As part of the Sydney Bar Week festivities, I attended the Fashionable Drinks event at Gazebo Wine Garden on Monday night as a guest of the festival organisers. I didn’t know much about what the night would involve, but was ready for stunning fashion, intricate cocktails and delicate wines. Fashionable Drinks really delivered the goods!
The aim of the night was to showcase four rounds of cocktails and wines, matched to a particular fashion era in time. The drinks were inspired by the popular drinks of each era, so guests were taken back on a type of trip through time.
- 1920s: a cocktail involving gin and lemon juice, and a strong full-flavoured sherry.
- 1970s: a Tommy’s Margarita and a sparkling Lambrusco.
- 1980s: a strong oaky chardonnay and a dodgy Blue Lagoon cocktail.
- 2000s: a red wine and a strange cocktail called a Bondi Hipster.
My vote was for the 1970s – the tartness of the Tommy’s Margarita was really amazing and the freshness of the Lambrusco made it one of the best red wines I’ve ever tasted. The Blue Lagoon was trashy, but amazing in its trashiness.
There was a great vibe about the night. We were a group of about forty people, and although K and I didn’t know anyone before the dinner we had some really warm conversations with other guests. Strangely enough, one of our neighbours was good friends with an ex-university-lecturer of K’s…it’s a small world.
Well done to Sydney Bar Week and Gazebo Wine Garden on a great cocktail night.