On Sunday (4 December), Surry Hills’ The Dolphin Hotel hosted a mini-wine festival with a focus on smaller scale Sicilian producers.
After the event, Bars & Clubs spoke to the Dolphin’s Wine Director, Shun Eto, to hear why the venue had hosted this event, with these producers, and whether there were more tastings like this in the works.
“We love Italy at The Dolphin! We did a Wine Mixer series in Italy this year starting from the top to bottom,” Shun says.
“For so long wine makers and suppliers haven’t had the chance to show their delicious wines to the public so it’s an unique opportunity to bring the community of wine lovers back to The Dolphin. Also to offer the next generation of wine drinkers an opportunity to taste wines of quality and ‘taste travel’ through Italy without having to jump on a plane.
“We partnered with these producers because we believe in them. We respect what they are doing, and their wines are thoroughly delicious. They also embodied the future of wine and the wine ethos of The Dolphin,” Shun adds.
But the particular focus on Sicily? Shun says it was as mixture of culture and practicality.
“Two reasons; one – it was the last stop on our wine mixer series journey,” the Wine Director explains.
“And two – because Jack and I just got back from a couple of weeks in southern Italy visiting Mount Etna and beyond, visiting Frank Cornelissen and Girolamo Russo, to name a few.
“What we love is when you’re in Southern Italy and taste wine it feels more like a family experience instead of a ‘conventional’ wine tasting. It’s truly a special place.”
And this isn’t the end for these kind of events at the Dolphin.
“We have a lot of exciting plans in the works. Collabs with interstate venues as well. We just love community driven events that excite wine drinkers!
“However most importantly it gives our Dolphin team a chance to experience wines that they normally wouldn’t get the opportunity to taste. It’s educating the next generation of hospo and these events connect people and build community plus hopefully inspire them to love wine as much as we do and continue building up future Somms and Hospo professionals.”
See images from the mixer below
