New Wines of Greece Lunch at Level One, Electra House

Level One, Electra House - 131-139 King William Street, Adelaide SA 5000

On The Chopping Board (OTCB) was invited to a New Wines of Greece lunch at Level One at Electra House. All wines and food were provided on behalf of New Wines of Greece and Level One. New Wines of Greece arrived in Adelaide after hosting masterclasses and tastings in Sydney and Melbourne and OTCB was lucky to spend a lunch exploring a variety of wines from Greece. I (Amanda) was excited as one, I don't think I have ever tried wine from Greece before and secondly, the wine was to be matched with the brilliant food at Level One (check out our previous menu tasting review).

A New Wines of Greece selection

On arrival, we meet our host, Master of Wine, Yiannis Karakasis, ready to educate us on all things Greek wine. I do love wine, have dabbled in a few masterclasses, wine tastings and like to sniff, swirl and swig like the next person but I am by no means a wine connoisseur so I won't go into detail about the wines today... I will leave that to the experts and we had many of those at our table today!

Ready for the Wine Tasting!

To begin we are served two wines, a 2015 Troupis Winery Mantinia Moschofilero, and a 2015 Domaine Porto Carras Malagouziaan to match with an appetiser of 'Kingfish Ceviche with Horseradish, Botargo and Shiso'. Both lovely easy drinking white wines matching well with the freshness of the Kingfish Ceviche.

Confit Ocean Trout

Once seated we are served a 'Confit Ocean Trout' served with sweet glaze, nori and seaweed. The ocean trout is just as divine as the first time I experienced this dish and I was eager to see what my lunch guest today thought of it. When I get the little nudge at the table with the subtle "umm how good is this trout?!", I know she is pleased! The texture of the trout really is superb and the salty thickness of the nori gel matches well with the richness of the trout and the light crunch of the puffed rice paper.

The entree is matched with five different white wines, all a little different in colour and flavour profile but assist to either cut through the richness of the trout or compliment this decadence:

2015 Gaia Wines Thalassitis
2016 Jim Barry Assyrtiko
2015 Santo Wines Santorini Nykteri
2015 Argyros Estate Assyrtiko
2009 Domaine Sigalas Santorini Barrel

Wagyu Sirloin with a 'Mushroom Forest'

For main course we are served the 'Wagyu Sirloin' with a "mushroom forest". My wagyu sirloin is sitting impressively tall and proud on the plate with the cutest mushrooms surrounding it. On closer inspection the stalks of the mushrooms are cylinders of potatoes... yum. But the Wagyu! Wow, consistently pink throughout the whole sirloin and so tender and moist. Dipped in the well seasoned jus I made sure I did not leave one bite behind no matter how full I was. Looks like I will have to investigate further into Level One's Master Kobe Beef event (next one to be held 27th July 2016) if this is the standard.

Red Wines for the Main Course

The main is matched with three red wines, again all three quite different, the first quite earthy to me and the second my favourite as I could taste lots of fruit on the palate:

2013 Thymiopoulos Earth and Sky
2014 Domaine Sigalas Mavrotragano
2013 Gaia Wines Estate

I found it so interesting listening to the wine experts from New Wines of Greece discuss the history of Greek wines, the wine regions and grape varieties in Greece and also the different aromas and flavour profiles the guests around the table detected when trying the numerous wines over lunch. Unfortunately I had to leave and missed out on dessert and the matching dessert wine in the 2000 Argyros Estate Vinsanto 12 years barrel aged.

If you would like to learn more about Greek wines please visit the New Wines of Greece website. To order any of the above wines mentioned please visit the following distributors: Douglas Lamb Wines, Estate Wine Distributors, Bouchon Wines & Spirits and/or Miloway.

And don't forget to drop into Level One if you haven't tried their Asian fusion goodness!