As part of the 2025 Riviera Festival of Boating, an exclusive new event called Dare to Pair treated 50 Riviera owners to a premium food and wine experience. Held during the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show, this immersive hour-long tasting paired four hand-selected wines from Queensland’s Savina Lane Wines with four chef-curated dishes by renowned culinary artist Sally Jenyns.
The concept started when Riviera asked Sally to develop a tasting menu inspired by wines from the Granite Belt winery. Vigneron Brad Hutchings, co-owner of Savina Lane, accepted the challenge to send a selection of boutique varietals—wines far removed from mainstream Australian staples like Shiraz or Chardonnay. The moment Sally sampled the delivery, inspiration struck. A creative collaboration began, pairing not just food and wine, but stories, philosophy, and passion.
“It just… clicked,” Brad recalled. “We weren’t just pairing wine and food—we were building a story together.”
This story came to life on the Saturday of the show inside the Academy of Enjoyment marquee, where expectant Riviera owners took their seats for an hour-long flavour journey.
The tasting began with a vibrant ocean trout and kingfish crudo, livened with pink grapefruit and fennel, matched with Savina Lane’s 2023 Fiano Quintessence. The wine’s pear, melon and stone fruit notes, with balanced acidity, elevated the dish beautifully. Brad explained that pairing food and wine isn’t about rules, but discovery. “Historically, foods and wines came from the same place, the same season. That’s where pairing began. But today, with global choices, people need guidance.”
Next came coconut curry prawns—creamy, spiced, and bold—paired with a lesser-known varietal, Petit Manseng. This white, full-bodied wine brought notes of quince and pineapple that danced with the curry’s warmth. The experience was so immersive that at one point, the room fell into complete silence.
“It’s a reverent kind of silence,” Sally said, noting that during her time cooking on luxury charter boats, this hush was always the surest sign that guests were utterly engaged.
The third pairing matched spiced lamb on hummus with a touch of yoghurt and preserved lemon, alongside Savina Lane’s Graciano—nicknamed Lady of Spain. Matured 14 months in French oak, the wine offered supple tannins and black pepper complexity. Sally likened Brad’s wines to characters, each with a personality and in need of the right companion dish.
The event closed with a Pecorino Romano goat cheese, balanced with the rich red-fruited Montepulciano Force of Nature. Even as the final course was cleared, guests lingered long past the scheduled finish, keen to learn more from Brad and Sally. Riviera owner Mark, from Perth, summed it up: “I had heard of food and wine pairing but had never experienced it. I was truly blown away.”
For both Sally and Brad, Dare to Pair wasn’t just a culinary exercise—it was a shared celebration of quality, authenticity, and discovery, much like the Riviera brand itself. In just one hour, they transported guests on a journey across global flavours, anchored firmly in Australian terroir.
Read the full article at Riviera Australia: Daring to Pair.
