A seat at the table: Noble Rot

On Wednesday evening, we headed over to perennial favourite restaurant and wine bar, Noble Rot, for one of their Wellington on a Plate events. Sommeliers Maciej Zimny and Jessica Wood recently went on a trip to Chile and Argentina, sampling wines (and food), and during this evening they took us along on their expedition, with a variety of wines along with a five-course degustation menu.

We were welcomed with a pisco sour, which I enjoyed despite being someone who doesn’t really enjoy cocktails. The amuse bouche which we enjoyed while listening to the introduction to the evening and getting to know our neighbours at the table was a very delicious tuna tartare with a spicy pineapple salsa and avocado cream topping.

Wine drinkers out there when they hear a wine is from Chile or Argentina will immediately think of a robust red, so it was great to try a Chardonnay from Chile with the first course. This was a snapper roulade, crab, coriander and finger lime salad and an amazing aji amarillo (a chilli) velouté with lime and toasted coconut. Another person and I were particularly excited about the finger lime, having only ever seen these on Masterchef Australia! Anyway, this dish was amazing and went perfectly with the wine.

We then moved on to two reds, one from the Maule Valley in Chile and the other from Patagonia. Noble Rot are great at picking two similar but yet very different wines and serving them alongside each other so you can really get a good idea of the flavours and essences of the grapes. With these we ate a beautifully cooked pork medallion with a roasted walnut sauce, black garlic and walnut salsa, all garnished with an ‘onion petal’ and some crispy kale. Pork is not my favourite meat, but this was delightful.

The next two wines both came from Chile (see the menu above), and these came with probably my favourite dish (though the first course came very close), seared lamb backstrap with a lamb empanada, raisin and green olive purée, egg yolk confit and a cinnamon lamb jus. The lamb was cooked just perfectly and the flavours with the wine worked so well.

It was then time to go back to Argentina, for two Malbecs and, naturally, beef. This was served with a sweet potato purée, pressed golden kumara, a bone marrow chimichurri and a red wine jus. Again, the food and wine pairing was perfection and the meat perfectly cooked.

Dessert was a yerba mate gelato, dulce de leche soil served with a cherry compote, cocoa nib cracker and a warm chocolate sauce served with an ice wine from Mendoza , Argentina.

This was such a lovely evening and as all Noble Rot events, you learn a lot about what you are drinking thanks to Maciej and Jessica’s entertaining commentary about their trip and the wines. You also meet interesting people, and get to taste some amazing food. And in case you are wondering, all wines are served tasting size! The whole event got a 10/10 from us for food, wine, service and entertainment.

Thistles and Kiwis is a Wellington, New Zealand based blog written by Barbara, who likes cats, summer, good food and pretends to garden.