The Rosé and Cheese party, year four
A small, careful, bookings-only tasting that has been quietly running for four years. The next round is open to register your attendance in advance.
The Rosé and Cheese party started as a backyard idea in 2021 and now happens once a quarter in the courtyard behind one of the local wine bars. It is not advertised heavily. Last quarter it sold out in eleven hours from a single Instagram post. We are mentioning it now because the next one is open for registration and we get asked about it constantly.
The format, this round
Two cheesemakers from south-east Queensland are presenting six cheeses each. The pairings are matched to three rosés sourced specifically for the event, plus a dry sparkling for palate cleansing. Each guest gets a small board, two glasses, and access to the cheesemakers and the sommelier for the duration.
The cheesemakers this round are Towri Sheep Cheese from the Scenic Rim and Maleny Dairy from the Sunshine Coast hinterland. The Towri presentation is mostly aged sheep's milk in different formats. Maleny brings a soft cow's milk wash-rind that has consistently been the favourite at past events.
Practicalities
It is in the courtyard, so weather-dependent. They have a covered section that holds about forty people if it rains, which is the cap for this round. There are no seats, you stand. There are tall tables. Wear shoes you can stand in for two and a half hours.
The event runs from 4pm to 6.30pm on the Saturday. Late entry is allowed but not recommended, you miss the first cheesemaker's introduction.
Tickets are eighty-five dollars per person. That covers the cheese, the wine, and the staff, with a small surplus that has historically gone to the local food rescue charity. Past events have donated about four hundred dollars per quarter.
How to register
Numbers are capped at forty. Registration is via the wine bar's mailing list. There is no walk-in option. If you have not registered before, you can join the list by getting in touch with us, we will pass your name on. Returning attendees get a forty-eight-hour head start on the new ticket release.
The next round runs in early winter. The pairings shift seasonally. Winter is usually heavier rosés and a couple of harder, longer-aged cheeses. Spring tends to be lighter, more delicate, more emphasis on fresh-milk cheeses.
If you cannot make it, the same wine bar runs a much smaller version on a Tuesday night every other week, which is essentially the same idea on a tighter scale. That one does walk-ins.
Read next
Other quarterly fixtures sit on the Gin Festival page and the Espresso Martini Festival page. The general calendar is over at what's on. For caterers, event-hire mobs, and the kind of services that make these afternoons happen, see The Local List.