The art of wine tasting was taken into a different dimension recently with a workshop that explored the flavours found by scientific study to be occurring in both food and wine.

The workshop was presented by Brown Brothers, one of Australia's most popular wineries, at the Australian High Commissioner's residence in Naxxar. Brown Brothers are represented in Malta by Master Group.

The Flavour Association Workshop has been developed by Brown Brothers after years of research to determine the links between food and wine.

The study found that a number of flavour compounds and aromas are present in both grape varieties and foodstuffs. A simple bridge can therefore be made between food and wine by incorporating the flavours naturally present in wines into food dishes.

Andrew Harris, of Brown Brothers, described how the winery is renowned for its longstanding passion for matching wine and food.

"In 1994 in fact, the Milawa Epicurean Centre was established to provide visitors to Milawa with the opportunity to fully experience the flavours and individual characteristics of the wines that have earned Brown Brothers the reputation for being Australia's leading varietal winemakers. Here every dish is created to balance and blend with the flavours and textures of the wine and its 'weight in the mouth'," he said.

Whereas dishes are prepared with a contemporary Asian or Mediterranean accent, each wine is carefully matched with each dish, so that the flavours of the food and wine are enhanced.

"It is this experience that we are now proudly bringing to Malta thanks to an exciting collaboration between Brown Brothers and Master Group," said Mr Harris.

Brown Brothers is also renowned for its Kindergarten Winery, a mini-winery devoted to the research and development of new winemaking practices and working with new grape varieties.

Louie Camilleri, the general manager of Master Group said: "Wine making is an art and this is how we would like to portray it."