L33 James Hill cooks up a storm for a full house at our September mixed lunch

Today we had one of our regular mixed lunches with members of the Ladies WFS. I think it is fair to say a jolly old time was had by all. 50+ turned up, creating a great atmosphere in the room, with lots of positive energy. James Hill was at his usual top form in serving a delicious Catalan-style roast chicken, accompanied by some delicious Canapés, especially the soup by Miles Hedge. The whole meal was wonderful & plenty of it.

Wine report by Stephen O'Halloran

We got the party started for the Ladies with what women seem to like best, some Bubbles. Chilly Hargraves’s Bernard Bremont NV Champagne just hit the spot, crisp, plenty of flavour with fine, tiny bubbles, indicative of a quality Champagne. Great with the Canapés.

First Lunch wine was the Curley Flat Pinot Noir 2016 @ 13.7%. I really liked this wine from the cool climate Macedon Ranges of Vic. Medium to fuller body for a Pinot, deep red brick colour, with some quality complex flavours, quite developed, strawberry & plum hints. Some lovely, well-integrated oaky & tannin mouthfeel. A persistent, enjoyable finish. Nice wine. Great with the meal.

Number 2 wine was a Chardonnay, the Helen’s Hill Empress from 2023 @ 13%. A wine sourced from Yarra Valley fruit. I found this wine to be somewhat confronting with its power & intensity. Very rich, flavours of stone fruits, peaches mainly, verging on being overpowering.

Perhaps I have become accustomed to the leaner, more restrained Chardonnays made nowadays. The wine showed high-quality fruit, & its depth of flavour did in fact make a great match for the chicken.

Wine 3 needs no introduction, a Wynns 2018 Black Label Cab @ 13.7%. Has Wynns ever made a dud Black Label? I think not. Sue Hodder & her team are at the top of their game & have done so for years. The wine today was its usual impeccable best, medium body, garnet red, jam-packed with soft flavours of plum, rhubarb, spice, gentle tannins & adequate acid to get to a delightful finish. Just what you would expect from this famous team in an excellent vintage year.

Final wine for the afternoon was the Williunga 2022 Grenache @ 14.5% from the Trott Vineyard in McLaren Vale. I reviewed this wine last week & wrote my detailed assessment. I will not be repeating what I wrote just last week. The only thing that has changed since then is that this wine has won the award for Australia’s top Grenache, announced late last week. See, I told you that it was a great Grenache!

My pick of the day, the Wynns.

Food report by James Hill

Canapés

Miles Hedge back in the kitchen after a 20-year absence.

He made Stilton and leek soup with cream, onions and potatoes. It was from a recipe in The Chatsworth Cookery Book.

Rich depth of integrated flavours, with the Stilton cheese very tasty and not overly dominating the soup.

Very popular with members today. We’ll get the recipe on our website.

Jonathan Casson up next with some black and green olive tapenade on sourdough biscuits.

Terry Johnston, first time assisting with canapé prep today. He seared marinated pork that was sliced and served warm on toasts with sweet chilli sauce. The marinade was honey, garlic, Semillon and light soy. The pork was moist and tender.

A varied and enjoyable selection to get the afternoon underway.

Main

‘Mar i muntanya’, inspired by Lucio Galleto’s casserole recipe.

A Catalan dish of chicken thighs with prawns served in a tomato sauce. Today it was deconstructed. The chicken was browned, the skin crisped, then rested. On the plate it was served with a Roma tomato, spring onion, garlic and wine sauce, accompanied by saffron rice, sugar snap peas topped with picada. Picada is a seasoning added into the sauce as well as spooned on top of the chicken. It’s made with fried bread, hazelnuts, almonds, parsley and plenty of garlic.

The dish came to the table with all ingredients at a good temperature. The prawns were flash-fried at service.

Our kitchen brigade received high praise for their help in meal preparation today.

Bread

Sourdough ficelles by AP Bakery, now at Circular Quay.

Cheese

Cheese Master Mark Bradford selected a cow’s milk cheddar from Vermont, USA.

It came to the table in perfect condition. Many commented that the crust was edible as well.

This clothbound cheese is the result of an unusual collaboration and is now recognised 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 ageing. 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.

The cheese was accompanied by a salad of fennel, apple, cucumber and parsley, dressed with apple cider vinegar and EVOO.