Magical Winter

“First of all I have to apologise to Chris’ sisters who were very unsubtle in hinting at coming along to our tasting. I didnt realise we would be getting full portions!

Wow, wow and wow! The food was totally amazing!! We had 10 canapés each, then we shared 3 starters, 3 mains and 3 deserts! It’s safe to say I was suffering from the meat sweats later that evening!

“Back to the point – I could smell some delicious aromas before we’d even gone through the door. I’m a total gannet and had been looking forward to this for ages! (Could you tell?) Anyway, we walked into the tapestry room which sits beside the ballroom at Hopetoun House. Kirsten from Heritage Portfolio had a roaring fire lit for us and the table set up with the linen as we will have it for our day and first up was wine tasting.

“We each had an A4 sheet of paper with 6 circles on it, 2 for bubbles, 2 for whites and 2 for reds and yes, we tried them all! We have chosen a delightful Prosecco Spumante Doc for the reception and for the toasts because it was just too nice not to! Chris will vouch for this because every time Kirsten left the room he filled his glass back up – pretty sure she noticed!

“I’m not a massive white wine fan however we have chosen a Chardonnay from Romania and even I finished my glass, very nice. Finally the reds (my favourite) and we have gone with an amazing Spanish Tempranillo, so much flavour but not so strong that its too heavy to drink. I know what you’re thinking and no, I didn’t keep refilling my glass when Kirsten left the room, but I did take care of Chris’ glass!

“Chris’ dad was driving so he didn’t try much and his mum doesn’t drink but she did decide to try them all and she was loving the tempranillo too! (that’s the second time she’s gotten a little tipsy during this competition – I reckon my mum will wear her down at the wedding and the two of them will be nice and merry by the end of the night!

“I haven’t even gotten to the food yet! First up we each tried TEN of the amazing canapés, mmmm! Next up was the starters and we tried a terrine of pheasant and herbs, a Scottish style tapas and a haddock, leek and brie tart – we took pictures of everything but when that tart hit the table the smell was unreal and we all just dug in! The terrine was lovely too but not to everyone’s taste. We have chosen the Scottish tapas because we thought it was important to force some haggis upon all the Aussies!

“For the mains we tried a roast chicken breast ‘carne asada’ – delicious! I think I only had a mouthful before Chris had cleaned up the plate! Next we had a cider marinated rump of lamb (I was defo looking forward to this one, lamb for dinner is totally standard in Australia) The lamb was so tendor and juicy and Heritage Portfolio certainly aren’t stingy with their portions either! Finally we tried the main we went with, the four hour braised daube of beef – omg it was so beautifully cooked it just crumbled when I forked it, it was melt in your mouth goodness!

“Then desert – my favourite!!! The Heritage Portfolio hot gooey chocolate tart was a meal in itself – talk about decadent! Next up was a warm blackberry frangipane tart. This was very nice too and we all agreed it was a great winter desert.

“However the final desert tipped the scales – a classic apple tarte tatin with cinnamon ice cream and caramel sauce. This was so dang delicious I didn’t want to share any with Chris and I didn’t realise but I had eaten all the ice-cream too (I don’t even like ice-cream). Luckily Kirsten was on hand and quickly delivered Chris some more cinnamon ice-cream from the kitchen!

“Can I not get a job where I taste food like that all the time?! Yum!

“Chris’s mum Pauline and I popped upstairs to check out the facilities and the bride’s private little room for the day. She was asking if she can hang her outfit change up in the room. I said yes of course but you’ll need to share the space with Mero (my mum) as she has a outfit change too, haha! Before we left Kristen showed us into the ballroom so Chris’ folks could check it out. Cue water works and not from me this time – Pauline was away. She said it was just so amazing it took her breath away (sure the wee bit of wine she tasted had nothing to do with it !)

“Kirsten was just back from a wedding in Australia and she brought me back a massive pack of Minties – mmmmmm! (Aussie sweeties) Kirsten and the guys from Heritage Portfolio really are in a league of their own when it comes to food. They’re totally up for tweaking or completely changing any dish on their menu and if you request they’ll even make up a new dish just for you! Can’t really complain with that can you!

“Safe to say, with four full bellies, we all slept soundly that night!”