Food review by CoTD James Hill and wine review by our President, Stephen O'Halloran

Food

A full house for our monthly wine tasting lunch today, with yours truly in the kitchen. The wines today were made available from our member Richard Gibson’s cellar.

Canapés

Chilly Hargrave was up first with a chunky tapenade of green olive, basil, garlic and olive oil in pastry cups. They were topped with a cherry tomato and grind of pepper.

Johnathan Casson followed with some home-pickled onion, anchovy and salsa verde on baked brioche.

Garry Linnane reprised an old favourite, smoked oysters on cream cheese and Ritz cracker biscuits, topped with sriracha, ginger, garlic and spring onion.

Lots of thought and effort in canapés with robust, integrated flavours, much appreciated by members.

Main

The main today was a pork and veal, smoked cheese, and bacon rotolo.

The rotolo main ingredients are pork and veal mince, diced salami, onions, garlic, mustard, parmesan, parsley, eggs and bread crumbs. It’s patted out to an even rectangle with layered thin slices of ham and then sprinkled with grated smoked Dutch cheese. Once rolled up, it’s then covered with bacon and baked for an hour, rested for twenty minutes, sliced, and served.

It was served with a veal velouté sauce and warmed tomato, butter beans.

The main ingredients of the tomato butter bean dish are red onion, garlic, red chili, butter beans, basil, rosemary, parsley and ox heart tomatoes.

Both recipes are by Belinda Jeffrey, a food writer, presenter, and cook.

Much gratitude to the kitchen brigade at the Rex for their invaluable assistance in preparing and cooking our food.

Many favourable comments on the wine and food match today.

Bread was a white sourdough loaf from Humble Bakery Circular Quay.

Cheese

Mark Bradford chose a Beaufort for our cheese today, and it came to the table in perfect condition and temperature.

Beaufort D’Été AOP is a hard French cheese of unpasteurised cow’s milk.

Beaufort made from late Spring or Summer milk has a concentrated creamy texture and nutty, slightly sweet lingering flavour.

Famous since Roman times, this huge 45kg cheese is often referred to as the Prince of Gruyère.

Only cheeses made from late spring or summer milk are selected, called Beaufort d’Été, as this is when the best milk comes from cows that have ascended into the rich mountain pastures.

A cooked curd cheese made from raw milk, the close, concentrated creamy texture and nutty, slightly sweet lingering flavours are typical of this rare cheese, which also has excellent melting qualities.

Simply accompanied by a salad of green apple, fennel, cucumber, celery and parsley dressed with apple cider vinegar, evoo and seasoning.

Wine

A very healthy turnout of 50 or so gathered to enjoy what was promising to be a great afternoon. I am pleased to say that the occasion very much lived up to the promise with some tremendous food and selected  Brokenwood wines to match.  Beginning with canapes, we enjoyed a 2023 Brokenwood Sem @ 11%. To my taste, this was a perfect apéritif wine. Clean, fresh, lively acid with good quality fruit. We have had this wine before, a few months ago, and at that time I was amazed at how a young Hunter Sem could be so drinkable. The same comment is applicable to this wine now. A perfect match for the pass-arounds.

Before I move on to the lunch wines, I must make a brief comment on the food. James Hill must be congratulated on his superb Pork Rotolo with beans. Just terrific, as everyone agreed. James, you are a champion! See the food report for details. 

All of the wines listed hereunder are from Brokenwood. 

Wine 1 was the Trevena Kindred Sem, 2014 @ 11%. A magic year in the Hunter, producing some memorable wines to drink over the last few years, and plenty of time for further development. This wine was a pale straw colour, brimming with juicy citrus fruits of lemon and lime. Full-bodied with some detectable aromatic hints. Great balance. A delight. 

 Wine 2 was the Maxwell Vineyard Sem 07 @11.5%. Now at 25yo, the wine still carries considerable acid, but with a soft texture of apple, lanolin and pear overtones. A full-bodied wine drinking well now, but still has years ahead of good drinking. A fine wine, a tribute to Don Maxwell, the previous owner, a good friend to several people at my table today.

Wine 3, the ILR Sem 09 @10.5%, was by popular acclaim the pick of the whites today. Pale yellow/straw colour, clean and fresh.  Abundant fruit hints of lemon and pineapple, with quite strong acid still in existence, medium-bodied. A delightful long finish with impeccable balance till the very end. Semillon at its finest. 

Moving on to the reds, Wine 4 was the Mistress Block Shiraz 2013 @ 13.5%. red brick colour, medium body with some tannin and oak noticeable. Solid fruit backbone and plenty of acid. An excellent mid-weight Hunter Shiraz, delightful.

Wine 5 was the 2015 Quail Shiraz 13.5%. Somewhat darker in colour from the previous wine, softer also in texture. A wine not made every year.  Nose redolent of earth, leather and spices. Plenty of acid. No sign of premature ageing. A lovely wine. 

Final wine of the day was the famous Graveyard vineyard Shiraz 2014 @ 13.5%. What a treat, one of Australia's best Shiraz from a great vintage. Again, a deeper colour from the two preceding wines. Denser in weight and texture, rich, intense nose, loads of dark blackberry fruit flavours. Near-perfect balance between oak/tannin/acid. In short, a beautiful wine, drinking so well now, but with years of enjoyable drinking ahead before the wine reaches peak development. 

All in all, a great afternoon, excellent collegiate atmosphere, with fun and good humour. Special thanks to Richard Gibson for making these wines available to us from his cellar. Much appreciated by all.