With a diverse selection from both the James Squire Brewhouse (beer) and Estella Estate and The Hill (wine), we are gently reminded that tonight isn’t about what wine or beer tastes better after a long day, or which one best quenches your thirst on a hot summer’s afternoon, but which best complimented and highlighted the food.

Introductions over, it was time to kick start the tasting session as we are presented with our Amuse Bouche; a Demi Tasse of Roast Garlic Soup with Parmesan Crouton. To accompany our soup, we are provided with a well-chilled Estella Pinot Gris and a Golden Ale. Surprised by the lightness of the Golden Ale, which matched perfectly the intensity of the soup, I was bowled over by the Pinot Gris. Its crisp yet aromatic taste really seemed to hug the flavours of the soup in a warm and contenting embrace. One course over and votes cast, it is immediately obvious that so far, so good as both camps poll evenly.

Due to a fridge malfunction the Salmon Cerviche has been replaced by Calamari on a bed of Cucumber and Mint, the chef’s suggestion for a dish which keeps aligned with the selections. Although the Sauvignon Blanc from Estella is a good effort, there is something about the crisp and refreshing flavor of the Sundown Lager that really hits the spot. Clearly not alone in my thoughts, an almost unanimous vote sees that lager take round two. But the best was still to arrive.

Moist, tender and cooked to perfection, the Kangaroo Fillet Wellington was served on Sesame Sautéed Greens and accompanied by an Amber Ale, and understandably, a Shiraz. Struggling with the concept of an ale alongside red meant, I was pleasantly surprised to find the texture of this heavier fuller beer fitted well with the meat and pastry. By no means does this suggest that the Ale had won me over, but allowed me to consider it and award it a very modest 2nd place to a wonderfully bold, vibrant and full bodied Shiraz.

It goes without saying that the Shiraz saw the wine even the score as we headed swiftly on to dessert, a Dark Chocolate Tart with Berries Steeped in a Porter Caramel. Rather than introducing a Sticky Dessert wine with this or even a Port we are offered a reserved Cabernet Sauvignon, which would face competition from a hearty Porter Ale. Unfortunately the Cabernet Sauvignon was no match for the zest in the dessert, whereas the Porter Ale seemed to bring a settling and warming tone to the course that would’ve gone unnoticed without it. Much to my surprise, I found myself voting for the beer for the second time that evening – a turn up for the books for any wine enthusiast.

However, this would not be the case as we approached our fifth and final course, cheese. As soon as I saw on the menu “Roaring Forties cheese along with a selection of Crackers and Tokay Caramelised Pears”, I knew we were in for a treat. While Team Beer decided on the Mad Brewers Orchard Ale, team wine fought back with a fresh Muscato from The Hill winery. Though the ale brought a surprising complimentary freshness, it was scant a match for the sweet Muscato.

With our final votes of the evening cast, we were asked to ponder our pick of the evening. Though my discovery of ales with appeal had proved a highlight (notably the Sundown Lager with the Calamari), the Shiraz was, for me, the hands down winner.

When I hear “wine tasting” I automatically go into foodie mode, trying to remember every adjective I can, so if pressed to describe a wine, I can pull out some fabulously extravagant answer.

So on the tram down to Pinot Views from a St Kilda Rooftop last Sunday afternoon I didn’t know what to expect. Would it be a bunch of 50 something’s yapping on about wine ? As I discovered, it was a complete mélange of people enjoying the epic Melbourne weather with some Tgallant wines matched with some sumptuous canapés.

Set atop the Hotel Barkly, utilising both a large function room and the rooftop terrace, the afternoon attracted all sorts with old wine buffs, trendy St Kilda locals and even a few backpackers all mingling together to have a good time. Founder and winemaker Kevin McCarthy led the afternoon with a range of tastings covering both Pinot G and Pinot Noir, which, according to Kevin, have taken inspiration greatly from the Alsace region of France and areas of the German Rhine region which make stunning Pinot Gris. When asked why the wines were described as neither Pinot Gris nor Pinot Grigio, McCarthy responded that the market had not found a distinct difference between the two (both overseas and in Australia) and that this was the best way to label the wines.

Over two hours with stops for an acoustic band to play we moved through six wines each matched with a canapé, and matched very well:

• Tgallant Juliet Pinot Grigio a young vibrant quaffing wine served with an ocean trout sashimi.

• Tgallant Grace Pinot Grigio which I found quite dry but very enjoyable with freshly shucked oysters.

• Tgallant Imogin Pinot Gris a high sugar, low acid very smooth wine also known as “white grange” served with a blue cheese tart.

• Tgallant “Tribute” (which according the McCarthy can be described in one word: opulence) was served with a prawn dumpling.

• Les Petites Vignettes Pinot Noir as an example of an Old World wine which was very smooth served with Peking Duck. We love duck and pinot.

• Tgallant Cyrano, a wine with an amazing nose that smelt like a big bunch of warm berries matched with a duck pie.

Sitting back at the bar enjoying the last wine I noticed something that set this afternoon apart from other tastings I had attended; there was no pretentious banter, everyone was having a great time and as a true definition of how Melbourne Food and Wine Events operate, the spittoons were left unused. The festival is not just about food, but appreciating produce and a chance to have some great times at uniquely Melbourne events. This was my first event for this year’s festival and I’m über keen to get stuck in to as many events as I can, and so should you.

The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival is on now until March 14. Check out the rest of the events on the MF&W website.

For more details on Tgallant wines, hit them up here.

It’s just gone 3pm and I’m stumbling — bloated, bleary-eyed and near-blotto — out of the James Squire Brewhouse onto Russell Street, facing the sharky eyes of sober passers-by. But I’m not concerned — I’m armed with a hazy smorgasbord of facts and phrases to justify my state. And let’s face it, that’s the sign of a good Melbourne Food and Wine Festival event.

Three hours earlier I was sitting around a large table with 30 others, admiring a specially-developed five-course menu. There was nothing spectacular about the list — the two starters, two mains and desert were all pretty standard good-pub fare — but the novelty here was that each meal incorporated at least a dash of house brew, and was also paired with with a separate, complementary pot.

Imagine blowing the froth off a sweet Golden Ale while you sip onion soup with blue cheese and sourdough croutons; prizing open wheat beer-steamed mussels with pancetta as you sink a similarly smokey limited edition Scribbly Gum; or putting away a subtle Sundown Lager while you nosh on a grilled, pilsner-marinated rockling fillet. Mostly it worked — although the braised daube of lamb was perhaps overpowered by its very rich Highway Man coupling — and at times it approached “perfection”, according to the barely-legible scribble in my notebook, describing the final dish — Porter-glazed poached pear with mascapone, alongside the house Amber Ale.

Each course was introduced by Joe, head brewer at the adjoining JS brewery, who explained the pairings, and provided a bit of background on each particular beer. (He was also charged with the enviable job of finessing the menu between sessions, so don’t be surprised if the line-up changes.)

At the end of the meal, Nigel, the head chef, also fronted up to our cheery group to describe how he incorporated frothies into the food, ending on a particularly inspiring note; “There are no solid rules, so fiddle around to discover what you like, drink and have fun.” Handily, he also hands out a pamphlet with all the recipes, just in case you’re inspired to recreate — after you nap off the daytime-drunk hangover.

Cooking with James Squire runs March 5 and 6 at the Portland Hotel, 127 Russell Street, Melbourne. A sister event, Beer vs Wine – Food Matching, which throws wine into the mix, is scheduled for March 12 and 13. All tickets $80.

It’s an appropriate setting for a photography exhibition so saturated in cool. Wedged into the side of the QV building in a corridor of concrete and shadows, the No Vacancy Gallery is known as a haven of cutting edge curiosities in the middle of the CBD. No wonder this mini-warehouse is playing host to the world’s most anticipated mobile collection of lomography: The Diana World Tour.

For the old and uninitiated, lomography is experimental analogue photography taken by an elite fleet of plastic cameras. It’s all about ‘happy accidents’: blurry edges, over-saturation of colour, weird lighting phenomena – and many of the Lomo cameras are geared solely to create these effects. Governed by the now famous 10 Golden Rules these cameras have even spawned their own creative movement, characterised by a ‘Don’t think, just shoot’ philosophy (and the excessive use of exclamation marks.)

The princess of the lomography family is, of course, Diana. Manufactured and almost immediately discontinued by a plastics factory in Hong Kong during the 70’s, the Diana camera produces a racy mix of high colour, and hazy images. Lomography’s aggressive marketing campaign means that original Dianas are about as easy to come by as original Women’s Weekly Birthday Cakes books. Hence the cunning creation of the Diana F+ in 2007 – a smashing replica with add-ons like the pinhole and ‘endless panorama’ effects.

As Diana-toters will gush before you actually ask them, these cameras aren’t just about cute photos. As the Lomography marketing department put it: “To hold, point, and shoot a Diana camera implies a conscious decision to relinquish control.” That might be taking it a bit far. But either way the results are pretty cool.

The Diana World tour has just hit No Vacancy and consists of Mr Allan Detrich’s startling collection of original and replica Dianas, the Diana Vignette Collection of dreamy mounted images by lomographers from around the world, and the all important pop-up shop. Perch on one of NV’s sanded wooden crates to admire the impressive array of prototypes, as well as the ‘customised clones’ that have been re-imagined by artists including Ghostpatrol, Cat-Rabbit, DJ duo Dan Gosling and Marky Hill (re-imagining involves attaching things like bunny ears, robot hands and wiry tri-pod legs to cameras, in case you weren’t sure). All for a good cause of course: the 25 one-offs will be auctioned online to raise money for charities www.seethroughme.com.au and World Child Cancer.

If you’re skint but still excited about all this, fork out a 20 for a Diana workshop where you can learn some extra Golden Rules to apply to your mad lomo skills.

A combination of symphonic music and flawless animated sequences are guaranteed to trigger nostalgia when one recalls seeing their first Disney feature animation. Dreams Come True: The Art of Disney’s Classic Fairy Tales opens a door into a haven of possibilities that existed long before Academy Award winning scores were being discussed. It’s time-travel to the nook of the studio, the library, and the artists’ space where ideas were visualised. It’s a peek into how the magic happened before the animations eventually found their way into cinemas, cathode ray tubes and DVD shelves.

The exhibition is a concentration of the Disney classics, featuring the main heroines throughout the history of Disney’s animations. It was first brought to New Orleans, post-Hurricane Katrina, as a gift of hope to the people of the city. Melbourne was privileged enough to host the exhibition after New Orleans, where it is currently exhibiting at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI).

Rich with historical and geographical detail, the showcase reinforces Walt Disney’s trademark of intricacy and the aversion of taking short cuts. Substantial research went into the animated films, many of which were based on the Grimm’s brothers’ fairytale stories. Walt Disney procured a collection of over 300 fairytale books during a family holiday to Europe in 1935. Most, if not all of the original tales, were adapted to be accessible to a young audience and rewritten as moral tales that were told through light and uplifting musical scores. Part of the strength of Disney’s storytelling could be attributed to the focus on character development, which can be seen in many of the experimental concept works on show at this exhibition. The artists took care in defining the personalities of the Disney princesses through the use of colour and experimentation with facial expressions and body language. Clay maquettes were also modelled to each character as, allowing artists to get a sense of their three-dimensional form.

Perhaps, the most striking aspect of this exhibition is the insight into the laborious processes that went into a finished 80-minute feature animation, particularly pre-1990. The amount of work that was required to paint separate cells on each of the characters and the hand-finished sceneries meant that each film took years to complete. The age of computer aided animation has significantly changed this process and some amazing footage of the upcoming movie, Tangled, demonstrates how far animation has progressed.

Whether you are an animator or filmmaker who is after some insights into one of the most iconic and successful animated films of all time or simply an avid Disney fan who wants to reconnect with the brightest films of their childhood you will not be disappointed by Dreams Come True: The Art of Disney’s Classic Fairy Tales.

You can find all the details of the exhibition through the ACMI website here.

Ordinary residents of Thornbury would have received a shock if they happened to be strolling along High Street last Saturday night.

Among the usual traffic there was a different, more elaborately dressed, crowd milling around the entrance to the grand old Thornbury theatre. Some came dressed to the nines, some came as century crossing time travellers and some came as description transcending ethereal characters. All were exuberant, all wore masks and all were descending upon the Bohemian Masquerade Ball.

It was clear from the beginning that this would be a night unlike the usual hum-drum of city bars and absent stars. Initial suspicion proved correct and upon entering we were met by a pianist playing a grand piano in the foyer – it wasn’t the first unexpected piano to appear for the evening, either – and from there we were led through an almost endless succession of music, art and all kinds of vaudeville entertainment. Performances turned up everywhere, frequently unexpected, always bewildering and it was sometimes hard to tell what was a planned installation and what was a random act of art by an inspired ball-goer.

Thornbury theatre was an ideal venue; the regal décor framed its events like an old museum, its unusual exhibits being a mix between the crudely imagined future and the romantically remembered past. The main room upstairs felt like a cross between the Titanic’s grand dining room and an overcrowded children’s party – full of elaborate costumes and outrageous behaviour. The scene downstairs could very well be what a Saturday night will look like when the world has crumbled, cities have fallen and all that’s left is fluorescent lights and a party vibe. Confused? We all were, but nobody seemed to mind.

Some of the performances did seem a little out of place and the night as a whole appeared – at times – muddled as to what direction it was taking. Nevertheless, high spirits were flowing at full speed, and strangers made friends in a moment or two. It’s perhaps this good cheer that has made the event such a popular one, tickets were sold out well in advance and some were left waiting outside attempting to grab any strays.  One fortunate filly snagged a free pass from the friendly gentleman in front of me – a move that encapsulated the amiable spirit of the occasion.

For more information on the Boho Ball visit the official website.

Sweet Streets Underground Artists’ Hub

Street art is synonymous with the unknown and the underground.  So what better a place for the street artists of Melbourne to meet, greet and create than at the Collingwood Underground.  This impressive space is quite literally nothing more than a huge underground parking lot that has been transformed into one of the largest collections of street art in the city with works on display from some of Melbourne’s most famous street artists.

Not only is the space open to the public for viewing from October 21 – 23 but the space will remain an active arts studio at the same time.  Artists and onlookers alike are encouraged to mingle, collaborate and enjoy a drink or two from the beer stocked fridges as Sweet Streets gives you a firsthand look at how true street art is inspired and created.

For more information visit the Sweet Streets website.

Urban Intervention Arts Trail
The streets of Abbotsford, Collingwood and Fitzroy
October 15 – 24

When people think of street art in Melbourne, it’s often the city laneways that come to mind: Hosier Lane, Caledonian Lane or Union Lane to name a few.

As part of the Urban Intervention exhibition, the Sweet Streets crew have Google-mapped a self-guided walk that starts at the Street Sculpture exhibition at Abbotsford’s Yarra Sculpture Gallery, before winding through the back streets of Collingwood and Fitzroy.

Use your mobile to view or download the map and follow the routed trail, marked with some pretty sick street art along the way. Murals by Ghostpatrol and the Everfresh Studio are a must-see, as are some very cool wooden cut-outs by Mal Function, Rick Sweden and Leo Garrouste. You’ll be surprised by just how much work is tucked away into the doors, corners and windows of these back alleys, be it a massive piece by Deb or stencils, paste-ups and yarn wraps by unknown artists.

This walk allows you to see urban art in its purest form and context – on uncommissioned walls in the little-known nooks and crannys of the suburbs and not in the touristy laneways of the CBD.

For more information visit the Sweet Streets website.

When I told my pal that I was going to the Collingwood Arts Park for a stencil class, he was all “Ohhhhh! That’s a great venue! It used to be an underground car park but too many people were getting raped and killed there so they had to close it. Now they use it for exhibitions and plays and stuff… also, make sure you rug up because it’s really cold down there.”

I turned up half-expecting to see outlines of dead people all over the ground, but alas, I soon realised my pal was probably exaggerating somewhat. There were no outlines, but rather, just a massive abandoned car park with walls sprayed with graffiti, a pop-up bar, a boxing gym and makeshift studios behind almost-collapsed partitions. It felt like we had stumbled upon an indie movie set in the heart of Collingwood.

My creation

Once seated, we were introduced to our teacher, the lovely Boo, who told us “stenciling is so easy”! But what if you’re one of those kinda-arty-types who either gets so lazy and never finishes anything or everything just turns into yet another failed attempt at half-assed creativity? I thought to myself, not thinking of anyone in particular. Luckily, I left my laziness at home that day and actually made it to the class, despite the rain, wind and well… my need to sleep in on Saturday mornings.

Boo took us through the whole process of stenciling and you know what? It really was as easy as she said it would be which is great if you’re a lazy artist, or even a non-artist. We drew (actually we traced), cut and sprayed our stencils in three hours. For a teeny $25, the class was super-productive, heaps of fun and a pretty cool learning experience in a very ‘Melbourne’ venue. Highly recommend it, but get on board asap as there are only a few places left for the last class!

For more details on Workshops @ Collingwood Arts Park, or to book a place in a class, check out the Sweet Streets Website.

High above busy Brunswick Street is the gorgeous BSG, a gallery space featuring two floors of modern and contemporary art and photography.

On the top floor, check out another great Sweet Streets exhibition, Sweet Streets@BSG. Featuring some of Australia and NZ’s coolest urban artists the exhibition is a collection of murals, stencils, skate decks and mixed media collages including work by PNTR, Megan Dell, KA’a and Jo Waite.

For more information visit the Sweet Streets and Brunswick Street Gallery websites.