Living in a fantastic city like Melbourne gives you the opportunity to experience fabulous things every day of the week. This past Thursday evening was no exception as I headed to Cocoon Bar on Swanston Street to try a bit of the Yarra Valley and a touch of the Mornington Peninsula in the heart of the city. Facilitated by the lovely Kim of Escapade Events, 8 ladies participated in a guided wine tasting, all from the comfort of the warm and cosy décor at Cocoon Bar.

Billed as ‘a great way to discover some cool new wines’, our personal wine waiter, James, led us through three white and three red wines, explaining the wine properties and flavours along the way. All the wines we tried were Victorian boutique wines and accompanied by a delicious bread and dip platter. In addition to the six tastings, you also receive a full glass of your favourite and at just $20 per person (minimum 8 people) the tastings are a great night out and a good excuse to try something new.

We started our tasting with a 2008 Chardonnay from Train Trak Winery in the Yarra Valley. Not normally a chardy drinker, I found this one to be particularly pleasant, which I was informed, was because the wine was an unwooded variety. With fruity flavours of apple and pear, this cool climate wine is best served with chicken.

Second up was a 2007 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon, also from the Yarra Valley, from Yarra Burns Wines. Noted as one of our wine waiters’ favourite wineries, the Sav Blanc would be well paired with seafood to match the sweetness of the lycee and jasmine flavours.

Rounding out our white wine experience – going from the lightest of whites to the heavier varieties – was a 2008 Pinot Gris from the Mornington Peninsula winery Ferryman, part of the Scotchman’s Hill wineries. A crisp, light and sweet wine with flavours of dried apple and spice, this wine would be excellent when accompanying spicy or Asian inspired foods.

After the three white varieties, we moved onto reds, enjoying lots of laughs, meeting new people and learning a little bit along the way. The 2008 Bellarine Peninsula Pinot Noir from Scotchman’s Hill winery is a medium bodied wine with flavours of plum and spices. Matched with pork, duck or salmon, this wine is a great starter for the non red drinker.

The 2007 Tatiarra Shiraz from the Heathcote region was my personal favourite for the evening and perhaps I was enjoying it so much that I neglected to really hear that much about the actual wine. Blackberry flavours and great with lamb was all I managed to note down but you can read more about this fabulous wine over at schitzengiggles, a blog about the finer points of alcohol.

Finally, a 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Yarra Valley winery Wightwick finished off our evening on a high note. A wine that would match excellently with beef or any kind of aged meat had undertones of licorice and although too heavy for some, I still found that I enjoyed it.

James and the team at Cocoon and the Mercure are presented with over 150 wines each season to select just 10 for their wine list – a hard task when we had to pick just one from six as our favourite. Our evening continued long after the official event was over and this morning the dull ache at the back of my head is the sign of a brilliant evening.

All of these wines are available locally and at all good grog shops if you would like to to try them for yourself.

If you and your friends would like to book a wine tasting, contact cosy@cocoonbar.com.au or call 03 9663 4711.
Visit http://www.cocoonbar.com.au for more information. Images thanks to Cocoon.