Vasse Felix at 2018 Margaret River Gourmet Escape
Margaret River hosted it's seventh annual Gourmet Escape food and wine festival from 16 - 18 November 2018.
A highlight was Friday night's Cabernet Society event at the Estate, which saw the 'Inaugural 52' members gather for a night of Cabernet cult worship.
Guests enjoyed small-make project wines, museum vintage Vasse Felix Cabernet and pre-release barrel samples, all of which were paired with dishes by Head Chef Brendan Pratt, specially created to make the King of all Grape Varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon) sing.
The night concluded with a mysterious induction into the Society - topping up a barrel of ageing Cabernet - and a very interesting after-party in the Red Barrel Hall.
Saturday night saw the tricolour come to Vasse Felix for a unique tasting of both iconic French and Margaret River wine and food. Guests were treated to some incredible wines throughout the evening, including Grand Cru Burgundy and White Bordeaux, as well as Vasse Felix Icons - Heytesbury Chardonnay and TOM CULLITY.
To complete this line-up, Head Chef Brendan Pratt was joined by Laetitia Rouabah, the revered French-born Head Chef of Alain Ducasse’s flagship New York bistro Benoit, to combine the finest local produce with elements of Paris and the Big Apple, creating an exclusive modern feast in Wine Paradise.
Our travelling food and wine refuge known as Bar Felix returned to Gourmet Village this year with two new Wine Schools exploring our black market range - Pretty 1 (Petit Verdot) and Blanc VI (Sauvignon Blanc Semillon).
Following heavy demand on Saturday, our Specialty Label Blanc de Blancs was made available (much to the delight of festival-goers), while we also poured Classic Dry White on tap, Filius Chardonnay and Filius Cabernet Sauvignon.
The Bar Felix food offerings were again a hit, with the Chefs barely keeping up with the demand for our Smoked Brisket Sliders!
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Think you qualify as a cult worshipper of Cabernet Sauvignon? Read our rules below to see if you could make the cut for the Cabernet Society...
1. The first rule of Cabernet Society is you don't talk about the Cabernet Society.
2. When we meet, we eat. The food matches the wine, not the other way around.
3. If you have to be seen to be ordering Pinot to keep up appearances or for your own safety, that's fine, but you may not swallow.
4. While Cabernet can be serious, the Society never is.
