Hal always looks to serve something different and also a challenge.

Our information was that it was ‘mountain lamb’. 

Ten goat shoulders, 5 boned and 5 on the bone, were marinated the evening prior then slow roasted en cartouche in the pan for three and a half hours prior to serving .The marinade consisted of ten different dried herbs ,evoo,lemon zest and juice, and fresh basil and coriander plus a generous portion of red wine. 

The meat amazingly fell off the bone; it was pink and moist, the texture perfect. Juices generated during the cooking were used as a final finish ingredient.

The meat was served with a salad of  pearl couscous incorporating pomegranate, cucumber and further finely chopped fresh herbs that added a good sharpness to the dish. Fresh rocket leaves on the side .

Great flavours today, not too  much as to dominate the wines on taste. 

Many favourable comments on the food today, many reflecting the quality of the meal. As Steve Sparkes said, ‘ the wine benefited from the food and the food benefited from the wine.’ 

Hal praised our Rex kitchen team for their assistance today. 

Bread today: sourdough baguettes one sesame, the other plain from Baker Blue Double Bay.

A beautiful Autumn day saw 48 of us gathered together in our tribal  meeting place in the REX dining room .   We enjoyed an excellent main of roast Goat with a Couscous

 Salad, some fine goat's cheese, all proceeded by some delicious canapes .  The whole cooking team including Amosh, deserve our sincere thanks  for a wonderful afternoon at this Tasting lunch .  

 The Canape wine was perfect, a  Vickery Reisling from 2020 @11.5 % , fruit from Watervale SA .  The wine was named in honour of the great John Vickery { RIP  } ,  probably the greatest reisling wine maker in  Australian wine history.  The wine was perfect for the Canapes. Fresh , crisp , good acid balance & tons of lime  & other citrus flavours . Now at  6 yo  & nearing its peak maturity window , the wine was delivering a lovely lingering finish .Top marks to our Wine Master for securing this wine independently from our Cellar Stocks . 

 Wine  no 1 for the main was a  truly brilliant Farr  Pinot 2012 @ 13.5 % . A wine grown in the Moorabool Valley Vic .  Always a highly rated wine , but this one was to me exceptional . Dark cherry colour with strawberry hints , just showing a few brownish  glimpses around the glass rim , as one would expect from a 12 yo PN . The wine to me had that much sought after " lift" on the first sip as a good PN  will do , velvety in the mouth .   Rich & complex , great integration of all component parts, a firm inviting finish.  A top wine . 

 Wine 2  was the lovely Ch Dominique 2010 Grand Cru  from St Emilion, on the right bank of the Gironde River that runs through Bordeaux .  The wine is the next door neighbour of the famous Cheval Blanc  vineyard, no dead wood here! Wine was a  Merlot blend @  14.5% . The wine was pure class, unmistakably a high quality Bordeaux .  Dark almost opaque colour brimming with  flavours of plumb ,  cedar & earthy spices . Silky tannins on the back palate .  A wine from an excellent year showing it's  best features . Initially the wine   on first taste  seemed a little sour, which thankfully soon disappeared  after more time in glass . Overall, a beautiful wine . 

 Wine 3 was the  legendary Tyrrells  4 Acres shiraz from 2005 @  13.5% . A wine grown on the oldest vineyard in the Tyrrells Hunter Estate , planted in 1879 . This wine has over  the years become a  favourite of Tyrrells followers .  The 05 of this wine presented as an elegant  lighter style , red brick in colour , now 21 yo  & drinking  so well . No sign of ageing .  Sweetish leather & spices on the mid palate , aromatic bouquet with a  complex restrained finish . A very light structure .

 Wine 4  was the 2010  Conterno Fantino Barolo @  14% .  A powerful wine from a top year, this is the hard face of Nebbiolo, as represented in its variant Barolo . 

 Tannic , acidic , meaty , chunky & tarry .  One sip of this wine tells you that you are dealing with a very serious wine .  The wine is  often referred to as the " Wine of Kings , & the King of Wines "  That is how the Italians have dubbed it  over the centuries .  For those who love that style , go for it , my personal preference is for Nebbiolo in another variant , Barbaresco  , a lighter style,  very flavoursome but less confrontational .  In my view a more elegant style .   Having said that,  the Barolo today was in great shape, intense  massive black appearance but on the palate , chewy, thick &  overflowing with ripe black fruits of high quality .  Now a 15 yo wine  drinking well with years ahead of it .   

 Wine 5 was a beauty , the Ch  La Pierre a 4^th growth from the renown district of St Julian in Bordeaux, on the left side of the Gironde River .  This district hosts the highest number of  classified Growth  wines in Bordeaux .  A good address with  the right neighbours !  This wine was from 2009 , a Cabernet blend { 70 % } with some Merlot  & Cab Franc .   13.5 % .  Medium body , dark black fruits , cherry  & plumb overtones . Very typical Bordeaux on the mouth feel with earthy hints & leather & cigar box aromas, a most enjoyable wine, I could just sit there smelling the aroma & I'd  be happy. Plenty of time ahead . 

 Final wine for the day  was the grandfather of the group a 1998 Penfolds Bin 389 .  This wine is now 28 yo  & I must concede I was a tad apprehensive  .   A blend of 58%  Cab & 42 % Shiraz , with 14 %  alcohol .  My fears were soon  dismissed, with the wine opening wonderfully well  . Intense & concreated with ripe fruit . Great balance  , & no over oaky influence although the wine had spent  14 months in oak .  Acid still holding up , but I did detect some slightly Porty  flavours  . Showing the blessing of a great year in SA   the wine is an Australian classic in the Cab /Shiraz  world . In this regard I  notice that Australia is  one of the few , if any other countries that blend  Cab  with Shiraz .   Interesting .  A great wine to finish off with . 

 So , how did all these great wines match up?   In my assessment , it was a dead heat between the Farr Pinot & the St Pierre  for my wines of the day .