Food Review: Villi's Party Pies

OK.. in the rare event that you are going to entertain a horde of others.. you think.... party pies... but there are party pies and then there are PARTY PIES...

You could resort to the black and gold or cheap arse alternatives which resemble ground gristle in brown slop encased in cardboard, OR you could impress with REAL mini quality pies.

Vili's is a South Australian icon.. a guy that hit on the bogan mantra - quality pies, which has made him millions.. I wish other bakeries would take note...


I recommend Little Vili's- a selection of high quality pies - mince, chunky, chicken, a host of awesome pies.

Each one is to be savoured, probably the best party pies I have ever had.

For those who like pasties and sausage rolls, there are a couple of those as well

Just the look of them speaks quality... each marked with a type of secret code or shaped to identify its content. 

To be honest, I could not fault these at all... and I have not received any payment for this review! mind you, I wouldnt say no to a couple of dozen of Vili's pies.

There is a reason why Vili has gone national, and its plainly obvious, quality.

So, my rating.. These pies definitely get the bogan seal of approval.

Taste: 9/10

presentation: 10/10

Value for money: 9/10 - its worth the extra

TIM: didnt bother to look, but they rock... so 9/10

Go, on, get a Vili into ya!

Wine Review: Yalumba Cabernet Merlot 2lt Cask

Booze at around $13 a cask... thats good value in anyone's books... Yalumba is Australia's oldest Family owned winery...founded way back in 1849 by Samuel Smith. Being family owned you can expect a good quality vino - in line with what you pay. So in this case, although it is a cask, the wine is a pretty good quaffing wine.

The packaging is nothing to write about.. its pretty plain... like others colour coded. Aussies invented the cask, and they still excel in what goes in it. When I worked in the winery I recall bottling wine for Tesco's (Pommy Supermarket Chain) which we had bought cheap from New South Wales which (in my view) was putrid. This wine far exceeds the quality of wine sold there!

Marketing states"

"Cabernet and Merlot make for the Perfect partnership. Merlot produces wine with round fruit flavours and supple tannins, coupling perfectly with the elegance and power of Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is rich and generous with intense blackberry, plum and spice characters. Try with spicy beef asian dishes"

I could just imagine this with a black bean stir fry.

Again, the tasting notes are pretty spot on, the spice is there, as well as the blackberry/plum combination. Tannins are more than you would expect from a cask wine.

Selfie.... and not a good one!

Yalumba is a great Barossa Winery, and in this case has produced a wine that is good value. The equivalent of 3 bottles of wine for $13 - from a family owned winery. The family would have to try pretty hard to make any wine a bad one... I mean.. South Australia is Australia's premium wine state, and one of the worlds premium wine districts. To make a bad wine here would take planning.

What can I say? Quaffing wine.. but EXCELLENT Quaffing wine.

Score: 9/10 for value

           10/10 for TIM (truth in marketing)

I wont go on with the usual marking.. at the end of the day.. its worth the dollars if you are looking for a good value cask wine to accompany the BBQ.

Cheers

Rob