Food review by Mark Bradford and wine review by our President, Stephen O'Halloran

Food

A sunny spring day for our Tuesday lunch, with the REX team presenting an excellent Nepalese meal for the members.  Sous chef Madan oversaw today’s fare.  Out of town member Miles Hedge arose to tell the floor that he travelled from his home in Kings Plains – south-west of Bathurst –especially for the event, and he certainly was not disappointed.  Cellar Master Nick Reynolds did a great job with wines that were acclaimed to be a great match with the food on offer.

Canapés

Madan gave us three canapes for today’s lunch.

• Chatpate on cucumber, a spicy and tangy street food. Puff rice, green peas, carrot, peanuts, tamarind, green chilli, lime and coriander.
• Pork filled momo with spicy achar dip. These were made from marinated pork mince, shallots, ginger and garlic, then wrapped in plain pastry.
• Jhinga machha sekuwa (marinated prawn BBQ skewers). The prawns were marinated with plain yoghurt, ginger, garlic, turmeric, timur, mustard oil, cumin and coriander.

All great canapés, crafted by a professional chef.  Although quite young, the Pewsey Vale riesling was a good match with all canapés.

Main

Madan presented Dal Bhat Tarkari, a classic Nepalese dish.   The red lentil dal was served separately on the table, and it accompanied steamed basmati rice, chicken curry, a crispy cracker (papad), mula acha (a fermented radish pickle) and ghee.

Both REX chefs have their roots in Nepal, and you would not get a better Nepalese meal in town than that served today.

Madan provided extensive details on the dishes and took some questions from the floor.

Cheese

The Cheese Master returned to Australia with a Petit Fleuri, originally from the French Alps but made near Mortlake, between Warrnambool and the Grampians in Victoria.

This artisan double cream brie is handcrafted from organic cow’s milk with added cream.  The rich yellow coloured interior matures to a soft, buttery texture with a mild, creamy flavour, notes of mushroom and delicate hints of garlic chives.  There was a feeling it needed a little more aging.

Madan accompanied the cheese with a tasty green salad including sliced apples and pears.

Wine

A modest turnout of 25 or so, sat down to a fine Nepalese meal from our friends at REX. To jolly us along, our Wine Master provided us with a terrific lineup of high-class wines.  With canapes, we enjoyed a Seppelt Drumborg Riesling 2024 @ 11.5%. Excellent choice, clean and fresh, very pale as you would expect from a 1-year-old Riesling, but showing all the hallmarks of future greatness. Perfect acid/fruit balance, a delight. 

Wine 1 on the lunch list was the Domaine Wachau Riesling from Austria 2022 @ 12.5%. This wine, to me, was a classic example of the difference between European and Australian wines. This was a class wine, quite dry, but with excellent, restrained fruit flavours and perfect acidity. In comparison, most Australian Riesling is a far bigger, bolder and exuberant on the palate.  This wine was to me cultured and elegant.

Wine 2 on the list was the celebrated Seppelt 2008 Sparkling Shiraz @ 13%. What a treat this wine was. After 17 years cooped up in a bottle, the wine burst out with unmatched vibrancy and boisterous flavour, which was astonishing. Fighting one's way through pink, abundant foam (aka mousse), the wine delivered a superbly

Generous, deeply flavoured mouthful of Australian Sparkling Shiraz at its best. Voluptuous, rich, spicy Shiraz, drinking at its peak, although on today's tasting, there seemed no reason to doubt that the wine has plenty to offer future drinkers.  Just pipped at the post by the following wine for my wine of the day! 

Wine 3 was my pick of the day, by a whisker. The Best’s 2014 Bin 0 @ 13. 5% was, in my view, a truly great wine. Medium weight, an elegant but deeply flavoured Shiraz, with a lingering, powerful finish.  Delicate spice and peppery hints, a luscious wine on the mid palate, with just the right degree of lightness of texture to make it a superb wine to consume. Surely, one of our great Shiraz.

Wine 4 was the Society's go-to Cabernet Sauvignon, the Wynns Coonawarra Black Label.  This wine from 2013, @ 13.5% was a delight to drink. To me, the wine provided a perfect illustration of the differences between Cabernet and Shiraz. Both wines from roughly the same year were excellent ambassadors for their unique differences. To me, the Shiraz was cultured, mid-weight and graceful, redolent with pepper and spice hints and smooth on the palate. In comparison, the Cabernet was a bigger wine, full of huge red berry fruit flavours, so typical of classy Cabernet. Red Currant, blackberry, stewed fruit, aroma, leather, oak and tannin, the usual suspects, were all there. A highly enjoyable wine, quite different from the Shiraz. 

So that was the party, and a great success it was indeed. Great atmosphere in the room, lots of positive energy and some delicious food and wine to complete the mix. Today was a good example of how our Society can foster firm friendships between members, creating an environment where we come along not just for the Wine and Food, but also to enjoy the company of our fellow members. "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers".