The Summer of Riesling was meant to be events across Australia during summer embracing all things riesling. Easy enough, right? Unfortunately, even though we’re a riesling region, there was little take up across the ACT (we’ve got to fix that next summer!), with only Parlour Wine Room holding the torch. After showcasing a variety of rieslings each week throughout summer, Parlour also had quite a few bottles of rieslings with which to celebrate the end of summer and needed people to help empty them…
If sommelier Peter Bell is running an event, you know it’s going to be good (see the Brooks of Canberra dinner as a pretty fine precedent!). Peter’s the sommelier at Parlour Wine Room, and this event promises patrons samples of up to 60 bottles of riesling at a cost of $15 per person… if that’s not enough to get our attention, the Brass Knuckle Brass Band is playing, and Parlour is offering their 2-for-1 Sunday arvo tapas. At $15, it’s unlikely this event is going to be anything less than worthwhile.
The Facebook event requests we book ‘tables’ and pay beforehand; paying over the phone is easy, and there’s early clarification that there are no tables at this event. On Sunday, we arrive at Parlour bang on the start time of 2pm, where 60 bottles of riesling are lined up on long tables.
Peter Bell behind some of the wines
It’s warm but there’s plenty of shade, and already there’s a great atmosphere. Attendees can pour their own servings – and Peter shows each what an appropriate serving should be – but most prefer to be served from behind the bar. I can see why: in addition to Peter and other Parlour staff, connoisseurs Ainslie Cellars are also assisting in the serving and provide a lot of knowledge.
Not every day you’re served riesling by some of the most knowledgeable people in Canberra!
Wines are lined up kinda by region and we do our best to go in order. The German wines come first, and early favourite is Prum. Our group’s not entirely fans of dry rieslings and it’s got the right balance of sweetness for us all to appreciate it.
In the meantime, as part of the Summer of Riesling there are some temporary riesling tattoos and we happily oblige, reskilling each other in the art of applying the wet cloth to the backing and peeling off slowly (someone needs to remind me in future that these are quite hard to remove!).
Very attractive
Looking for a good riesling? Try these as a starter 😉
Helpful advice from Peter
We’re lucky to have the knowledge behind the bar who can point us towards interesting rieslings (including one which has been produced like a red and tastes incredibly earthy), and other off-dry rieslings. We love the Mac Forbes RS16 and RS45 (and learn RS stands for residual sugar), and I’m a big fan of Monsters, Monsters Attack. (No, not a typo.)
This David Franz Eden Valley Riesling has a label which rips off to reveal cool markings on the bottle
Voila!
We venture into the tapas menu and order a number of items… it gets a little confused between waitstaff and a little time passes, but this has no impact on the taste of the food.
Eden calamari in squid ink – so, so good ($17)
It’s so good that we get a second serving later that afternoon…
Succulent chorizo with great northern beans ($17)
It does get a little packed, but that’s no surprise (sorry to the poor lady whose toes I stood on!). I think a future event could still have the long tables, but have one in each corner to direct the people traffic a little bit and break up the throng. The event also gets us talking about riesling all week, which makes me wonder if a similar event should be held at the start of the Summer of Riesling to get people excited, as well as the event – a top and tail of riesling, if you will.
Improvement suggestions aside, it’s a great event. And we had lasting memories:
Date: Sunday, 2 March 2013
Where: Parlour Wine Room, New Acton
Cost: $15 per person, more for tapas (but 2-for-1!)
Worthwhile factor: Highly worthwhile
Want more? Try the Parlour Wine Room Facebook page, or keep an eye on the Summer of Riesling website. (I feel like we need to appeal to our favourite venues for next summer!) There’s also my favourite event ever…
In The Taratory 
What a great event. I LOVE the Tats. What a great way to spread the good Riesling word. Hopefully more Canberra wine venues get behind it next year!
I’m stoked about this post Tara! I thought Parlour closed down after the fire in that building. I was there one time just before the fire when it was hit by lightning and flooded. I didn’t even consider going back. I’m stoked it’s still there! This event looked great, and I’m glad their food is still looking amazing. I’d love to give some of that squid a go!