L32 George and the team from the REX kitchen cook for the Society

A mild and breezy early spring Tuesday saw George, the newest member of ‘Team Rex’, preparing lunch for the Society. A healthy turnout of members were present to sample George’s fare, having developed his culinary skills in the UK and New Zealand before coming to Australia.

 

Wine report by Stephen O'Halloran

A good roll up of 30+ were treated to some delicious food from George & the Kitchen team. Canapés were superb as was the Main of Duck. See food report.

The Canapé wine was a delightful 2015 Mitchell McNicol Clare Riesling @ 13.5%. A lovely aged wine, with a dash of sweet spritzig on the first sip, which soon dissipated. The wine was in top condition, gleaming green/gold, clean & pure. Some slight residual sugar noted, but the wine finished with a dry flavour, with plenty of quality fruit at the finish. Plenty of acid present, leading to a firm, well balanced finish. A great example of Clare Riesling. Go the Clare, my favourite Australian wine area!

First lunch wine was a German Riesling, the 2013 Egon Müller Scharzhof from the Mosel Saar region @ 10.5%. This is a renowned wine from a top Riesling producer. I really liked this wine, typically low alcohol, with an abundance of powerful, well balanced fruit. No mistaking a German wine at the lower end of the sweetness range, dry finish, so well balanced. Teamed up with the spicy food perfectly.

Second lunch wine was the Willunga 100 from 2022 @ 14.5%. A quality Grenache from Blewitt Springs in SA from grapes planted in 1952 by the Trott family of Wirra Wirra fame. Dry grown, this was a very impressive wine, indicative of how the handling of Grenache has so changed, from producing cheap flagon wines to a lovely, classy wine such as this. Mid weight, cherry red to plum in colour, with boisterous juicy rich fruit on display, along with firm tannins & plenty of acid to produce a sinewy, spicy wine full of flavour. Grenache will never have the alluring complexities of Cabernet or Shiraz, but that aside, this was a terrific lunch time wine.

Third wine was an old friend, a Blaufränkisch from Pittnauer, an Austrian producer. Vintage 2014 @ 12.5%. It has been a while since we last enjoyed a decent Blaufränkisch, & I have missed it. This was a most enjoyable wine. Mid weight, full bodied, with a spicy finish, deep garnet red in colour, a lovely food wine. Come back again soon old friend, you will be most welcome with a dish of roast pork.

Our final wine was an Australian classic, the 2009 Orlando St Hugo Coonawarra Cab @ 14.2%, a wine that needs no introduction to the cognoscenti of Ozzie wine lovers of Coonawarra.

A medium weight Cabernet, very dark, almost opaque. The wine took some time to come together in the glass, and initially I thought that we may have had a poor bottle. However, time came to the rescue, with the wine slowly showing it's true flavours of black fruit, cassis & plum. A bit of the old cigar box aroma thrown in as well. Oak & tannins combining for a quality finish. Despite 17 years of bottle age the wine still stands up very well, with some years still ahead of enjoyable drinking.

My pick of the day, the Grenache.

Food report by Mark Bradford & James Hill

Canapés

George prepared three excellent, tasty canapés for us today.

First up was crispy pork belly. The pork was marinated in honey and chilli and left to dry in the fridge for three days. Then slow cooked and deep fried, with some chilli and sesame honey.

Next were prawn dumplings, with corn, brown butter (beurre noisette), white soy and sesame.

The canapé offering was rounded off with chicken skewers, marinated in EVOO, ginger, garlic, salt and pepper, satay paste and crushed peanut.

All canapés were applauded by the members, matching well with the starter wine.

Main

Today, George presented shredded duck meat with noodles, a very tasty and attractive dish. It had an orange Szechuan soup of chicken stock, ginger, garlic and orange zest; the starch was Hokkaido noodles, and chilli oil provided some good heat – without being overpowering – which went well with the wines provided. The members did their part for sustainability, with little or no leftovers to make dishwashing a low-energy task.

Cheese

Today’s cheese was Riverine Blue, a fromage well-liked by the Society. An award-winning Australian blue cheese made from 100% buffalo milk by Berrys Creek Gourmet Cheese in South Gippsland, it is notable for being the only buffalo milk blue cheese made in Australia and one of only a handful produced worldwide. It has a rich, creamy, smooth texture, distinctive blue-green veining, and a savoury, salty blue cheese flavour balanced by a subtle sweetness. The cheese is typically matured for two to three months prior to sale.

The cheese was served with walnuts baked with chilli sauce and golden syrup.