Fino Fridays – from July 1

Bring your best bottle and join Fino Seppeltsfield for the first of many planned Friday night dinners. Using locally produced Barossa Birds chicken, Schu Am Pork Toulouse sausage and The Dairyman heritage pork belly, Fino will prepare the ultimate winter dish – French provincial cassoulet – to be accompanied by a salad of Loralai’s lettuce and house-baked sourdough to mop up all the juices. Dinner is $30 per person and corkage is free on your first bottle (standard size, one per couple). Fino Fridays runs until spring. An la caret menu also available. Bookings recommended.

Bottega Rotolo Cheese Experiences

Fine food and wine merchant Bottega Rotolo has a new calendar of cheese classes and workshops at its King William Road store exploring some of the best European and Australian varieties, styles, and food and wine matches. Classes include the White Mould Cheese Experience (June 30), the Raw Milk Cheese Experience (July 7 and September 22), the Blue Cheese Experience (July 14), the European Cheese Experience (July 21), the Cheese and Whisky Experience (August 4), the Cheese and Chocolate Experience (August 11), the Spanish Cheese Experience (August 18), the Washed Rind Cheese Experience (September 8), and the Goat Milk Cheese Experience (September 15).

A cheese tasting at Bottega Rotolo.

Meet the Maker: Coriole’s Alex Serrah – July 2

Join Coriole winery’s senior winemaker Alex Serrah for a tutored tasting of the Coriole range alongside some of La Cantina‘s favourite Italian varietals to get a better understanding of the style of these wines and how they compare with their Australian counterparts. Enjoy a tasting of 10 wines including Prosecco, Barbera, Nero d’Avola, Sangiovese, Montepulciano and Montalcino. There are two sessions available (12pm and 2pm) and each session has 16 places. Tickets are $30 per person and bookings are essential.

Truffle Festival Luncheon – July 3

As part of the 2016 Truffle Festival hosted by the Adelaide Central Market from June 30 until July 3, a long-table lunch showcasing fresh truffles will be held this Sunday at 12pm. The three-course Grand Truffle Lunch prepared by chef Stuart Oldfield from Hand Made Catering will feature fresh truffles and wines from The Lane Vineyard. Tickets are $175 per person. More information and bookings here. The four-day festival will also include tastings and cooking demonstrations with market traders and local chefs including Simon Bryant.

One of chef Stuart Oldfield’s dishes featuring truffles.

Romeo’s Cheese Club Master Classes

Romeo’s Foodland McLaren Vale has teamed up with local producers to present a calendar of sensory experiences involving local wines, beers and a selection of cheeses from around the world from its new cheese room. Classes include The Confessional Experience (July 5), Italian Cheese and Wine (July 12), Winter Cheese and Wine (August 9), and The Goodiesons and Cheese (August 16). For tickets and more information call Romeo’s Foodland McLaren Vale on 8323 7714.

2016 Beer and BBQ Festival – July 8 to 10

Some of Australia’s best brewers, BBQ chefs and musicians will again come together for Adelaide’s 2016 Beer and BBQ Festival. Held at the Adelaide Showgrounds, the event will kick off the presentation of the 2016 Royal Adelaide Beer & Cider Awards on the Friday and showcase more than 50 beer and cider producers. This year’s event will host pitmaster Rodney Scott from South Carolina, who will build a 100-year-old smoke house and serve a limited number of portions at pre-booked sessions, and Mary’s BBQ from Newtown, Sydney. It will also introduce an inaugural BBQ Ambassador – Duncan Welgemoed, of Africola, who will curate the food for the festival. To cater for the expected 15,000 attendees, organisers have added a new main stage, tripled the barbecue area and created a new beer garden annex that will host the Up In Smoke Australian BBQ Alliance competition area. Entry is $25 for the day sessions, $30 for night sessions or $60 for a weekend pass. Tickets and information available here.

Bonjour Barossa French festival – July 10

Seppeltsfield wine estate will host a French food and wine festival in the week before Bastille Day. Combining gastronomy and French cultural themes, Bonjour Barossa will offer a range of market-style food, wine, homeware and fashion vendors inside Seppeltsfield’s 1920s Vintage Cellar. Boulangerie 113, Mulots and Delicatessen Kitchen & Bar will be setting up stalls on site, as well Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. Expect patisserie, boulangerie, charcuterie, oysters, beef bourguignon, seafood bisque, cheeses, crepes, coffee and ice cream complemented by Seppeltsfield wines and a Pol Roger Champagne lounge. Entertainment includes Adelaide-based folk jazz band The Baker Suite and petanque. Tickets can be pre-purchased for $10, including a wine glass, here. Entry on the day will be available for $15, including the wine glass. Children are free.

The Baker Suite.

Pizza Festival @ Bar Mercato – July 19

Join Bar Mercato for this year’s Campbelltown Pizza Festival for a night of unlimited pizza. Experience pizza al taglio, Rome’s most famous street food, cooked by Bar Mercato chefs from a traditional pizza-dough recipe using mother yeast and leavened for 72 hours before being baked on rectangle trays and sold by the slice. The event begins at 6.30pm and tickets are $25, which includes unlimited pizza and live entertainment. Bookings essential by calling Julia on 8337 1808.

Meet the Brewer – July 20

Chef Adam Budd has joined forces with the crew from Big Shed Brewing Co to put together a food and beer-matching event at The Gov. For $75 you can sample and enjoy four craft beers and a cider with a four-course beer-inspired menu. Big Shed Brewing Co’s West Coast Indian Pale Ale, F-Yeah American Pale Ale, FrankenBrown American Brown Ale, KolsChisel German Pale and Cherry Popper Apple and Cherry Cider will be on offer alongside pork-belly popcorn with cherry popper mayo, crispy duck shanks with pickled carrot and beery ripe porter compote, beef cheek and brown ale pie, and golden stout time beeramisu. The brewers will be on hand to chat about the beers. The event starts at 6pm. For bookings phone Deb on 8340 0744.

Sidewood vs France – July 30

As part of the Adelaide Hills Wine Region’s Winter Reds Weekend, Maximilian’s Restaurant at Verdun and Sidewood winemaker Darryl Catlin are hosting “a battle royale over a degustation dinner”. Maximilian’s chef Jamie Laing has designed a five-course menu that will be paired with the wines of Sidewood alongside a French wine of the same or similar variety. Expect dishes including Coffin Bay oysters with finger-lime duck parfait and quince; snapper brandade with seaweed beurre blanc; chicken with truffle, cauliflower, pine nuts and currants, and tea-smoked duck breast with mushrooms and ham jus. Tickets are $150 per person. Information and bookings are here.

Maximilian’s chef Jamie Laing.

Shanks, Shiraz & Soul – July 31

Also part of the Winter Reds Weekend, Glen Ewin Estate is hosting a day of slow-cooked food, wine and music. Enjoy dishes including spiced lamb shanks, baked beef cheeks, slow-cooked chicken, roasted mushrooms and bean cassoulet with robust Adelaide Hills red wines. Dessert includes fig frangipane with cinnamon ice cream, apple and riberry crumble, and warm peanut butter brownie with coffee anglaise. All mains are $35 and served with roasted vegetables and herb polenta. Dessert is $16. Entry is free with the purchase of an official souvenir Spiegelau wine glass for $10. Bookings and more information here.

Winter Reds Weekend – July 29 to 31

Now in its sixth year, the Adelaide Hills Wine Region’s Winter Reds Weekend is a mini wine festival celebrating cool-climate red wines. This year is set to be the largest Winter Reds, with more than 40 participating wineries offering a diverse range of tasting events. Entry to non-ticketed events is a one-off $10 fee and includes a Spiegelau glass to keep. Space may be limited, so bookings are encouraged. See the Adelaide Hills Wine Region website for the full program.

Wine tasting and open fires at Winter Reds. Photo: Andrew Beveridge/asbcreative.com

Langhorne Creek Cellar Treasures Weekend – August 13-14

Discover hidden gems at Langhorne Creek’s Cellar Treasures Weekend as the region’s cellar doors uncover some carefully cellared wines. Learn about the benefits of cellaring wines as you taste the difference. See the Langhorne Creek Wine website for more details about this free event.

Langhorne Creek Cellar Treasures Weekend at Lake Breeze Wines.

News, tips and information?

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