FAWC: East meets West in winter festival splurge

Winers and diners were spoilt for choice as several delicious events were held at the weekend during the annual winter F.A.W.C! festival.

A sell-out gathering of about 50 diners enjoyed an evening sampling wine and Indian cuisine, together with cultural entertainment, at Friday "Trinity Hill Goes Bollywood."

Trinity Hill, partnered with Namaskar Indian restaurant for a night of dining at the winery to showcase "how versatile Hawke's Bay's aromatic wines can be with a range of different curries and Indian flavours".

The evening, hosted by Trinity Hill founder John Hancock, included featured demonstrations of Indian dancing from Deepthi Krishna of the Hawke's Bay Indian Culture Centre.

Dinners embraced the theme of the evening, with many dressing in traditional Indian saris or Bollywood attire.

Clearview winery hosted the Winemakers' long table lunch on Saturday, while the Mission had their Truffle Kerfuffle event.

The day started with a visit and behind-the-scenes tour of a local Truffiere where guests saw sniffing dogs in action and joined the truffle hunt.

They then returned to Mission Estate with just enough time in between to freshen up for a decadent five-course degustation dinner featuring the Black Perigord Truffle, all matched to Mission wines.

Clearview head chef Pete Hallgarth designed a four-course lunch showcasing the flavours of the four corners of the world using rich, seasonal produce. Each course matched with Clearview Estate's range of hand-crafted, award-winning wines.

There were two wines matched to each course, personally chosen by Clearview winemaker Tim Turvey from the current range, as well as vintage wine from the library.