These are three of the wines we’ll be opening at a tasting, open to the public and trade, at @tmchugos this coming Monday afternoon (13/12) from 3pm-5pm. Celebrating the pub opening again on Monday nights, making the most of the last days of being covid free, and because it’s time we did this again. It’s a long time between tastings these days.
The Mosse family’s wines, from the Loire Valley, have been with us for so long that René and Agnès, with whom we began working, have passed the winemaking baton to their sons @mossevins and @mossedef. They may be young but they had done many vintages with their parents before they took on the responsibility of managing the vineyards and making the wines. While some cuvées, like Bisou, are very much Joe and Sylvestre’s invention others like the Chenin Blanc wines and of course Moussamousettes are a continuation of the family’s traditions.
It is a privilege to be able to represent the whole family in Australia. If you are in Hobart, we hope you might have time to drop by at some stage and try these wines and the others we will have available.
Trade customers if you can’t attend but would like to try some of our recent arrivals please let us know.

Introducing the most challenging test of our warehouse business processes yet. All these wonderful wines made by @octavin.alice.bouvot are different but the labels are almost identical. Some Jura producers use the colour of the wax at the top of the bottle to provide a clue from a distance about what grape variety the wine is made from. Alice uses a similar approach but the clue is the colour of the gnome’s pants. There are also tiny hints with slightly different colours in other parts of the label. The only thing easily separating them is the lot number on the back label (the contre-étiquette in French, although technically because they have all the information about the wines and who made them, these back labels are étiquettes not contre-étiquettes).

And while the colour denotes the variety or blend it doesn’t necessarily denote the colour. The two wines with red pants are made with poulsard but one is white (direct pressed) and the other is red.

When fulfilling the offers we will be sending out soon we promise never to pick the orders with even the hint of a hangover.

If you are interested; over the next couple of weeks we will be putting the details for each wine on our website. Some are already there.

Some things are so glorious they need a permanent post. @kobi_ruz’s strawberry crepe cake is one of them. @lucindawinebar / @analiesegregory Friday lunches (the only place we know where you need to reserve ahead what you eat but can’t reserve your seat – a unique form of walk-in) is one of the very good things to have emerged from the last 20 months of upheaval.
Strawberries from @littlewoodberryfarm and elderflowers from @arundel_farm (because in this town we like knowing and sharing who grew what we eat!)
And another chance for a little public lobbying for a patisserie add-on to Lucinda.

The @agrariankitcheneatery is one of Tasmania’s must visit dining experiences. It’s essential for anyone truly interested in a local eating experience and because of that it is quite different depending on the season. That’s our excuse for trying to eat here several times a year, over and above our weekly visits to its kiosk for bread, butter and other provisions.

This meal is peak spring – so many delicious green things. Artichokes, broad beans, and asparagus were highlights, all served with sauces rich in umami from previously fermented garums, misos and other preserves. Cotechino from an aged Agrarian Kitchen pig (8 years old?) served with polenta made with corn from the same place was extraordinary. (Yes we know – if you follow this account we rave about the polenta each time we visit here but it is a benchmark. If you enjoy the glory of great polenta you need this in your life. It is its cornness that blows you away every time.) Three quite different cheeses, all made in house with tiny biscuits made with The Grain Family’s oats. Three sweet things – meyer lemon tart, blackcurrant leaf infused cream with blackcurrant granita and hazelnut and coffee biscuits.

There is a menu at the end of this sequence of photos to help describe most of what we missed but few photos to capture @__keene’s truly inspiring non alcoholic drinks we matched with this meal. One veered into something sake-like, one almost had the texture and colour that channelled Alice Bouvot’s Potion Magique (except it had bubbles) and others to blow your mind in different ways.

As always thanks to the entire team for a completely satisfying afternoon.

How good are greens?

Very good at @tmchugos.

Rocky Top Growers’ Collective (under the stewardship of @heirloomtony) with smoked pork
Lambs’ tongue in broth with laksa leaf, chives, radishes and erba stella.
Thank you to the growers and the cooks.

Despite all these photos it feels like we only captured about half of the dishes and condiments at @roughrice and @lukeburgess77’s collaboration at @the_seven_and_a_half_floor last night. The calamari and guanciale is missing, the nutty aged rice is not given due prominence, there’s nothing to document the sake and wines. But hopefully there’s enough to tempt you to try to get a seat if they do it again. That’s not easy but truly an extraordinary night if you get the chance. Thanks Luke and Adam (for the food, drinks and your insights) and our dining companions at our shared table for 10 for a unique and delicious evening.