By Wendy Johnson
IF you want a nice winter-warmer activity, now that the cold weather is upon us, consider booking one of the well-executed wine dinners Anise holds every so often. It’s a cosy, inviting restaurant in West Row, Civic, and owners Justin and Jeff Piper put hours into preparing these special events so they go off without a hitch.
The most recent one featured a father and daughter team from a tiny family winery in the Rutherglen that specialises in full-bodied reds and sparkling wines that stand tall in their own right and have picked up several awards.
Anderson Winery had never been to Canberra to host a wine dinner before, but Howard Anderson says they’ll add the ACT alongside Sydney and Melbourne and aim to be here once a year. Both he and daughter Christobelle were impressed with the high degree of interest and the food prepared by Anise to match with the wines.
Howard spoke passionately about his winery. All wine is made on site using traditional methods. They now have six hectares of vineyard that is dry grown (non irrigated) to ensure a low yield, which means the grapes are intensely flavoured and well balanced. They are then picked by hand. It’s a much more expensive process than machine harvesting, but it means the berries are not broken, and the juice does not come in contact with air or leaves, which can give a bitter taste to the wine. 
Howard has been in the industry for more than 40 years, and is pleased that Christobelle, who is completing her honours degree in oenology at Adelaide University, has chosen winemaking as a profession and will eventually take over the business.
The seared scallops with lime and coriander were a stunning start to the sit-down part of the evening and married well with the 2003 Chenin Blanc, a lovely white wine that will age beautifully but is also great to drink now, and the 2006 Pinot Grigio, the fastest-growing style of white wine in Australia. Of the two, I preferred the Pinot Grigio because it handled the chilli in the dish well.
Then we moved on to a tender, moist piece of beef fillet on a potato galette with mushroom glaze, an interesting dish full of intense flavours – the kind of winter dish that has you wanting more. It cried out for a lush red and Rutherglen responded well with their 2004 Durif, from their own reserve range, and the 2001Cellar Block super premium shiraz, a big red with intense fruit and flavour. Howard says the winery is well known for these two varieties and warns that drinking them without properly decanting is a major sin. The Durif isn’t a well known wine among many and it was surprising to learn that this is the 100th anniversary of the grape first being planted in Rutherglen. It’s worth exploring.
The selection of cheeses is always lovely at an Anise dinner and this night was no exception, but the piece de resistance was the slice of chocolate and espresso tart with scoop of espresso ice cream. There wasn’t a sound in the room as guests slowly worked their way through the first few bites. And it was a privilege to have it with the 2005 Melanie Sweet Shiraz, a fortified sherry named after one of the Anderson daughters – a rare drop we were privileged to taste given that it is made from vines planted in the ‘80s, is available only in limited quantities and is not available for sale
The dinner was packed out and is a great example of how restaurants and wineries can work together to put on a great show.