Some Nights, The Kitchen And The Vineyard Speak The Same Language.
This Is One Of Those Nights.
Dishery After Dark is an intimate dinner built around four wines from Escarpment Winery, each paired with a course from Executive Chef Steve Sepsy. It's for people who know the difference between a good Pinot and a great one, and who've never once left at a reasonable hour.
Your evening opens with the Pinot Blanc on arrival, moves into the Chardonnay with the entrée, reaches its peak with the 2023 Martinborough Pinot Noir, and lets Kupe have the final word. (Spoiler: it's a good one.)
We'll welcome you in from 7pm, where Steve and the Escarpment team will share what's behind the dishes, the wines, and the people who made them.
It will be casual, intimate and worth getting a seat at the table.
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THE VINEYARD
Escarpment has been making wine on the Martinborough Terrace since 1999. Founded by Larry McKenna - still referred to in NZ wine circles as the Prince of Pinot - the winery sits on the ancient alluvial gravels of Te Muna Road, soils laid down by the Huangarua River over 20,000 years ago. The kind of place that produces wines with something to say.
They name their top Pinot Noirs after the vineyards, not the grape. Kupe, Kiwa, Te Rehua, Pahi, each one a distinct expression of a distinct piece of ground. Minimal intervention, no fining, no filtration. Just fruit, site, and the kind of restraint that takes years to earn.
Their wines are precise, layered, and built to last. Exactly why they belong at this table.
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THE WINEMAKER — TIM BOURNE
Tim came to Escarpment via a path that took in Marlborough, Central Otago, Waipara, Western Australia, and nearly seven years in the Barossa Valley - a career that reads less like a CV and more like someone who kept chasing better fruit. He was dux of the AWRI Advanced Wine Assessment Course in 2015, which is the kind of thing you mention once and then let the wine do the rest of the talking.
On the night, he'll be pouring alongside the courses and talking through what makes each wine what it is.
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THE CHEF — STEVE SEPSY
If you've eaten at Dishery, you already know there's something different about a Steve Sepsy plate. It's the kind of food that makes you lean in before you've even picked up your fork.
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Steve came to Dishery with a CV that reads like a tour of some of New Zealand's most respected kitchens - Aosta, Toast + Oak, Ahi - where he’s worked alongside Ben Bayly, one of the country's most awarded and talked-about chefs.
He's cooked at a level where quality ingredients and technique go hand in hand, and that philosophy is exactly what this evening calls for.
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The menu for Dishery After Dark is being built around the wines, not the other way around. Four courses that meet each glass where it is, rather than competing with it.
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The full menu will be revealed on the night.
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To book select 7pm Friday 14 August and your party size.