Wine and Food Society of NSW 2024 Lunch Blog

3 December 2024 Steve Liebeskind

Tue, 03 Dec 2024 01:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill

Food

Near full house today for a remembrance lunch for Society members.

In the kitchen was our well-regarded Chef Steve Liebeskind with assistance from David Simmonds.

Canapés

Kangaroo tartare on biscuits topped with parsley. The tartare was made with pepperberry, shallots cornichons, mustards and Worcestershire sauce.

Good flavour and texture, no one picked the roo as protein.

Next up a chicken schnitzel with a honey mustard sauce of mustard powder, apple cider vinegar, egg, sugar, mayo and honey served at room temperature. Who doesn’t love a snitty.

it was great.

Lastly, a cold spicy pumpkin and coconut milk soup made with roasted pumpkin and onion with Thai green curry paste, chicken stock and coconut milk.

Main

Coq au vin, a nod to Paul Ferman who always cooked chicken when chef of the day.

Chicken marylands marinated in pinot noir with bay leaves, thyme and onions for 24 hrs. It was served with a sauce of marinade and beef stock, mushrooms, bacon, onions and a buttery creamy mash!

The meal was accompanied by Asian slaw rice vinegar, soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, chilli, cabbage, red and white, carrots, bean sprouts, onions, coriander and mint.

Comments from members reflected the quality of the lunch today.

Thanks Steve.

Cheese

Our Cheesemaster Mark Bradford presented two cheeses from Woolbye cheese located in the Sunshine Coast in QLD. Both cow’s milk cheeses

One a triple cream Brie style and the other a washed rind. We’ve had cheese from this producer before, very good quality easily mistaken as French origin.

Steve served this with iceberg lettuce, spinach and roasted red pepper salad, a tribute to Neville Baker and Ted Davis, who prepared it often.

It was good to be reminded about this salad, texture and flavour, simply presented.

In between courses, we paid tribute to those members that we lost during the year and gave them the celebration that was accorded today.

Paul Ferman Cellar Master 2012-2019

Terry Stapleton President 1987-1988, 2003-2004

Terry McDowell

Roger Prior

Ian Masters

Peter Squires

Steve Zantiotis

Members spoke with personal reminiscences of those passed with others calling from the floor with tributes and anecdotes.

Lunch was closed with a traditional toast of Green Chartreuse and port to the lives and contribution to our Society of those that had passed.

It was noted that among the members present today there were seven Past Presidents and our incumbent in the room today.

26 November 2024 James Tinslay

Tue, 26 Nov 2024 01:30:00 GMT

Food review by Mark Bradford and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

The last wine lunch for 2024 was a full house and saw James Tinslay in the kitchen with his arm in a sling. He was ably assisted by Keith Steele and David Madson as well as “Team REX”. The wine offering was Italian themed, as was the main.

Canapes

Keith prepared two canapes. We started with Gilda, a classic basque pinxtos comprising of a cornichon, two guindilla peppers, an anchovy fillet and a pitted green olive on a stick. Keith pointed out it supposedly represents Rita Hayworth’s legs in the movie of the same name (it has not gone unnoticed that the said heroine was once married to a man named James Hill). Just the right amount of heat, and a good match with the champagne.

Keith also provided Mushroom Ragout tartlets, a short cut pastry case filled with a mushroom ragout made with mixed chopped mushrooms, onion and celery cooked in a mixture of red wine, Marsala and veggie stock.

Not to be outdone, David made delicious hot smoked salmon rillettes to kick off the lunch. They were made from hot smoked Tassie salmon, a large piece of poached salmon fillet and dill, chives, capers, Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, lemon zest and juice.

The canapes were tasty and plentiful and worked well with the wines.

Main

James cooked lamb ragu today. Given the restricted use of his hand, he acknowledged the considerable help he received in chopping, particularly by Keith and James’ partner, and the boys in the kitchen.

We had some 10 kg of lamb shoulder of impressive quality, sourced by the REX kitchen. The whole shoulders were cooked for 2.5 hours with a classic Italian soffritto of diced onions, carrots and celery. During the cooking process, 1 kg of finely chopped speck, garlic, stock, 18 cans of tomatoes, tomato paste, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, red wine and heavy cream found their way into the pan. The pasta was fettucine, which was par cooked, iced and finished off later in the ragu sauce before serving. Wonderfully al dente and not as easy task to serve to some 50 people. Instead of the “traditional” parmesan, James served over 1 kg of pecorino, finely machine grated a few days beforehand by Paesanella Food Emporium in Sydenham. The bread was a light rye from Cornucopia in Naremburn.

The ragu was a wonderful match for the Italian reds.

Cheese

Today’s cheese was Challerhocker, malty and sweet with a spicy finish, a truly modern cheese with a loyal new following. It was last served to the Society at the April mixed lunch.

The region of St Gallen is renowned for its Appenzeller production and in the late 90's, tightly controlled Swiss regulations limited creativity. When the regulations were relaxed, Master Cheesemaker Walter Räss, an Appenzeller maker, created a new cheese using rich, pure unpasteurised Jersey milk and a secret blend of wine, herbs and spices. He aged it for 8 long months, so he named it ‘Challerhocker’ meaning ‘sitting in a cellar.’ Washing the rind during maturation produces a robust, tacky rind and contributes to the nutty aroma of the dense, white paste.

James provided an assortment of nuts to accompany the cheese.

Wine

Our lunch today was an excellent lamb ragu by James Tinslay with some delicious pass-arounds with the pre-lunch wines. Those wines were the Bernard Bremont Champagne and a Nicola Bergaglio Gavi 2021 13%. The bubbles were fine for me, but it was the Gavi that I could not wait to get my rookers around a glass. I have reviewed this wine before and really like it. Many thanks to Nick Reynolds for introducing this wine to our Society. I find the wine delicious, well balanced, great flavour with a fresh and crisp finish. A winner, the perfect wine for a pre-lunch drink.

We then moved on to the red wines for our main. Our Wine Master had cobbled together 6 Italian reds from various growers and various years. Many thanks to Nick Reynolds for his efforts. During the course of our lunch, I was beginning to feel that I was not the right person to be reviewing six Italian wines in a row. These wines are so different to our red wines that I find the gap in styles almost unbridgeable. After 50 years of drinking Australian red wines with their far bigger flavours, I now find many Italian wines, at least to my taste to be thin, tannic and acidic with little flavour. I know, I know, that these wines are "food” wines, but.... a dash of flavour would not go astray. These observations were evident to me in the first two wines the Luigi Pira Nebbiolo and the Massolino Barolo. For the above reasons, I found these wines disappointing.

My flagging spirits were however revived by the excellent Chianti from Isole e Olena 2019 14.5%. A lovely wine, medium-bodied with lots of flavour, great with food or a standalone. My next favourite was the 2009 Marchese Antinori Brunello 14%. Lots of tannin and acid but blending in well to produce a balanced wine with a great mouthfeel and a clean satisfying finish.

The final two wines, the Argiano Rosso Montalcino and the masked wine revealed to be a Girolamo Russo Rina Eta Rosso were enjoyable food wines but did little to excite. I found myself towards the end of the meal yearning for a glass of a Barossa Shiraz or a Margaret River Cabernet, just for a bit of flavour. Old habits die hard!

I fully accept that my taste buds may have been having an off day and that my palate needs to be taken off to a re-education camp, however, I always said I would report my honest opinion and there you have it! Fire at will!

19 November 2024 Bill Alexiou Hucker and Voula Price

Tue, 19 Nov 2024 01:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Full house for our mixed lunch today with our president Bill Alexiou-Hucker in the kitchen assisted by his friend Voula Price.

Canapés aplenty!

We never go home hungry when Bill cooks, and today was no exception.

A new interpretation of Spanakopita…made as a Frittata minus filo pastry… yum!

Smoked salmon with cream cheese on toasts or cucumber.

Keftedes (pork and beef mince grated with tomatoes onion and mint) and tzatziki.

But wait there’s more, entrees served alternatively.

Octopus terrine with Greek salad. The terrine was made with gelatine using a stock of tomatoes, carrot and celery. Very tender octopus.

Seared Scallops served on homemade taramasalata alongside pea and avocado salad.

Main

Modern Moussaka- all the ingredients usually seen in Moussaka just deconstructed!

Perfectly cooked rack of lamb that sat on a tasty tomato salsa, accompanied by grilled eggplant, chicory and a light potato mash.

Comments from the room reflected the appreciation of members and guests today for the quality and effort we saw in today’s meal.

‘Sas efcharisto’ Bill and Voula.

Dessert

We gave our Cheesemaster a day away from normal duties as we had a delicious tart made with Gorgonzola dolce, honey and pear on puffed pastry to finish our meal.

Koulouria (Greek Easter cakes) were served with our coffee.

Stephen Lake, son of Max Lake, was a guest of our Society today.

He wore an André Simon silver medal posthumously awarded to Max by the International Wine and Food Society.

Wine

A very healthy turnout 50+ enjoyed a fine lunch created by our own Greek MasterChef Bill Alexiou. We were indulged with a three-course meal complete with a printed menu!! See the food report about Bill's excellent Greek-themed lunch. The aperitif wines were a Chardonnay and a French fizz, Henri Laurent NV. The Chardy was a Kumeu River Village, vintage 2022. I really enjoyed this wine, very easy drinking, balanced and full of stone fruit flavours with a clean finish. An excellent wine to enjoy with the delightful pass-arounds. This wine is extremely good value for a commercial style Chardonnay. The Fizz I thought was drinking well enough for what it was, an entry level Champagne at an entry level price I assume. I heard some grumbles around the room about the wine being either too sweet or too acidic, but let's get a grip here, we are having an inexpensive glass of bubbles and we get what we paid for. I thought the wine was quite reasonable for what it was, namely something to go with food and a drink that all the ladies seemed to enjoy.

We then moved on to the entree, a delightful Greek salad with cold octopus. Wonderful! The wine for this dish was one I had never seen before, a White Grenache from the Catalan region of Spain. Serra/Barcelo Aucala 2022 14%. Our Winemaster is keen on introducing us to wines most of us have not met before. Overall impression, quite acceptable, a good food wine. Very restrained in terms of flavour, but mouth filling. The taste was hard to identify, with hints of citrus with a rich opulent finish. I felt this wine is truly a food wine given its dry texture and subdued flavours. It is well worth the venture into something untried before.

For the main, we enjoyed a perfect rack of lamb which was partnered up with a Hentley Farm Grenache 2022 14.5%. This highly respected vineyard produces some beautiful red wines from its Barossa vineyards, this wine was a classic modern style Grenache, light in structure, high alcohol and an exploding mouth feel of sweet strawberry, with lots of tannin and peppery spice. The wine was a perfect foil for the lamb. A real food wine, not one to be mulled over and over and analysed, just drink it, enjoy it for what it is, a youthful wine, full of joy and exotic flavours, a real fruit bomb!

The dessert consisted of a fabulous blue cheese, Gorgonzola, and pear flan, cooked in the oven and served. Simply wonderful. We were really indulged today, we never get dessert, must be the influence of the ladies. To go with the dessert, we had two Sauternes Ch La Rame 2011 13% and a Ch Miselle 2017 13.5%. Both were perfect with the sweet dish as a good sauterne would be. Of the two I preferred the Ch La Rame, superb drinking now and for many more years. Great balance, lush flavours, superb finish that lingered. A wonderful wine. The Miselle I thought was being drunk too soon, only 6 yo. Needs more bottle age, as the structures are all there for a great wine when a few more years will see it round out. At the moment it just does not have the intensity of the much older La Rame.

All around a great afternoon, many thanks to all who made it happen with such style

12 November 2024 Steve Sparkes

Tue, 12 Nov 2024 01:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

There’s no better place to be on a Tuesday than enjoying lunch in our Society rooms especially when we have our dynamic duo of Nick Reynolds on canapés and Steve Sparkes, our Foodmaster, on main.

Canapés

Nick’s appetisers for lunch today were:
Tapenade-filled gougères with parmesan.
Sourdough crumpets with lime marmalade, sour cream and chorizo.
Tartlets with Mediterranean-flavoured white bean purée, nduja and chives.

Main

An exquisitely rich meal today of hearty oxtail stuffed with boudin blanc, creamed cabbage and a buttery mash.

Steve used fourteen kilos of oxtail to make the ‘sausage’ and a stock to make the gravy. The boudin blanc was made with chicken breast, white bread and foie gras. The recipe is by a British Michelin-starred chef Steve Crane of Sussex.

The meal certainly had that ‘wow’ effect.

High praise for all aspects of our lunch today reflecting the quality presentation and flavours. A lot of effort was involved with all the dishes today.

Thanks, team, first class!

Cheese

Our Cheesemaster Mark Bradford selected a cow’s milk cheddar from Devon England for lunch today.
Mature, clothbound Farmhouse Cheddar made the old–fashioned way is hard to find, and demand is greater than supply. This rare farmhouse Cheddar has been carefully graded from a young age and matured for 18-24 months. The result is a classic Cheddar bursting with evocative flavours, with a firm, open and moist texture, an aging earthy aroma, and a lingering tang.

Steve accompanied the cheese with a homemade fig, pomegranate jam, and a salad composée.

Wine

The highlight of today's lunch was a truly excellent dish of ox tail, done in a style that only our wonderful Foodmaster Steve Sparkes could create. Brilliant! See the food report and photos for more details of this sensational presentation.

To accompany the main, we also enjoyed some very tasty pass arounds prepared by Nick Reynolds, which paired very well with the aperitif wine, a Soave from Monte Ronca from the Veneto region of northeast Italy. Vintage 2020 and 12.5%. This is a very popular wine in Italy, quite dry, clear and crisp with good acidity and a slight hint of apple and pear on the palate. Made mainly from the Garganega grape coupled with a dash of Trebbiano. Restrained, but very enjoyable with food.

We then moved on to the red wines for our main course. They were the John Duval Plexus 2014 and the Helen's Hill Shiraz 2021. The Plexus was a Barossa wine composed of a blend of Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvèdre, 14.5% a wonderful wine, my pick of the day. Readers of my notes on our wines will be aware of my great respect for Duval as a winemaker, one of our greatest. The wine was in my view a glorious cocktail of red wine flavours with the Grenache standing out. Medium weight, rich and voluptuous, hints of dark cherry with excellent balance between the oak and tannin. A firm finish. Now a ten-year-old, but with many years of fine drinking ahead. The second wine was the Helen's Hill Shiraz from the Yarra Valley, 14.8%. A very enjoyable wine, but I think drinking a few years too soon. This wine was to me a classic Shiraz, peppery, medium body, noticeable tannin present with residual spice on the palate. I would like to drink this wine again in say 5 years when it has rounded out a bit more.

The wines with the cheese were a Chardonnay and a St Hugo Cabernet which in my view, was nearly as enjoyable as the Duval wine. The Chardy was a Larry Cherubino Folklore 13% from WA. The St Hugo was a 2001 Cabernet from Coonawarra 14%. The Chardy was a big wine, mouth-filling and rich. There was lots of citrus flavours grapefruit, and peach. The texture was creamy and soft, with a clean finish. I am aware that the pairing of cheese with a Chardy is regarded by some as a much better combination than cheese and red wine. I personally think that suggestion could be correct in so far as soft cheese, eg a brie with a Chardy would work. But I do not agree that the combination works with a hard cheese like we had today. The Devon cheddar was to me far too sharp for the white wine but went well with the St Hugo. The St Hugo was a multi-award winner, for good reason. A terrific wine with huge berry fruit nose, a big colour, dark and intense. Redolent aromas of blackcurrant and plumb with earthy spice are still present despite the wine now being 23 yo. There was great balance between oak, tannin and acid. Just pipped at the post by the Duval Plexus for the wine of the day.

29 October 2024 Charles "Chilly" Hargrave

Tue, 29 Oct 2024 01:30:00 GMT

Wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Wine

We had a very healthy turnout for today's lunch, which included salmon by Chilly Hargrave and a parade of Rieslings from Australia and Germany. Overall, the food and wine pairing were a great success. See the food report for details.

We got festivities underway with two Chardonnays, one from Margaret River and the other from France a White Burgundy. The first was a Suckfizzle, be careful how you say this, from Stella Bella 2021 and the French wine was from Albert Bichot, a Macon Milly 2020. Both these wines were quite acceptable as an aperitif drink, however, my choice was the French wine, better balanced and with a more delicate flavour. We then moved on to the wines for our lunch. First was a Grosset Polish Hill, Clare, Riesling 2024, 12.1%. Without a doubt, it is the youngest wine we have ever drank at a WFS lunch. To my thinking, the wine was difficult to drink now, but I hold great hopes for its future. All of the key structures were in place to produce a cracker in 5/6 years' time. An ugly duckling now, but just wait until about 2030! This wine has huge potential. We then passed onto a bracket of excellent German Rieslings from the renowned producers Johannisberg and Egon Muller. The first two were both from 2021, 11% and 13%, with the Egon Muller considerably older at 2010, 9.5%.

In my view, all three wines were excellent in their balance of fruit, acid and residual sugar. Mouth-filling for sure, but not cloying and finishing with a smooth clean finish. Of the first two, I rather fancied the first, the Kabinett. These two wines set the stage for the star of the show, the Egon Muller 9.5%, what a wine! This producer is hailed as one of Germany's finest in the production of high quality Rieslings. From the Mosel River region, this wine was simply superb in terms of its fruit/acid balance, showing no sign of age, still fresh and showing some delicate citrus flavours in harmony with the slightly sweetish but clean lingering finish. A magnificent wine! Many thanks, Wine Master. Before I leave the German wines, I should say how impressed I was with their corks. I was on wine opening duties. All three were under cork, and I observed how solid their corks were, in most cases the same length size cork you would find in a top growth Bordeaux. These corks were made to last for decades. After this brief stopover in Germany, we then returned to Australia to finish the afternoon with some aged local Rieslings. I wish we had not, I was quite happy to stay in the Mosel region! Coming home proved to be a sad affair.

Our homecoming welcome was a huge letdown in the form of two bottles of one of my favourite local Rieslings, the Seppelt Drumborg, vintages 2007 and 1998. If you were addressing these wines as an ageing old girlfriend, you would think to yourself, "my darling how you have let yourself go". The 2007 still had some signs of life sealed under Stelvin but is drinking 10 years beyond its best date say 2014. The poor old 98, cork sealed, had probably died and was buried in or about 2010, and was exhumed for this occasion, the Festival of Rieslings, I wish it had been left undisturbed. The bottle on our table was to me undrinkable, oxidised, maderized and nasty. Because I personally regard Drumborg Rieslings amongst my top picks for this wine, it proved to be a disappointing ending to an otherwise great afternoon.

22 October 2024 Keith Steele

Tue, 22 Oct 2024 01:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Keith Steele as Chef of the Day got the band back together for his lunch and was assisted by Paul Thorne, David Madson and James Tinslay on canapés.

We celebrated John Rourke’s 85th birthday and his 51st year of membership. John donated two magnums of Lakes Folly and President Bill had invited Stephen Lake along who happened to bring with him a double magnum.

We welcomed a new member to our society today, Chris Wills, and he was presented with a Society bow tie, our history “A Table of Delights” and a Society badge by our president Bill Alexiou.

Canapés

Paul Thorne topped some blinis with white anchovies, sour cream, roasted capers and sashimi grade salmon for those of us that don’t like the acid in the anchovies.

David Madson prepared some smoked trout pâte with home pickled baby cucumber on toasts.

James Tinslay, in theme, made Moroccan sausage rolls with homemade Moroccan tomato sauce and then moist tamarind chicken skewers with homemade chutney.

Plentiful canapés, well commented on by members.

Main

Braised lamb shanks with a Moroccan sauce of stock, celery, carrot, onions and tomato paste. The sauce was reduced and cooked with the lamb shanks. The meat fell of the bone perfectly cooked with a last addition of chick peas. It sat on silky buttery potato mash perfect to sop the luxurious sauce.

Much praise for the dish today.

Stellar effort chaps, thanks.

Bread today was from Cornucopia at Naremburn a light rye.

Cheese

Keith’s favourite ‘Beaufort’, a raw cow’s milk cheese from the Pyrenees, France.

Famous since Roman times, this huge 40kg cheese is often referred to as the Prince of Gruyere.

Made by Fruiteries Chabert, this family business specialises in cheeses of the Hautes Savoie where the cows are moved to mountain pastures during the summer. Beaufort AOP d’Alpage is only made from raw milk in alpine chalets at more than 1500m, with the milk of a single herd.

This smooth textured cheese has a distinctive concave shape and natural rind. The sweet, nutty, floral flavours highlight the name Alpage reflecting the alpine grass and wildflowers which the cows eat on the high mountain slopes.

Bowls of dried apricot and walnuts accompanied the cheese.

Wine

The theme for today was lamb shanks by Keith Steele. In a word excellent. See food report. The Wine report for today centres upon three magnificent bottles of Lakes Folly Cabernets, very generously donated by John Rourke on his 85th birthday. We started off the day with a Margaret River Chardonnay from Nocturne Wines 2021 13%. This wine took me back to the 80s style Chardy, big blousy, over oaked and just about over everything else. The first sip nearly blew my head off. I have become far too used to the modern style of Chardy, restrained and tight, less oak and less alcohol, and not as sweet as was the Nocturne. This wine was truly Atavistic in its regression to the 1980s but I did not enjoy it.

Next wine was a Stella Bella Cabernet again from WA. 13%. A big wine, huge fruit and lots of oak and tannin. The wine was an acceptable commercial Cab, but I think it was being drunk a bit too soon. Another few years in the cellar would knock the rough edges off and produce a better result.

The next bracket of wines was the Lakes Folly Cabernets, two in Magnum (donated by John Rourke) and one in a Jeroboam (donated by Stephen Lake, Max’s son). The vintages ranged from 1985 to 1996. What a treat, thank you guys. All the wines were in great shape and drinking beautifully. All the wines were Cabernet blends and mid-weight with mostly low alcohol, between 12 and 13%, very Bordeaux like. The wines were now quite old, ranging in age from 28 to 39 years old. But in my view, all drinking superbly with no sign of adverse ageing. My pick was the 85, a glorious, aged wine, still in perfect balance. At my table, however, there were many votes for the 1991. Either way, they were all superb. How fortunate were we! There was some talk at my table about one or two of the wines having a trace of ‘brett’, otherwise formally known as brettanomyces, a non-spore forming genus of yeast. So now you know. It is a member of the saccharomycetaceae family. Around our dinner table at home, we discuss little else! Any how this substance which developed during the maturation of wine can in small amounts produce an agreeable flavour, e.g. the ‘sweaty saddle’ of some Hunter reds, but in larger amounts can ruin a wine. If brett was there in some of these wines, it for certain was in very modest amounts. Summary, how fortunate were we!

The next wine was a Frankland Ridge Syrah 2020 14.5%. A big wine dense purple/black colour with tannin and oak showing. Again, I thought this wine would benefit from more cellar life. All the material is there for a pleasing commercial Syrah in a few years’ time.

That now brings us to the final wine of the day, another Chardonnay. This time an American from California, the Wente vineyard Morning Fog Chardy from 2022 13.5%. Today has not been a good day for the famous Chardonnay grape. As with the first wine this one was too big, oaky, alcohol driven and with a sweetness that the Americans seem to demand in most of their wines. I would be pleased not to come across this wine again. I just cannot go back to this style of Chardonnay again. But to end on a high note, the Lakes Folly was sensational, you are a good man, John Rourke.

15 October 2024 Julian Parmegiani

Tue, 15 Oct 2024 01:30:00 GMT

Food review by Mark Bradford and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Responding to his “call to the kitchen”, Tuesday saw first-time chef of the day Dr Julian Parmegiani preparing, not surprisingly, an Italian-themed lunch. He was assisted by members Rob Guthrie and Paul Mitchell with canapes, and friend Jordan in the kitchen along with the REX team.

Canapes

Rob’s first offering was a goat’s curd tartlet. The filling was a combination of goat’s curd and ricotta with mint, topped with finely sliced zucchini and zucchini flowers marinated in olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a little chilli oil. Dressed with crushed pistachios and micro herbs, this was a colourful and tasty way to commence our lunch.

Next up was Rob’s polenta croutons with sausage and mushrooms. These were a thin spread of nduja sausage atop polenta croutons, with mushrooms fried off in oil and garlic. The meat – no skin – was from a pork and fennel sausage, with a slice of Fontina cheese and baked for 10 – 15 minutes. Rob explained that nduja is a spreadable, delightfully spicy sausage from the southern part of Calabria, characterised by its flaming red hue thanks to the region’s native Calabrian red chillies.

We ended the canape course with Paul’s Caprese skewers. These were Mozzarella balls tossed in olive oil, garlic powder and kosher salt, then an Italian mix of oregano, basil, capsicum, rosemary, parsley and time; refrigerated overnight. Then skewered along with cherry tomatoes, tossed in the same Italian mix, and basil leaves. Drizzled with balsamic before serving.

Thank you, Rob and Paul. Lots of effort went into the canapes today, which were aplenty.

Main

Julian served us pasta with fennel pork sausage ragu. The fettuccini was hand made using flour (80% durum and 20% plain), eggs and water – the magic of a Philips Pasta Maker extruding the fettuccini in a mere three minutes. Then sprinkled with flour and stored in a sealed container separated by tea towels.

The soffritto was made with garlic, celery, carrots and onion, boiled off with red wine. Large fennel pork sausages were broken into small clumps and browned, mixed with the soffritto and Mutti Polpa Pronta tinned tomatoes, a pinch of chilli and simmered for two hours. Fried prosciutto cut into small strips was used to make the fettuccini crunchy.

The pasta was cooked in boiling water for two minutes and then in some ragu for two to three minutes to emulsify. The dish came to the table with the pasta on a bed of ragu, more ragu on top, parmesan and fresh basil, with chilli on the side. The pasta was a little “al dente”, authentic to a rustic Italian meal. Jordan prepared a side of salad with a delicious acidic dressing that was a perfect accompaniment to the protein.

A good hearty authentic Italian dish. Congratulations Julian on your first Society meal and may there be many more to come.

Cheese

In theme, the Cheesemaster presented Auricchio Provolone Dolce, a hard cow’s milk cheese from Lombardy. This pasta filata, or stretched curd cheese, is kneaded and stretched while still hot and pliable, before being hand-formed into massive sausage-shaped rolls known as ‘salame’ Auricchio Provolone is made in the Po Valley in Northern Italy using fresh milk from surrounding farms. Handcrafting ensures a compact texture and prevents folds from forming in the curd which might trap air and compromise quality during the slow maturation process. Once formed, the salame are brined for more than a week before maturation. The resulting cheese has a soft, compact texture with bright milky flavours and excellent melting properties.

The cheese was accompanied with figs, muscatels, quince paste and walnuts.

During the cheese course we arose to a toast proposed by the President for long-time Member and former Cellarmaster Paul Ferman, who sadly passed away in hospital on the previous Saturday.

Wine

The report for today will be my shortest ever as we all enjoyed only one wine, the Wynns Coonawarra Cab 2006. This was as a result of the appointed wines for today not being ordered, a real test for our Wine Master.

We ended up drinking a number of wines, all of which were very enjoyable, but the Wynns was the only one that everybody tasted. The wine itself was excellent and travelling very well for an 18 yo. The vintage of 2006 was highly regarded by Wynns and the quality of the year was reflected in the wine. A strongly flavoured wine, dense purple/black fruit with classic Cabernet taste at 14%. It showed very firm tannin and oak on the back palate, a classic Coonawarra. This wine never fails to impress, hence a WFS favourite. The wine had plenty of acid to ensure many years of good drinking ahead. I would like to review it again in 5 years.

1 October 2024 James Hill and Hal Epstein

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by Mark Bradford and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

A special Oktoberfest lunch today, inspired by Hal Epstein, the departure from the usual routine being applauded by the gents on the day. Lederhosen was not obligatory, and none were worn. The ever-reliable former present James Hill was in the Küche performing his magic.

Canapés

We commenced with freshly baked pretzels and rye bread from the “German Bakery” Laugenring in the MetCentre at Wynyard Station, a good way to wash down our German beer.

Hal provided canapes aplenty, covering a variety of German-style sausages both grilled and boiled, available locally. In Hal’s words, “Curry Wurst seems to be a developed German vogue favoured in Berlin: bratwurst with a piquant sauce, basically tomato sauce with a bit of chilli added. Today, currywurst is often sold as a take-out or take-away food, Schnellimbisse (snack stands), at diners or ‘greasy spoons’, on children's menus in restaurants, or as a street food and usually served with chips or bread rolls (Brötchen). It is popular all over Germany but especially in the metropolitan areas of Berlin, Hamburg and the Ruhr Area. Considerable variation, both in the type of sausage used and the ingredients of the sauce, occurs between these areas”.

Next was Liverwurst pâté and sauerkraut on “Fritz” biscuits. Wurst…Hal insisted on the lunchers getting the “wurst” pronunciation somewhat near “richtig” or correct, i.e. something like “Vurst”!

And then the best of the Wurst did the rounds. Bratwurst (pork) grilled with curry ketchup. Nurnburger (pork) grilled with mild German mustard. Kransky (pork) boiled with sweet Bavarian mustard. Weisswurst (veal and pork) boiled with curry ketchup. Treasurer Steve Libeskind asked why we prepare fancy appetisers when we can be filled with Wurst. A brisk walk to Circular Quay and back would have been welcomed before commencing the main. Hal provided a useful addition with carefully hand-printed labels for each dish on the hand-around plates.

Main

James cooked us braised pork neck with brandy mash, cabbage and sauerkraut.

The seasoned rolled whole neck pork was cooked with brown sugar and wholegrain mustard flamed with brandy. It was then simmered in parsley, sage and chicken stock for two hours at 150 C, then removed from the simmering sauce and cooked for 40 minutes at 170 C. It was then rested for an hour while the sauce was reduced by half and prunes were added. The sauce was served over the pork.
It was accompanied with confit garlic mashed potatoes (45 minutes in vegetable oil), sauerkraut and choux flamande – red cabbage cooked for 75 minutes in water, cider vinegar, butter, brown sugar and Granny Smith apples.

A great meal applauded by the members and guests on the day.

Cheese

The Cheese Master had difficulty sourcing a suitable German cheese, so he opted for a Firstkönig mountain cheese selected by KäseSwiss and thought to be a first for the Society. It is named after the Churfirsten mountain range that dominates the Toggenburg region in the northeast of Switzerland and appears on the label that crowns the cheese wheel. The cheese was thought to be a good match for the two Rieslings today; a rarity to experience two white wines with the cheese course.

Reto Güntensberg combines his family’s expertise in Appenzeller production at Butschwil Dairy with traditional cheese cultures to bring a modern approach to Swiss cheesemaking. Unlike Appenzeller, this bergkäse – or mountain cheese – is made from whole unpasteurised milk. Over the three months of maturation, the wheel is lightly washed in brine to encourage the development of a bacterial rind. When fully mature, an amber-coloured rind surrounds a dense paste that yields a creamy and herbaceous flavour and delicate spicy finish.

James accompanied the cheese with seasonal berries – strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. A good selection and well-liked.

Wine

Today the German festivities of Octoberfest landed at the REX for the enjoyment of WFS members, and enjoy we did. German wine and beer together with a superb roast pork neck presented by one of our top chefs, James Hill. See the food report for details.

We kicked off with a delightful German Beer Geheimnis, very enjoyable as a lead into our first German white a 2017 Wittmann Trocken Rhinehessen Riesling 12%. Now at 7 years of bottle age, this wine was drinking beautifully. Great aroma, medium texture, pale yellow with excellent balance between fruit and acid. Typically, Mosel style, mouth filling, but with a clean, clear crisp finish. A perfect wine for the delicious pass arounds. I hope we have some more of this.

We began the luncheon wines with a Daniel Bouland Corcelette Morgon 2021. 13%. This sadly was not an enjoyable wine, a bad bottle I suspect, as I have at home several bottles of this wine and they are drinking very well. I found the wine initially acceptable, but as I drank on, the wine began to show some unpleasant features. Unbalanced, flabby and maybe some cork taint. This made for considerable disappointment as normally a high quality Morgon such as this is much in demand due to its velvety smooth, yet powerful Gamay flavours. Normally a serious wine. A pity.

The second red was a Freycinet Pinot from Tasmania 2020 14%. A delightful wine with a medium pinot structure with abundant fruit. Hints of raspberry and cherry were there. A nice balance between oak, some fine tannin and acid produced a wine of silky texture with a lingering finish. Plenty of time ahead. Great wine with the pork.

The two cheese wines were both excellent. First a Egon Muller Scharzhof Mosel Riesling 2013 10.5%. A wonderful aroma of quality fruit in true Mosel tradition. Pale green colour, ripe and intense with hints of apple and lime. Probably drinking at its peak, but with plenty of good years ahead. A top quality Mosel Riesling with a delightful finish, alluring and very Moorish. The final wine of the day was another Riesling, the famous Dr Loosen Mosel Kabinett 2017, 8%. Again, a wonderful example of top quality German Riesling, nobody else can produce wines quite like these. Makes you wonder why there has been such a dramatic fall off in sales of German wines in Australia since the 1970s. These wines are quite special and deserve recognition for their unique qualities. This wine was again filled with abundant citrus-flavoured fruits, great acid/fruit balance with a crisp non cloying finish. Of the two I slightly preferred the 2013 Ergon Muller, but there was nothing in it.

Either of these two wines would be the perfect companion in your luncheon basket to some ripe peaches, on a sunny afternoon beside a stream with a Fraulein of your heart’s desire. Bliss, but don’t forget the Aerogard!!

24 September 2024 Steve Sparkes

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Our Foodmaster Steve Sparkes was in the kitchen for our monthly wine tasting.

Canapes

Good mix of canapés today all happily devoured by members. One member said the best canapés ever!

Tuna Pâté

This one consisted of a tin of tuna in oil, anchovies, shallots and onion sauteed until golden, a decent slug of Sherry, bay leaf, and tarragon as well as a good whack of butter and seasoning. All blended together at high speed for 5-10 mins (without bay leaves!!) and served on a tomato and basil cracker.

This was a favourite, and many requested the recipe. It was parfait-like in texture with perfectly integrated rich flavours.

Duck Rillette

Confit of duck maryland shredded with a blend of herbs, some duck fat and duck stock. Served on toasted baguette.

Fig and Prosciutto

The third canape was a halved fig stuffed with goat cheese, wrapped in prosciutto and baked in a hot oven for 10 mins. It was then cooled and drizzled with honey, balsamic vinegar and black pepper prior to serving.

Main

A lot of preparation in today’s main, It looked simple “meat and two veg” but what grabbed us first was the presentation, the glaze on the duck and the silky mash. The dish was a great bridge to the wines on taste today.

Confit of Duck

The duck marylands were 'dry marinated' with some garlic, thyme, onion, carrot, tarragon, orange rind, black peppercorns, allspice berries, crushed juniper berries, fennel seeds, star anise, fenugreek seeds and cumin seeds overnight.

It was then cooked sous-vide at 75C for about 12 hours and then laid out on trays in its own fat in the fridge overnight.

On the day, the duck was flashed in a hot oven for a few minutes and then painted with a glaze for a few more minutes until crispy and shiny just prior to service. The glaze consisted of brown sugar, sherry vinegar and some marmalade.

The duck was served with a basic mash and green beans dressed with EVOO, raspberry vinegar as well as some toasted almond flakes for a bit of crunch.

The sauce/jus/gravy was a bottle of red heavily reduced with a decent amount of Creme de Cassis liqueur and a lot of diced shallots. A couple of litres or so of intense chicken and duck stock was added and reduced to the required consistency.

Comments reflected the quality of the lunch today.

Thanks Steve.

Cheese

Our Cheesemaster Mark Bradford managed to secure some Pyengana reserve vintage cloth-bound cheddar.

A cow’s milk from Tasmania, it’s handcrafted from a 130-year-old recipe unique to Pyengana and matured in traditional cheese cloth for 24 months.

A great example of this cheese today, crumbly, bold, bitey and some crystals.

So good, Patto pocketed his leftovers!

The cheese was accompanied by a simple salad of mixed leaves dressed in red wine vinegar and olive oil with some added toasted almonds and a rather intense beetroot jam.

The bread was the standard large sourdough loaf from Bourke Street Bakery in Newtown.

Wine

A splendid lunch delivered via the skills of one of our multi-talented chefs Steve Sparkes. Le Canard was the dish, for those not familiar with French, Duck. A brilliant main, with some superb pass-arounds. See the Food report for more details. With regard to the wines, our stand-in Wine Master Paul Irwin, had selected for us an array of our finest Australian reds, for our considered opinion, ranging from a 1990 Yarra Yering Dry Red No 1 to a 2012 Penfolds Bin 389, and plenty of goodies in between. So, let's get started.

The aperitif wine was an aged Lindemans Bin 0555 Sem from the Hunter Vintage 2005 12%. Sealed under screw cap the wine was in great presentation, clear, no browning or deep yellow colour you would expect from a 19 yo white. That is where the praise stops with the first bottle opened. I could almost not drink it, such was the overpowering acidity of the wine. It killed any further assessment of the wine. You would think that after 19 years the acid would be falling away, but not with this baby, getting more acidic as time progresses. However, redemption was at hand with a second or third bottle, which were totally different, and highly enjoyable, as you would expect from a top Hunter Sem from a great year. Talk about bottle variation. Under Stelvin you would think this would not happen, but it did today. I was stunned by the difference between the two bottles I tasted. The “Good” bottles saved the day, delightful, fresh, well-balanced Hunter Sem.

The main/cheese wines were from any objective viewpoint, a cavalcade of great Australian wines of the last 25 years. Read on gentle reader and let me guide you through this cornucopia of our best and fairest First off was a crowd favourite the Penfolds Bin 389 14.5%. Let me put my cards on the table for a moment. We had three Bin 389 today so when I say the wine was in the Penfolds style/formula, tannin, oak and alcohol, you will know what I mean. Their red wines never vary from this format. Very predictable, but you know what you’re getting. This wine was the 2012, very highly regarded by Penfolds. Very dark fruit colour, with hints of mulberry and blackberry. Great balance between oak, tannin and acid producing a firm finish. I would not call this wine “elegant” as it is too muscular at present. Perhaps it may achieve this description when Penfolds says it will achieve its full potential in 2040! If anybody has at that stage some connection with the afterlife, please let me know if Penfolds are correct!

Red wine No 2 was the 2012 Lindemans Limestone Ridge Shiraz Cab.14%. My pick of the litter. Lighter in structure than any of the Penfolds wines, this was a beauty. The brilliant clear colour of cherry red, elegant yet powerful, balanced with some mild oak and tannin showing, leading to a drawn-out sweetish fruit-driven finish. I picked up hints of chocolate and blackberry. A really enjoyable drink.

Wine 3 was another 389 2002 14%. I rated this wine above the 2012. The usual Penfolds style, but in my view better than the 2012 above. Perhaps the 2012 needed more time, as with this wine we had ten extra years of maturity and development. 54/46% split of Cab and Shiraz 14%. Very strong flavours of dark fruits, but combining well with the tannin, oak and residual acid to produce a beautifully balanced wine, dare I say a classic 389 with predictions by Penfolds to drink well until 2045!

Wine 4 the Hardys Eileen Shiraz 2002 14%, was to my taste a somewhat sad wine, at least in so far as the bottle on our table was concerned. Maybe there were other bottles in the room that fared better. The colour was still black/purple but the acid had fallen away to a considerable extent, leaving the wine, to my palate, dull and flabby. Perhaps 22 years is just too long for this wine,10 years would have produced a better outcome for this well-regarded wine.

Wine 5 was another 389 this time a very old one, 1991 13.5%. Drinking very well in the Penfolds style. Strong tannin and oak. This wine to me was a different 389 to the earlier bottles probably because it was 11 years older than the 2002 we had beforehand. It had the usual mix of black fruits and cherry flavours. Despite its age, the wine drank very well.

The final wine, the famed Yarra Yering Dry Red No 1 from 1990 was to many the wine of the day at 13%. A Cabernet blend of assorted French Cabernets and a dash of Malbec. I think it is fair to say this wine has achieved cult-like status amongst keen Australian wine lovers. At 24 yo the wine still had plenty of time left, no obvious ageing. Superb palate, rich and complex, with a firm finish. All round a great wine doing credit to its reputation. Near perfect balance, great length. Justly regarded by many as the wine of the day.

17 September 2024 Amosh

Tue, 17 Sep 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill and wine review by James Tinslay

Food

The talented team of Amosh (Head chef) and Madan (sous chef) were in the kitchen today answering our Foodmaster’s call to help fill a gap in our cooking roster. We welcomed Vice President Frank Liebeskind and Foodmaster Steve Sparkes back to the fold after extensive research and education travel in Europe!

Canapés

Nepalese food in the main is aromatic and canapés and today a great example, full of flavour and not overly spicy.

Cheese-stuffed grilled okra

Okra is in season now and they were stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes, smoked buffalo mozzarella, coriander, scallions and a touch of harissa.

Chicken chow mein spring rolls

Dan dan noodles and chicken thigh fillets marinated in yoghurt and fresh lime juice, seasoning, turmeric, ginger, garlic paste and chat masala.

Some debated whether should it have a dipping sauce, but I thought it had very good flavour, as it was.

Nepalese style pork tostada

Deep fried wonton pastry topped with a slaw of cabbage, vinegar and salt and pepper with pork shoulder curry.

A lot of preparation was involved with the canapés today and they were much appreciated and commented on by members.

Main

Amosh chose to keep it simple with a goat curry and two vegetables.

Spice and heat was evident providing a good layer of flavour and textures, the curry had no bones or gristle and was perfectly tender.

-Alu ko tarkari (potato dish) roasted potato cooked with duck fat, onion, tomato, coriander and spices

-Khasi ko masu (goat curry) mustard oil marinated goat shoulder with Nepalese spices

-Makai ko chyakhla (corn grits) cooked like polenta in milk finished with scallion, coriander and brown butter.

Cheese

Our Cheesemaster was rewarded with a day off and the cheese sourced by our team it was a Binnorie dairy cows milk triple cream brie cheese from the Hunter Valley.

It came to the table a little cool masking the flavour and resulting texture was quite firm. It was served with marinated figs and quince paste.

Wine

Pikes Riesling 2022 (12% al). The zesty purity and precision of this Clare Riesling make it a fine way to start the lunch with the spice of the canapes. Wonderful drinking now but for those that prefer developed flavours then the wine should age well. Why wait when it's so drinkable now?

Soumah Hexham Vineyard Equilibrio Pinot Noir 2021 (13.5% al). A lighter style of Pinot with an already browning meniscus. The Equilibrion range is this maker's top echelon, and this elegant wine shows some mushroom character and was the better of the two Pinots. I would drink now.

Helen’s Hill The Smuggler Reserve Pinot 2022 (12.8% al). Not much of a Pinot character and came across more as a Shiraz et al. However, the heat in the main course played a part in this. Very fruity with solid tannins. Not my sort of Pinot but well liked by some with possibly a more heat-resistant palate.

Best’s Great Western Bin 0 Shiraz 2015 (14% al). A rich and ripe Shiraz typical of the Best’s style so much liked by many members. Black fruits but not stewed or extracted just very familiar old fashioned Aussie red. Drinking well now but some would prefer to cellar it further.

Franklin Estate Isolation Ridge Shiraz 2016 (14% al). This medium-bodied Shiraz has cooler fruit source overtones that befit the region. Quite elegant with some spice evident. At its peak.

10 September 2024 Matthew Holmes

Tue, 10 Sep 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill and wine reviews by Steve Liebeskind and Charles Hargrave (two for the price of one!)

Food

They say membership has its rewards and members certainly appreciated the first class offering of food and wine for today’s lunch.

In the kitchen, 2023 Seafood Chef of the Year, was Matt Holmes presenting his fish and chips.

We welcomed a new member to our society today, Colin O’Connor, and he was presented with a Society bow tie, our history “A Table of Delights” and a Society badge by acting Chair Steve Liebeskind.

Canapés

The first canape, prepared by Mark Bradford, was roast beef with a grilled red pepper garnish, sat on a bed pesto and a pumpernickel base. The pesto was the dominant flavour, with a good texture, along with cashew basil pesto and pumpernickel.

The second canape was courtesy of Paul Thorne, named “fisheye anchovy” by Greg Chugg it was white anchovies wrapped around pepper-stuffed olives, sitting on blini.

Main

Inspired by his time living in London Matt produced a meal of

reimagined fish-n-chips, laid down on a sheet of newspaper to evoke memories of seaside meals: all we needed were a few seagulls screeching in the background.

The fish was Kingfish with parmesan and panko crumbed crust.

The panko crumbs were given a flavour lift with garlic and parsley and plenty of olive oil to produce a glazed, golden-brown finish. The hidden ingredient to adhere the crumbs to the fish was Dijon mustard, not flour and egg as would be the usual option. The mustard also added to the flavour without overpowering the fish.

You can't have fish and chips without mushy peas and in this case, they were cooked in chicken stock and mint, some said the hero on the plate. The homemade tartare sauce was a combination of mayonnaise, sour cream, dill, cornichons, capers and lemon juice.

The chips were triple-cooked Desiree potatoes in a Jenga stack, always well received.

Very well executed and presented there were many comments on the quality of food presented today. A great combination of flavours and texture, as fitting a CoTY nomination.

Bread Bourke Street bakery bread today, soy and linseed served with the main and semi-sourdough baguette with cheese.

Cheese

Cheese master Mark Bradford, in theme, presented a Cropwell Bishop Stilton from Nottinghamshire England a blue cow’s milk cheese. It came to the table in perfect condition today.

This cheese is soft, sweet and savoury with a mild blue mould finish that has notes of honey, leather, tobacco and molasses.

Stilton is one of Britain’s best-known PDO cheeses made in the counties of Nottingham, Derby & Leicester using local, full cream pasteurised milk. Cropwell Bishop Dairy is one of the smallest producers - a family-owned business operating for 3 generations.

Curds are hand ladled into cylindrical moulds; a time-consuming and painstaking process, but one that helps to preserve the structure of the curd and deliver a smooth rich textured cheese. During maturation, the crusty rind forms naturally, encouraged by rubbing and brushing, and after spiking, blueing radiates from the centre.

Simply served with pears Beurre Bosc and Delicious, dates and walnuts.

Wine

(Editor comment: Sorry boys, neither of you reached the poetry of normal reviewer Stephen O'H's reminiscing of drinking a wine with a beautiful young lady in some exotic location etc etc. Thank you both for putting your hands up in Stephen's absence)

1. Charles Hargrave comments

An excellent fish dish deserves an exceptional selection of wines. This week’s wines were on the money. In fact they were more like a wine lunch. Unfortunately, only 30 very fortunate members joined us today.

A 2019 William Fèvre Petit Chablis ($50) was served with the canapés. It’s a popular brand with a wide range of cuvées in their portfolio. This wine, however, was a disappointment. Bottled under screw cap, their characters varied from pale, pure Chablis to yellow and oxidised. Coincidentally, I met with someone from the importer (Negociants) the next day and commented on these faults. Apparently Fèvre have since stopped using screw cap until they resolve these issues. Our most recent purchase of the 2022 version is now under cork (Diam)

The main was served with two very different burgundies. The first, a 2018 William Fèvre Chablis (under cork - $65) was in excellent condition. Showing the recognisable mineral Chablis notes with tension, freshness and finesse. Whereas Petit Chablis (20% of production) is grown on the upper slopes (often facing north) on lighter, silty soils, the Chablis (65% of production) is on grown on the lower slopes with much older soils, rich in oyster shell, dating to the Jurassic period. These differences are reflected in the intensity of the wines.

2. Steve Liebeskind comments

Canapé wine

2019 Domaine William Fevre Petit Chablis

Vintage Notes: The 2019 vintage in Chablis was marked by favourable weather, producing wines with excellent ripeness and balance. A cooler spring and early summer were followed by a warmer ripening period, which led to concentrated flavours with fresh acidity.

Tasting Notes: This wine offers bright citrus and green apple flavours with a touch of minerality. Its crisp acidity and light body make it perfect for starting the meal, refreshing the palate and complementing the full-bodied canapés. The surprise here was that there were 2 styles of bottles – 1 showed minerality and freshness, the other, full body, flinty and flabbiness and Burgundian style. Both were good but I preferred the flinty/minerality style.

Main course wines

2018 Domaine William Fevre Chablis

Vintage Notes: 2018 was an excellent year for Chablis, with warm weather producing ripe, expressive wines that still maintained good acidity. The growing season led to balanced, concentrated wines with both fruit and minerality.

Tasting Notes: This wine had bright citrus, green apple, and subtle pear notes, with a strong mineral backbone. Its vibrant acidity and clean finish make it an ideal pairing for the fish and chips. Personally, I found the Petite Chablis more interesting and refreshing and would have gone well with the fish and chips as well.

2020 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beaune Au Bout du Monde

Vintage Notes: 2020 was a warm year in Burgundy, producing rich, concentrated wines with lower acidity compared to cooler vintages. However, in the hands of skilled winemakers like Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, the wines retained freshness alongside ripe fruit.

Tasting Notes: This wine offers notes of ripe stone fruits like peach and apricot, alongside a slight nuttiness and refreshing minerality. It is fuller-bodied than typical Chablis, which helps it hold up to the richness of the fish and chips, while the minerality and freshness balance out the dish. A wine with tannin and flabbiness, this was a terrific wine and paired with the meal very well. An excellent drink.

Cheese wines

2017 Domaine Christian Clerget Bourgogne Rouge

Vintage Notes: 2017 was a classic vintage for red Burgundy, producing elegant, lighter-bodied wines with bright acidity and expressive fruit. The vintage is known for its finesse, with balanced, approachable wines in their youth.

Tasting Notes: This Pinot Noir delivered vibrant red fruit flavours such as cherry and raspberry, with subtle earthy undertones. It has light body and fresh acidity. We had a Stilton today and the cheese slightly overpowered this wine.

2017 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier
Vintage Notes: 2017 in Canberra was a great vintage for Shiraz Viognier, producing wines with bright fruit and floral aromatics. The cooler growing season allowed for more finesse and elegance in the wine.

Tasting Notes: This wine combines the richness of Shiraz with the floral lift of Viognier. It presents flavours of red and dark fruit with a silky texture, complemented by spicy undertones. Its aromatic complexity makes it a versatile pairing with cheese, adding depth and richness to the cheese course. The sweetness of the Viognier lifted the fruit of the Shiraz and matched well with the Stilton. A good wine and drinks well now, with years to go.

3 September 2024 James Hill

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by the CoTD James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

First lunch of spring with yours truly in the kitchen.

Canapés

First up French onion loaf, a recipe from Helen Goh baked with caramelised onions and a batter of flour, eggs Comte and Parmesan served warm with a dab of French goat’s cheese.

Gary Linnane assisted today with a canapé of smoked salmon mixed with dill, crème fraîche, and lemon zest and topped with Yarra Valley salmon roe.

I loved the flavours of this canapé salmon dominant not overwhelmed by the other ingredients. A great balance of flavour and texture.

Next up was the last of this season’s truffle shaved on some French goat’s cheese on crostini.

Main

Inspired by a Peter Gilmore recipe. Duck breast with prunes Pedro Ximenes sherry, sherry vinegar, black pudding and cauliflower cream.

The duck breasts were seasoned then rendered and finished in the oven, they sat on top of a cauliflower cream that had some cayenne heat.

Prunes were marinated overnight in water and then warmed for fifteen minutes in Pedro Ximenes sherry and sherry vinegar. The prunes were removed and the remaining jus reduced to make the sauce.

Some greens on the plate, snow pears blanched then finished in butter and seasoning. A good crunch!

Black pudding availability was scarce so we sourced three versions Rodriguez brothers Villawood, Sam the Butcher, Bondi and an unknown maker purchased from the Russian deli Bondi. All very good yet different.

The result was a dish showing a layer of sweet, sour, salty flavours, balance and texture.

Much praise to the team in the kitchen assisting with meal preparation and plating.

Cheese

I requested one of my favourite cheeses today, a French semi-hard cow’s milk blue, ’Fourme D’Ambert’ It didn’t present as well as we’ve seen it in the past, today a little dry missing the moist creaminess.

A tall cylindrical cow’s milk cheese made in the twin towns of Ambert and Montbrison and matured in old railway tunnels in the Auvergne.

The cheese is often featured in the original stained glass windows of the local churches and legend claims it was the forbear of the Stilton recipe introduced to the English Midlands at the time of the 11th-century Norman Invasion.Easily recognisable by its shape, which gently concertinas as the cheese matures, the natural rind is a powdery grey-blue, and the texture is soft, dense and sticky with marbled blue veining. Mild and creamy, it has a good blue mould aftertaste.

Accompanied by a salad of shaved fennel and apple with parsley, evoo, and apple cider vinegar dressing.

Bread today a sourdough from Humble Bakery Circular Quay.

Wine

The theme for today was essentially duck and Pinot, a union blessed by the Saints. James Hill did a wonderful job with the Duck, which was perfectly presented. A great effort. See Food Report for details.

We started with an Austrian white, a 2017 Gemischter Satz a blend of potentially, 13 grape varieties. I was shown a list of the possible contenders for inclusion and my best guess was that there was some Riesling, some Gruner Veltliner, some Muller Thurgau and possibly some Pinot Gris. This would be the perfect wine to take to a masked tasting, it would torment even the experts. As far as the wine was received today, it was regarded as a pleasing match for the superb pass-around prepared by James. I was baffled in trying to put out a sensible description of the wine, other than to say it was exotic, with lots of mixed fruit, but quite dry, well balanced with a clean finish. My research indicates that the good folk in Austria seem to enjoy it, and good luck to them.

The red wines. We kicked of with two highly respected Pinots, a Georges Lignier Chambolle – Musigny 2012 12.5% and a Farrside by Farr, 2012 13.5%. The French wine presented as a medium weight Pinot of red brick colour with some hints of dark fruit flavours. An elegant wine, a great match for the duck, but the finish lacked any lingering aftertaste, possibly due to diminishing acid.

The Farr Pinot was a bigger wine, showing great depth of colour and flavour, a beautiful combination of oak, fruit and tannin leading to a balanced silky finish. Great with the duck. But again like the French wine, the aftertaste disappeared quickly, due to diminishing acid. Perhaps both wines were not suited for long term cellaring, the view around the room was that both wines would have been more enjoyable about 4/5 years ago.

Wine three was a Northern Rhone Syrah, a Maxime Graillot Equinoxe Crozes-Hermitage from 2015, 13%. This wine poured out of the bottle with an impenetrable blackness through which no light could pass. Indeed it was the colour of black ink. The wine had an unusual taste on the front palate, intense stewed fruit, with very powerful tannins and oak all combining to produce a wine I thought was out of balance. A degree of volatility was noticeable. Perhaps the wine needed more bottle age or be put into a carafe for some hours before being drunk. Either way, the wine was not in my view enjoyable.

The last wine for the day was the Farr Shiraz 2014 13.5%. I really enjoyed this wine from Geelong. A wonderful mix of spicy shiraz, oak and grippy tannins. Tons of flavour and deep dark Shiraz fruit colours, but at the same time all in harmony, leading to a clean, powerful wine with a satisfying and lingering finish. Perfect with the cheese. An excellent wine, my pick of the day.

27 August 2024 Mark Bradford

Tue, 27 Aug 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Steve Liebeskind

Food

Our cheese master Mark Bradford was in the kitchen today cooking for our monthly wine tasting.

Canapés

We love sausage rolls, and we had two types today. Firstly “Thai style" with red curry, coconut, panko and fish sauce followed by “French style" with French onion soup powder and Dijon mustard.

Both were eagerly devoured by members.

Then came Denys Moore's secret pâte on mini toast with sliced cucumber. I thought I could taste some truffle in the pâte which was somewhat hidden by the largish slices cucumber. Good flavour and mouthfeel.

Main

We sat to an entrée of cream of potato and leek soup with dukkha and fennel frond garnish to enjoy while tasting our wines.

Our main was advertised as ‘coq au vin with a twist’. Mark presented a coq au vin pie, and it was a good match for our wines today.

They were in blind baked shortcrust pastry shells with a stew of chicken thigh, lardons, French shallots, sliced button mushrooms, garlic, flour, Bordeau, Maggie Beer chicken stock, bay leaf, thyme sprigs. The chicken was removed and shredded to fit the pie, vegetables and lardons put on top and baked for 15 minutes. Topped with half ruby burst tomato and seated on zucchini and rice tian (based on Julia Child recipe). Stacked potato gratin with gruyere cheese, Lurpak butter, heavy cream, thyme initially baked in muffin pan.

A lot of thought and effort in today’s lunch and we were well rewarded with flavour and texture marriage perfect for lunch.

Merci Mark.

Cheese

In theme, Mark presented a French hard cow’s milk cheese ‘Bourgogne-Franche-Comté’.

Made from unpasteurised milk, this hard-cooked raw milk cheese is made at small dairies or fruitieres using the milk from several herds of Montbeliard cows.

This cheese was matured in the damp underground cellars of Marcel Petite at Fort Saint Antoine high in the mountains that border France and Switzerland in the Franche-Comte.

It’s specially selected to wear the prestigious red ‘crown’ of quality on the basis of its rich concentrated nutty texture, elegant caramel sweetness, and lingering kaleidoscope of flavours rather than on how long it is aged.

Simply served with some almonds and sliced Packham pears.

Wine

Canapé wines

2009 Hugel Jubilee Riesling, Alsace. This wine was an absolute pleasure for an aperitif. At 13.5% we were presented with a wine showing some yellowing after 15 years of age from a bottle under cork. There was good fresh fruit, slight sweetness and some minerality but this was balanced out with good acid structure. The wine had a level of complexity and balance, good length and thoroughly enjoyable for all. Well received by the members.

Tasting wines

1 2007 E. Guigal Saint-Joseph Vignes de L'Hospice Syrah. The 2007 was a good vintage and this wine showed developed earthy, herbal notes alongside its dark fruit and spice. It was an honest wine and showed well. Mind you as it stayed in the glass it did fade indicating it should be drunk now.

2 2007 E. Guigal Cote Rôtie Brune Et Blonde Syrah and some Viognier. This was a highlight wine of the day. It showed as an elegant, integrated and well-balanced wine with soft tannins and complex layers of florals and smoke. There was good length and stayed strong in the glass.

3 2007 Tyrrell's Vat 9 Shiraz 2007 was the vintage of the decade, and it showed. The wine showed balanced acidity, savoury earth tones with good length, and a smart finish. This was a medium-bodied wine based on 13.5% alcohol, complex, and drinking at its peak with a number of years ahead of itself. A comment about possible VA with lifted acid was made.

4 2006 Tyrrell's 4 Acres Shiraz. While 2006 didn’t reach the heights of 2007 as a general vintage, it was a good year, which allowed the quality of a single vineyard to shine through. Great colour, balance, length, soft structure, and an elegant finish. Good acid and still has its life ahead of it. There were tertiary notes of tobacco and leather. The 4 Acres was a complex wine void of bret and scored slightly higher than the Vat 9.

5 2006 Seppelt St Peters Grampian Shiraz. Moving to the Grampians in Victoria and one of Stephen O’Halloran’s favourites, we had a wine from an excellent vintage. The St Peters had a firm, spicy profile with added complexity and cedar/leathery nuances. Showing extremely well for an 18-year-old wine under screw cap. A please to drink and close to being a gold medal wine.

6 2006 Penfolds RWT Barossa Valley Shiraz. Moving into South Australia we were expecting the alcohol to dominate. In fact, this wine had great richness and complexity, with the wine evolving into dried fruit and chocolate and had a velvety texture. This was an excellent wine with its life ahead of it. While the alcohol was there it was elegant and with extra breathing, the wine softened with breathing. Like the Vat 9 was there a bit of VA to lift acidity (an old Penfold trick)? This created good discussion and interest.

All wines were good to very good and in fact it was up to the individual persons' style and preference when assessing a ranking. All wines were high-scoring and certainly, there were no duds. All in attendance enjoyed the wines and personal preference created great discussion. While some may not enjoy some Shiraz, the audience gave praise to the wines and the order served. These wines complemented the terrific main and cheese presented. Standouts were the Brune et Blonde, RWT and 4 Acres.

20 August 2024 Amosh and REX team

Tue, 20 Aug 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

A full house for our truffle lunch today with new head chef Amosh at the Royal Exchange preparing our main course with truffles very generously donated by member David Gregory. Steve Liebeskind and yours truly prepared the canapés.

Canapes

Canapés were topped with scraped and shaved truffle.

Warmed leek and potato soup aka vichyssois in a shot glass.

Goat’s cheese on crostini.

Vic’s meats black truffle salami kurobuta rare breed pork pinned with radish.

Seared roast beef topped with enoki mushrooms and truffle sitting on pea purée and toasted bread. The truffle pea purée was made a day before for a flavour boost.

Main course

Chicken pithivier on chicken cream sauce with bowls of pomme purée and lashings of truffle!

Breasts of chicken were seared and then marinated overnight with seasoning and paprika. The pie filling was made with truffle, shiitake mushroom, bechamel sauce, seeded mushroom and tarragon.

Butter pastry was used for the and it sat on a sauce made from leftover bechamel sauce, chicken stock, Dijon mustard shredded truffle and cream. It was an interesting observation that salt highlighted the truffle aroma.

As many commented it looked simple yet a complex dish, as Richard Gibson said “the ultimate comfort food yet fine dining quality”.

A flavoursome pie filling with not overly creamy delicate texture and perfectly presented.

It was Amoush’s solo first lunch cooking for us since being made Head Chef and he was presented with a chef’s toque as a token of appreciation by our Society.

Canapés and main were highly commended and enjoyed by members at lunch today.

Cheese

Many had an idea of the cheese (French origin?) today presented by our master Mark Bradford however when revealed it was a pleasant surprise as it was a high-quality Australian cheese. It was Woombye Cheese Company Triple Cream Brie Artisan Cow's Milk White from Queensland.

Woombye Triple Cream Brie is made using this fine quality local milk to which extra cream is added. This extra cream means that below the delicate white bloomy rind found on the outside, there is a deliciously rich and creamy paste. This cheese is turned by hand every day throughout its maturation to allow the rind to develop perfectly.

Accompanied by a salad of mixed leaves and tomato and a dried fig softened with brandy and star anise.

Wine

Today our resident sous Chef Amosh, became our resident Head Chef with the departure of Rob Doll. So today it was Amosh on the high wire, without a net, and boy did he come through with flying colours! The main course was a chicken and mushroom truffle pithivier with creamy truffle mash, in a word magnificent! Congratulations to our new Chef. Steve Liebeskind and James Hill created some superb pass-arounds, so we were well fed, to say the least. See the full food report for more detail.

The aperitif wines were two top Chardonnays, first a Curley Flat and the second a Yabby Lake, both from 2015. Of the two, the general consensus favoured the Yabby Lake. To my taste, the Curley Flat had a hard to identify problem on the first sip. The wine was fairly deep yellow and now being 9 yo, perhaps a little oxidised? The flavour was still good, very buttery with some oak evident. Very much like a Chardonnay made in the 1980s. By no means unpleasant, the wine left me thinking, was there a winemaking fault or just getting on a bit?

The second wine presented no such issues, it was a delight. Much lighter in colour and texture, well balanced with generous fruit and acid, taught and disciplined on the mid-palate, finishing with a crisp lingering taste. A top wine. More please.

For the main course, the first was a Tolpuddle Pinot 2014 from Tasmania 12.5%. Great PN nose, with a medium weight. A very good Australian PN, however when compared to the following wine its one dimensional character became obvious. Nothing wrong with the wine at all, left alone would be well regarded, but the contrast with the following French PN showed its lack of complexity.

The second wine was the Cheron Chambolle-Musigny also from 2014 12.8%. These French folk really know how to make great PN. Considerably denser in colour than the Tolpuddle, with a more alluring mouthfeel, and a clean finish. Beautiful balance of fruit, acid, soft tannins and gentle oak. In my view a really lovely wine, wish I had some. A great choice for today’s lunch.

Third wine was a Massolino Langhe Nebbiolo 2014 13.5%. Apparently an entry-level Nebbiolo which to me was more than just acceptable, indeed I really enjoyed it. Medium weight and quite elegant despite the usual strong tannic and acidic taste of this particular grape. A perfect food wine, as the Italians are such masters in creating. A smooth but firm finish with hints of tar and licorice for which this grape is well known. If this is entry-level, please escort me to the next level!

The final wine for the day was a beauty, the Tyrrells Vat 9 Shiraz 2014, 13.9%. The vintage of 2014 is widely regarded as one of the best in the Hunter for decades, perfect growing conditions produced wonderful reds and whites in that year. For this reason, I was really excited about tasting this wine, one of Tyrrell's top reds. The wine presented in glass with deep black/purple hues, and a strong aroma of dark fruits and spice. On the palate, the wine was superb, great balance, elegant yet powerful with restrained oak and tannin aspects. Plenty of acid still, resulting in a clean satisfying aftertaste. No sign of ageing, I see this wine drinking with excellence well into the next decade. Whilst I was a great fan of the Musigny, I was super impressed with the Vat 9, a classic Hunter destined for greatness.

13 August 2024 Steve Liebeskind

Tue, 13 Aug 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Chef of renown Steve Liebeskind was in the kitchen today cooking for our mixed lunch, he was assisted by member David Simmonds.

Canapes

Fennel puree on puff pastry with salmon on top – fennel and fennel seeds cooked with butter and stock, pureed
Marinated herring on pumpernickel – the herring was combined with red onion, grated green apple and cream
Steak tartare on pressed puffed pastry – eye fillet finely chopped, onion, cornichons, anchovy, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and tabasco sauce

Bountiful interesting and flavoursome canapés today were much appreciated and commented on by members and guests.

Main

This was a fine dining quality dish today with lots of ingredients that came together on the plate eye-pleasing, flavoursome and textural.

Eye fillet (seared and then in oven) with pepper sauce topped with parsnip chips served with mushroom, red cabbage, potato, parsnip mash and brussel sprouts (last two in bowls for table). The eye fillet was perfectly cooked, and we loved the pepper sauce. The mushroom had some soy sauce in the cap to add another flavour burst to our palates.

Many favourable comments on all aspects of our meal today, a lot of effort and preparation evident today. Thanks Steve and David.

Cheese

Presented by yours truly and requested by Steve, one of his favourite cheeses, Fromager D’Affinois Florette.

A goat’s cheese from France, the name d’Affinois is a play on affinage, the French word for the ripening polices of cheese.

Florette is a hexagonal-shaped goat’s milk cheese with a silky consistency made near Pelussin in the Rhone Valley. As it ripens, the cheese becomes quite runny retaining its delicate creamy goat’s milk flavour. It came to the table in perfect condition and temperature.

Steve accompanied the cheese with a salad of green leaf with roast capsicum and roasted slivered almonds and dressed with a vinaigrette.

We were lucky to have a homemade almond biscuit with a walnut top and dark chocolate base to go with our coffee today.

Wine

It was a mixed lunch at the WFS, and it turned out to be a very enjoyable afternoon indeed. Steve Liebeskind put on a terrific meal of roast fillet with all the trimmings, as well as some delicious pass-arounds. An excellent meal, see Food Report for more details. With regard to the wines, we got the party rolling with the best party starter in the game, vintage Champagne! Us blokes only dream of having Vintage Bubbles, but there it was for the ladies a 2012, Ch Duperrey Brut from Epenay, and very nice it was too! Despite the wine now being 12 yo, it had plenty of fizz and great flavour. An excellent match with the herring.

There then followed a dry white from France, a Blouctet Garnier Bichot Aligote 2021 from the Burgundy. A modest 12%, an enjoyable wine, firm and with a crisp finish due to quite a high acidity. The wine is very popular in France as an aperitif wine, lighter in body and flavour compared to a Chardonnay, but nonetheless a pleasing pre-lunch wine.

We then moved on to our main course wines, three Shiraz all from 2010. No problems with ageing, all bottles were in peak condition.

First, was the Lindeman’s Bin 1003 13%, made from grapes grown on the company’s famous Ben Ean Vineyard, one of the oldest in the Hunter. The wine opened with a massive dark colour, huge fruit flavours of cherry and dark plumb. Some sweet oak was present in the mid-palate. Mild tannin and just enough acid to ensure a smooth, clean finish. An excellent wine.

The second wine was my pick of the bracket, the Tyrrells Old Patch 13.4%. This vineyard was originally planted in 1867 and is the oldest producing vineyard in the Hunter. Tyrrells purchased the land from the Stevens Family several years ago, and Bruce Tyrrell considers it to be his favourite bit of dirt. To my taste, this was a wonderful wine, much lighter in body, colour and structure than the preceding wine, yet more flavoursome and powerful in the mid-palate. A velvety combination of oak, tannin and acid producing a wine of elegance, flavour and power, despite its lighter presentation when compared to the Lindemans. I think we have all been fortunate to partake in some of this wonderful wine.

The third wine was the Rosemont Balmoral from McLaren Vale 14.5%. Drinking after the Old Patch was always going to present a challenge to any wine, but in fairness, I think the Balmoral did a fine job. A big wine storms out of the bottle with inky dark fruit flavours of plum, blackberry and black currant. Lots of evidence of oak influence, with strong tannins at the finish. Yet, the wine in its own way was well-balanced and a joy to drink

The final wine was the Tyrrells Bin 63 Semillion/Chardonnay blend 2017, 12.5%. As I made clear in my summation of the wines, I have always disliked this wine right from its inception in the early 1970’s. With the excellent pedigree of Chardonnay and Semillion as its parents I had high hopes for this style, which were soon dashed with my first taste. A boring wine with no appealing aspects. Why ruin a nice Chardy or a nice Sem by mixing them together? The best features of its parent wines were not reproduced in their offspring, a nondescript, flavourless dullard of a wine to be avoided if at all possible. However, being a fair man, giving credit if and when due, I must say that the wine was a reasonable partner for the pungent strong flavours of the excellent goat’s cheese. Despite this throw away parting gesture of a few crumbs of praise, I can assure you all that there has never been a bottle of this wine in my cellar.

6 August 2024 Greg Sproule

Tue, 06 Aug 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill and wine review by James Tinslay

Food

Greg Sproule former Food Master was in the kitchen today allegedly preparing a meal of (allegedly) Persian Lamb.

Greg told us his inspiration came from some young Persian people who he had met recently. He was interested in their food and culture.

They help source the ingredients and recipe for today’s lunch.

Canapés

First up some Dolmas – vine-wrapped rice, beef spiced with cinnamon, cloves and lemon juice (note Persian/ Iranian variation of this dish is square wraps with beef added) all the flavour was there, the vine leaves needed some steaming to make it easier to bite into as they were quite chewy and very moist.

Then some chicken kababs – Greek yogurt, saffron, lime, lemon and onion chicken skewers again flavoursome however a tad dry.

Main

Greg arrived for prep at 12:35 pm which made things a little hectic in the kitchen. All the ingredients were but there they just needed to be put together.

President Bill Alexiou rolled his sleeves up and directed the proceedings. It was Amosh’s first lunch as Head Chef and they did a great job getting the food out albeit later than usual. This dish should have come with a content warning as small sour cherries were used unfortunately, as some found out, still seeded.

Persian jewelled rice – cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, apricots, pistachio, onion, saffron

Khoresht e Ghormeh Sabzi – (King of Persian cuisine) – Beef, onion, leek, parsley, cilantro, fenugreek, lime turmeric

Fesenjam – (Queen of Persian cuisine) – Duck, walnuts ground, pomegranate molasses, cinnamon, onion, pomegranate seeds.

The flavours and aroma were authentic it came together with a blending of fresh and dried ingredients to create the dish.

Cheese

Our cheese master Mark Bradford sourced some Persian feta from the Yarra Valley.

Fetta cheese made with pasteurised cow’s milk, salt, canola oil, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, thyme, peppercorns and bay Leaves.

Greg accompanied the cheese with almonds, dates, apricots, pistachio mixture and a

Shirazi Salad – Cucumber, Lettuce, Tomato

Bread today was sourdough from a humble bakery Circular Quay.

Wine

Having written well over 200 wine and food reviews for Society lunches I am somewhat reticent to get back on the treadmill. However, our friend Stephen O’Halloran was unavailable for lunch, so you have my review.

You will see that my review misses the entertaining comments, his research and ‘taking the piss’ approach that Stephen does so well and is much appreciated by members. His entertaining style of writing is a bit weird for a lawyer but then again, I’m a boring engineer! Thank you, Stephen.

As has been happening most weeks Nick our Winemaster is clearing the wine fridge at REX of orphan wines of which we have many. So, only those wines that all tables had will be mentioned.

We had two main wines with canapés. We started with the Günther Steinmetz Kestener Herrenberg Riesling 2011. This German Mosel wine of 13 years of age was more than interesting with solid Riesling fruit on the palate with a slight touch of residual sugar despite being predominantly dry in style. Very German. It had developed a degree of complexity over the years and was most enjoyable.

The second wine was Tyrrell’s HVD Semillon 2014. This wine was enjoyed around the room with the canapés, and it ticked all the boxes for a 10-year-old Semillon from Tyrrell’s. It has a future, and we hope to see it again.

The first of two wines shared by all at table (as I recall) was Curly Flat Pinot Noir 2016 from the Macedon ranges. Their wines have a very good reputation and are not priced for the bargain bin. The meniscus was quite brown, and the nose was mature. Surprisingly, I found this wine past its best. Unbalanced with some sweetness the major component. It improved marginally in the glass. Others like that old over-mature style.

The second was the Seppelt Drumborg Riesling also 2016. This wine had everything you wanted in a Riesling, dry, with good acid balance and obvious Riesling character.

30 July 2024 Peter Kelso

Tue, 30 Jul 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by Mark Bradford and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Today was the last Tuesday for popular REX head chef Rob Doll, regarded highly by the Society members who opt to cook at our weekly lunch. He will be missed. Longstanding member and former President, Peter Kelso, was the final COTD in the kitchen with Rob, assisted with canapes by Jonathan Casson. “A chef and two lawyers” for this wine tasting lunch.

Canapés

First up, Peter presented gravlax salmon with a mustard dill sauce on toast, assembled by the Cheesemaster on the day.

Jonathan prepared an antipasto canapé comprising a baked salami cup holding Philadelphia cream cheese, finely sliced sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts and red peppers with a sliced olive on top. The salami had been arranged into a shallow muffin tray and baked for 10 minutes at 185°.

Both received praise and were a good match with the canape Chardonnay.

Main

Peter served us kangaroo loin fillets, marinated in olive oil and crushed juniper berries, then seared quickly, rested and warmed up at the last moment before being sliced and served on a bed of roasted beetroot, carrot and red onion with brown lentils and a touch of cumin, sweet paprika and minced fresh turmeric. It all depended on the ‘roo, and that came to the plate suitably rare, thanks mainly to the ministrations of Rob Doll. Comments were favourable.

Cheese

The cheese today was Le Duc Vacherin, selected by Will Studd. It was an artisan soft surface-ripened washed rind cow’s milk cheese, made in the mountains of the Franche-Comte region of France, using a recipe adapted from the seasonal spruce-bound cheeses of the region. Bound with a thin ring of bark, skilfully cut from local pine trees during the summer months, then ripened in a traditional wooden box, Le Duc Vacherin is best enjoyed when the smooth pinkish rind starts to ripple and bulge. Inside, the cheese softens to a rich, creamy melt-in-the-mouth texture with just a hint of forest. Appreciated by the Members.

Wine

Today’s Board of Fare consisted of fillet of kangaroo and selected vegetables prepared by one of our ex-presidents Peter Kelso. I had images of our intrepid former President in full camo gear and pith helmet, with his trusty Winchester. 243 by his side and a box of 75-grain hollow point ammo in his bandolier, stalking around the plains of NSW searching for a couple of prime Eastern Greys for our meal. Dear members, you will understand my letdown when I was told that our lunch came from the Meat Emporium here in Sydney! Standards are slipping!

In any event, after I had regained my composure, I thought the meal was well presented and tasty, the pass-arounds were excellent and the cheese to finish was superb. Now for the wine.

With the savouries, we drank an agreeable WA Chardonnay made by Larry Cherubino, one of our best winemakers. The wine was called Folklore, 2022 13%. A bit above an entry-level Chardy. The wine was seemingly approved by the room, crisp and fresh with typical Chardonnay flavours. Went well with the pass-arounds. I was doing some wine pours and the wine was well received by all. Perhaps our Winemaster could order some more if the price is right.

Moving onto the first of our lunchtime reds, we had a bracket of two Penfolds favourites, a 2013 Bin 389 and a Bin 407 2012. Both 14.5%. The 389 was a blend of 51 % Cab and 49 % Shiraz, a multi-area wine, as was the 407, a straight Cabernet. To my taste, the 389 was a medium-bodied wine showing typical Penfolds oak and tannin flavours. Dark fruits of blackcurrant flavours were there, but the wine was dominated by the tannin and oak. A bit unbalanced. Acceptable, but in my view not up to the usual high standard for this wine. About the 407, I must declare my hand and advise that I have always regarded this wine as my least favourite of all the Penfolds red wines. The wine presented today as a huge coloured black thing, almost sucking the light out of the room. Inky and fleshy, with again large tannin and oak overtones. To me, 407 has never shown any of the delightful aspects of quality Cabernet. Flat and boring is par for the course I must say about 407. The wine limped along to a tired finish. Overall very underwhelming, but that’s what I have always felt about this particular wine.

Wine no 3 was a Bordeaux from St Emillion, a Ch La Serre 2010 14.5 %. Vintage wise a pretty good year in that region, I enjoyed the wine, a Merlot/Cab Franc blend. Juicy and plummy from the predominant Merlot composition with a smooth velvety tannin finish. Very nice indeed, I actually think I will have another glass, merci garcon.

Wine no 4 was a strange dude, an Italian Super Tuscan, a Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet blend, but unfortunately, this was not a super wine. The wine was a Poggio Mediterra 2010 14%. To my taste, the wine initially presented well, but soon thereafter developed some odd flavours, hard to identify, but unappealing. The finish was dull, possibly due to acid falling away. A disappointment.

Wine 5 was a beauty, my wine of the day by far, the Lindeman’s Pyrus, a Cab blend from 2008, 14%. Of the famous Coonawarra trio, St George, Limestone Ridge and Pyrus, I have always found the Pyrus to be the most attractive, at least to my taste. Whereas St George and Limestone have always followed a predictable path taste-wise, the Pyrus is different, exotic, alluring, wanting to show you more. This no doubt comes from the mixed composition of the wine, Cabernet, Merlot, Malbec and at times Cabernet Franc. Lighter in texture than the others, the wine is elegant, yet complex in its array of flavours, black currant, cedar and spice. Deep crimson colour, medium body weight, and a lingering, fine tannic finish with sufficient acid to see it through to a clean finish. In a word, delightful.

The final wine was the celebrated Yeringberg Cabernet Blend 1999 13.5%. A very historic vineyard in the Coldstream region of Vic, originally planted in the 1860s. The wine today was a blend of Cabernet, Merlot, Cab Franc and Malbec. The wine is now 25 yo and is showing its age. At my table, the consensus of opinion was that the wine was long “past it”, as evidenced by an offensive odour and poor finish. I let some of the wine sit in the glass till the end of lunch, and to my surprise it made a bit of a comeback finishing with a reasonably pleasant finish of stewed fruit consistency. Maybe we were judging the wine prematurely. I heard it suggested from a member that perhaps the wine should have been opened yesterday!

23 July 2024 Nick Reynolds

Tue, 23 Jul 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Our Cellar master Nick Reynolds was on the hobs presenting a Spanish-themed lunch. Nick always draws a crowd when he’s cooking and today was no exception.

Canapes

Nick presented three variations on traditional tapas/pintxos for canapés.

The first was 30-sheet patatas bravas. The potatoes are very finely sliced then layered, baked, and pressed. They are then sliced into individual serves and deep fried, then topped with crème fraîche and a bravas sauce of tomatoes, sweet paprika, and olive oil.

Next was another deep-fried tapas, this time panko-crumbed blue cheese and walnut croquettas.

Our final offering was a platter of gildas of guindilla peppers, stuffed olives and Yuritta Cantabrian Anchovies.

Steve Sparkes assisted with the canapés and James Hill provided much welcome assistance with both preparation of the gilda pintxos and plating of the main course.

Main

The main was a deconstructed paella with bomba rice cooked in chicken stock flavoured with saffron and a tomato, garlic, and red pepper sofrito. The protein on the dish comprised sous vide-cooked chicken winglets and drumettes, two La Boqueria Chorizito (small chorizo), steamed mussels, and prawns. The chicken and mussels were drizzled with a lightly thickened saffron, paprika, and chicken stock sauce while the prawns were dredged through a butter and garlic sauce and served topped with chopped parsley. Because the paella was not traditionally cooked and didn’t have the slightly burned crunchy socarrat crust, Nick created a socarrat chip to his own recipe. This was made from paella and tapioca starch, recooked, flattened in a tortilla press then dehydrated and deep fired.

There was an incredible depth of flavour in the rice, while all the other ingredients were perfectly cooked.

Nick created a fine-dining interpretation of a classic Spanish dish.

As Chilly said it ‘wasn’t great it was sensational!’

Cheese

In theme Cheesemaster Prof.Mark Bradford presented a ‘Mahon Curado’ a hard cow’s milk cheese from Menorca Spain. Mark advised that the rind is edible. Nick accompanied the cheese with warmed almonds and raisins soaked for three days in Pedro Ximenez sherry.

Vahon is the capital of the rocky island of Menorca, the most, northerly of the Balearic Islands off the coast of Spain. Cheese has been made on the island since 3000BC. Today, two ancient) breeds of dairy cattle, red Menorquin and black/white spotted rison, graze on dense island grass and are milked on small 'family fincas' or farms which total 600 on Menorca.

Traditionally this cheese was bound in cloth before pressing, which is still done on a small scale on the island. A larger proportion of production is now made in a more efficient modern way which uses square moulds instead.

The result is a consistent cheese that captures the true essence of the original. The rind is still rubbed with olive oil and paprika which imparts a rusty-orange colour to the exterior. The wheels are then ripened for a minimum of 6 months on wooden shelves. When mature oi curado, the cheese maintains a milky character and has developed a nutty flavour and characteristic tangy finish.

Wine

The theme for today was Spanish, which is just about my go-to style of cooking these days. Nick Reynolds was wearing two hats today, taking on the cooking role as well as his normal duties as Wine Master. The pass-arounds and main were delicious, well done Nick. For more details see Food Report.

For starters, we enjoyed an Albarino, a white from Spain 13%, 2022. An excellent choice, fresh with prominent fruit flavours of pear and citrus, but quite dry, with a firm crisp acidic finish. The wine was perfect for the pass-arounds. I think we should congratulate our Wine Master for introducing us to this style of wine from Europe, which along with the Soave we had a few weeks ago makes a rewarding alternative to our usual entrée wines such as Riesling and Semillon. Nothing at all wrong with these, but a change is enjoyable as well as being an insight into wine styles we are not familiar with. I was assisting with the wine pours and this wine received uniform praise. More, please.

The lunch wines were a collection of four good quality Spanish reds of various vintages ranging from 2010 to 2022. First was the La Vendimia 2021 14%. A blend of Garnacha and Tempranillo, spicy, medium body, tannic and acidic overtones, a lightish wine style built for immediate consumption, a happy wine, just the drink to go with a big plate of garlic prawns. Nice clean flavours, very drinkable.

The second wine was the Joven Mencia from the producer Guimaro 2022 12.5%. Sadly, a bottle of this wine did not find its way to our table, so I am unable to comment further.

Wine no 3 was the Marco Abella Priorat Loidana 2013 14.5%. A very impressive wine in my view. A blend of Garnacha and Carigan drinking beautifully. Very well rounded fruit flavours of black cherry and leather. Strong robust colour of deep red. Some gentle tannin and acid carried it through to an appealing finish. A very rewarding drink.

Wine 4 was the 2010 Torres Salmos 14.5%. This was by any yardstick, a big wine. Deeply coloured red/blackish, with an alluring aroma. The bottle had one of the longest labels I have ever seen, running nearly the length of the bottle, written in both Spanish and English in fine print. Despite all this information the label failed to tell anyone what the wine was made from! This seems to be a habit of European winemakers who seem loathe to share the composition of their product. Not to be deterred, I consulted Dr Google and found that the wine was a blend of Grenache, Shiraz and Carignan. I really enjoyed this wine with its sweetish chewy dark berry flavours. Well balanced combination of tannin and oak produced a strong, powerful finish that lingered. For a wine that is now 14 yo, it showed no sign of ageing, although it was clearly a wine with plenty of bottle age. A great choice.

I noticed that some tables shared a bottle of Ch Rochemorin 2014 from Bordeaux, however, I did not taste the wine, so there is no news on that front.

16 July 2024 Rob Guthrie

Tue, 16 Jul 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by Mark Bradford and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Banging the pans today was first-time Chef of the Day Rob Guthrie, with Paul Mitchell doing the canapes. A very cold winter’s day but ideal for Rob’s rack of lamb. As is usual for this time of year, numbers were down a little because of northern hemisphere travel and a few local cases of flu.

Canapes

Paul gave us three canapes today. We started off with pea and mint fritters topped with crème fraiche and chilli jam. Good colours and taste, these fritters were served at room temperature.

Next up were parmesan cheese and paprika pastry tartlets filled with red pepper, tomato paste, harissa, cheddar cheese, double cream and chives, topped with sliced cherry tomatoes. Again, lots of colour and flavour and they were served warmed.

Paul’s final offering was somewhat unusual. Inspired by his wife Louise, these were haloumi, mint and pistachio nut baklavas, drizzled with honey syrup.

Well done Paul with much effort being put into preparing these vegetarian starters to get the lunch underway.

Main

The main course was a crusted lamb rack, inspired by the late Bill Grainger. The crust was made from oven toasted sourdough bread broken into crumbs and mixed with Italian parsley, garlic, olive oil and lots of lemon zest and seasoning.

The lamb which had been French trimmed was prepared by searing the fat side, then coating with Dijon mustard and pressing the crumbs in. It was cooked on high heat to crust and crunch the crumbs and allow the lamb to come to the table pink. It was served with cherry tomatoes on the vine that were roasted in olive oil with garlic pieces.

The jus was made from roasted veal bones and vegetables reduced over 18 hours then strained to form the demi-glace. This is later combined with chicken stock and further reduced then seasoned.

The side dish of French beans and mangetout is an Ottolenghi recipe, the beans and mangetout were blanched, dried then combined with roasted hazelnuts, orange zest, chives and flaky sea salt. The dressing was a mixture of hazelnut oil, olive oil and orange juice. It was served at or close to room temperature.

The mash was made by running cooked potatoes through a potato ricer, then blending with butter and sour cream.

All was accompanied by wholemeal sour dough from the Organic Bread Bar in Surry Hills.

Comments from the floor were absolutely full of praise for an excellent high-quality meal that required a large and lengthy effort in its preparation and presentation. Well done Rob.

Cheese

The Society Cheesemaster presented an Aphrodite barrel-aged feta, selected by Will Studd. This is an authentic hand-made Greek feta, well-known to the Society, made with sheep and goat milk, that is carefully ripened in small, old beech wood barrels using traditional techniques that date back to the time when nomadic shepherds roamed the hills of northern Greece.

The barrels enable small amounts of oxygen to reach the salted curds as they ferment under whey, and the natural flora in the wooden staves helps to encourage a unique yeasty aroma. Each barrel is filled with curds by hand and after the cheese has been removed, it must be broken down stave by stave, washed and rebuilt by a skilled cooper. After three months maturation in the barrel, the feta develops a soft milky texture and a seriously creamy peppery finish that is well suited to lamb dishes.

Wine

A smallish group (25?) gathered to sample the Board of Fare prepared by our most recent new Chef Rob Guthrie, ably assisted by his Sous Chef Paul Mitchell. I think it is fair to say that we all went away with very favourable opinions about this team’s abilities with the pans. Some enjoyable pass arounds, followed by perfectly cooked lamb racks arriving on the table in ideal condition. Delicious. See the food report for more details. With regard to the wines, our Cellarmaster was conducting another clear out and as a result, there were only a few bottles of the same wine drunk by everybody. My report is accordingly briefer than usual. The aperitif wines were two sparkling wines, a Champagne from Jacquart NV and a Seppelt Salinger Sparkling 2010 12.5%. As a matter of interest and pride in one of our members, the Salinger was in fact made by our own resident winemaker Chilly Hargraves! Both wines were enjoyable drinking, and trying to be as objective as one could be, I found the Salinger to be a much superior glass of bubbles. More flavour, persistent beads of tiny bubbles lasting right to the end, of a delightful crisp acid finish. Congratulations Chilly, a fine wine, drinking incredibly freshly for a 14 yo. Sadly, these bottles were the last in our cellar.

Moving onto the lunch wines we all consumed the first which was a Wynns Coonawarra Cabernet 2013 14%. Those members who read my report of last week will be in no doubt about my views on this Australian classic. Ever reliable, it never fails to impress. This particular bottle had that predictable huge berry fruit blackcurrant initial flavour, followed thru by firm tannins and a sweet oak finish with pleasing acidity. Now 11 yo the wine is just about hitting its straps in terms of maximum maturity. A sheer delight.

The second wine we all shared was the Orlando St Hugo Coonawarra Cab 2006. I'm not quite sure what went wrong here, but the wine seemed flat and disappointing. By no means undrinkable, but just not up to the usual standard of this renowned label. Perhaps getting a little tired as an 18 yo, with acid falling away leading to a flabby aftertaste. Sad really, I was hoping for something better from this usually fine producer.

That is all members, as from here on we were all drinking different wines.

9 July 2024 Amoush from REX team

Tue, 09 Jul 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by Mark Bradford and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Today’s lunch was presented by Amoush from the REX. Amoush is known for his Nepalese expertise, but a twist in theme this time around. Agreed by all, the result was sensational.

Canapes

We started off with vegetable skewers. They contained paneer cheese, usually made by curdling milk with lemon juice or vinegar, and mushroom shitake. Then hibachi grilled whilst continuously brushed with cumin, coriander powder, mustard, linseed powder, chilli powder and S&P to taste. These offerings were best described as flavour bombs, they blew the members away with their quality of taste.

Amoush then served up a chicken spring roll. It contained chicken thigh marinated in tandoori paste, yogurt, lemon juice and S&P, roasted in the oven. The mix consisted of shredded tandoori chicken, mozzarella cheese, capers and chopped pickle gherkins, all inside spring roll pastry and deep fried.

The second canape was a wonderful counterfoil to the first, much heavier and clearly well-conceived by a top chef. The canapes were also matched well with the starter wines on offer.

Main

Our main meal was a fusion of West and east – a porchetta of pork belly and Asian spices. The pork was stuffed with chopped ginger, garlic paste, roasted tomato, onion, spring onion, Nepalese spices (salt, Szechwan pepper, fenugreek seeds, turmeric, cumin, coriander, asafoetida, and chilli flakes) and then rolled. The pork had a sauce of a curry base (including tomato, ginger and garlic) cooked with pork stock, reduced to a desired consistency, then strained to make a smooth jus.

Amoush served this with a separate chat potato side. The potatoes were roasted in vegetable oil, S&P, and when the desired colour and crispness was reached, mixed with ginger, garlic, toasted Sichuan pepper, cumin, coriander powder, chat masala, chopped coriander and spring onion.

Cheese

The Society Cheesemaster had a well-earned week off. Head Chef Rob Doll served a Manchego; in theme, as the la Mancha region of central Spain is known for pork dishes, often with Manchego stuffing. Accompanied by a wonderful salad.

To this scribe, one of our best meals on offer today.

Wine

I think today was one of those occasions when you just hunker down, draw the wagons together, light a fire and just hope for better days when spring arrives. With a very small turnout,( maybe 30?) and some very unexciting wines, it could have been a very dull affair, but into each life, a little rain must fall, to make us appreciate the better days. The day was however saved by the superb roast pork loin served by Amoush. Read more in the food review.

About the wines, we had a bit of a cellar clear out, nothing wrong with that, so we had an array of wines on which I will only comment on the ones I tasted. The first was a German Riesling we had a few weeks ago (12 June) a Gunderloch from the Rhinehessen 2021 11.5%, a fine Riesling with, great balance between fruit and acid. Dryish with a lovely crisp finish, perhaps one of the better Rieslings going around. The second wine I happened upon was the Hugel 2019 Gewurtztraminer 14.5%. This wine on its own would be regarded as a little too cloying and sweet for the Australian palate, but a well made wine. However drunk on the heels of the Riesling, the residual sugar was too much to be ignored for an aperitif wine.

Moving onto the lunch wines we started off with a Brian Croser Tapanappa Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay 2021 14%. In my experience over many years, Croser has always made a distinctive style of Chardy, tight, restrained and disciplined, some times It seemed to me that flavour was a secondary consideration. His Petaluma range of wines both Chardy and Cabernet were however much sought after. A corporate restructure was carried out in the early 2000s with Croser establishing the Tapanappa label in 2002 with fruit grown in the Piccadilly Valley of South Australia. The wine today a 2021 Chardy was to me a letdown. I accept that being critical of a Croser wine is akin to heresy, being arguably our greatest winemaker in the last 30 years, but from my perspective, this wine had little to offer. Unyielding, mean and tight with little fruit flavours, no real joy. Some at my table said the wine improved when mixed with the flavours of the pork main, which were delicious, however for me, the wine never recovered from that frosty initial first meeting.

The second lunch wine was a Vinden Estate Basket Press Shiraz from the Hunter 2010, 13.5%. By no means objectionable, just a little tired. Probably hiding in our cellar for 6 or 7 years beyond its best drinking date, the wine had lost acid and had become flat and flabby. No real joy there, sad really to see a good wine left in the cellar too long. Our Winemaster is on the right track in conducting regular cellar clearouts to reduce the frequency of failures such as the poor old Vinden Estate did today.

The third wine was a terrific Fraser Gallop Parterre Chardonnay 2014 from the Margaret River region 12.5%. To my taste, this wine ran rings around the Tapanappa. Right from the first sip, the wine was warm and generous with mouth-filling flavours of mixed stone fruits. Great balance leads to a rewarding clean finish. A great partner for the pork main. A lovely wine.

The final wine for the day was the ever-reliable Wynns Black Label Coonawarra Cabernet 2009, 14%. Here’s to Sue Hodder and her team at Wynns for producing year after year a consistently high-quality Cabernet. I can always remember having my first glass of this wine, a 1965 vintage, drunk at the Burning Log Restaurant near Dural in the very early 70s. I can still recall the powerful berry fruit flavours which have remained with me ever since. 50 years + have gone by, but the initial impact remains clear in my mind. The Wynns Cabernet has become a Society favourite, with good reason. Great value always, I am sure I have never had a poor bottle of this wine. Today’s wine now 15 yo showed full maturity, wonderfully integrated oak and tannin with that unmistakable Wynns flavour of mature Cabernet, powerful and lingering. Drinking at its peak now, but with all the required structures to go on for at least another 5 years.

2 July 2024 Steve Sparkes

Tue, 02 Jul 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill

Food

Steve Sparkes was in the kitchen today cooking an American-themed lunch based on the food of San Francisco.

Steve was assisted by our Cellarmaster Nick Reynolds.

Canapés

Nick prepared the canapés today. First up, smoked ocean trout on a bagel with cream cheese, onion and capers.

Then followed sliders or burgers based on the famous Shake Shack burger. If you have ever been to the States this is the go-to place. Very authentic. Nick used Martin’s potato rolls, fried the inside and then melted some Kraft cheese over not a quarter pounder but an eighth of a pounder and topped it with lettuce and tomato. The sauce was made with mayonnaise, ketchup, yellow mustard, dill pickle, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne pepper mayonnaise, ketchup and American mustard.

Who doesn’t love a burger?

We all did, the burgers were perfect and moreish as were the bagels.

Professor Mark Bradford told us the story of the name hamburger originated. It was the diaspora of the Germans in the late 18th century who used to walk around eating steak and bread. Most of them were from Hamburg therefore they became known as hamburgers.

Main

Steve presented a meal that he had when he was first in San Francisco, it’s known as Cioppino and is considered the signature dish of San Francisco, a seafood stew. The ingredients today were cuttlefish, gemfish, prawns, pippies and mussels. The sauce was made with tomatoes, onion, capsicum, celery, leeks and chilli adding herbs oregano and basil.

Loved the flavours and the seafood was perfectly cooked.

Steve says this is normally served in a loaf of sourdough however somewhat difficult to replicate at our lunch so he purchased provided sourdough from Baker Bleu in Double Bay to go with the Cioppino.

We had the sourdough country roll with the stew perfect for ‘scarpetta’ as the Italians say. This is the indescribable pleasure of sopping up the sauce.

There were some comments on the warmth of the broth. Steve advising it was it was boiling when it was plated and obviously lost a little bit of temperature between the kitchen and the dining room not so much as to the detriment of the flavour.

Loved the seafood dish today, plenty to go around. No one went home hungry another great meal from our team today.

Thanks Nick and Steve.

Cheese

Our Cheesmaster, in theme, presented a cow’s milk cheese from Vermont USA.

It came to the table at a perfect temperature, moist and creamy with a pleasant sweetness.

This clothbound cheese is the result of an unusual collaboration and is now recognized as one of the finest traditional cheddars produced in the USA.

Cabot Dairy Cooperative make the cheese with milk from a single herd of Holstein cows and their own unique starter cultures at their huge facility in Vermont. The wheels are then transported to Mateo and Andy Kehler’s picturesque farmhouse dairy at Jasper Hill for expert aging. After being carefully bound in cheesecloth and smeared with lard, the 16kg wheels are matured for at least 12 months in the underground caves carved out of the green hillside.

The result is crystalline-flecked, moist and crumbly cheddar with a sweet, tangy caramel flavour.

Steve served this with dried apricots and candied pecan nuts.

The crunchy and crusty baguette from Baker Bleu was the perfect bread to go with the cheese.

25 June 2024 Paul Ferman

Tue, 25 Jun 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by Mark Bradford and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

A cool winter’s day saw Paul Ferman prepare lunch for a nearly full house. Mr Ferman is known for his use of quality and organic produce, with Feather and Bone being Paul’s go to providore.

Canapes:

Paul started us off with a very tasty vegetable soup. An excellent pancetta stick was produced as well as a good moist vegetable terrine.

Great flavours in all canapes and a good match for the starter wines.

Main:

Paul served a fine Cassoulet. It contained lots of well-cooked beans, an excellent Toulouse sausage, great confit duck, the meal having lot of texture and well-balanced rich flavours. The large effort to produce the meal for a full house was appreciated and a good match for the wines.

Cheese:

In theme, the Cheesemaster served Onetik Ossau Iraty, a Basque French cheese and a Society favourite. This is a hard artisan sheep milk cheese. Basque cheese making traditions date back at least 4000 years. Onetik is the largest dairy cooperative in the French Basque region collecting milk from 250 dairies across the Ossau Valley and Iraty Forest. Only milk from the local breeds of sheep - Manech and Basco- Bearnaise and traditional techniques can be used under PDO conditions. An uncooked, pressed curd cheese, the rind is washed, and hand salted during six months maturation which encourages a hard crusty rind. It develops a succulent firm texture and complex flavour, developing notes of hazelnut and a slightly sweet finish.

Wine

For our wine lunch yesterday, we were treated to an excellent cassoulet from Paul Ferman together with some delicious wines from the Rhone district, finishing with a terrific cheese. Great food and wine, all for $95. The WFS is for sure the place to be at!

A full room of members arrived promptly, if not a little early, to enjoy the aperitifs so much so that when I arrived bang on 12.30 pm, the first apéritif wine had gone! Apparently, I did not miss much as I was told it was oxidised and not worth drinking. Hence, I cannot report on this little number, the Haut Coustias Blanc 2016. Pity, as I enjoy poking fun at a poor bottle, which does not happen often. We were then provided with a mix of enjoyable white wines, a Toolangi and a Tyrrells and perhaps something else, which passed muster.

We then were presented with 6 red wines from both Northern and Southern Rhone, 4 from the North and 2 from the South. At the outset, just let me say that reviewing wines that are very similar is quite hard work, unlike 6 different wines which is quite easy. We had 5 wines from the well-known producer Guigal, and one from another producer. During comments on the wines, it was mentioned that Guigal wines follow a distinctive wine style, much similar to our Penfolds. I agree strongly with that view. Hence, I found little difference in the first 4 wines from Northern Rhone, all Syrah which were:

No 1. Yves Cuilleron 2012. 12.5%. Massive deep colour, spicy, complex array of dark fruit flavours, powerful finish, a very good wine.

No 2. the Guigal Cote Rotie Brune et Blonde 2012 13%. A plummy, again spicy taste, much lighter in texture and colour than the preceding wine. Possibly a little over-oaked, but finishing with clean strong flavours. Most enjoyable.

No 3. The Guigal 2009 edition of the same wine. 13.5%. Again, a lighter style, very elegant, finishing with a firm dry, almost puckery tannic aftertaste. Some oak influence was evident.

No 4. A Guigal 2010 St Joseph 13.5%. Another dense Syrah, big fruit flavours with a delicate mix of tannin and oak. A strongly flavoured wine, but well balanced. An enjoyable wine.

Wines 5 and 6 were from the Southern Rhone district, around the township of Avignon. They were both Chateauneuf Du Pape wines, made from mainly Grenache, with a host of other wine varieties going into the mix, in small quantities. Wine experts rate the wine as the best example of Grenache grown in France. This wine is one of the most revered wines of France, tracing its origins to the 14th Century when Pope Clement V transferred the Papal Court from Rome to Avignon. The wine takes its name from that change of address, meaning in English “the Pope's new castle“ and not the Pope’s 9th Home, as sometimes suggested. In any event, both wines were worthy of a Papal Blessing.

Wine 5 was from Guigal 2005 13.5%, by popular acclaim the wine of the day, with good reason. Smooth and svelte, redolent with sweetish, complex dark Grenache fruit aromas, rich but not cloying. A faint of tannin on the last delicious sip. A really classy wine.

Wine 6 was my favourite, due mainly to its magnificent chewy, stewed fruit finish. Wine 5 was by far a better all-rounder for a meal, but No 6 with the Ossau Iraty cheese was a finish to the day that only His Holiness could bestow on us humble supplicants. To me, an awesome wine, drinking superbly at 25 YO. Just wish I had some!

I will not be there next week, attending a school Grandparents Day for my two youngest grandchildren. Look forward to catching up on the 9th.

18 June 2024 Nigel Burton

Tue, 18 Jun 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

A nearly full house for Nigel Burton, Chef of the Year contender for 2023 and past joint COTY award winner, cooking a Marseilles Bouillabaisse.

Canapés

Greg Brunner and new member George Winyard assisted Nigel. Greg made mushroom pâte with garlic and thyme on a cheese biscuit with thyme and pepper. It had a good texture and flavour with a little heat.

Then pissaladière puff pastry, oily. I liked it. Onions, capsicum, olives and anchovies on puff pastry..loved it.

George’s canapé, West meets East, was a duck salad served in a crunchy wonton wrapper topped with sesame seeds and spring onions. The salad consisted of duck, hoisin sauce, lemon juice, sesame oil and cucumber. Big on flavour.

Main

Residents of Marseille are adamant that French fishermen eked basic sustenance from their unsightly leftover fish bits concocted this fish broth/soup/stew on the shores of the now sprawling metropolis. The name for this dish is derived from two actions bouillir (to boil) and abaisser (to reduce or simmer).

Nigel invited ast President John Banks to lunch today to give his verdict on Nigel’s efforts in the kitchen. John is renowned for his Bouillabaisse having produced it for fourteen years for our Melbourne cup lunch when our Society met at Lower Fort Street.

The stock was made up using the bones of traditionally Mediterranean fish Rascasse (known here as Scorpion) and Monkfish. To these fish, prawns, scallops and calamari were added to make up this traditional Bouillabaisse.

The Rouille was made using traditional ingredients of saffron, chilli, egg yolks and white vinegar, served on a slice of baguette.

Nigel’s signature “pommes frites” were a bonus!

It’s no easy feat to serve different types of seafood and have them come to the table with the integrity of the flesh preserved. Much research preparation and effort evident in today’s lunch. Thanks Nigel.

Pressure on the kitchen meant Nigel was unable to serve the broth at optimal temperature.

Many favourable comments on the dish today confirmed the verdict; yes Nigel, a success!

Cheese

Our Cheesemaster Mark Bradford, in theme, selected a goat's milk log ‘Buche de Montresor. It came to the table a little cool however the flavour profile was still very much evident.

Distinguished by the straw that runs through the centre, this cheese has been made for around a thousand years. The ashed rind makes a stunning contrast to the ivory-white centre.

Tasting Notes

Based on the traditional log shape of the region, the distinguishing characteristic of Buche de Montresor is the straw in the centre of the cheese. For 4 generations, this family run dairy has been making traditional goat’s milk cheeses on the borders of Touraine, Berry and Sologne, in the Centre region of France. Matured under a wrinkled geotrychum rind, each cheese is covered with salted, ground charcoal and cellared for 4 weeks.

When mature, the cheese looks quite rustic with flecks of blue mould on the rind. The ivory white paste is sweet, salty with a slightly acidic flavour and the fine texture changes as the cheese ages from soft to firm. The straw is placed in each cheese after the moulds are filled with curds, to provide strength by acting like a back bone to the delicate cheese.

Nigel served mixed-leaf salad dressed with tarragon, white wine, olives and garlic chives to go with the cheese.

Wine

Proceedings kicked off with a very enjoyable Soave from Monte Tondo 2021 12%. This wine from the Veneto region of Northern Italy was greeted by all with acclaim. I know because I was assisting with the wine pours, quizzing all and sundry what they thought, as I cannot recall us having this wine before. I did not detect one discordant note from the whole room, which is just about a first! we are a fussy lot. Anyhow this wine which is very popular in Italy is made from mainly the Garganego grape. Dry, but mouth filling, hard to describe the flavours, possibly a mixture of orange and honey with melon overtones. Nice clean finish. Overall a great success as a starter with food. More please. The 2023 is selling at Vintage Cellars for $18 PB. Gotta love that!

The next two wines were both Chardys, the Collector Tiger Tiger 2022 12.9%, from Tumbarumba fruit. We tried the 2021 of this wine a few months back, and it received a mixed response. This vintage however received an almost uniform negative assessment from the Room. The fruit content seemed reasonable, but there were a few things wrong. No typical flavour and no real crispness due possibly to a lack of acid balance. I will leave this one to the winemakers in our group to sort out the problems. Overall a rather sad wine.

The second Chardy the Toolangi 2018, 13% did not fare much better. 4 years older than the Collector, we were hoping that the extra bottle age might bring some joy after the disappointing first Chardy. Alas, we were bound for sorrow again. This wine seemed to replicate the faults of its predecessor. Looks like a joint failure on the Chardonnay front today! Most unusual.

Wine 3 eventually brought some joy to the room. The Yalumba Menzies Cigar from Coonawarra 2008 13.5%. Wonderful wine, just what was needed as Balm for our injured palates. This was a wine that Mr Menzies himself would have been proud of. Deep cabernet flavours of blackcurrant and blackberry resulting in a lingering powerful wine, dark almost impenetrable colour, tannin and oak blending in with perfection right through the middle palate till the satisfying finish. You guessed it, I really enjoyed this wine. Drinking at its peak at 16 yo. Looks like it could easily go on for another 10 years, all the required structure is there.

The final wine for the day brought us back to earth with a thud, in what has been an unusually poor day for our wines, with only 2 out of the 5 wines on display being up to our normal high standards. The 4th wine was a French Syrah from the reliable Northern Rhone grower Yves Cuilleron, the Les Vignes d ‘a Cote, 2014. 13%. Just what went wrong here is anyone’s guess. I was stumped. The wine did not even taste like a Syrah, no spicy pepper, no vibrant fruit at all. The wine had a faint trace of unripe fruit, or maybe at 10 yo it was tired, losing or had lost acid, leading to a flabby finish. Another one for Autopsy by our resident winemaker there on the day, Phil Laffer. Been a busy day Phil!

Today was an example of what Len Evans said decades ago, “you pay your money and take your chances“.

11 June 2024 Varun from Manjits

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Today’s lunch we saw the return of Varun and team from Manjit’s restaurant King’s Street wharf. Varun was introduced to our Society by member Grant Montgomery, they specialise Northern Indian style food. We had a feast with dishes ranging from street food to tandoori to their famous butter chicken. Famous because it was invented by their uncle. The main ingredients then were canned tomato soup, cream and chicken tikka. Food of quality and quantity, we sat for our canapés and entrees with wines served to the table. It was all there; colour and movement, texture and flavour, spice and heat, all handled and presented as we’d expect from a restaurant of this quality.

Canapes

Mini veg pakoras (fritters)

Chicken Sri Lankan rolls

Entrée

Chicken Banjara - the chicken is coated in a spicy marination of yogurt and then grilled in the tandoor.

Lamb Seekh Kebab (minced and skewered lamb)

Aloo Tikki Chaat, fried potato patties topped with sweet and sour tamarind chutney, spicy green chutney and yoghurt.

Mains

Rice

Butter Chicken

Lamb Roganjosh a very popular curry.

Dal Makhani lentil dips made with ura dal spices, cream and butter.

Bangain Bhartha. Bhartha is made with eggplant and tomato, and seasoned with cumin, turmeric garlic and ginger. Served with fresh naan bread.

Dessert

Gulab Jamun with ice cream, a ball of deep-fried paneer boiled in sugar syrup.

We gave our Cheesemaster a day off, this was a great way to finish dominated by cloves and rose water it was palate cleansing.

Wine

We were treated to some very fine Indian food which always makes it a bit tricky to assess the accompanying wine. Before I present my report on our lunch.

I just wanted to say how touched I am by the level of support I so often get from various members of our Society. Producing a weekly report to a gathering of wine experts and actual winemakers is a daunting task, however, from the outset, I discarded any self doubt and ploughed on regardless, determined to report with integrity, on how I saw the wines on that particular day. From comments I receive it seems I get it about right a lot of the time, other times very much not so. On such occasions, I imagine some may think, “this guy could not pick a Chardonnay from a glass of caustic soda!” It goes with the territory.

What however I do try hard to do is produce something interesting, informative and at times amusing, but above all else, never boring. Just keep those letters and cards rolling in folks, your encouragement is appreciated. SO’H.

Today we commenced with a Mosaique Champagne NV. Nice fine bead, with little bubbles, quite dry with a crisp acidic finish. More than adequate for an aperitif.

The first wine with the spicy food was a Gunderloch German Riesling 2021 11.5% from the Rhinehessen. An excellent wine, with great fruit, not at all sweet, balanced and finishing with an appealing aftertaste. Most enjoyable.

The same could not be said for the next wine, an Andrew Thomas Hunter Sem 2023, 8.5%. I am normally a fan of his wines, a top quality producer, but what on earth was he doing with this horrible little number? Over sugared, excessive acid, released after only 1 year from vintage, this was a wine that took me back 50 years to some of the truly horrible white wines that were sometimes produced in the Hunter at that time. I can understand how our Winemaster picked this wine to combat the strong spicy flavours of the food, and I suppose a sip of this with a mouthful of hot Indian food would override the excessive sugar, allowing the wine to be swallowed, but left to itself without any food, the wine had little to offer. Nasty.

Wine three was a Hugel Gewurztraminer 2019. Now this is a bit more like it, a great food wine for the spicy stuff, well balanced, mouth-filling but not cloying, clean finish. It is very hard to have a wine that satisfactorily complements Indian food, but this wine is about as close as you can get in my opinion. An excellent choice.

Wine four was my favourite of the day, the John Duval Entity Shiraz 2015 14.5%. I love his wines, being head winemaker at Penfolds for many years says it all about his ability to produce superb red wines. Since leaving Penfolds he has done consultancy work as well as producing magnificent wines from Barossa fruit under his own label. This is one of them. This wine exposed dark cherry, plumb and spicy Shiraz flavours, some tannin and oak, all of which came together in the mid palate producing a superb array of rounded flavours. My style of Shiraz, just wish my pocket felt the same way! John Duval must be our Patron Saint of Barossa Red Wines.

The final wine was the Eden Rd 2019 14.5% Shiraz. This attractive wine was grown in the Canberra wine region as it is now known, roughly between Lake George and Yass. Despite the fact that it was batting after Bradman, as I have frequently said about a wine following a star, this wine was excellent. Lighter than the Entity, this wine was, medium body, but great spicy Shiraz fruit with a clean, but enjoyable tannic finish, much less dense than the Entity. I could not help but think how this wine would compare with the Entity if it were 4 years older. Very favourably I would think.

Some terrific reds were a great way to finish the day.

4 June Hal Epstein

Tue, 04 Jun 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

‘We few, we happy few, band of brothers, ‘ said the bard of our Society, Peter Kelso, introducing comments on lunch today with Hal Epstein as our Chef of the Day.

Canapés

First up, chicken liver pâté made by yours truly served on crusty toasts topped with a pickled onion. This is a Thermomix recipe with an unusual ingredient of tomato paste. Moist lightly textured and flavoursome. It did need a little salt.

Next up Hal, to the Italian theme, prepared some buffalo mozzarella topped with sun-dried tomatoes on buttered ‘village‘ loaf sourdough.

Then came some warmed spinach and feta rolls made with filo pastry.

Main

Honeycomb tripe with fennel and tomato base in the passata and chopped styles combined with chilli and topped with hand-grated pecorino. Presented with mixed couscous (pearl and ordinary) and roasted cauliflower with a nice border of green arugula.

This dish had all the hallmarks, quality, texture and flavour. The combination of ingredients worked well and looked perfect on the plate. Hal used long red chilli, so the heat wasn’t dominant.

Tripe, like the various pastas, provides texture and has a neutral flavour. It’s the perfect carrier for the ingredients prepared with it.

Of leftovers, there were none!

The meal and canapés were greatly appreciated by those in attendance today. Hal yeah! said Paul.

We had bread from baker Bleu Double Bay, a village sourdough and a crusty baguette, very good.

Cheese

Our choirmaster reprised an artisan cow's milk cheese from Cornwall, England ‘Cornish Kern’.

‘Kern’ is the Cornish word for ‘round’ and suitably describes the shape and flavour of this cheese. Created by Lynher Dairy, this modern British hard cheese is made in West Cornwall to an adapted gouda recipe using milk from nearby farms.

Each wheel has an attractive coat of thin black wax that allows the cheese to be matured for 16 months without losing too much moisture. The result is a dense, fudgy texture and complex flavour profile that is intensely savoury. The lingering caramel sweetness is accentuated by a proper dose of salt.

Wine

Hal Epstein’s tripe dish was terrific, pity more members were not there to enjoy it. There were I think 18 members present and so on a cold winter afternoon we hunkered down to enjoy the food and the wines, it was a cosy little group with a good atmosphere in the room.

The first wine was a Society favourite, the Tyrrells HVD Sem 2014 10.5%. The wine was in perfect condition, pale straw, clear, with a slightly sweetish taste on the front palate which quickly vanished leading to a crisp finish. Excellent fruit and moderate acid kept any undue sweetish overtones in balance, thus producing a fine, still-fresh wine with no indication of ageing. A great future is expected, a keeper.

Wine 2 was the Corcelette Morgon 2021. I really liked this wine. Vibrant, juicy and joyful are terms that come to mind. Medium body with strong Gamay fruit, intense flavour. 13%. Very easy drinking inviting you to have another glass (bottle?). Having enjoyed this wine before, I can well understand its universal popularity. On my table, there were several dissenting views about this wine, with some preferring the following Grenache. I don’t understand why but to each his own.

Wine 3 was the Villian and Vixen Barossa Grenache from Hentley Farm. 14.5%, a very typical gutsy Grenache, light body with pinkish hues of crimson. Strong fruit flavours with a tannic finish. To me, the wine was thin and lacked depth of flavour. Not exactly my cup of tea. Others liked it, so there you go.

Wine 4 was the Brokenwood Beechworth Chardonnay 2014, 12.5%. A really fine wine, holding its age very well. Excellent fruit with sufficient acid to hold it together, delightful finish. The wine was a perfect match with the English Cheddar. A wine that met with strong support from our little group. Should be drinking well for a few years yet.

Wine 5 was the Yabby Lake 2015 Pinot Noir 13.5%. This is a high quality vineyard producing top class Chardonnay and Pinot. This wine showed Pinot flavours in concentrated form. I thought the wine was excellent., but others suggested that at 10 yo the wine had seen better days. To me, there was still sufficient acid to ensure a firm finish, with lingering Pinot flavours. I really enjoyed it.

28 May 2024 Paul Thorne

Tue, 28 May 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by Mark Bradford and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Today’s Chef of the Day was Paul Thorne, assisted with canapés by James Tinslay and James Hill. On a sunny and cool late spring day, numbers were aplenty for Paul’s meal and the accompanying northern Italian wines for the monthly Wine Lunch.

Canapés

James T started us off with Anchovy Palmiers. These French biscuits have puff pastry sheets that are layered with Philadelphia cheese spread, anchovies, dried tomatoes, freshly grated parmesan and mozzarella cheese followed by an egg and butter wash prior to baking. So well liked, these savoury treats literally flew off the plate.

Next up, James H presented some Acciughe Salate. These are Sicilian anchovies; once caught the head is lopped off and packed in tins sealed with salt and EVOO. They are best rinsed in wine to remove the salt crust. Today, the fillets were prised off the spine, rolled and served on oven-baked toasts with Gary Linnane's popular tuna and anchovy butter.

Finally, Paul gave us homemade prawn and pork dumplings in a Duck Consommé; the broth being one of Paul’s specialties. The dumplings were a little too large, or the cups a little too small, to extract the flavoursome dumplings, but great taste.

Comments on the canapés from the floor were highly complementary.

Main

Paul served us wagyu beef cheeks today with star anise on a bead of potato mash with Dutch carrots, glazed with brown sugar. The cheeks were marinated for 24 hours with a mixture of onions, garlic, celery, carrots, bay leaves with lots of red wine and duck stock. This was then cooked low and slow, at 160 C for one hour then for three hours at 140 C.

Paul had first told us he would cook duck, then pork neck and finally settled on beef cheeks. Luckily so as they were a perfect match for all of the Italian reds. Usually not being one to blow his own trumpet, Paul knew the main was seriously good, and this was reinforced by all comments from the floor. It was considered to be outstanding.

Cheese

The Cheese Master provided a Milawa Cheese Company Goughs Bay Goat Brie. The Gough family farm is an hour’s drive from Milawa, and they have supplied goat’s milk to Milawa for generations. Within hours of its arrival, the milk begins its transformation into cheese. A blend of cultures and non-animal rennet is added to the milk and the resulting curds are scooped by hand into moulds to remove excess whey. The young wheels are salted in brine, then placed in the maturation room, where slowly they develop a white velvety rind and mushroom aroma. Over their two-week maturation, they are carefully turned by hand each day, before being wrapped and delivered.

The consensus was that this was not the members’ favourite cheese. Comments included lack of flavour and texture.

On a brighter note, and as a winner of the inaugural Ross MacDonald Cheese Award for 2022, Paul served an excellent salad for the cheese of dried figs soaked in whisky for three days, pecan nuts glazed in maple syrup and Tunisian dates.

Wine

Should anyone be in doubt about the value of their membership fees for the WFS, today’s lunch would have blown away any lingering uncertainty. In a word sensational. Great food and outstanding Italian wines were the theme for the day. Paul Thorne did a terrific job with the beef cheeks. The pass arounds were also delicious, Richard Gibson kindly donated many of his prized Piemonte Reds and our Winemaster pulled it all together like a master conductor. A wonderful afternoon. The quality of the wines was such that I had no chance of poking fun at some hopeless joke of a wine. My day for some fun was however saved by the cheese, a Milawa goat cheese. Something went wrong here. Tasted like and had the texture of plasticine!

The lunch began with a wine now becoming a Society favourite, the Minaia Gavi 2021 13%. I have reviewed this wine before. Made from the Cortese grape in Piemonte. A very appealing wine, mouth-filling without cloying, great balance of fruit/acid. Rewarding finish. From my travels around the room doing a few pours, there was almost universal agreement that this is perfect aperitif wine.

We then moved on to the first red, a Dolcetto 2017 from Paolo Scavino 14.5%. Again, I have reviewed this wine not too long ago. Always a welcome visitor to our room, very popular amongst our group. This wine, aka the sweet little one, really punches above its weight, as it is regarded as an entry-level Italian red. Excellent structure, medium body with a distinct sweetish taste on the first sip. As the wine travels down the red lane, other flavours appear, soft round fruit flavours with some tannin. A clean finish. Teamed well with the food.

The second red was the Barbera d’Alba from the same producer 2017, 14.5%. Much darker in colour and more intense fruit concentration. Most enjoyable, excellent food wine.

Wine 3 was the Vietti Langhe Nebbiolo 2016 14%. Again, medium to light body with evident tannin, a feature on Nebbiolo. Sufficient acid balanced it all out to produce a fine dining wine.

Wine 4 the Vietti Barolo 2016 14.5%, was again a light-bodied wine, with strong tannin and acid. Having said that the wine still had great texture and balance. Needed food support.

Wine 5 was my favourite, the Gabutti Barolo 2016 15%. This was a truly excellent Nebbiolo in every sense, medium body, deep cherry and that “tar” exotic aroma and greater depth than the earlier wines. Powerful finish. A stand-alone wine to be enjoyed without food. Thank you, Richard.

The final wine for our Italian venture was sadly my least favourite, the Cavallotto Barolo 2018 14%. In terms of overall structure, very similar to all the preceeding wines, but had a poor finish. Not sure why, but these wines seem to need plenty of time in the cellar and I am inclined to think that a 6 yo Barolo is just too young for drinking today.

Many thanks to all those who made a fantastic day possible, well done.

21 May 2024 Jonathan Casson

Tue, 21 May 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

First time chef Jonathan Casson was our Chef of the Day showing his skills in the kitchen all done with one hand! Mediterranean influence on the cuisine today.

Canapés

Peter Kelso and yours truly assisted today with Peter preparing a rich flavourful tapenade on toast topped with cornichons and preserved lemon.

Up next were some ‘Acciughe Salate’. These are Sicilian anchovies, once caught head lopped off and packed in tins sealed with salt and EVOO. They are best rinsed in wine to remove the salt crust.

Today the fillets were prised off the spine, rolled and served on oven-baked toasts with crème fraîche.

Main

Perfect on this cool autumn day Jonathan presented lamb shanks served with a luscious red wine sauce, some pearl couscous and leek. The leek was baked in wine and butter and a good complement to the course. The lamb shanks were simmered for three hours, and fell off the bone, the pearl couscous perfectly cooked with the red wine sauce adding a great depth of flavour.

Many favourable comments on the meal today.

Big bread love from Iggy today.

Steve Sparkes presented Jonathan with his COTD apron and Jonathan responded by saying how much he enjoys the comradeship of our Society and the new friendships he’s formed since joining.

Cheese

Our Cheese master sourced some artisan cow's milk cheese from Cornwall, England ‘Cornish Kern’.

John Rourke spoke of the passing of member Terry McDowell. Terry was a member of our society for more than thirty years. John recalled meeting him at our Society after having been overseas for a number of years. He joined Terry’s table at WFS which he was hosting with his sailing crew. John went on to join the crew as well as many adventures in the kitchen with Terry.

Terry had a passion for food and wine, a good cook with an extensive cellar, he is well remembered and sadly missed.

Quote of the day:

‘One of the most generous things you can do for someone else is to cook them a meal’

Josh Niland

Wine

Today we had a new Chef Jonathan Casson, who treated us to a fine meal of lamb shanks. Delicious, looking forward to your next plan for us. See the food report for more detail.

With regard to the wines, we started with a Seppelt Drumborg Vineyard Riesling from Central Vic 2018. I am an unabashed fan of this wine. 11.5% pale straw, clean and fresh with a terrific fruit/acid finish. A delight. You may remember we had a Drumborg Chardy last week, a much inferior wine to the Riesling today from the same vineyard. Last week’s wine was from 2016 which may explain a few things. Anyhow, the Riesling today was a winner.

The first red was the Stella Bella Cabernet from MR, WA. 2019, 14.3%. Very dense fruit almost black. Big fruit, with assertive tannin on the finish. This I think is a very good wine, but needs more time, another 4/5 years would be just about right.

The second red was from the same district, a Vasse Felix Cabernet from 2010, 14.5%. Equally dense with huge fruit, but well-balanced oak and tannin showed the advantage of extra bottle age. A rewarding clean firm finish, sufficient acid keeping it together after 14 years.

The next wine was a white, a Tyrrells Bin 63 Semillon/Chardonnay blend. I understand this is Bruce Tyrrell’s favourite Hunter white, Humm, not sure why. When this blend was first released in the late 70’s I think, I was eager to sample it, coming from a fine pedigree of Hunter white grapes. My impression at the time having consumed a few bottles over a period of time, was that it was a waste of a good Chardy and a good Sem. In my view at the time, the offspring of these fine parents was an uninspiring ugly duckling, which was a disappointment to both parents. For that reason, I have not consumed a Bin 63 for 40 years or more. I always thought the wine was flabby and lacked a clean finish due to insufficient acid.

The wine today was from 2017, 12.5% a very good year, but that did not save it from being a wine without much character or attractive flavour, unlike its parents, when drunk alone. I really don’t think I have missed much over the years. Anyhow that’s my opinion, fire at will!

Today's final wine was the Hewitson Mad Hatter Shiraz 14.5% 2013 from the Barossa. Despite the comical name this was a serious wine. I really liked it! Big Shiraz fruit, but good balance. Despite its age of 11 years, the wine has plenty of time ahead, a rewarding and enjoyable drink.

14 May Steve Sparkes

Tue, 14 May 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by Mark Bradford and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

With the expectation of another great meal from the Food Master and Chef of the Day, today’s attendance was high for the “er, what’s up doc” lunch, well guessed by most members as being rabbit. Steve was assisted with canapes by Gary Linnane and James Healey.

Canapés

Three canapés were served today. Gary and James started us off with tuna and anchovy butter on a RITZ cracker. So simple yet so tasty.

For the second, Steve assembled a rabbit rillette on the day upon a simple cracker with caramelised onion jam. This was made a few days prior by the COTD using the trimmings from the rabbit carcass including ribs, front legs etc. It was cooked for several hours at a low temperature with pork belly and various secret herbs and spices. Thanks Colonel Sparkes. After cooling, it was all finely shredded by hand, thoroughly mixed, and left in the fridge to mature for a couple of days.

The final canapé was smoked oysters and mussels on a cream cheese cracker. It was a long time for most members since smoked oysters and mussels from a tin were consumed. Gary showed us why that trend should end. Delightful.

Comments were encouraging on the canapés, and they were a good match with the aperitif wines.

Main

Steve served us a ballotine of wild Australian rabbit sourced from Australian Meats in Adelaide. This is a protein seldom seen by the members on Tuesdays, and there should be more of it. Just to while away the hours, our CODY deboned no less than 14 rabbits!

The main portions of leg and saddle were laid out on a bed of prosciutto, painted with peppered Dijon mustard, and topped with spinach leaves. A stuffing of ricotta, shallots, garlic and assorted fresh herbs was piped onto the base and then sprinkled with an Australian dukkha mix. This was all rolled up very tightly into a roll with cling wrap and then vacuum sealed. The rabbit had been brined for about 6 hours prior. The ballotine were left to set overnight in the fridge. On the morning of the lunch, the rabbit was cooked sous vide at 60 C for a couple of hours, transported and then held at 60 C in the kitchen.

Garnishes included a potato pave, roasted carrots and caulilini, along with some nuts and grapes for texture. The gravy was made from the rest of the rabbit scraps and bones which were roasted with carrots, onion and celery and then simmered very slowly in good chicken stock for many hours to reduce and intensify. It was finished with butter and some Kuzu flour to thicken.

All comments attested to the quality of the course and especially the very considerable work that went into preparing it, although some members thought it to be a little too salty. When it comes to seasoning, it is impossible to please everyone.

Bread was a sourdough from Bourke Street Bakery.

Cheese

The Cheese Master selected Riverine Blue from Berry’s Creek Gourmet Cheese, located in southern Gippsland. This is a blue buffalo milk artisan cheese, the only one in Australia and claimed to be one of only such cheeses in the world. The strikingly white, creamy milk comes from a modest herd of Riverine Buffalo that graze nearby. After the curds are set, they are placed in moulds to drain before spending two month’s ripening in specially built maturation rooms overlooking Wilson’s Promontory. It has a complex savoury flavour, and the smooth, firm texture and blue-green ribbons provide pockets of delicious salty blue flavour within the porcelain paste. Today’s chef accompanied the cheese with a mixed leaf salad dressed with olive oil and raspberry vinegar along with an apple and raisin relish (originally made for the rillette!). Comments from the floor on the cheese course were very encouraging.

Wine

With Steve Sparkes cooking, the mob will always turn up. 41 for today, a very good number for a non-wine tasting lunch. Our high expectations were rewarded by a first-rate lunch in all respects from pass-arounds to the cheese. Well done Steve, you are a class act. See the food report for more detail.

We started off with a pair of Society favourites, the Tyrrells HVD Sem from 2014, followed by another HVD from 2006. Now at 10 yo the first wine was at 10.5%, pristine clean, gleaming pale straw. Terrific fruit on the palate, with hints of citrus. My only adverse comment was that I found the wine noticeably acidic on the finish, but otherwise a lovely wine, bravo vintage 2014!

The second wine was all of the above but without the high acid. This 18 yo Sem is a fitting monument to Tyrrells winemaking skills with this grape variety and to the Hunter Valley being able to produce such a magnificent white wine. I think the general feeling around the room was how fortunate we were in sharing these great wines, with the 2006 finishing just ahead in quality terms.

Poor old wine 3 came in, the Drumborg Chardy “batting after Bradman“ as the old saying goes. Here we had the proverbial Plain Jane following straight after the dazzling twins from the Hunter. Hard to readjust one’s tastebuds. I think the wine was quite sound, a drinkable commercial Chardy, very mouth filling, 12%, but possibly a bit fat and flabby. Not in the same league as the Drumborg Riesling. I have no problem with our Society putting on wines like this, it helps in the broad understanding of what are acceptable wines in comparison to high-quality wines.

Wine 4 was the NZ Pinot Greywacke 2015 13.5% from Marlborough. I really liked this wine. Medium weight, great Pinot flavours of cherry and raspberry. Clean finish. Most enjoyable.

Wine 5 was the 2013 Yabby Lake Chardy from Mornington 12%. Rich, opulent, seductive. In my view getting close to the great Giaconda. Subtle and exquisite fruit with a lingering finish. Cannot believe my glass went so quickly. I must have been short-shared! A wine to be consumed beside a stream on a warm day with a ripe peach with a friend.

The final wine for the day was another Society favourite the Tyrrells 2014 Stevens Shiraz. Bruce Tyrrell considered Neil Stevens vineyard to be the best in the Hunter, and it was with great joy that Tyrrells acquired the vineyard some years ago. This vineyard contained some of the Hunter’s oldest vines. This particular wine came from the fabulous 2014 vintage and drank superbly. 13.8%, great balance between fruit, oak and tannin. Wonderful finish. No hint of ageing, love to see it again in 5 years.

We also had two Italian wines spread around the room, which I have not reviewed, ours was a delightful 2016 Dolcetto which we have seen before, and the other was I think, a Barbera d’Alba 2017 which we also have had before.

We are fortunate to have enjoyed such a quality afternoon. The WFS is the place to be!

7 May 2024 Madan

Tue, 07 May 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

We’re lucky to have such talent in our kitchen brigade at the Royal Exchange.

Today Madan was cooking Nepalese food for us assisted by Amosh.

Canapés

A Nepalese spice base of ginger, garlic and garam masala was featured in all the dishes today.

Strict portion control today!

First up, goat and lentil soup served in a cup. Madan had soaked red lentils overnight.

I’m always wary of goat but no bones today. The goat was cooked in a large pot of bite-size pieces with stock and fenugreek. Big herb flavour with lentils adding texture and some earthiness to the soup some heat lingering on the palate from black pepper.

Then, chicken sekuwa, skewered chicken BBQ marinated in a blend of Himalayan herbs and spices and then cooked on the hibachi.

The chicken was moist and cooked to the perfect degree of “doneness”

Finally, aloo chop, “aloo" means potato, and the word "chop" means small cutlet fritters or croquette. Coriander and potato coated in chickpea flour.…almost a potato mash that held together. A good mouthfeel and spice flavour.

Main

Jhool momo pork dumplings made overnight consisting of pork and spice base and onion. They sat in a sauce of pork stock made with tomato, ginger and garlic spice blend, again some heat from black pepper. The pork dumplings were juicy and flavourful, with the accompanying sauce adding a delicious tanginess to each bite.

Great presentation and balanced flavours and texture very favourably commented on and appreciated by members today.

It was a great effort with a lot of preparation and thought going into today's meal and much appreciated by all for the authentic and interesting Nepalese food.

No one left hungry today, thanks Madan.

Cheese

It was Chef’s selection today and it was Comte a hard cheese from France made with unpasteurised cow’s milk. This cheese was matured in the damp underground cellars of Marcel Petite at Fort Saint Antoine high in the mountains that border France and Switzerland in the Franche-Comte. It’s specially selected for Will to wear the prestigious red ‘crown’ of quality on the basis of its rich concentrated nutty texture, elegant caramel sweetness, and lingering kaleidoscope of flavours rather than on how long it was aged.

The cheese was accompanied by some small dried figs warmed in a brown sugar syrup with star anise and cinnamon stick. Much praise for this dish what a great match to the Comte.

We asked about a good Nepalese restaurant they would recommend and they suggested ‘Muglan’.

Wine

The theme for today’s lunch was Nepalese based, expertly prepared by our resident team at REX, Madan and Amosh. See the Food report for details.

In light of the spicy nature of the food, serious wine assessment was a challenge, at least for me.

The first wine before any pass-arounds was a Framingham Old Vine Riesling 2016 from Marlborough NZ. Now 8 yo but tasting very fresh, clean acid, good fruit balance and finish. At a masked tasting, I would have picked it as a German Riesling, Kabinett probably. An enjoyable wine.

The second wine was a Domane Wachau Steinriegl Riesling 2022 12.5%. By the time I sampled this wine I had had some of the delicious pass arounds and my palate was becoming affected. To my taste the wine was very dry, but with some fruit noticeable leading to a sweetish finish. I much preferred the first wine.

Moving onto the third wine, the S C Pannell 2020 Old McDonald Grenache 14% from McLaren Vale, home of our finest Grenache. I only had a small sample, but what I had suggested was a light red wine with abundant fruit and a sweet finish.

I would like to have had more to get a fuller appreciation, but with the spicy tucker that would probably would not have been possible. I am a great fan of our homegrown Grenache, it is pleasing to see it appear more often in our wine lists.

The fourth wine was a terrific 2016 Dolcetto from Massolino 14%. An excellent wine from the Piedmont region. A great food wine for a lunch, but the spicy tastes in my mouth did not really do justice to this excellent food wine. This is by no means a criticism of the food, which was delicious, but more a general comment on how hard it is to match spicy food with wine.

Wine 5 was the ever-reliable Society favourite Seppelt St Peters Grampians Shiraz 2007 13.5%. I have reviewed this wine on many occasions over the last few months and those who read this literary word of art over time will be aware of how highly I rate this wine. Even now at 17 years old, it is still a magical Australian Shiraz. Fruit/oak/tannin/acid are all perfectly in place for a superb old Shiraz. The legendary Colin Preece chief winemaker at Seppelt from circa 1930 to 1963, created his style of Great Western Shiraz, this wine, was rebadged in later years to St Peters. Many Australian popular wines owe their existence to him, Moyston Claret, Chalambar Burgundy, Arawatta Riesling and Great Western “Champagne”. Many folks in the wine industry say Colin Preece and Maurice O’Shea are our greatest winemakers.

Now that the history lesson has concluded, I will now focus on our last wine, the Armenian Zorah 2021, 14%. I have never to my best memory drank an Armenian wine. Many years ago I worked with a girl from that country, but our relationship never progressed beyond professional, damm! She was pretty cute!! Anyhow back to the wine, the grape for this wine is the Areni possibly the oldest recognised grape variety in the world, dating back thousands of years ago. Virtually matured in the cradle of civilisation. Bringing us back however to the present, I was initially about to give this wine a dose of the merciless savagery I show to what I consider to be a poor wine. In this case far too sweet, flabby ie lacking in acid and fat ie too full-bodied. Then within 5 minutes or so the wine changed composition and became dare I say, quite appealing, possibly repressed memories of my ex-work mate? Whatever it was, I came away with the taste of a pleasant wine, rich and flavoursome.

Very enjoyable. Many thanks to our Winemaster for introducing us to this historic wine. One of our Charters is to educate our members on things pertaining to wine and food.

30 April 2024 Roger Straiton

Tue, 30 Apr 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by Steve Sparkes and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

An excellent turnout of more than 50 members was treated to a wonderful lunch presented by Roger and Dennis. As we have come to expect at a wine lunch, and all lunches for that matter, our Wine Master presented an outstanding bracket of wines to match the food and for our enjoyment.

The canapes started with a cucumber round topped with a lovely creamy sauce and lightly smoked salmon.

The next was potted prawns on a handmade Melba toast. This was very rich, certainly not lacking for butter and had a fabulous mouthfeel.

Both were extremely tasty, generous and a great way to kick off the lunch…thank you Dennis.

Roger presented a very interesting and well thought out main course with a twist that both surprised and delighted members.

The meat was cooked to perfection. Roger used a Scandinavian recipe of twice-marinated fillet steak, being marinated once before it was cooked and again afterwards.

It was served with a light vinaigrette and accompanied by steamed broccolini, an eggplant rotolo and a very tasty potato salad.

The twist, of course, was that the dish was served at room temperature and whilst this may not sound appealing to some, in my opinion, it worked a treat! It both looked and tasted great!

The cheese, a soft-ripened cheese, complemented the meal perfectly and was very well chosen by Mark.

It was served simply with some juicy dates and good bread and had most members guessing as to just what it was! It was:

Le Conquérant, Demi Pont l'Évêque by Will Studd.

Origin: Normandie, France

Milk: Cow's Milk

Type: Washed Rind

This pungent monastic PDO-washed rind cheese comes from the heart of the Pays d’Auge in Normandy, France. Traditionally made by monks, washed rind cheeses were used as meat substitutes during fasting periods and have strong aromas and savoury flavours. The word demi refers to its small size, which influences how quickly this traditional, soft surface-ripened cheese will ripen compared to its larger cousins.

Le Conquérant Demi Pont-l'Évêque is wrapped in wax paper and a poplar wooden box to form the ideal microenvironment for maturation. It is best enjoyed when the chalky centre has broken down to a soft fudgy texture with a deliciously mild creamy finish.

Well done Roger, a great lunch, it is terrific to be served a quality meal that varies somewhat from the expected norms occasionally!

Wine

A bumper crowd of 50+ were attracted like fish to a lure to the prospect of a mouth-watering filet of beef, cooked to perfection by our Chef du Jour Roger Stration, served with some silk purse division Cabernets from France, Italy and Australia. Yum! Beef was amazing! See Food Report.

With regard to the excellent lineup of wines, we kicked off with a pair of Chardonnays from across the Ditch, a Kumeu River 2022 13%, and a Craggy Range 2010 14%. The Kumeu River wine was quite acceptable, an entry level Chardonnay which was quite ok as long as you did not think too hard about it! The wine came and went without much fanfare. The second wine was however a delight. This vineyard is where my 2nd son and his late wife Anna were married amongst the vines on a memorable afternoon in January 2009. I accordingly have a strong emotional attachment to wines from this vineyard. Being as objective as possible, I thought this wine was truly excellent, with great depth of luscious ripe fruit, gentle oak and sufficient acid to ensure a lingering finish. Some comments from the room suggested that the wine was now too old at 14 yo, however, I would strongly disagree. There may have been some bottle variation in the room, however, my glass or two showed no adverse ageing, quite to the contrary, as I commented to others, how fresh and balanced the wine was for its age, with no browning, fresh and clean and full of life. So it goes.

Moving now into the red wines for our lunch the first was a Ch Talbot 2009 from St Julian in Bordeaux, a Grand Cru, a 4th Growth 13.5% This is a very old chateau, circa 1400 named after the last English Commander of Guyenne, John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury. Military history treats Mr Talbot unkindly, remembering him more for his numerous defeats in battle, than his too few victories. What however cannot be denied is his wonderful legacy to wine lovers of the world, the glorious Ch Talbot. Consistently high quality, many Bordeaux experts argue that the wine should now be elevated well above its 1855 classification. My love for quality Bordeaux knows no bounds and this wine fully lived up to my expectations, Deep ruby red, gentle tannin, sweet chewy fruit, the usual other flavours of that region, leather, cedar and the hint of tobacco. A great wine. Many thanks to our Wine Master.

Our second red was an Italian, a “Super Tuscan“, an Argiano 2008 Solengo Toscana 14.5%. A Cabernet blend including amongst others, Merlot and Petit Verdot with a dash of Sangiovese I enjoyed this wine very much. Deeply inky dark with powerful tannins, perhaps a tad over oaked some commented. A very powerful wine, but a lovely food wine. Great finish.

Our third wine was a 2010 Ch Teyssier Pezat from Bordeaux 14%. This vineyard is about one meter outside the strict border for the St Emilion designated wine region. A Merlot with just a dash of Cabernet Franc. Much lighter in colour than the two preceding wines and in my view a step down in quality. By no means to be avoided, the wine was enjoyable, plummy merlot overtones, but just did not have the intensity of flavours of the Super Tuscan and the Talbot. But it has to be said, it was a hard duo to follow.

The fourth wine was another Super Tuscan the 2010 Tenuta dell Ornellaia Le Serre Nuove 13.5%, quite a mouthful, the name that is. Just in case you were wondering what exactly is a Super Tuscan, I will tell you, shortly and I hope simply. Back in the 1970’s a group of Tuscan wine producers, all becoming frustrated with Italy’s wine bureaucracy, decided to go offshore so as to speak, and started planting Bordeaux-origin grapes, such as Cabernet and Merlot amongst others. There was a great deal of fuss at the time, as heretofore only wines indigenous to Italy could be grown, such as Sangiovese. The eventual success of the new wines, basically Cabernet blends, becoming so popular, forced the hand of officialdom so that by the early 1990’s these maverick blends restricted to Tuscany, obtained official approval. So now you know.

This particular wine was a blend of Cabernet, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cab Franc. Very dark in colour with intense fruit flavours. Silky smooth. Firm tannic finish with great length. Drinking at peak maturity but plenty of time ahead. The plummy Merlot influence was clear, being 45% of the blend. A splendid wine.

Our 5th and 6th wines brought us back to Australia for some homegrown Cabernet, from our two top Cabernet regions Coonawarra and Margaret River.

Wine 5 was the Lindeman’s St George, 2008, 100% Cabernet. A vineyard planted in 1967 has produced some memorable Coonawarra Cabernets over the years. The vintage of 2008 was regarded at the time as being a good, if not great year. A flavoursome wine deeply coloured, showing classic Cabernet overtones with strong oak and tannin, but I could not help but feel that at 16 yo the wine was beginning to show some age. The colour was still good, but with acid fading the finish was falling away. Still very drinkable, but not one for keeping.

The final wine for the day was the Leeuwin Estate Art Series 2013 Cabernet. A 9/10 vintage year in that region, and the wine was excellent. A straight Cabernet with just a dash of Malbec, 4%. I have always felt that Margaret River Cabernet in a good year is about as close as we get to the Bordeaux Cabernets we love. This wine was elegant with a superb balance of fruit/oak and gentle tannin. It had to my taste, strong Bordeaux like aromas, and a similar finish. A very different Cabernet to the St George, lighter in colour but more elegant and stylish. Plenty of time ahead to mature into something wonderful in 5 or 6 years.

The wine of the day for me was the Talbot, with the Leeuwin and the Solengo sharing equal second place.

23 April 2024 Bill Alexiou Hucker

Tue, 23 Apr 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by Frank Liebeskind and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Our President Bill was at the pans for our COTY cook-off and a Greek Feast it was.

I love Greek food, and as those who have been to Greece know, Greek food always tastes better in Greece, but Bill transported us to Greece with his lunch. No octopus and no Greek salad with this outstanding feast, Apollo Restaurant. Eat your heart out.

Bill was assisted in the kitchen by Mark Bradford. Mark was a late stand-in, as Rob Doll, the REX Chef, was away, and to challenge the kitchen further, the REX had a full house of 30 in the front rooms.

Canapes

We had three canapes. The first to be served was my favourite, a spanakopita, crispy, flaky triangles of spinach, feta, parmesan, cheddar, onion and eggs, in Bill’s buttery and light filo pastry.

Next was the Greek version of falafels, dried chickpeas (no tinned chickpeas here, Bill soaked the real stuff), with tomato, onion and mint, then baked in the oven, and finished off in deep fryer, and topped with yoghurt and pickled cucumber. The pickled cucumbers added complexity.

The third canape was a “Parmesan gelato” in puff pastry cups (parmesan, double cream and balsamic glaze), as Con the Fruiterer would say, “Beauuuutiful”.

All the canapes were well received.

Main

The moussaka, as Bill said, he tried to “pimp up” a traditional moussaka, no slices of tray baked moussaka today.

Bill served us individual moussaka, each having three layers of eggplant, with two layers of lamb shoulder (six hours slow cooked and pressed, then pulled), with a yoghurt bechamel, with grated halloumi and all topped with grated crispy potatoes.

The individual moussaka was plated with a warm tomato salsa of olive oil, cherry tomatoes, onion, celery and carrot.

After the voting forms were collected, members' comments were generous, and everyone appreciated the lifting of moussaka to a fine dining (well, almost) plate.

We all appreciated all the elements that went into today’s lunch, and Bill didn’t stop there, Goldie was given a moussaka with potato replacing the eggplant, and Bill used gluten free flour, so no one missed out on a fabulous Greek feast.

Cheese

Mark our Cheese Master presented a Greek Artisan Feta from Will Studd, the Aphrodite goat and sheep's milk barrel-aged feta from Central Greece.

Bill and Mark served the feta warm (10 minutes in the oven), served with great warm marinated mixed Greek olives, and EVOO and balsamic glaze (as Bill forgot the Greek honey ????).

Some of us bought the leftover feta, I liked the feta enough to buy some, but others thought it a little too salty, the Greek honey may have been a better balance, as the marinated olives (I loved them) were also salty.

I found the feta soft and creamy. A great way to finish our Greek feast.

The cheese is an authentic handmade Greek feta that has been carefully ripened in small, old beech wood barrels using traditional techniques that date back to the time when nomadic shepherds roamed the hills of northern Greece.

The barrels enable small amounts of oxygen to reach the salted curds as they ferment under whey, and the natural flora in the wooden staves helps to encourage a unique yeasty aroma.

Each barrel must be filled with curd by hand and after the cheese has been removed, it must be broken down stave by stave, washed and rebuilt by a skilled cooper.

After three months maturation in the barrel, the feta develops a soft milky texture and a seriously creamy peppery finish.

Wine

Lunch today was the last of our COTY functions for the year. Today’s lunch starred our President Bill Alexiou in the main role of Chef of the Day. Not surprisingly Bill used his legendary skills with Greek food to produce an excellent moussaka.

The first wine of the day was a Bellone Bianco 2022 13%. I had not previously come face to face with this grape variety and I had to resort to Google, as my ever-reliable reference book by Jancis Robinson, failed to register the existence of this grape. Apparently, she had also not come face to face with it, so I am not alone. Anyhow, my research indicates that the variety is as old as Methuselah, with origins in the days of early Rome. Not exactly well known outside Italy, this wine is said to be the Italian answer to Chablis. Not too sure about that, but worthy of a mention. The wine was on first taste, very dry with high acidity. Fresh clean fruit flavours followed with a firm finish. A classic Italian food wine, perfect if you were tucking into an antipasto lunch on a warm Rome day, at an outdoor trattoria. Bellissimo!

[Note from our Winemaster:

Jancis does have the grape in her book Wine Grapes and calls it high producing. I know this maker restricts the yield, thus producing a more fine wine.

Wine writer and author Ian d'Agata writes this in one of his books:

“The wine has a telltale luscious texture and juicy acidity (wines without this creaminess or resiny mouthfeel are poorly made), and delightful honeyed, citrus, and tropical fruit aromas and flavours. Bellone’s large berries are very thin skinned but rich in pectin and polyphenols, so grapes need to be pressed slowly and vinification is reductive; despite its polyphenol content, Bellone wine’s oxidize easily. The variety is also blessed with high natural acidity (values of 8.5 grams per liter are not rare), which allows the production of good sparkling wines. When made from late-harvested grapes, the resulting sweet wine is thick, unctuous, amazingly complex, and never cloying because of its high acidity; I think it’s on par with the greatest sweet wines in the world. The stalk is twisted in September and the grapes are left on the vine until November, to lose about 50 percent of their water content. A good late-harvested or air-dried Bellone resembles high-quality Sauternes, with differences: more honey, sweet spice, and peach aromas and flavours, less saffron and tropical fruit. Without doubt, it is-or can be-one of Italy’s three or four greatest sweet wines.”]

Our second wine for the main course was a wine from Greece, as you would expect from the theme of the day. The wine was a red, Alta Xinomavro from 2022, 12.5% A Greek red with moussaka, what could go wrong? Plenty. A great idea, but let down by the product, This wine needed the intervention of that unlovable old lech Zeus to breathe some life into it! As I commented at lunch, the wine was a triumph of wine-making skills in producing a wine with absolutely no flavour! Not one of the usual signposts of a red wine. The most charitable comment I can make is that it was drinkable but without reward.

The third wine was the Wynns Coonawarra Cabernet 2009 14%. Sue Hodder and her team at Wynns have been producing this wine for years with consistently excellent results. A Society favourite. Now at 15yo, the wine has reached peak maturity, but still plenty to offer. Great balance between dark fruits /oak and tannin. Strong parting flavours.

The fourth wine was the Sinapius Gruner Veltliner, 2018, 13 %, from the Pipers Brook region of Tasmania. A well regarded winery. This grape has its roots firmly in the fields of Austria and other Eastern European countries. A wine that is gaining popularity worldwide. The wine to me, was dry but oily and thick in texture, not a combination I usually enjoy, however, the wine had sufficient acid to produce a clean, fruit-driven finish that kept on giving. Not exactly my cup of tea, however, that said, the wine was enjoyable, best drunk with ripe stone fruit.

The final wine of the afternoon was the Cuilleron Les Vignes d’a Cote Syrah 2014, 13%. A great way to finish the day. Very typical of a Northern Rhone Syrah from a quality producer. Excellent spicy fruit balanced by gentle tannins and mild oak. Drinking at peak maturity with time still ahead. Very moorish indeed. Hope we have more in the cellar!

16 April 2024 Bernard Leung

Tue, 16 Apr 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by Steve Sparkes

Well, what a wonderful lunch presented by our current COTY, Bernard Leung with assistance in the kitchen from Steve Liebeskind.

The President, Treasurer, Wine Master, Food Master, Cheese Master, Membership Recorder, our wonderful Centenarian Peter Manners, Roger Straiton and Ken Woolford along with the COTD hosted a dozen guests who all enjoyed a most excellent lunch which presented much more as a Dinner Party of the highest quality rather than our ‘standard’ lunch.

The food, from the first to last mouthfuls, was simply superb and accompanied by terrific wines that were masterfully matched to each course.

Steve Libeskind started us off with a delicious and innovative selection of canapes including:

Pork and veal terrine - with the inclusion of pistachios, red capsicum and Dijon mustard. The terrine served on puff pastry, was topped with beetroot chutney.
Fennel puree on puff pastry round - crowned with raw salmon and a fennel frond.
Salmon ceviche using Asian flavours - served on spoons featuring diced salmon, coriander, red onion, red capsicum, fish sauce, lime juice and chilli.

They were served in the above order and were absolutely delicious with one flavour profile building beautifully to the next. The ceviche was a perfect palate cleanser before the main.

And what a main it was and a great reminder, to those of us lucky enough to enjoy the dish, as to just why Bernard is the current COTY.

The dish presented was titled ‘Salmon on a Pea Broth’.

The pea Bbroth was based on Heston Blumenthal’s ham and pea soup using ham, onion, and carrots to create a stock. This was then blitzed with raw peas and passed through a fine chinois.

The salmon itself was cooked sous vide at 500C for an hour. The skin had been removed by pouring boiling water over it and peeling off after about 5 to 10 seconds.

The skin was then baked with salt and pepper at 1800C for 30 mins which resulted in a fabulous crispy skin that was used as a garnish.

The salmon was centred on a circle of broth and topped with a garnish of thinly shaved fennel, red onion and orange salad along with the crispy skin. Peas, ham and basil oil were used sparingly to finish the dish.

Not only did it look good, the flavours were superb. The salmon cooked to perfection, silky smooth pea broth and a delightfully fresh salad to balance the richness of the salmon and peas.

Well done Bernard and Steve, I do suspect you may have to do it all again early next year!!

What followed next was both a surprise and delight to all of us. This was in the form of a cheese new to most.

Challerhocker (pronounced ‘Holler Hocker’) is an Artisan Swiss cheese from St Gallen.

Malty and sweet with a spicy finish, Challerhocker is a 21st-century Swiss cheese.

With a change in regulations during the 90s, the Master Appenzeller Cheesemaker, Walter Rass, created a new cheese using rich pure Jersey milk, and a secret blend of wines, herbs and spices.

He aged it for 8 months and named it ‘Challerhocker ‘meaning ‘sitting in a cellar’.

The washed rind produces a robust, tacky rind and contributes to the nutty aroma of the dense white paste.

The cheese was well received by all, I am sure we will see it again and many thanks to our Cheese Master Mark for finding this beauty!

Well done again to all involved, you have set a very high benchmark indeed!

9 April 2024 David Madson

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 02:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Our Chef of The Day was David Madson with his team James Tinslay and Peter Fitzpatrick assisting with lunch today following our Society AGM.

Canapés

Given that our apéritif window was more than usual the team responded with plentiful canapés.

First up was smoked trout terrine consisting of smoked trout, pitted Sicilian olives, EVOO, lemon zest and basil served on toasts. Great texture and flavour with the lemon zest dominating the finish on the palate.

Then followed pork and prawn patties made with garlic, ginger, fish and soy sauce, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, spring onions and coriander. They were a balanced texture and flavour hit, served warm on spoons topped with mango chutney.

James Tinslay prepared perfectly cooked chicken skewers that were marinated in soy, honey, ginger and garlic.

There are many favourable comments on the canapés today.

Main course

David presented meatballs and pasta. In this case, the pasta is mafalda.

It is a challenge to cook pasta for the multitude and David succeeded with the pasta “al dente” and meatballs moist and flavoursome, the key to keeping it moist was ricotta mixed with the pork and veal. The ricotta is a good binding agent for meatballs. They were cooked in house today and served with passata.

A good hearty comfort meal for autumn and well executed.

Sourdough bread was from Cornucopia Naremburn.

Thank you, David.

Cheese

Mark Bradford presented the cheese today an Italian blue cow's milk cheese that most members correctly guessing its origin.

The most popular form of Gorgonzola in Italy is known as Dolce Gorgonzola, the term used for young or sweet cheese.

The Mauri family make cheese using local milk from the lush pastures around their dairy in Lombardy and mature it in their mountain caves. Typically made from a single milking, the white interior has thick green lines of mould and a soft creamy flavour. The crusty rind bulges as it matures and develops distinct yeasty flavours reminiscent of Taleggio.

Gorgonzola Dolce is soft, sweet, with a subtle creamy texture, and piquant finish.

David accompanied the cheese with a mixed salad of cos, radicchio, endive, finely sliced red onion and herbs. Dressed with red wine vinegar, we needed some greens a good finish to the hearty dishes served beforehand.

Wine

Lunch today followed the AGM for 2024. An orderly meeting, with the members congratulating the Committee on their stewardship of the Society over the last year. Money in the bank and plenty of wine in the cellar, who could ask for more?

My wine report on the lunch today will be a bit of a dog’s breakfast for the following reasons, First, many wines were served before and during lunch meaning that every table had different wines and two, I misplaced my tasting notes. By way of explanation, I was so giddy and discombobulated by the joy of being re-elected to the Committee, I relaxed my usual restraint with the aperitif wines and found that I was congratulating myself by sampling plenty of the 27 or so wines put on the table, a blunder on my part. Our wine master was conducting a clear out of various odds and ends, A good idea. With regard to the red wines each table received something different, so I can only comment on the wines I had, going from memory alone.

The first white wine I had was the Collector Chardonnay 2021, which we had a few weeks ago. I liked it then and liked it again today, despite words of disapproval ringing in my ears from some of our experts who regarded the wine as a model for poor winemaking! So it goes! The second wine I had was from Orlando, a Chardonnay. I recorded the details which are now forever lost with my notes. From recollection, the wine was quite passable for an economy class aperitif wine. I did not record any of the many white wines that followed.

On our table, I recorded three of the wines that were served, although there may have been a fourth, that I did not taste. The first two were Italian, A Massolino Barbera D’Alba 2016. followed by a Podere Poggio Chianti Classico from 2015, a Sangiovese. Both wines were excellent, the Sangiovese being much more full-bodied, with a stronger finish. Together they were a perfect match with the Italian meatballs and pasta.

The third wine I tasted was one of my favourites, the Seppelt St Peters Shiraz from 2010 as I recall. We have been fortunate in the past by having this wine on a few occasions, always a treat. In my view, one of the top half-dozen Shiraz in Australia. Enough said!

That’s all folks, sorry about this report, it was just one of those days. I am away next week, but back the week after. I promise to keep my notes secure next time.

2 April 2024 Mark Bradford

Tue, 02 Apr 2024 01:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

A small but dedicated group of members were present for our post Easter lunch with Cheesemaster Mark Bradford on the hobs for the fifth “cook off’ for our chef of the year award.

Mark was assisted by Denys Moore.

Canapés

Keeping with the Italian theme we had ‘caprese’ skewers of tomato bocconcini, basil with a balsamic spray. Tomatoes are near the end of their season the skin was a little thick. Denys advised they were on special at Woollies!

Next up sardine pâté on Italian garlic toasts topped with carrot Portuguese sardines, olives, onion, chives and coriander, lime juice, mayo, olive oil, salt and pepper. They were a little runny it could have had something to bolster the texture like butter or white beans.

Main

This was the star of the lunch Mark reprising his brilliant version of Polpettonne.

Great presentation of a “meatloaf slice” with the colours reminding us of the Italian flag colours. It’s usually mixed pork and veal baked in a log, wrapped in pancetta with string and having a filling such as cheese. Mark wanted to try individual portions and was concerned about leakage of cheese during baking, so chose to blind bake impervious shortcrust pastry shells. These were lined with prosciutto (sides and base) and filled with a mix of Feather and Bone pork and veal mince, garlic, oregano, fresh rosemary, panko crumbs, egg and feta and cooked in batches for 40 minutes.

It was topped with taleggio and cooked for a further 20 minutes. The individual meatloaf in its pastry shell was served on rings of mash, white and green. The white was a silky Paris mash of unpeeled washed potatoes put through a potato ricer, lots of cold butter added, as well as warm milk. The green ring was pea (frozen) and mint (fresh from Mark’s garden) puree. Sauteed garlic and French onions, peas brought to a simmer for two minutes then blitzed through a food processor with a small quantity of mint, salt and white pepper. This was then forced through a sieve to remove pulp. Looked great and tasted even better.

The dish needed red, and Mark created a topping of Roma tomatoes reduced slightly in sauteed garlic, treated with a stick blender and forced through a sieve to remove pulp. Warmed on the day with fresh torn basil leaves, and carrot shaves on the pie!

The bread today a sourdough baguette from Baker’s delight. Liked it.

Cheese

Plenty of cheese today with no-one guessing its style or origin. It was a cow's milk cheddar from Victoria.

A cheese we’re familiar with “Maffra red wax” young and creamy with good flavour.

Mark served this with dried apricots, figs and hazelnut nuts.

It was a mature Cheddar with a smooth texture and a distinctive sharp flavour.

The Maffra Cheese Company is in Gippsland where Ferial Zekiman and her team produce a delicious range of farmhouse cheeses using milk from her herd of Holstein-Friesian cows that graze on the lush green pastures surrounding the farm and dairy.

This creamy waxed cheddar has subtle fruity tones and a delicate nuttiness.

Wine

After last week’s party for Peter Manners 100th birthday, we were all fully prepared for a modest function today. At our age you cannot have too much fun too soon! It could be medically dangerous! A little restraint is a good thing. Nonetheless, Mark Bradford put on for the 30 or so attendees, a splendid lunch, see the food report for more detail.

Our first wine was indeed a cracker. A Lindemans Reserve Hunter Sem Bin 150 2011, 12.5% This wine was a most interesting comparison to the Tyrrells Vat 1 from the same year we had last week. The Tyrrells was developed, deep straw colour, gleaming and clean, looking every bit an aged Hunter Sem of high quality. The Lindemans today was a totally different wine, but from the same year. Far lighter in colour and texture, with lots of acid, but well balanced with abundant fruit of lemon zest and citrus overtones. Very hard to accept that they were from the same district, same year, and same grape variety. No doubt the difference was in the wine making. The Tyrrells was easily identifiable as a Tyrrells wine, the Lindemans totally different. Go with the style you prefer. The Tyrrells from last week offered the classic aged Hunter Sem style. Enjoy with cheese or fruit. The Lindemans today offered a firm crisp finish, wonderful vibrant fruit with superb balance and a promise of many years ahead of beautiful drinking Enjoy with oysters. Hope we have more of this wine in our cellar. For a 13 yo Sem it looks more like a 5 yo! Time will tell!

Wine No 2 was a Dolcetto d’Alba from Massolino 2016, 14%. Normally not regarded as a serious wine, “the sweet little one“, as it translates into English, is the perfect wine to be chugged down with a pizza or spaghetti marinara without too much thought into what you were drinking, nothing wrong with that! Particularly if your attention was distracted by an attractive female sitting opposite playing footsies with your feet! Where was I now ?? Oh, yes the wine. This Dolcetto was a terrific wine, deep colour, and loads of ripe fruit but in perfect harmony with the acid/tannin /oak. A delightful food wine, much better than I expected.

Wine No 3 was another Italian, more please, a Podere Poggio Chianti Classico from 2015 13.5%. A Sangiovese. Excellent. Same depth of colour as the previous wine, but a little bit finer in the mouthfeel dept. There was nothing between these two wines at the end of the day, and I think some at my table were sliding towards the Dolcetto as their favourite. A close call, both wines were the perfect match for a quality Italian meal. They would take your thoughts off playing footsies, at least for a while! Both wines were doing their job, complimenting the food, not dominating.

Wine No 4 was the Yalumba Menzies, the “Cigar“, named after the narrow strip of Terra Rossa soil in Coonawarra. The wine was from 2009 at 14%. This wine is now 15 yo and is still looking good. Classic Oz, huge Cabernet fruit, tannin, oak and alcohol, the winning blend for our wines in the past. I really enjoyed the wine, but at the same time I could understand that folk nowadays are seeking a lighter, less alcohol and tannin style with the accent on elegance. I do not blame them. Still, this wine is an Australian Classic, from the Old School, with plenty of time ahead of it.

The final wine was a Viognier 2014, 13% from the great winemaker Gary Farr, who has made some terrific wines in the past from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Why on earth would a top winemaker like Farr devalue the currency of his wines by introducing Viognier? in my view an uncouth grape, cloying and unctuous, although it does claim to be a cousin of Nebbiolo, a claim that would need to be fact-checked! Readers of this regular report would be aware that I do not have a high regard to this grape. But like a stray dog that keeps turning up on your doorstep, in recent times I seem to have to open my door to this unwelcome arrival far more often than is desirable. Witness today. Another one. We must have had 3 or 4 of these in the last few months. Anyhow to be fair, the wine today was to my taste, passable with the cheese. Palates more expert than mine speak highly of the wine, well that’s fine, they can have mine, I’ll have a Chardy thanks!

26 March 2024 Peter's 100th Escoffier CoTD

Tue, 26 Mar 2024 01:30:00 GMT

Food review by Mark Bradford and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Today saw the much anticipated 100th birthday of the highly popular World War 2 vet, Mr Peter Manners. Happy Birthday Peter for 30 March! A full house on the day of 60 with members and Peter’s son, Andrew. The lunch was a fusion of Wine and Food Society and Escoffier expertise in the kitchen: Chris North and Bill Alexiou on canapes and Nick Reynolds and Ian Mackenzie on mains. As Peter was born in England, the theme was English fare.

Canapes

Our birthday man Peter is known as the King of Canapes, having introduced them in a “formal” way many years ago and being very much a part of a Society lunch. First up was a scallop on a spoon with curried cauliflower puree. We enjoyed “not pigs in a blanket”, dates stuffed with English cheddar and wrapped with English bacon. The third canape was somewhat unusual, “River Cam Pie”, twice cooked beef cheek (in French Onion Soup) in a pastry case topped with mushy pea purée. All excellent; a fitting tribute to the KoC.

Main

The main was Beef Wellington. Fillet steak cooked sous vide at 65 C for one and a half hours brushed with Dijon mustard, with a mushroom, shallot, garlic, and thyme duxelle wrapped in prosciutto. These were then wrapped in crêpes and then in Carême all-butter puff pastry with a puff pastry lattice. The Wellingtons were then brushed with an egg wash and baked so that the puff was well-browned. Each serve was accompanied by a Dutch carrot and two baked Kestrel potatoes. The dish was sauced with a heavily reduced, pressure-cooked, homemade beef stock. A delightful main course with the beef cooked to perfection.

Cheese

The Cheese Master selected Colston Basset Stilton for the day, from Nottinghamshire. It was served with honey-glazed walnuts and dates, and was a good match with the sweet sherry selected for the course.

Colston Bassett is one of the smallest producers of Stilton and has been doing so since 1913. Their cheeses are rich, complex, and long-lasting in flavour.

A limited quantity of Stilton is made at the dairy to a traditional recipe exclusively for Neal’s Yard Dairy using animal rennet, which creates a delicate, friable texture and long, complex flavour. Curds are hand ladled into cylindrical moulds; a time-consuming and painstaking process, but one that helps to preserve the structure of the curd and deliver a smooth, rich, textured cheese.

The piercing takes place later in the maturation process in order to strike the right balance between creamy, flavoursome paste and blue mould.

During maturation, the crusty rind forms naturally, encouraged by rubbing and brushing, and after spiking, blueing radiates from the centre. This is a buttery, silky cheese with an elegant sweetness.

Colston Bassett is one of the smallest producers of Stilton and has been doing so since 1913. Their cheeses are rich, complex and long-lasting in flavour.

A limited quantity of Stilton is made at the dairy to a traditional recipe exclusively.

Dessert

What would a birthday celebration of such significance be without a birthday cake? The light fruit cake, topped with 100 candles, was made from a Larousse patisserie and baking recipe with Pedro Ximenez-soaked golden raisins, mixed peel, mixed glacé cherries and dried cranberries. Birthday boy Peter Manners provided Nick Reynolds with the cake pan that Peter used in 2016 to make Wal Edwards' 100th birthday cake.

A most memorable lunch and a great milestone for Peter.

Wine

Wow! What a day, Peter, can you have another birthday lunch again next year? Where to begin? At the beginning I guess, is the best place.

Our WFS team in the kitchen together with the Escoffier crew put together a superb lunch, with great pass-arounds and a magnificent main and cheese. See the food review for details.

About the wines, all eagerly awaited, we commenced with a Bubb + Pooley Chardonnay from the Coal River region of Tas, 2022, 13%. I have enjoyed Pooley Chardonnays before, always outstanding, but I am afraid to say this wine was not in the same class. Quality fruit and well balanced with a crisp finish, but very restrained and tight, like the Brian Croser early Petaluma Chardonnays. The problem for me was that the wine did not have much flavour! There was little to offer on the front palate or back palate. It left the mouth without saying goodbye! No doubt some of our experts will tell me I should have enjoyed the wine more than I did, but I can only assess the wine on how it presented to me. A tad disappointing, perhaps I was expecting too much.

We then moved on to the main attraction three superb red wines, a Bordeaux, a Hunter Shiraz and a Barossa Shiraz. This was an occasion for high excitement, which delivered in spades.

The first wine of this group was the Ch Clos Du Marquis from St Julian, 2010 13.5%, a blend of Cabernet 72%, Merlot 27% and a dash of Cab Franc. The Commune of St Julian boasts of more Classified Growths than any other Commune in Bordeaux. To use a real estate analogy, St Julian is the Point Piper of Bordeaux. The Marquis is the next-door neighbour of the prestigious Ch Leoville-Las-Cases. The wine was to me a very typical quality Bordeaux. The nose, the mouthfeel and the sheer quality of the fruit/oak/tannin mix just stay with you well after the wine has been drunk. In my view, no other wine in the world has that quality. The deep colour and the power of the fruit, but perfectly balanced, finishing with an elegant silky finish is a joy forever. That Bordeaux aroma leaves me in a trance-like state. To try to describe that aroma is a good occasion to fall back on the French expression, “je ne sais quoi“ says it all for those of us who run out of adjectives. I have always thought a Bordeaux like this never leaves the memory, the French have a perfume from the House of Worth “Je Reviens“, which translates into “I will return“. That aroma always does for me.

The second wine in this group was the Tyrrells Johnno’s Shiraz 2014, 14%. The problem with this wine is that it was “batting after Bradman“ as the old saying goes. A hard tag to shake off. But casting that hex aside the wine was beautiful. Medium body, noticeably lighter in colour than the previous wine, but excellent spicy fruit, firm tannic finish with great aftertaste, A lovely wine, with years ahead of enjoyable drinking. Yet another testimony to the fantastic vintage of 2014 in the Hunter.

The third wine of the bracket was the 2010 Penfolds St Henri. More praise to our wine masters past and present for delivering to us today, in perfect condition, a wine I would regard as one of the best Australian red wines made in the last 30 years. This wine is exceptional. I had the good fortune to share a bottle with friends 12 months ago and we all agreed it was outstanding, a quantum leap from St Henri’s of the past which had suffered a decline in quality for a decade or so. The vintage year 2010 was an exceptional vintage for the Barossa which this wine demonstrates. The wine had an alcohol level of 14.5%, but the quality of the fruit and outstanding wine-making ensured that a balance between fruit/acid, tannin and oak produced a superb wine with a chewy, almost sweet fruit aftertaste. It lingered. A glorious wine. I can see it still giving a thrill to those lucky enough to sample it in 20 years. What impresses me about the wine, is that despite its hugeness, it is almost elegant and supple, what higher praise could one afford for a wine?

The final bracket for the cheese was a magnificent old Hunter Sem, the Tyrrells Vat 1 2011, coupled with a Pedro Ximenez Sherry from Spain.

The Tyrrells was graceful and fully developed wine, which now at 13 yo would be classified as a Trophy standard aged Semillon. There is no other wine in the world like it. Golden deep straw colour, gleaming and clear with a faint aroma of honey and toast overtones. Plenty of acid so the future looks as bright as this wine is at present. Powerful fruit flavours, still fresh and clean, a great match with the Stilton.

The final wine was the Sherry, a Pedro Ximenez. Deep brown, with an aroma of mixed stewed fruits, nuts and raisins. Very sweet and opulent, cuts through the strong flavoured Stilton, leaving a very enjoyable aftertaste.

And so we reached the end of the afternoon, a memorable occasion. My pick for the wine of the day was the Marquis, I just cannot get past that French connection.

A final thank you to all who put their shoulder to the wheel to make it happen. Our Food Master, our Wine Master, our Cheese Master, the Escoffier team and the REX kitchen.

19 March 2024 James Hill

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 01:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O’Halloran

Food

Canapes

Fourth cook-off for our coveted ‘Chef of the Year’ award today with yours truly in the kitchen with Jonathan Casson, Gary Linnane and Chilly Hargrave assisting with canapés.

Johnathan kicked off canapés with some rice crackers topped with ricotta, fig and Serrano Jamón. Jonathan had soaked dried figs in Pedro Ximénez for three days.

Loved the flavours and texture in this canapé a great idea to marinate the figs. The crackers were a little softened by the cheese.

Gary reprised his signature canapé a white bean anchoïade topped with parsley and served in pastry cases and crackers.

Gary used the Tarbais beans that Society member Scott Witt provided and added some tinned haricot white beans. The beans were puréed with some Parmigiano-Reggiano, cream cheese capers, anchovy, lemon zest and EVOO.

Full of flavour, lemony, salty and creamy with a satisfying lingering aftertaste.

Chilly Hargrave up last with a salmorejo, sometimes known as ardoria or ardorío, it is a traditional soup originating from Andalusia, southern Spain, made of tomato, bread, extra virgin olive oil and garlic. The tomatoes are just roughly chopped and then blended very thoroughly with garlic. The seeds and remains of the skins are then filtered out. The sourdough bread (250 gms to 1kg tomatoes) is then torn into small pieces and added to the tomato mix with the addition of olive oil. The bread is squeezed by hand to ensure complete saturation and softening. After an hour, this is thoroughly blended again, with water added to create the desired texture.

The salmorejo was served cold and garnished with diced Spanish Jamon and hard-boiled eggs. Great balance of flavours in the soup and very moorish.

Many favourable comments about the canapés today.

Main

Our main course today was a chicken, smoked cheese and bacon rotolo. Served with chicken fat potato gratin, shaved brussels sprouts sautéed in butter and water and topped with a cream sauce. The cream sauce is made with chicken thighs and sherry, chicken stock, cream and caramelised button mushrooms.

The rotolo main ingredients are chicken breast mince, diced salami, onions, garlic, mustard, parmesan, parsley and bread crumbs. It’s then patted out to an even rectangle with mint leaves pressed over the surface. Thin slices of ham are layered and then sprinkled with grated smoked Dutch cheese. It’s then rolled up and covered with bacon rashers and baked for an hour, finally rested for twenty minutes then sliced and served. Decorated with tarragon and chives.

Lots of flavour in the rotolo complemented by the rich cream and sherry mushroom sauce.

Many comments today on the excellent wine/food pairing.

Big bread love by Iggys today.

Cheese

Holy Goat La Luna wheels, a white mould cheese made from goats' milk in Castlemaine Victoria.

This award-winning, surface-ripened goat’s milk cheese is handmade at Sutton Grange Organic Farm near Castlemaine using ancient cheese-making techniques that were refined in the Loire Valley over a millennium.

Lactic acid fermentation slowly sets the curd over 24 hours before it is gently hand-ladled into moulds, as to preserve its delicate structure. After draining, the young cheeses are moved to the maturation room where they are turned daily for seven days and then matured for another two weeks to allow the wrinkly Geotrichum candidum rind to fully develop. As it ripens, the chalky centre softens to a soft, fudgy texture. Delicate citrus notes accentuate lactic sweetness and herbaceous flavours from the goat’s milk.

Simply served with some crispy green grapes to highlight the flavour and texture of the cheese, it was perfect and may be the last time we see it at our Society as the producers have announced their retirement.

Paul Ferman provided the coffee and Peter Kelso a warming Armagnac to celebrate his recent birthday.

Wine

A good roll up of members was treated to some great food by James Hill. The entrees and main were terrific and the Holy Goat cheese was wonderful. Sadly we will see it no more, with the owners closing up shop.

To start proceedings we were served a great Hunter Sem, a Tyrrells Stevens from 2018, 10.5% with 2018 rated an 8/10 year. The wine was a delight, crisp with high acid, well-balanced, pale straw colour and beautiful fruit. A great future ahead. Would love to see this wine again in 5 years. A crowd favourite. A great match for the entrees.

The next wine was the Hentley Farm Villian and Vixen Grenache 2022, 14.5%. This wine from the Barossa was a lot of fun, remember that feeling? The perfect wine to get the party started then let the fun begin! The wine was a riot of sweet-smelling fruit, velvety mouthfeel, high acidity mixed with spice and minimal oak evident. This wine is the elixir for youth, certainly made me feel very happy remembering the days of wine and roses in my youth! Not a wine to be mulled over, just drink it for the pure joy a delicious Grenache can deliver. A breath of fresh air from our cellar which can at times can be too focused on heavy older style reds. Let’s have more Grenache to lift our spirits and have fun.

The following wine was the distinguished Curly Flat PN from 2013 at 13.5%. This wine from the Macedon Ranges in Vic has a huge cult following, as it deserves. A lovely PN, elegant and polished, but beginning to show some signs of ageing with the acid starting to fall off a tad, but tannins still firm. Still a delight to drink, beautiful quality fruit, but not a keeper for sure.

We then marched onto our 4th Wine, the Collector Tiger Tiger Chardonnay 2021, from the Tumbarumba district, 12.9%. Collector wines are based near the township of Collector close to Lake George, but some of their wines are sourced from different regions, such as this wine. Tumbarumba is a great place for cool climate Chardonnay to such extent it is the preferred area for high quality Chardonnay by companies such as Penfolds for their top shelf white wine. My initial impression was of a delicious Chardonnay, great fruit and just about the right balance notwithstanding the obvious high acidity. I was enjoying the wine with the scrumptious cheese, Chardy + quality cheese = a near-perfect match! The wine had an abundance of citrus fruit flavour, and I was happy, that condition again! Dear readers, it did not last long. I began to hear voices from around the room, telling me why I should not be enjoying this wine! Palates far more sophisticated than mine, assured me that the wine had serious winemaking faults and marked it down accordingly. It would seem that being happy with a wine is just not enough. You might think you are enjoying the wine but, with a full understanding of its technical shortcomings, your joy should be restrained and moderated. Pray for forgiveness for being happy with a wine of inferior quality. Mea Culpa Lord, it just tasted so good!

The final wine for the day was a Shaw and Smith Shiraz from the Adelaide Hills 2014 vintage 14%. Highly respected winemakers who rarely get it wrong. This wine was a classic cool climate Shiraz with lots of spicy flavours and firm tannins, high acid, elegant yet powerful at the apex of its development at 10 yo. A very enjoyable wine, well balanced, with time ahead for another 5 years or so.

12 March 2024 Matthew Holmes

Tue, 12 Mar 2024 01:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Hallaron

Food

Matt was in the kitchen for our third ‘cook off’ for Chef of the Year 2023

The theme was ‘surf and turf’, perfect for this warm autumn day. Matt was assisted by Mark Bradford who was assisted by Denys Moore.

Canapés

First up were Narooma oysters freshly shucked by our team in the kitchen. Beautiful and salty up front with a long sweet finish. What a treat!

Mark made some chicken liver pâte with VSOP brandy, thyme, orange zest, nutmeg, shallots, butter and cream topped with pomegranate seeds served on top crostini from Italy.

Loved the pâte a good texture, moist flavourful and brandy and you could taste the brandy.

Main

Our main was oven-baked pancetta (Barossa Fine Foods) wrapped Norwegian Atlantic salmon. It sat on a bed of fried brussels sprouts and potato pennies, with asparagus in dill sauce garnished with fried capers.

The sauce was made with lemon, chicken stock, cream, butter, garlic and cayenne pepper, very tasty.

Great robust flavours and perfectly presented. The sprouts were rendered in fat from the pancetta and served under the penny potatoes garnished with lemon zest. Matt pointed out that the pancetta was cured with black pepper, garlic, bay leaf and pink salt.

The asparagus was perfectly cooked, blanched then charred.

The salmon was pink and moist in the middle, where it counts.

A great combination of flavours and texture, perfectly executed as fitting a coty nomination.

Many comments on the quality of food presented today.

Bread Bourke Street bakery bread today, soy and linseed served with the main and semi-sourdough baguette with cheese.

Cheese

Mark Bradford, our Cheesemaster, presented Comté La Couronne a hard cheese from France.

Made from unpasteurised milk, this hard-cooked raw milk cheese is made at small dairies or fruitieres using the milk from several herds of Montbeliard cows. This cheese was matured in the damp underground cellars of Marcel Petite at Fort Saint Antoine high in the mountains that border France and Switzerland in the Franche-Comte. It’s specially selected for Will to wear the prestigious red ‘crown’ of quality based on its rich concentrated nutty texture, elegant caramel sweetness, and lingering kaleidoscope of flavours rather than on how long it was aged.

Mark thought last week’s cheese the Jaarlsberg was a better offering, the Comte was nutty and sweet, showing a little calcium lactate crystal.

Matt served the cheese with seasonal green pears nice and crispy, walnuts and dates.

Wine

The prolonged spell of warm sunny conditions in Sydney over the past few weeks continued with a very warm, indeed hot day for our lunch, the 3rd in the series of our Chef of The Year for 2024. Today the spotlight was on Matt Holmes. Matt produced a fine lunch with fresh oysters and a delicious pate topped with Pomegranate. The main was Norwegian Salmon baked in Pancetta. See the food review for more details. In short, a first-rate effort.

The first wine of the day was a most agreeable Pinot Gris from Scorpo in the Mornington P 2023 13.5% The crispness of the wine, showing excellent quality fruit, balanced by firm acid produced an enjoyable wine, blending so well with the two entrees. Picking up comments from around the room, it did seem to me that the wine won universal approval, a rare accolade indeed! Not the world’s greatest wine for a pre-dinner drink, but a solid, if not spectacular wine to kick things along. Well done, Winemaster!

The next two offerings were both Chardonnays, a logical selection for a salmon main. First was the 2018 Bannockburn, a Geelong Chardy at 13.5%. Deep yellow, a big wine with very developed flavours, plenty of oak evident. Lots of citrus flavours are evident with high-quality fruit. A very impressive wine.

The second Chardonnay was a Fraser Gallop, the Parterre from Margaret River 2014 vintage at 12.5%. A good comparison to the previous wine. Much lighter in colour and texture. A delicate wine I really enjoyed. Lovely enduring finish. Superb fruit/acid balance. A great wine, drinking perfectly, at the apex of its development. I hope we have some more in the cellar.

The last two wines did for me present a challenge, two extremes, one a huge Australian red wine, the other a thin, acidic dry white from Italy, with no lingering fruit flavour on the palate at the finish. I was perplexed that these two totally different wines were in the same room, let alone competing for our attention with the cheese.

The red wine would need no introduction, a Hardy’s Clare and Mc Laren Vale Shiraz|HRB D646 2008 at 14%. This is the wine you bring along to an International wine show and in true Bazza McKenzie style demand that all you “purse carrying, Nancy boys, clear the table of your limp-wristed delicate Pinots and get a taste of what a real red wine tastes like”! Stewed fruit compote, they may reply.

I am not saying the wine was unpleasant, but that it was a throwback to that style of wine popular in the ’60s and '70s where massive fruit, tannin and oak were the drivers of a style of red wine that many still love and good luck to them. Who am I to cast a censorious glance in their direction? But for me, something a little lighter please Garcon. Do you have a Mt Langhi Shiraz back there?

The final wine of the day was a Vernaccia di San Gimignano 2021 at 13%. I am really puzzled as to why this wine was served with the cheese. Very dry, acidic and has a sharp aftertaste. The Vernaccia grape comes from a complicated and obscure background dating back to the 1200s. The wine is from the town of San Gimignano in Tuscany. My research indicates that the good folk in Italy regard this wine as a simple everyday drink and I can understand why. Unlike Roussanne, a Rhone white we had with the cheese last week which was a great match. Sadly, this wine with its thinness and puckering acidity was not in my view a wine to enjoy with the Compte cheese served.

Irrespective of my comments about some of the wines, I thought Matt Holmes put on a great lunch today for which we should all be grateful.

5 March 2024 Paul Irwin

Tue, 05 Mar 2024 01:30:00 GMT

Food review by Frank Liebeskind and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

A fantastic lunch, full of taste and of generous portions. No one went home hungry, I for one didn’t have dinner.

Paul Irwin (with Steve Liebeskind doing a canape and assisting Paul in the kitchen and plating) recreated his Hainanese chicken dish.

We started with three excellent canapes.

First, we had ceviche snapper with a vinaigrette of orange and lemon juice served on spoons, a beautiful white fish with a delightful kick and challenge to the taste buds. Loved it.

This was followed by Steve’s gravlax of ocean trout with sour cream and dill sauce, served on bread rounds, Steve has done his gravlax often, and certainly, this one didn’t let us down.

The third canape was the chicken tenderloins from the breast that Paul cooked for the main. Paul crumbed the chicken tenders in panko crumbs and served them with a dipping sauce of siracha mayo, finger-licking good.

The main was a huge success again. Paul’s Hainanese Chicken was outstanding, one member claimed it was the best they have ever had, and I would agree.

Paul’s attention to detail was highlighted in this dish. Big succulent chicken breasts were marinated in Paul’s own master stock (for 48 hours I believe), the breasts then sous vide at 63 degrees.

Beautifully sliced and presented and topped with Kecap Manis. Paul cooked the rice “risotto style” again using Paul’s Master stock and giving the rice a complex but delicate taste and beautiful colour.

To complement the chicken, Paul served some finely grated/ground ginger and a magnificent, fermented capsicum puree. The heat from the ginger gave the dish a kick to the taste buds.

Having said that, some members wanted chopped chilli too, next time Paul said he would put chopped chilli (in soy?) on the table for members to enjoy as they might.

The plating was completed with braised bok choy in oyster sauce, garnished with sliced cucumber and tomato.

Paul’s master stock was also served in a cup, for each member to pour over the rice, or chicken or drink, as they saw fit. Beautiful master stock with a coriander leaf.

The bread was sourdough from Harris Farm, tasty, fresh, and generous.

Paul also provided a salad (with the cheese) of mixed leaf greens, sliced pear on the side, and a dressing of EVOO, mustard and balsamic vinegar.

An outstanding lunch, with every element well executed. My only regret, no leftovers, for $10 a container.

Mark Bradford our Cheese Master presented us with an excellent and tasty cheese, and Josef C stood up and identified it immediately as a Swiss Gruyere (well he is Swiss).

This 45% fat unpasteurised cow’s milk Gruyere AOP cheese was well received.

The supplier’s description is:

The methods used to make this cooked cheese are strictly controlled by the Swiss authorities. Once made only from alpine milk high in the mountain pastures in the summer, but now made throughout the year. The production of cheese in the region can be traced back to 1115. It continues nowadays according to a well-tried recipe in the village cheese dairies of its native land – the district of La Gruyère in the Canton of Fribourg (Switzerland) – but also in the cantons of Vaud, Neuchâtel, and Jura, as well as in a few municipalities of Bern. The brown natural pebbled rind encases a dense smooth interior with the occasional small pea sized hole formed by propionic bacteria and small horizontal fissures known as ‘lenures’.

It has a slightly condensed sweet, nutty flavour that lingers on the palate.

Wine

The pre-lunch wine was very enjoyable, Muscadet Sevre et Main Sur Lie 2021 12%. This wine was a good partner for the delicious raw snapper and ocean trout entrée that was provided.

There were some grumbles around the room about the wine not being up to standard for a good Muscadet, too sweet and so on. I did not detect any undue sweetness and thought that the wine finished with a nice clean acidic finish, perfect with the fish. Picking up on comments around the room, it seemed to me that most there were quite happy. I have had good quality Muscadet in France on a few occasions with some Bay of Biscay oysters, a superb combo. The exact same wine here weeks later tastes quite different. Must be the holiday effect!

We were then treated to three excellent reds with our chicken main. First was the Freycinet Tasmanian Pinot 2020 14%. Very nice indeed, in fact, I preferred it to the following wine, a Burgundy. The Freycinet was a wine in great balance, with plenty of flavour, nice velvety smoothness with a firm finish. An excellent Australian Pinot. The second wine was the Christian Clerget Bourgogne Rouge from 2015 12.5%, an acclaimed vintage in Burgundy. Perhaps it was a poor bottle or perhaps it was just me in a fickle mood, but I just did not connect with this wine. To me, it simply lacked flavour. Perhaps a second bottle might cause me to review my assessment more generously.

We then moved on to the cheese wines. First was a Society favourite and also one of my go-to wines, the Seppelt St Peters Shiraz 2010 14%. This wine from the Grampians in Vic comes from a vineyard at Seppelt where the main business is making sparkling wine. The vineyard adjacent to the winery is where St Peters comes from, formerly known as Seppelt Great Western Shiraz, a wonderful wine, full or ripe fruit, spicy with gentle tannins and a subtle oak finish. Wine of the day.

The final wine of the day was a 2018 Yves Cuilleron Rousanne Les Vignes d’a Cote. Readers of my articles from previous occasions will be aware that I do not have high regard for Rhone whites, Roussanne, Viognier or Marsanne. I find them unctuous and fat with a blowsy finish. Today, however, much against my anticipated reaction, this Roussanne grew upon me as the day wore on. A very good cheese wine, mouth-filling, but well-balanced. I think the trick was to serve it with a strongly flavoured cheese, not with a delicate entrée.

27 February 2024 Peter Kelso

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 01:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

A full house today for our first wine tasting lunch of the year. Peter Kelso Past President of our society and Chef of the Year on a number of occasions was in the kitchen for today’s lunch. Peter’s known for economy and keeping it simple. In dollar terms our lunch today the value of wines alone at lunch was $130 per person.

Canapes

‘Less is more’ said Mies van de Rohe and there was more.

First up, two types of fried fritters one pumpkin and the other ‘tromboncini’ served with Ajvar condiment.

The ingredients for the fritters came from Peter’s community garden. Tromboncino also known as zucchetta.

Long zucchini-like fruit with a bulbous end. A climbing vine that produces long pale green zucchini-like fruit with a bulbous end. Fruit is used like a zucchini and has a comparable flavour and is tender.

Ajvar is a condiment made principally from capsicum and eggplants.

Good robust flavours in the fritters and condiments.

Peter served some herring sour cream on garlic-roasted bruschetta garnished with paprika. The sauce was made with dill, red onion, garlic, and vodka.

This herring canapé had good texture, integrated flavours, very moreish.

Main

Peter presented ‘turkey tonnato’, a twist on the Italian dish normally made with veal.

Peter had brined ‘skin on’ turkey breast for 48 hours and then roasted and served with a traditional tonnâto sauce on top. It was decorated with parsley, pickled cucumbers, olives, and pickled beetroot.

Served at room temperature the turkey flavour stood through.

It looked simple but a lot of thought and effort was evident in our lunch today.

Accompanying the dish was a salad of endive, radicchio and cos lettuce dressed with a light vinaigrette. A good match for our brace of burgundies on taste today.

Good comments on the food today many thought ‘chef of the year’ worthy.

Thank you, Peter.

Bread a very good sourdough.

Cheese

Cheese master Mark Bradford selected cheese from Gippsland Victoria, Berry’s Creek Riverine Buffalo Blue. It had everyone guessing, no one correctly. Many thought it was a French cheese.

Made with high quality, Gippsland sourced buffalo milk, this innovative cheese is super smooth and creamy. It has a delicate texture and highlights the great understanding of milk and mould types by award winning Berrys Creek Cheese.

I believe it is the first time it’s been presented to a lunch.

A complication with the cheese today, it hadn’t arrived by noon! MB was on the case ensuring it was delivered in time for service.

Peter accompanied the cheese with sliced fresh figs, dried figs and dry roasted walnuts.

We welcomed two new members to our Society today, John McKenzie and Dr Geoff Riiesfeld.

Our new member Society ties are in the post gents.

Wine

Our Wine Master turned it on for us today a veritable cornucopia of excellent Burgundies and some not so well known entrée whites.

We kicked off with an Aligote 2021 from Bichot. 12%. This grape popular in France is a first cousin of Chardonnay, being part of the Pinot family. Very dry with high acidity.

I found the wine somewhat lacking in flavour. A little thin to my taste. My research indicates that this wine is extremely popular in Bulgaria and Romania. They must like this style.

The second entrée wine was a Pinot Bianco 13% 2020. An Italian wine from Erste & Neue. Again, very dry but with a bit more fruit on show compared to the first wine. Clean and fresh with crisp acid. Enjoyable.

First of the lunch wines was the Bichot 2020 Meursault at 13.5%. I really liked this wine. Smooth with buttery overtones and a long satisfying finish. Well balanced. Excellent.

Next was the Colin Morey 2018 Cotes due Beaune Au Bout du Monde at 13% . Delicate with some obvious citrus flavours of peach, pear and lemon. Restrained acid.

We then moved on to what I was thinking would be the star of the show, the Les Clos Grand Cru Chablis 2018. 13%. I was expecting some of that classic steely flinty, taste, but it was not there, at least for me. Perhaps the very rich sauce accompanying the main drowned it out. I always think of a Chablis with delicate seafood dishes, not with a heavy main course, which incidentally was terrific, but for me the coupling was just not right. The wine itself was fine, but perhaps the acid was beginning to fall away a little.

The first red was Leroux Gevrey Chambertin, 2013 at 13%. Deep ruby colour with some strawberry aroma. The acid was falling off a bit, but still a nice finish with faint tannins. Excellent.

The second red was the Domaine de Bellene Beaune Les Greves 1st Cru 2012 at 13%. This wine to my taste was a bit flat, with low acidity, starting to show some premature ageing at 12 yo. Still very drinkable with mellow tannin. Not one for keeping.

Our final wine was a beauty, the Grand Cru Echezeaux En Orveaux 2015, 13.5% An excellent year for red Burgundy. and the wine soon showed its class. Medium to firm mouthfeel, great balance with hints of cherry and strawberry. Great finish suggesting that this wine still has many years ahead. An excellent long term proposition for those special occasions.

20 February 2024 Bill Alexiou

Tue, 20 Feb 2024 01:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Richard Gibson

Food

Our president Bill Alexiou-Hucker was in the kitchen today cooking for our first mixed lunch of the year. You never go hungry when Bill in the kitchen and today was no exception.

Canapés

Guacamole topped with tomato and a slice of chilli on mission corn chips. Bill loves this recipe, I agree it’s fresh and flavourful.

Tuna marinated in orange juice and dill topped with dill served on spoons, balanced and luscious.

Baked Greek-style meatballs (Keftedes) served cold with a dipping sauce of yoghurt, lemon salt and mint (Tzatziki). The meatballs were a combination of pork and beef however 90% beef for fat to add to the flavour as well also some grated tomatoes, salt and egg for binding.

Main

A seafood and tomato-based orzo dish. Orzo is a rice-shaped pasta also known as risoni. It was baked with chorizo, tomato and onion.

Great presentation with the seafood sitting on top of the orzo with the chorizo imparting a smoky taste to the dish.

The seafood was perfectly cooked with scallops and prawns seared on the hibachi and served with baby octopus and mussels in their shells.

It’s no easy feat to serve different types of seafood and have them come to the table with the integrity of the flesh preserved. Bill achieved that today. A great dish with fulsome flavours although most agreed it did need a little seasoning.

Thanks Bill.

Cheese

Our cheese master Mark Bradford organised a 3.6kg tub of barrel-aged feta as requested by our chef. It was baked with truffle-infused evoo and served with sprigs of thyme then drizzled with Greek thyme-infused honey over the cheese before serving with warmed olives.

Perfect with lunch today the baking enhanced the flavour and texture of the cheese with olives rounding off a great dish.

Surely a worthy contender for the Ross MacDonald cheese trophy.

Aphrodite Greek Barrel-Aged Feta is a rare example of a traditional feta. The authentic milky flavours, crumbly and slightly open texture, and yeasty finish are a revelation.

Greek feta is one of the oldest and most popular of all European PDO cheeses with origins that date back to a time when nomadic shepherds roamed the hills of northern Greece. Today, most examples are produced on a commodity scale and are predictable in texture and flavour, but Aphrodite Feta is remarkably different and deliciously superior. It is authentic, ‘real’ feta at its finest and most authentic.

Cheesemaking for Aphrodite Greek Barrel-Aged Feta begins with only the best-quality mountain ewe’s milk and a small amount of goat’s milk, depending on the season. This milk is beautifully and naturally infused with the aromatic flavours of wild herbs, flowers, and grasses ingested by free-ranging flocks.

The fresh curds are drained in special triangular wedges and sprinkled with sea salt from Missolonghi before being left to drain overnight. They are then hand-salted again and layered in beechwood barrels.

The inside of these barrels contains a unique microflora, introduced by smearing the staves with ourda, a mizithra whey cheese. After topping up with whey, the barrels are left at ambient temperature to encourage secondary fermentation, while wooden staves allow the cheese to breathe. Finally, the barrels are transferred to cooler, humid cellars to mature for at least three months, resulting in a different and far superior texture and flavour compared to industrial feta, which is matured in tins or plastic.

Bill generously provided a half bottle of dessert wine for each table. It was "Samos Vin Doux" a white muscat from Samos, Greece. A good match for the cheese presented today.

Jennifer Darin proposed a toast to our recently departed member Roger Prior who was well known to Dennis Cooper and Jennifer. He introduced Dennis to our Society.

Bread today a good sourdough from Fiore at McMahons Point.

Wine

Nick served a diverse range of wines well suited to an equally diverse number of appetizers and Bill’s Mediterranean mixed seafood risoni main. We started with a fresh and fruity Jansz rose and a quintessential Hunter Semillon, Gundog Estate’s The Chase Semillon.

The rose is a Pinot Noir/Chardonnay blend (Pinot dominant)) which showed fresh floral and strawberry notes on the nose, a textural and balanced palate displaying some complexity and a fairly dry and long finish – an excellent match with the Guacamole and tuna tartare. The Chase Semillon is made from grapes grown on the historic Somerset Vineyard, now a grower's vineyard committed to sustainable farming and organic principles. It showed lovely floral and apple characters on the nose with a citrus and lemongrass palate (with some classic hunter hay/straw notes). The wine was balanced and elegant with a fine acid line and length which well matched the appetizers and the meatballs in particular.

The main course was served with a modern Adelaide Hills Orlando Lynvale Chardonnay and a Trott Vineyard McLaren Vale Grenache. Both wines complemented the main very well (both displaying high acid lines) and the room was evenly split as to which wine was the better match. Personally, I thought the leanness and acidity of the Grenache was the better fit.

The Chardonnay displayed a citrus/peachy nose and a real depth of flavoursome ripe stone fruit on the palate (together with some flinty-struck match characters) balanced with a light touch of oak. This is a wine showing considerable elegance and balance – finishing with a fine minerally acid line. A very fine example of a modern cool climate Chardonnay.

The Grenache, produced by Willunga 100, is grown from old vines in Blewitt Springs, McLaren Vale. The wine shows a very pretty cherry/red berry and spicy nose followed by a depth of savoury red fruit and spice on the palate with well-integrated (fruit) tannins and a long acid-driven finish. A very good example of a modern South Australian Grenache style – highlighted by its fruit purity, freshness and fine tannin structure.

The cheese was also served with a white and a red wine - a Soave made from 100% Garganega grapes produced by Monte Tondo in the hills near Verona and a Barbera from Paolo Scavini in Alba, Piemonte.

The Soave was intensely floral perfumed (one member described it as a candy “bubblegum” character). It displayed a bone-dry peachy palate with citrus tinges and was medium-bodied. The finish was a little short and dominated by high acidity. Our table did not have the best example of this wine, but it was better received on other tables.

The Barbera showed a spicy rich blackberry and cherry nose. The palate displayed rich, savoury, tart black fruit with a medium body with some herbaceous characters and spice. The finish was long and accentuated by high acidity. To my palate, the tannins were perhaps a little aggressive (reflecting a very difficult 2017 vintage) and the wine was not completely in balance.

Both wines matched the cheese and again the room was divided on the better match – again both wines displayed high acidity which well matched the cheese.

13 February 2024 Nigel Burton

Tue, 13 Feb 2024 01:30:00 GMT

Food review by Nick Reynolds and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Nigel Burton was the first contender for Chef of the Year to present his dish for consideration. Ambitiously, he presented this dish to an almost full house of 47 attendees.

As usual, Nigel encouraged members who do not normally cook to each present an appetiser. Today we had dishes from Greg Brunner, Frank Liebeskind, and Greg Chugg.
Greg Brunner served smoked Mackerel on toasted sourdough. This was made up of cold-smoked mackerel with yuzu kosho, mirin, light soy, sesame oil and chopped chives served on toasted sourdough with Kewpie mayonnaise, Nori, and Yarra Valley salmon caviar. As can be seen from the picture, it was a panoply of colour, texture, and flavour.

Frank Liebeskind’s canapé was Eggplant roasted with S&B Japanese Curry. He blended this into a paté, folded in finely chopped shallots and served this on organic brown rice crackers. This was topped with Japanese pickled radish, pickled ginger and a sliver of nori.

Greg Chugg served a Bloody Mary inspired canapé with the traditional celery swizzle stick replaced with pickled daikon, and Worcestershire sauce largely replaced with ponzu citrus sauce. Rather than standard black pepper he used native bush pepper as well as 6 limes off his own tree.

Greg asked me to assist in adding Tabasco to the mixture and an appropriate level was achieved. Some members thought it was too hot but, as you will find out in the next paragraph, the chilli heat was augmented by something of an alcohol burn.

Economics, maths, and mixology combined to give the following calculation (provided by Greg). 37.5% of the liquid was made up of alcoholic beverage. Of this, roughly 40% was Japanese Shochu (which is made from sweet potato and is 25% alcohol), 10% 42 Below Feijoa Vodka (42%), 25% Suntory Plum Liqueur Whisky Blend (20%) and 25% San Baltazar Alipus Mezcal (47.5%). All together an average 31% alcohol by volume mixed spirit. Together with the tomato juice, Greg calculated, this yielded an 11.65% beverage. The perfect level for a wine lunch!

Now onto Nigel’s main course.

He gave us a reprise of his version of Nobu Matsuhisa’s miso-marinated cod.

Marinating in saké lees has been an age-old tradition in Japan, but it was top Japanese-Peruvian chef Nobu who added Mirin and Miso to the sake for the marinade.

The fish used this time was Arctic cod, also known as sablefish, from Alaskan waters.

The cod was marinated in the fridge for two days with the above ingredients and a little additional sugar.

The fish was fried on the skin side and finished off in the oven. It was served sprinkled with dried seaweed and accompanied by black rice, pickled ginger, bok choi, edamame and drizzled with Indonesian sweet soy sauce (Kecap Manis). The dish was topped with a sauce around the side of the fish made up from the same ingredients used for the marinade but without the sugar.

Japanese cooking is as much about presentation as anything else. The dish showed an array of colours and was well presented.

Cooking fish for 47 people is a difficult task compounded by the number of elements that needed to be carefully plated. Nigel and the kitchen team achieved this very well, although there was some variance in thickness of the fish which led to a few individuals not having as flaky and oily fish as others in the room. As a whole, the dish was very well received by members with the dish showing a good mixture of different textures and flavours.

Nigel showed great skill in taking what is typically a shared appetiser and converting it into a satisfying and well-presented main course.

Today’s bread was cut from the large ring from Raffaels’ Bakery in Haberfield.

Our cheese today was sourced by Mark Bradford. It was a Le Conquérant Artisan Grand Camembert cheese from Normandy imported by Will Studd.
Regional milk and the natural ripening process ensure the distinctive flavour and aroma development of real Camembert.
This traditional surface ripened cheese is handmade to an authentic Camembert recipe in Normandy, France. The unique milk of the Normande cows of the Pays d’Auge region and the natural ripening process of the surface moulds ensure the distinctive flavour and aroma development of real Camembert.
The popular box and wax paper wrap create a microclimate that encourages the chalky heart of a young cheese to slowly break down over three to four weeks to a soft and fudgy texture. As the cheese matures, it develops the distinct rounded grassy flavours and famous brassica aroma that make this original cheese so distinct.
While today’s cheese was soft and fudgy, it unfortunately also had the ammoniated smell that we’ve seen several times over the past few years in imported camemberts. As with all strong aromas, including on wine, there was variability in response to the cheese.
Nigel served the cheese with a plate of blanched spinach dressed in a savoury nutty sesame sauce (Gomaae), in line with the Japanese theme of today’s lunch.

Wine

I walked through the door at 12.45 pm and paid the price of not being on the starting grid at 12.30 pm. As a consequence, I was not able to taste any of the Fraser Gallop wine and had to contend myself with a small glass of the Montgomery Hill Chardonnay 2010 12%. I enjoyed the wine very much even though my sample was small. For a 14yo Chardy, the wine was drinking very well. No sign of ageing, well balanced, great fruit and just enough acid left to carry it through. An excellent choice, hope we have some left.

The first wine for the luncheon was a Yalumba Viognier, the “Virgilius” from 2021 at 13%. I noticed on the label that Yalumba had now promoted this wine to the rank of their Premier White Wine, a position I would have thought, had been occupied by their Pewsey Vale Contours Riesling. Louise Rose is an outstanding winemaker and one must respect her judgement, but still, I am a little surprised as for me, I would much prefer a glass of the Contours to a glass of the Virgilius. The Viognier was a big, mouth-filling wine with lashings of stone fruit taste. A grape that hails from the Northern Rhone district along with Roussanne and Marsanne. These wines have a distinctly similar mouthfeel, rich and voluptuous, indeed a little too full-bodied and viscous. You have a glass and that’s enough thank you, please pass the Riesling! As you may infer I am not a fan of Viognier, either locally grown or from the Rhone.

The next wine was a Sake, the Junmai Daiginjo 15% which we enjoyed last year also with a fish dish by Nigel Burton. This wine again proved to be an excellent match with the cod we enjoyed. Clean with a crisp finish. It is a wine so removed from what we are used to drink I find it hard to describe. Whatever wine tasting terminology one may use, the sake was a winner with the strongly flavoured fish we had. A good choice, inspired.

The third luncheon wine was a Dolcetto d’Alba 13% from vintage 2020. The “Sweet little one“ as it is known in Italy. Made from the Dolcetto grape, the wine is light in texture, quite tannic, yet unobtrusive, a good food wine. Nothing too serious, a wine just made for consumption with a Pizza with extra anchovy. Enjoyable, without demanding attention.

The final wine was a wine which in my view did demand attention, the Hewitson l’Oizeau Shiraz from 1998 14%. Note that this wine is now 26 yo and naturally showing some signs of age, but that said drinking beautifully. Made from some very old vines around Tanunda SA, The winemaker Dean Hewitson has crafted together a great example of Barossa Shiraz which has stood the test of time. Spicy and peppery, great fruit with some residual tannin, and a little browning around the rim, but still the wine was in great shape. I hope we have a few left.

6 February 2024 James Hill

Tue, 06 Feb 2024 01:30:00 GMT

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

A nearly full house for our first lunch of 2024 with a British-themed lunch cooked by yours truly with Jonathan Casson and Mark Bradford assisting on canapés.

Canapés

First up potted prawns on toasts prepared by Jonathan.

Prawns were cooked with clarified butter, mace, nutmeg, cayenne and lemon. Good prawn flavour on the toast.

Cucumber sandwiches with a twist … a Neil Perry recipe ..white bread with lashings of butter a smear of hot English mustard and salted fresh cucumber layered with pickled cucumber.

Mark finished the canapés service with corn fritters in a tribute to Bill Grainger. The main ingredients are corn, eggs, flour, coriander and onion. Warmed in the oven served with a spicy mayo.

Bountiful canapés well received by members today.

Main course

This was a riff on a Richard Corrigan recipe ‘smoked haddock’.

The hero of the dish was the creamy well well-seasoned mash made with 800 gms of butter and 500ml of cream.

The fish was frozen smoked cape cod fillets from South Africa defrosted overnight and poached in a butter and fish stock emulsion.

The fish sat on a mound of the mash and was topped with grated hard-boiled egg, chives and a teaspoon of salsa tartufo. On the side were blanched leeks, finished in fish stock.

The butter and fish stock emulsion was poured over the dish once plated.

A rich, flavoursome and textured dish.

Big bread love from Iggys.

Cheese

Cheesmaster Mark Bradford, in theme, presented a vintage clothbound cheddar from Devon England.

Mature, clothbound Farmhouse Cheddar made the old-fashioned way is hard to find, and demand outstrips supply. This rare Cheddar has been carefully graded from a young age and matured for 18 to 24 months. The result is a classic Cheddar bursting with evocative flavours, with a firm, open and moist texture, an aging earthy aroma, and a lingering tang.

Served with new season ‘jazz’ apples and pickled onions.

Wine

A near-full house saw us begin our 2024 season and let's hope we maintain that spirit during the long season ahead. The theme for today was a creation of the talented James Hill, a delightful smoked haddock with superb mash and leek served with a butter sauce. Forget the calories, just enjoy and fast tomorrow!

With regard to the wines, we kicked off with a 2023 Brokenwood Hunter Semillon 11%, which to me was quite a surprise. Initially, I had prejudged the wine as being far too young, “A year-old Sem“, what’s going on? But a taste revealed a fresh, clean wine with plenty of balanced flavours. A different proposition from a 10 yo Sem, but that said, the wine today presented well, with perhaps hints of future excellence. All the components seemed to be there for a promising future. Let’s review in say 7 years. The first of the luncheon wines was a Pikes The Merle Riesling 2017. 12%. In my view a great wine. I always say that my favourite Oz wine is a good, aged Riesling and this wine fits that goal perfectly.

The second wine served was a Brokenwood Indigo Vineyard Chardonnay 12.5% from Beechworth 2014. This wine asked me several questions, which I could not answer.

A great region for chardonnay eg Giaconda, but this wine left me puzzled. Was it excellent or was it frumpy? Maybe at 10 yo it had run out of fruit and acid, I really do not know. My initial comment about the wine on the list of wines was “unsure“. Sorry to be so wishy-washy.

Next wine was the Corcelette Beaujolais Morgon 2021 13%. Now here was a wine I had no mixed emotions about. Terrific, ever since we had some Morgon’s a few months ago, I have become a fully paid-up member of the Morgon Fan Club. These wines are the Rolls Royce of Beaujolais, strong flavour, meaty, serious wine. The Gamay grape in this region produces some of the most drinkable of French wines. No wonder they are internationally some of the most sought-after French wines. Today, there were some comments around the room not in favour of the wine. But equally, there were plenty in favour. For my part, keep the Morgon coming Garcon!!

The final wine of the day was a Wynns Coonawarra Shiraz 13.5% from 2009. Now 15 yo, but still drinking well and throwing a big crust. Certainly, a sound investment by the Society in an affordable FAQ wine that has repaid extended cellaring. Fruit and acid still holding up, a well-made wine, rewarding patience.

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