De Bortoli Wines and spring racing appreciation

If change is as good as a holiday, the Royal Randwick racecourse has been on a massive vacation that's rejuvenated its heart and soul.

Having missed most of the bigger Spring Racing Carnival race days at Royal Randwick this year, I was delighted to be able to make the De Bortoli Wine Appreciation Luncheon earlier last month, which was as much a showcase for the rebuilt grandstand and ballrooms, as it was a wide range of De Bortoli Wines.

BellaRiva Pinot Grigio Vermentino 2012 by De Bortoli Wines

The beauty of the ballroom lunch was shelter away from the elements that General Admission would endure, access to the upper grandstand, in-room betting facilities and endless tastings of De Bortoli's broad range of wines under a number of labels and price points.

For example, the BellaRiva label range with a Pinot Grigio Vermentino blend hailing from Victoria's King Valley is a great sub-$20 option with the latter grape adding intriguing complexity, differentiating itself from the masses of pinot grigio on shelves.

De Bortoli Wine Appreciation Luncheon at Level 2 Ballroom, 9 November 2013, Royal Randwick Racecourse, Randwick

Tea smoked chicken, fennel radish slaw, sesame seeds, dill

Matched with the Pinot Grigio Vermentino was a mound of tea-smoked chicken slices; a worthy drop going up against strong smoky flavours. The breast was served with a refreshing slaw of fennel and radish with a dill and sesame dressing.

Gnocchi con Ragu di Maiale - potato gnocchi with pork shoulder ragu

The alternate entree was the signature dish of Locale, the restaurant in De Bortoli's Yarra Valley estate. Luciously light pillows of potato gnocchi were served up with a relatively light but flavourful ragu of pork shoulder and vegetables, topped with chopped herbs and cheese.

While it could well have been a cool weather dish, the match with De Bortoli's Yarra Valley Estate Grown Chardonnay 2011 was a spring day's delight.

Betting facilities in the Level 2 Ballroom, Royal Randwick

I put down a few inter-meal bets on the day's races, with very little luck in what wasn't a big Sydney race day, although with a still dressed-up, jolly crowd: fascinators and glam dresses for the ladies and of course, shirts, ties and jackets for the boys.

Seared citrus Atlantic salmon fillet, artichoke white bean mash, roasted cherry tomato chutney

To mains, the seared salmon fillet was placed before me, interestingly with the Vinoque Gamay Noir 2011.

Being an oilier, heavier fish, the light, cherry notes of the wine matched surprisingly with the salmon, which was served on a bed of artichoke and white bean mash with asparagus and a grilled lemon half.

Oven roasted lamb rump, crushed rosemary potatoes, roast truss cherry tomatoes, green herbs

The alternate main was a huge serving of roasted lamb rump, impressively medium-pink within for a large group lunch. The dark, rich jus was an absolute highlight, flavouring the meat, potatoes, beans and picturesque roasted cherry tomatoes.

De Bortoli Yarra Valley Estate Grown Syrah 2010

I have a penchant for big, bold reds like shiraz and the De Bortoli Yarra Valley Estate Grown Syrah 201 didn't disappoint. Peppery and rich with dark berry notes, the Syrah together with the lamb rump alone could have made the lunch.

Lemon curd tart, vanilla mascarpone cream

At dessert we were treated to De Bortoli's award-winning dessert wines: the deliciously palate-coating, honeyed De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon 2010 and the heavier, fortified De Bortoli Black Noble.

I'm not one to say no to stickies and fortified wines, especially the Noble One being one of the best stickies out there. It went with dandily with the generously-sized lemon curd tart with a facinator-like tuille, passionfruit sauce and the most delightful, torched mini meringues.

Layered dark chocolate tile, white chocolate ice cream, chocolate crumb

The sophisticated fortified Black Noble matched beautifully with the sweet, moussey chocolate dessert without issue, although the white chocolate ice cream with violet candy was actually my favourite part.

Miniature Royal Randwick signature scones with preserves and whipped cream

As the races went on, the lunch concluded with Royal Randwick's signature miniature scones with jam and whipped cream so despite any losses it would all still end on a sweet note.

While I always appreciate a good day at Royal Randwick and any opportunity to wear a fascinator, the De Bortoli Wine Appreciation Luncheon was another step up from that. Giddy up and keep your eyes peeled for the next one.

Level 2 Ballroom at Royal Randwick
(Image courtesy of ATC)

Food, booze and shoes attended the De Bortoli Wine Appreciation Luncheon at Royal Randwick Racecourse as a guest.

Emirates Marquee shines amid Doncaster Day rain

Rain, wind, cold – I couldn’t believe I was putting a fascinator in my hair in these miserable conditions and was actually intending to go out into it. It was quite possibly the worst possible weather for a day at the races, but the horses were going to run for Emirates Doncaster Day, and so I went – with boots and a brolly.

Emirates Marquee, Emirates Doncaster Day, Royal Randwick

With many thanks to PPR, I was able to head into the warmth of the Emirates Marquee after trudging through the muddy grounds from the car park, and battling the windy rain to get to the southern end of the grandstand.

Moet served in the Emirates Marquee

And is there anything more warming than an overflowing glass of Moet to start the day and forget about my slightly damp stockings? Well, perhaps the quite strong sangria, which I decided to keep at bay in favour of the bubbles.

Glasses ready for sangria

Key sponsor of the day’s big race, Emirates had set up decidedly Spanish surrounds from which to quaff endless bottles of Moet and pick on delectable Spanish delights from chef Miguel Maestre and caterers Culinary Edge.

AJC Ambassador and actor Roy Billing

It was a celebrity spotting haven, with Ronan Keating and Sonia Kruger spotted within seconds, as well as John Singleton; Rick Stein; Les Hill, Peter Phelps and Gigi Edgley from Channel Nine’s Rescue Special Ops; Roy Billing; Guy Sebastian; Jessica Mauboy; and Bill and Alex from My Kitchen Rules.

I later also spotted a stunning Jodi Gordon, the gorgeous Zoe Ventoura, racing royalty Kate Waterhouse and Luke Ricketson chatting to footy boys Chris Walker and Jason Cayless. In between Kirk Pengilly asking me for my race picks, that is.

Seared sea scallops with fennel and chilli served in shell with
caper breadcrumb and lemon butter

Food was plentiful – not that Moet needs any help going down – ferried about by smiling waitresses dressed in dramatic Spanish theme. Levi’s Choice in the fourth race didn’t do it for me (just), but the scallops certainly did – sitting beneath a seasoned crumb in their half shells, so freshly sweet and crunchy at the same time.

The freshly shucked Sydney rock oysters with a simple squeeze of lemon or lime were just divine, so I might have been seen chasing them down a few times.

Cooked king prawns with herb aioli

Prawn-y goodness

Also seriously divine were the huge cooked and deveined king prawns; the vibrant pile hit up and dipped into the aioli by the likes of Rick Stein and I.

Chilled almond soup with Muscat grapes

The cool soup wasn’t quite my cup of tea; a creamy and thick, almost grainy liquid with sweet slivers of grape, though I imagine it would have been very refreshing on a warmer day.

Meanwhile, my stolen half of the fig tart with manchego cheese, honey and toasted walnuts was delightful – crunchy with sweetness all round – though I unfortunately had trouble in locating another half.

Dill crumbed white anchovy with chilli and oregano salsa

Not my favourite sea critter, the crumbed anchovies were like a fancy fish finger – just too fishy for my tastes, but improved with a drizzle of the salsa.

Barbeque chicken skewers marinated with paprika and oregano
with lime citrus yoghurt

The ample barbequed skewers of juicy chicken pieces played an important role in providing sustenance for the long day ahead, which picked up slightly for me when Vintedge ran a place in the fifth race in Randwick.

Snapper and red capsicum croquettes with saffron garlic aioli

With a sprinkle of salt and parsley

One of the popular more canapés of the day were the domed croquettes; golden crumbed inners of creamy, smooth snapper and capsicum, served in a paper boat with a golden-yellow saffron aioli. Hot, easy to pop in the mouth and so very moreish, I’d rather not count how many of these I had.

Smoked cured beef on almond and queso iberico wafer with
tomato, fennel and raisin jam

A flavour bomb

Tip of the day Brazilian Pulse did nothing in race six, unlike the smoked cured beef canapé, which was a flavour bomb – the salty beef tempered wonderfully by the tomato, fennel and raisin jam on the crunchy wafer.

Patinack Farm 100th AJC Oaks

Miguel Maestre and Alex and Bill from My Kitchen Rules
cook up a large paella

And as if the exquisite canapés weren’t enough, there were more substantial eats, which started to circulate when Miguel started up the huge paella pan, adding rice and oil to start his paella, and eventually chicken, stock and seasonings.

Classic Spanish paella

The paella was a warm delight, quite light and tangy from lemon, and with big chunks of toppings dominating the small bowls.

Slow-cooked roast smoked paprika lamb shoulder with potato puree

Even more hearty and weather-appropriate was the lamb with potato mash; the meat fall-apart tender and rich with paprika flavour.

Fresh king crab salad with avocado, citrus salad and gazpacho dressing

The salad was the polar opposite of the lamb, perhaps a form of hedging in case it was a stinking hot day like Derby Day the week prior. With cold shredded crab, avocado and pink grapefruit among the ingredients, it was a sprightly summery dish that was fine as long as you didn’t look at the weather outside.

Traditional potato tortilla with artichoke and salad of broad beans, mint, parsley
and shaved Murcia al Vino lemon dressing

The potato tortilla dish was a jumble of ingredients, including radish slices, rather large mint leaves and crumbed and fried artichoke that was unexpectedly cheesy, all atop the eggy potato slice.

Coyne Bay barramundi with hot garlic sauce and chilli dressing, quinoa grains
and sauteed zucchini

It was near overload when the fish dish arrived. A petite slice of grilled barra sat on a fun base of red, white and black quinoa - almost as fun as trying to eat flying fish roe one by one in the mouth.

Emirates Doncaster Mile

In the day’s feature race, heavy favourite More Joyous race didn’t deliver any joy; instead, Love Conquers All almost did it with a second place, ending my gambling for the day on a not so sour note.

Cinnamon dusted churros with chocolate dipping sauce

Aiding that was a selection of desserts as the Moet continued to flow and the marquee seemed to get more crowded than ever. Freshly cooked circular churros scented the air and drew us to their sugary cinnamon outers, made decadent by a quick dip into the pool of chocolate sauce.

Spiced dark mousse with honeycomb and strawberry wafers

The gorgeous glass of chocolate mousse held a surprise; not just in its attractive and contrasting garnishes of honeycomb pieces and delicate dried thins of strawberry, but the spiciness of the mousse itself. Going by the tingle in the back of my throat, I’m guessing the spice was chilli.

Baked caramel delight with orange caramel syrup

The caramel delight was cool and creamy, the orange sauce a little on the bitter side from either the orange or some intentional burn of the caramel sugar. Sweet, but not too exciting.

Santiago almond and red currant tarts served with lemon cream

My favourite of the desserts was undoubtedly the red currant tarts. Served warm and dusted with icing sugar, the frangipane-like filling had just enough sweetness to balance the tartness of the currants while the delicate short pastry shell was a crumbly treat.

I would have chased down a couple more of these were I not stuffed with food, champagne glass still in hand.

So I thought it was a bit odd that savoury food started coming around again. A menu check shows this as ‘the soak’ – I’m not sure if this is a reference to the weather or some status reading of my liver, but the food came and the people ate.

Calamari fritos with lime aioli and shoestring fries

Irresistable calamari

I need to work on resisting deep fried calamari in all its forms, and French fries too for that matter. A bit cooled by the time I got this cone, the squid was still commendably tender and not too oily.

Veal meatballs with tomato and olive sauce

I didn’t think I could stomach a veal meatball (or risk tomato sauce on a cream lace dress – we’re talking several glasses of Moet in now), although they looked scrummy with a jaunty cheese shaving garnish.

Flamenco dancer

Aside from food, booze, celebrity schmoozing – oh, and the horses, of course – there was formal entertainment in the way of flamenco dancing.

Fiery eyes of the dancer

Supporting dancers

Two sessions featured a dramatic soloist in red with supporting back-ups and then a vivid couple in black and purple. I even heard Miguel describe the soloist as exceptionally good, while I had trouble keeping up with her furiously fast stamping feet.

Flamenco dancer’s feet

Flamenco couple

Passionate dancing

When we called it quits - from eating and gambling - and had to face reality again, the rain, wind and cold brought home the fact that the Emirates Marquee is a complete, luxurious treat.

However, the general admission and member's stands were equally busy, with all and sundry seeming to enjoy the day despite the wet weather (and the inevitable losing bets).

Emirates Marquee crowd at Doncaster Day

The last meet of the 2011 Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival is this Saturday's (23 April) Sydney Cup Day, which is also family day. Get your tickets for your last chance to frock up for the races this season.

Food, booze and shoes attended the Emirates Marquee on Doncaster Day 2011 at Royal Randwick with thanks to PPR.

Off and racing for Sydney Carnival

With Sydney Carnival in full swing, it's hats and (autumn carnival appropriate) fascinators out for days out at the races. The next three carnival meets are at Royal Randwick and weather permitting, I'll be there with my haphazard gambling techniques and sparkling wine in hand.

Last year's Derby Day at Royal Randwick Racecourse

The Emirates Marquee is the place to be - much easier if you're a celebrity of some sort, although being among the general admission does grant easier access to the bookies.

This year, with Emirates launching daily flights to Madrid, the marquee with be Spanish themed with a tapas style menu by none other than everywhere-chef Miguel Maestre.

So what will the celebs and racing royalty be consuming between races (indeed, if they see any races at all through the day)? About 3,000 glasses of Spanish méthode champenoise wine and of course, sangria - approximately 180 litres worth during the entire autumn carnival.

They'll also devour 50kg of Coyne Bay Barramundi, 25kg of red, black and white quinoa; 25kg of manchego cheese and 1,000 white anchovy fillets.

A peek at this year's Emirates Marquee menu

PPR have sent me a sneak-peek at the Emirates Marquee menu - and what a tease.

Cold canapes of cherry tomato, basil and Mahon cheese empanadillas and fig, manchego cheese, honey and toasted walnut tarts will do the rounds with warm snapper and red capsicum croquettes with saffron aioli and seared scallops with fennel, chilli, caper breadcrumbs and lemon butter.

To keep the Moet flowing nicely, more substantial dishes include slow-cooked roast smoked paprika lamb shoulder with potato puree and fresh king crab salad with avocado, citrus salad and gazpacho dressing.

And would it be Miguel without a classic Spanish paella - this one with chicken, garlic prawns and green lip mussels? And there'll also be a range of tapas (think patatas bravas, olives and manchego cheese sticks).

Of course there'll be churros for dessert with chocolate dipping sauce, along with a spiced dark mousse with honeycomb and strawberry wafers among other sweet endings.

Spanish ingredients courtesy of PPR

To get me in the mood, PPR have kindly sent me a sample pack of Spanish ingredients including Spanish paella rice, Spanish paprika, Spanish EV olive oil and a tiny bottle of sweet Pedro Ximenez sherry vinegar.

I can't wait to get my paella on - almost as excited about that as I am about coordinating my race day outfit. Happy punting, racegoers.