Dear Members,

I trust you are all keeping well and that the last few weeks have not been too much of a strain. Hopefully we are now in the final strait.

With events in Victoria continuing to unfold we have had to unfortunately to shelve any immediate plans to resume face to face events; unfortunately this looks as though restrictions will remain until the end of September before we have any semblance of normalcy whatever that will mean.

This means we shall have to proceed more along the virtual path for the time being and accordingly we have advanced plans for wine tastings and dinners.

Thank you to all that participated in the Bastille Dinner. Those of us who were fortunate enough to have taken part were in for a treat and Philippe certainly did us proud. I may add I also enjoyed the chance to get out and meet some of you on your doorstep as it were. 

Restaurants around the city are struggling and have come up with some innovative ideas and seem to have found a way to effect cheaper and more efficient deliveries. We plan to do an event shortly and shall appraise you as soon as this is finalised.

We have now also finalised a series of virtual wine tastings which will be run by sommeliers from the Australian Club .

The first series will be two brackets of three bottles each over two evenings starting Tuesday 8th and 15th September and if these prove popular we can add a further two brackets towards the end of the month.

The wines that have been chosen have been hand picked by the team at the Australian Club and myself and will be high end but at a good discount as we will be able to avail ourselves of club prices. Whilst I shall not be advocating that we consume them all in one go they are all of the quality that they can be kept and enjoyed over the following 24 hrs or merely added to your cellar for enjoyment at a later date.

The first bracket will consist of an old vines Chablis and two red Burgundies and the second bracket will be a Savennieres from the Loire Valley and Ribero del Duoro (red) and Chianti Classico Reserva. These last three will showcase how superb wines from these areas can be and are drinking beautifully at the moment

The cost ($458) will include delivery and two sessions with the sommeliers at the Australian Club and six bottles of excellent wines (it may be possible to order additional wines at the prices to members who particularly like a wine but will be subject to availability of stock). Members who take up the offer and who just want to purchase will not be obliged to participate in the tasting. It is planned that the sessions will take forty five minutes and run between 5.45 and 6.30 pm. I highly commend these to you as I have enjoyed some previous tasting with the sommeliers.

We shall keep you posted regarding the virtual dinner once this has been finalised.

On behalf of the committee I wish you well over these difficult times for us Victorians.

Best regards,
Robert
 
Robert Hook
Bailli Victoria
Mobile: +61 447 801000
36 Wrights Terrace
Prahran 3181
Email: bailli-victoria@chainedesrotisseurs.com.au
www.vicchaine.com.au