acoustic music at Hugo Wines ($95), and a “Corrina versus Karena” lunch at Oliver’s Taranga Vineyards with Salopian Inn chef Karena Armstrong and winemaker Corinna Wright ($120). Other options include the “Sunday Experience”, where you can create your own winery tour at two locations, and “Family Friendly Monday”, featuring free events offering entertainment and food options for children and adults. See the full Sea & Vines program here.

The Spanish Bull Wine Dinner – June 14

This dinner at the National Wine Centre will focus on emerging Spanish varietals from around Australia paired with food including a pig on the spit. Tickets (here) are $109 pp.

News, tips and information?

Please send details of any upcoming food and/or drink events to: [email protected].