Dolcetto Lagrein 2006: Tailor made for Armani event

The dinner to celebrate Giorgio Armani's association with the Sydney Theatre Company and its new star artistic director, Cate Blanchett was a swell affair.

Chef Tim Pak Poy offered crayfish with tomato and fetta, lamb with mint sauce or a vegetarian option, washed down with Heartland Dolcetto Lagrein, an ususual blend of two Italian grape varieties which London's Financial Times wine guru Jancis Robinson describes as combining ripe, juicy, purpleness with a certain smoky, cracked-pepper edge.

Once the formalities had finished, "there was massive mingling and table-hopping and a good deal of self-congratulation at haivng made it on to the guest list".