Malamay showcases Canberra wines selected by sommelier Yann Mengneau

Malamay's exploring the Canberra wine scene with a new series of dinners is focused entirely on local winemakers. Sommelier Yann Mengneau has worked with four winemakers from the region to put together a showcase of interesting Canberra styles paired with a menu of modern Asian food.

"I started visiting them and the idea came to focus on them and show some different facets of the wineries," he says. The first dinner, on June 11, is themed around local diversity and features wines from Frank van de Loo's Mount Majura and Ravensworth, owned by Canberra Times columnist and wine writer Bryan Martin. Both wineries have been carving out niches with wines from intriguing grape varieties - Mount Majura from Spanish styles such as tempranillo and graciano, and Ravensworth with Martin's forays into marsanne rousanne and viognier blends, and nebbiolo.

Mengneau says its wines like that which help expand Canberra's scene. "I think they [are] complementary in a certain way because they try to focus on different grape varieties, so they do Italian or Spanish wine, for Mount Majura mainly Spanish wine, " he says. "They adapt to the terroir, to the Canberra climate."

Among the highlights are the 2013 Mount Majura tempranillo, described by the Canberra Times' wine critic Chris Shanahan as the winery's best tempranillo since it started making the style in 2003. And there's the chance to taste the newest vintages from Ravensworth, including the 2014 sangiovese.

The second dinner has a "New Wave" theme and focuses on Nick Spencer from Eden Road and Alex McKay from Collector - "new winemakers who came here not long ago and have tried to do some things differently" is how Mengneau describes them. This dinner features wines such as the 2013 "Lamp Lit" marsanne from Collector, and Eden Road's small batch Gundagai nebbiolo.

"The thing with Alex, what I like is that he focuses only a few wines, he does shiraz and chardonnay and that's it pretty much. He focuses on those wines and he does it very well," he says. Eden Road also pushes things with its collection of wines made from a single vineyard. "They focus on a single vineyard, it's a different philosophy. They focus on those small plots and do the best quality they can."

Mengneau hails from the French port city of La Rochelle, where he trained in hospitality. But his passion for wine, he says, is in the blood - his family are originally from Cognac and have been making wine and spirits for several generations. He worked all around Europe for a while before returning home to France, and then studying wine in Bordeaux. Australia beckoned three years ago.

What struck him when he came to Canberra was the depth of the wines - after extensive visits to the region's wineries, he came up with the idea of themed local wine dinners. He talked to all four winemakers before selecting the wines. "I chose the wine I wanted to focus on - and the kind of wine I liked," he said. "Also the wine that complements the food, which goes well with Malamay's food, quite modern, quite spicy and rich in different flavours."

Those dishes are a mix of current stars on the Malamay menu and some slightly older classics from the past. Depending on the dinner, there might be prawns with chilli relish and handmade soba noodles, slow cooked wagyu with pepper broth, or braised oxtail with port, cardamom and lemongrass. Canberra's terroir suits the modern Asian food that Malamay serves up, Mengneau reckons. "The local wine, they fit very well because they're usually a bit softer and a bit more easy to drink and cool climate wine goes well with Asian food in general," he says.

A third dinner is in the works, featuring Helm Winery and Four Winds, set for July 2.

Malamay's "Local Diversity" wine dinner featuring Mount Majura and Ravensworth is on Thursday, June 11. The "New Wave" dinner featuring Eden Road and Collector is on Thursday, June 18. $120. Bookings: 61 621 220.