Where the wine things are

Have you heard of The Real Review’s annual Wine Classification of Australia?

The Real Review is regarded as one of Australia’s leading wine authorities and each year its international expert tasting team award wines one, two or three Merits based on their performance over time.

I was familiar with The Real Review, but my awareness of the Wine Classification system was a bit sketchy, until …

I scored an invitation to the The Real Review’s exclusive five-course dinner to celebrate the 2025 Wine Classification at Morena Restaurant in Sydney.

Morena is a gorgeous spot, in the historic GPO Building in Martin Place, which celebrates the traditions and unique flavours from across Latin America.

Think dishes from dishes from chef Alejandro Saravia’s native Perú as well as from Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil.

Curated by principal Australian reviewer Huon Hooke, the evening showcased 12 outstanding Merited wines, each thoughtfully matched to the menu for a true fine wine experience.

Lucky me!

Even luckier was that DD was on dog sitting duty as I’m heading off on parenting business today. He graciously agreed to host Bilbo and Charlie while I’m gone.

This is a very needy, noisy job.

Anyways.

Going to a fancy wine dinner straight from work was an added bonus.

I did a lot of this …

And I tried a lot of this …

My favourite wine was the Flametree S.R.S Wallcliffe Chardonnay 2023. It’s from the Margaret River. Very delicious. It was number one out of 105 on the list.

My favourite dish was the lamb ribs with chimichurri – melt in the mouth delicious.

And I’ve just belatedly realised I was tucking into ox tongue skewers. I wondered about their strange texture …