Blog — Page 188 of 281

Grape, Grain and Graze.

Showgrounds

Sydney, Australia

August 11, 2018

What a beautiful alliteration that not only rolls off the tongue well but clearly portrays what one of Australia’s most prestigious wine shows is all about.

The shindig is essentially based on the annual completion that is the KPMG Sydney Royal Wine Show, which originally emerged in 1826, because once wines have been judged according aspects like their complexity, fruitiness and balance and excellence is rewarded, the outcome is presented at the Grape, Grain & Graze Festival – an elysian afternoon of fine wine, brews, fine food and live music.

There is a no shortage of wine tastings in Australia yet having the opportunity to sample drops from a range of over two-thousand two hundred takes the operation to a whole new level – and we are only taking grape related emissions here as Grape, Grain and Graze has to offer much more, e.g. products from the Sydney Royal Beer & Cider Show along with grazing banquets that offer ample opportunity to samples medal-winning artisanal food.

Once you enter through the doors, one is equipped with a Riedel Ouverture glass, an event guide with medal results and overview of tutorials that are offered by the industry judges and can be booked and one is off to the races to sample your way through it all with expert advisors being nearby whenever a query pops up in your mind.

With the last few wine seasons on the vast range of soil and climates that make terra australis having been dominated by demand outstripping supply and a resulting improvement in quality as rising prices aided more investment in winemaking and subsequently upped quality standards, quite a few treasures and surprises from new varieties and blends were to be found.

Same goes for the Ciders and Beers, which were proffered in a dedicated Beer Garden with a bar featuring all champions and medal winners that the public could sample via differently curated sets of tasting paddles.

Wine-wise our favourites were Syrah Gamay’s vibrantly coloured, spicy / peppery 2017 La Boheme Act 4  and House of Arras’ 2008 robustly bubbled, yeasty, green appled Grand Vintage Sparkling Wine, with Peter Lehmann’s excellent crisp, citrus flavoured 2015 Riesling convincing on the white side of liquid emissions.

Apart from Modus Operandi’s Red IPA, which we praised already as part of the Boilermaker Dinner with Glenmorangie Whiskies, the slightly hazy, clean tasting, Pirate Life Brewing’s Mosaic IPA with its nuances of tropical fruit and hints of pine tickled our fancy.

Sustenance came in form of grazing stations that offered a banquet ranging from cheese boards, prime cuts, vegetarian options, brasserie bread and gelato, with some of the fare being presented in the most engaging manner: Imagine a backyard clothes line with German butchery streaky bacon with black pepper, fennel seeds and brown sugar, a nut station and a pretzel board next to Schinkengriller and Leberkaese with Senf.

Summa summarum:

An expertly organised big-scale tasting event that is unrivalled both in terms of the variety of quality offerings as well as the curation and quality standards – one that any vino aficionado should consider a trip to Sydney for.

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Photos by @k.a. vv

Deafheaven

w/ Drab Majesty 

Neptune Theater 

Seattle, Washington

August 10, 2018 

I saw Deafheaven back in 2015 for the first time and aside from being blown away by their performance, I strongly remember a string of weird bands playing before they went on. Weird in the sense that it all sounded like loud, garbled noise to me—and as someone that tries to see the positive in almost all music I felt like a grandpa shaking his head about how times have changed and in the old days this type of music would have been ridiculed. That being said my hopes weren't high for the opening band Drab Majesty, but after seeing them live I can totally see why they're touring with Deafheaven. Their whole performance was like a fog-infused LSD trip, not that I've ever done LSD, but watching Drab Majesty is what I'd imagine it'd be like. The synth, darkwave sounds mixed with their eerie stage presence and outfits really set the mood for their music and I was all about it. It felt like I was in a parallel universe, inside of The Upside Down except no monsters were chasing me. My only criticism is that as their performance went on all the songs started to mush together into one. Although their 70s horror movie vibe was entrancing their songs lacked depth and arches which tended to flatline their music for me. Regardless, Drab Majesty still put on a hell of an interesting show and it was super refreshing to see a new, different band keep me on my toes. 

The air was still slightly smoggy from Drab Majesty's set and I was sitting in the photo pit waiting for Deafheaven and it's not so much that I heard the crowd when they came on stage—I felt the crowd. I felt them pushing against the barrier, felt the floor shake beneath me, felt the barrier stool I was crouched down on shaking my whole body and it was incredible. It sounds so cliche but at that moment I felt so alive. They opened with the second track "Honeycomb" off their new album Ordinary Corrupt Human Love, which definitely set the tone that they were back and fiercer than ever. Singer George Clarke's signature stage presence had him all over the stage like a tornado dressed in black, while the rest of the band played to their subdued approach but drew you in with the complexity of their instruments. Clarke does these hand gestures that mimic those of an orchestrator of a symphony, which it could be argued that he is indeed the orchestrator of a symphony. Ordinary Corrupt Human Love is playing on a softer side of Deafheaven—which isn't to say it lacks grit or metal, but just that the album has managed to explore depths I didn't even know music was capable of. 

The second song played was "Canary Yellow" which a week prior when I first listened to the new album I was instantly drawn to that song. It starts off with such a light, melodic feel which live was accompanied by Clarke's slow almost sexy dancing. Halfway into the song I just stopped taking photos and watched Deafheaven in amazement. Clarke had managed to work up such a sweat that his black, long-sleeved dress shirt was soaked through and the more he moved the more you could see sweat spritz off his body. If I had to describe Clarke's voice it would be what boiling blood sounded like if it had a voice. And when you take that deeply unique and dark voice and pair it with mismatched styles of music perfectly layered together it leaves you speechless. At least it left me speechless. Clocking in at just over 11 minutes, "Canary Yellow" might be one of the most perfect songs I will ever hear live not just based on the perfect execution from the band, but because it's a song that has an endless supply of depth. 

They played signature songs like "Sunbather" and "Dream House", which was really great to hear the comparison with their new songs. I still think Sunbather is a hell of an album, but I hear so much growth on Ordinary Corrupt Human Love; it's like just when you thought this band couldn't explore any deeper into their music they went and found a whole new layer. The subtly in the newer songs like "Worthless Animal" definitely didn't take away from their live show because musically it's fascinating as hell and visually Clarke's stage presence is unmatched. Clarke's body movements and voice are his instruments and they can definitely hold their own next to the band's killer guitars and unwavering, perfectly timed drum beats. I've honestly never seen or heard a band like Deafheaven and that's the beauty of them. Go support them. Go be amazed. Go be inspired. 

Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination

Yale University Press

Based on an exhibition at the Met, Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination is one opulently curated thing of beauty that in essence displays extremely beautiful artefacts, objects and designs, most of which find their origin in the Vatican and then went on to inspire and reverberate through the confines of haute couture, where religious and worldly takes on art eventually merged to become palatable for the mainstream for the twentieth and especially a renaissance in the twenty-first century.

The photos the tome is comprised of are pieces of art in themselves, which adds another dimension yet also a point of critique as the enhancement and fragmentation – which results in some garments invoking the impression that they are made of patchwork - of the photographic depictions sometimes goes at the expense of details and depths of the design, as it can prove to be difficult to make out specifically the construction and volume of the darker pieces – of which there are plenty: Austere clothes, altarpieces, artworks, accessories, et cetera – many of which have never been published before – are juxtaposed with recent collections of the big fashion houses, think Dolce & Gabbana, Lagerfeld, Gaultier, Alexander McQueens and Versace.

As a result of the highly stylized presentation of the photos, one has to rely a bit more heavily on the narrative and accompanying analysis instead of being enable to come to one’s own conclusions when it comes to the complex and more often than not controversial interaction and opposition between religion and boundary pushing fashion and art.

Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination is a fantastic coffee table book that offers eye candy galore, yet it is not necessarily a reference / research book as it lacks the details and indulges more in aesthetic representation. What it definitely does accomplish is open one’s eyes for the genesis of what we perceive to be commonplace trends in both art and fashion.

Art and Violence in Early Renaissance Florence

Yale University Press

Creativity and extreme force. Diametrically opposed extremes or inextricably linked?

Art and Violence in Early Renaissance Florence explores this intriguing relationship with a focus on the epoch of an era known as “renaissance”, i.e. a time spanning the period from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century.

Now, the epoch of what basically means “rebirth” is not exactly known for holding back when it comes to the public display of violent rituals, be it in a religious context as in the ordeals our saviour and Good Shepherd was subjected to or punishments that were unleashed under the guise of law on wrongdoers.

What this tome zeros in on is that in an age that is known for being liberating and fertile ground for spawning progressive and enlightening ideas, there seemed to have been an appreciation and aestheticisation acts of violence, predominantly in the field of visual arts – the realms of artists like “il divino” Michelangelo, “the Elder” di Cosimo and sculptor Bertoldo di Giovanni, who seemed to be fascinated by depictions of lethal physical altercations and brutal battles.

What the book does well is exploring how each artist’s personal relationship with violence and art resulted from a fusion of their own backgrounds, political and religious influences and the images they created.

The fact that most emissions of artists rooted in the era of aestheticism exerted an immense influence on the evolution of all facts of the arts as we know it lends weight to the notion that there was a bit more to the fascination with evil and violence than a face value representation of the signs of times: It explore that it was an integral part of the DNA and that without it would have probably lacked both the impact and significance it had for generations to come.

An evening with Dale DeGroff

Kittyhawk

Sydney, Australia

August 3, 2018

There is no shortage of accolades that cocktail innovator, veteran bartender and envelope pushing coryphée Dale DeGroff has been decorated with over fifty years of being active in the realm of serving alcoholic quality concoctions with a twist, which is why it is not further wondrous that a world renowned liqueur brand like De Kuyper flew the man in to head the 2018 incarnation of their Works program.

De Kuyper’s The Works on terra australis is aimed at upskilling and educating both industry professionals as well as the curious wider public via a curated series of workshops that are held in key markets.

Proceedings were set off with one of deGroff’s trademark cocktails before the evening transitioned into him holding court with an entertaining presentation of how the bar and hospitality industries have evolved and morphed since he first stepped a foot into a bar well over thirty years ago. Tales of the Rhode Island native detailing what went down in iconic venues like the renowned and infamous Rainbow Room and how he reimagined classic cocktails through adding a twist via his idiosyncratic approach to mixology went down a treat.

In times of an abundance of themed bars and quality cocktails, we were catapulted back to a time when mixing a cocktail culminated in employing a soda gun and a prefabricated package of sour mix with the pinnacle of creations being a vodka martini.

From humble beginnings as a wanna-be actor, via his acquaintance with Joe Baum to his ascent landing a gig at the bar on the  top of the Rockefeller Centre via a prolonged stint at the West Coast, i.e. Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, DeGroff’s storytelling was not devoid of highlights. Au contraire.

What was particularly interesting about from personal anecdotes, the evolution of bartending and mixology, were the creations that became benchmarks of his careers and how he was humbled when he was shown how punters taught him how to take what he thought was a Sidecar or a Margarita, which prompted his approach to cocktail making and enabled him to convert even hard-core gin haters with his juniper spirit based concoctions.

Needless to say that the stories had celebrity name dropping galore and was not devoid of fun facts that either tied in with popular cultural phenomena as well as political climates of the 1970s, 80s and 90s.

The evening was embedded in de Kuyper’s team proffering an array of delicious cocktails that each individual could have customised after a consultation with the engaging and forthcoming teams of bartenders, whose recommendations lead me to trying concoctions I usually not dabble in, which made me realise what I had missed out on before.

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Photos provided

Rev-Ale-ation – A Symphony of the Senses

Mosman Art Gallery

Sydney, Australia

August 5, 2018

Changing perceptions.

Expanding horizons.

Reimagining stories.

Inspiring enthusiasm.

Diminish stereotypes.

This and more what the entity known as Beer Diva has set out to accomplish fuelled by her passion, knowledge and enthusiasm for all things beer.

The underlying principle of her operation is to go far beyond of what most mere tastings have to offer: Through meticulously planned and curated events, experiences are created that invite the willing participant to become part of a journey that is designed to excite not on only the palate but all senses in equal measures.

Tonight’s Sydney incarnation of Rev-Ale-ation proved to be an example par excellence for how seemingly unrelated aspects can be married to create a holistic total that becomes much bigger than the sum of its individual components would hint at.

Driven by the expertise of someone whose expertise and background is informed by not only an intricate knowledge of the complexities and nuances of brews but also insights in culinary alchemy and the worlds of art, music and fashion; Kirrily Waldhorn is at the helm of operation with the main tenet being the creation of immersive experiences.

Rev-Ale-ation, her latest endeavour, offers the opportunity to enjoy speciality craft beers within the confines of places of worship, serenaded by operatic arias and sustained with artisanal cheeses.

Beneath the stained windows of Mosman’s Art Gallery, originally a Methodist Church designed by Burcham Clamp and Walter Burley Griffin built in 1915., world class Australian opera singers under the benign guidance of Liane Keegan, most prominently known for her portrayal as Erda in Opera Australia’s interpretation of Der Ring des Nibelungen, and accompanied by concert pianist and highly regarded operatic and orchestral conductor Simon Kenway, ales from Goose Island and 4 Pines were matched with a range of one-off handcrafted cheeses, courtesy of Milawa Cheese Company.

Each duo, i.e. cheese and beer, was married to a specific aria, which was chosen by the interprets after the tasting notes had been submitted to them to create a triumvirate that would not only feed off each other but also enhance each individual component.

While it was a pleasure to again sample the never disappointing Goose Island ales, e.g. its orange gold white headed, juicy and tart fruity Halia being the ideal welcome drink to ease into the evening; the blackberry and citrus dominated limited release Juliet, a rye beer aged in French oak being a new discovery and the reddish Belgian style Lolita, suitably framed by Rossini’s Una voce poco from Barber of Seville, being a reliable brew, the real rev-ale-ation came via an unexpected ménage a trois:

Usually not the biggest dark beer aficionado, matching the 4 Pines Stout with Milawa’s mild yet complex, buttery Markwood cheese while being serenaded by Mon Coeur souvre a ta voi from Samson & Deliah, won me over as it  resulted in a sensory experience that could not have been better orchestrated.

Rewarding experiences like this inspire one to revisit – or alternatively explore for the first time - flavours that one had already laid ad acta, which is where Beer Diva’s comes full circle.

A symphony of the senses indeed that generates a desire for more curated experiences by Beer Diva:

http://www.beerdiva.com.au/

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photos by @k.a. vv