1 May 2018 - CoTD Graham Gardner

It is always pleasing to see a member cooking for the first time in his own right. Today we had Graham Gardner as chef of the day assisted by Nick Reynolds. Graham has assisted before and felt confident enough to give it a go with the tremendous help that we now have with the team in the kitchen.

Canapés. I like a pair of canapés that provide not only an alternative, but a stark contrast and today we had that. Ceviche was served with chopped tomato, coriander, and chilli on sashimi grade salmon. This was served with lemon juice on a spoon, making it very easy to consume and that we did well. Who doesn’t like a good piece of fried chorizo? We had that with guacamole on toasted bread. A great drinking canapé!

Aperitif wine. The main aperitif wine today was Denmar Estate Chardonnay 2010. This was backed up with some Coldstream Hills Chardonnay and a Delatite Deadman’s Road Gewürztraminer. We were thirsty. The Denmar was still drinking well at 8 years of age and had been an absolute bargain into our cellars. It was a rich Australian style that does not suit everybody but nonetheless style good to have from time to time.

Main Course. Graham took us to South America today with a spiced beef dish with tomatoes, onions, chilli, various spices, et cetera. The beef had been pressure cooked and cooked in the not too spicy sauce and served with mashed and baby carrots. A great effort. Graham.

The Wines.

• Massolino Barbera 2016 (cork, 14.5%)
• JL Chave Cotes du Rhone 2009 (cork, 14.5%)
• De Bortoli Shiraz Viognier (Yarra) (screwcap, 14.5%)
• Bowen Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 (screwcap, 13.5%)

Two European wines to go with the main course today. The Barbera from the 2016 vintage was rich, young, fruity, soft and refreshing. It would have had minimal oak treatment and just shows how enjoyable young wines can be when properly done. On the other hand, the maker has form for his wines ageing very well. The Rhone wine was approximately 50% each of Shiraz and Grenache and had some spice. There may have been bottle variation with brettanomyces evident on some bottles, but it did not cause a problem with the bottle at my table.

The cheese wines were a real comparison. The De Bortoli whilst not unpleasant, tended to be somewhat richer with I suspect a touch too much Viognier in the blend. There was also some bottle variation with one particularly obnoxious bottle. The Bowen 2005 was just okay. It looks a little tired and most bottles were pass their best.

Cheese and coffee. James Healey bought us back to Australia today with a pasteurised sheep cheese from Robertson in New South Wales. Made by the Pecora Dairy it was inspired by a Pyreanean classic. It is at the semi hard style. Up to 3 months of ageing has developed flavours of grass nuts and caramel from a creamy but still firm texture. A first for most of us and equally most of us would have liked a little more flavour in a cheese.

Coffee by Spencer today was an old favourite, Colombian, and apparently it was a fresh batch and as usual presented superbly.

With the cheese, Graham had provided us with some honey roasted walnuts which he explained was a bit of a challenge.

There was some 40 members and guests at the lunch today to acknowledge Graham’s first effort in the kitchen. He explained some nerves leading up to the event which most of us can relate to. He was presented with a WFS apron by the President.

An excellent lunch and we hope to see Graham back in the kitchen soon and enjoying his new role with the Society responsible for membership.

24 April 2018 - CoTD James Tinslay

In the kitchen this week was James Tinslay (that would be me) being ably assisted by David Madson and Keith Steele. This is this of course was a wine luncheon with the usual protocols of keeping the spice and heat level down, which we did.

Canapés. Two canapés were served on the day. David’s contribution was olive based concoctions on pieces of toast. One is canapes was based on black olive on the other on green olive and the visual effect was excellent. The other canapé care of Keith were Skippy (kangaroo) sausage rolls which were a real treat and succulent, given the pork fat that had been added to the very lean kangaroo. Both excellent starters. Thank you both.

Aperitif wine. The aperitif wine today was a 2005 Tyrrell HVD Semillon. This was in excellent condition with enough acid to deal with the fat content of the sausage rolls. The mandatory Sherry was also available.

Main Course. Because I feel that we don’t have enough chicken at lunches, today’s dish was indeed chicken. Some 15 chickens had been deboned and spatchcocked and marinated for three days in a blend of allspice, cardamom, cinnamon, garlic et cetera et cetera. They were then charred on the hot plate and then slowly cooked in the oven. The chicken was served on crunchy pan-fried asparagus in balsamic, duck fat roast potatoes and a Marie Rose sauce. Comments were complimentary but of course the main deal was the wines.

The Wines.

• William Fevre Fourchaume 1er Chablis 2012
• Curley Flat Chardonnay 2012
• Cos Pithos 2011 (Nero d’Avola and Frappato from Sicily)
• Tyrrell Old Patch Shiraz 2007
• Rosemount Mountain Blue 2006
• Duval Grenache 2015

Being a bit side-tracked with the kitchen, there was insufficient time to give these wines a good look over. However, the Chablis had it all over the Curley Flat of the same year given the minerality of the former.

The Sicilian wine sees no wood and was fresh and drinking beautifully. The Duvall Grenache from 2015 shows how Australian Grenache need not be too sweet (as some were in days gone by) and it was extraordinarily elegant and drinkable.

The match between the Old Patch and the Rosemount Shiraz was fascinating. I had expected Tyrrells to be a bit more forthright in character, but it was very elegant and floral in the style of the old Hunter River Burgundy. The Mountain Blue was what you expected, a well-made wine and at 12 years of age still very drinkable.

Cheese and coffee. James Hill had ceded to my request with an aged Comte cheese from Will Studd, a favourite of mine. It was made from unpasteurised milk and matured in damp underground cellars high in the mountainous region that borders France and Switzerland. A real treat.

For the aforementioned reasons I have no record of the coffee of the day except recalling that I enjoyed sitting down and drinking it after cooking.

Thanks to Keith and David for their kind assistance.

17 April 2018 - CoTD Paul Thorne

Paul Thorne was on the burners this week with an undeclared meal simply telling us we would get something Italian. Paul usually prefaces his cooking by warning those who attend to bring their statins with them for their lipid-lowering benefits. He didn’t disappoint. Assisting Paul assembling canapés were Gary Linnane and Nick Reynolds.

Canapés. Paul’s canapé preparers worked on the ingredients that he had bought to make us to starters. First off on a blini base was horseradish cream with rare beef topping. A lovely mouthful. The beef, as you can see from the photograph, was wonderfully pink and I’m assuming that sous vide was involved. The second starter was a take on Italian an bocconcini salad served on crisp toasted baguette. The topping was a basil pesto with mirin. Two very different starters, both good.

Aperitif wine. Jumping back into Europe this month, we were served a Fiano, Ciropicariello Irpinia from Campania in Italy from the 2014 vintage. Fiano is becoming increasingly popular in Australia as we seek out lighter alternatives to the all too dominant, but still brilliant, Chardonnay. As a nation we still ignoring Semillon and Riesling. Go figure. Whilst this example of Fiano may have been better a year ago, it still has the minerality, and light stone fruit that make the grape so perfectly attractive as an aperitif wine. A balcony in southern Italy in Campania in summer with a glass of chilled Fiano…. what else could you possibly want?

Main Course. Paul was back with one of my favourite dishes, pork neck, slow cooked. So versatile and in this case, Paul had cooked the meat for 4 hours with bacon and other healthy and magic flavouring potions. It was served on a carrot and sweet potato mash which was wonderfully rich. Paul admitted (with pride) that there were bucket loads of butter, egg yolks and parmesan giving it the flavour that we all like. It was topped off with black pudding and some of us were lucky enough to get some of the leftover black pudding, which was passed around the tables. There was also fruit chutney made from cranberry with PX and Cointreau thrown in the mix. Paul was a little disappointed that the pork neck had dried out a little in the kitchen after it was cut into medallion’s reasonably early prior to the meal. However, the meal was wonderful.

The Wines.

• Giovanni Rosso Langhe 2010 (cork, 14.5%)
• Huntington Cabernet 2008 (screwcap, 13.8%)
• Vasse Felix Filius Cab Merlot 2013 (screwcap, 14.5%)
• Angullong Fossil Hill Sangiovese 2009 (screwcap, 14.5%)

A wonderful pair of wines with the main. The Piedmont wine was labelled Nebbiolo but given the colour it is likely that there was some Barbera in the blend. Whatever, it was a great 8-year-old predominantly Nebbiolo wine with the sort of tannin structure and elegance that I like so much about Piedmont. The Mudgee wine from Huntington was also outstanding. Whilst Huntington have somewhat of a following in the society, it is fair to say that not all the wines are top-quality. This wine was, and it was the favourite of many in the room. At 10 years of age it was soft, it was elegant, and the fruit had the mouthfeel equivalent to sitting in a wonderfully comfortable armchair.

The cheese wines were certainly a contrast. The Margaret River Bordeaux blend at 5 years of age was drinking beautifully and a credit to the team at Vasse Felix for their entry-level wine exhibiting such a standard. Soft, approachable and drinkable. The Angullong Mudgee wine was a little past its best, not surprising with a 9-year-old Sangiovese. Drinkable but boring. It does beg the question, can we grow Sangiovese everywhere in Australia?

Cheese and coffee. The James Healey cheese had everybody stumped for its origin. In line with the meal, it was from Italy, from the Veneto region. By name, Perenzin Montasio, made form cow’s milk. A strong flavoured cheese it clearly had some age as it was grainy and crumbly. A number of us were thinking of a high-quality aged cheddar.

Spencer repeated the success of last week with his Mexican peaberry beans and once again I was astounded by the turnaround in quality from the same bean served a month or two ago.

With the cheese, Paul had made an iceberg, radicchio etc salad which aided and abetted the fromage.

The 43 members at lunch thoroughly enjoyed the efforts of both Pauls on food and wine.

3 April 2018 - CoTD Paul Ferman

One of the best numbers for a mixed lunch in some time over 40 turning up for our Winemaster, Paul Ferman, in the kitchen assisted on canapés by Gary Linnane. The atmosphere in the room during aperitifs made it obvious that we were in for an enjoyable lunch.

Canapés. If there is one thing that is a certainty with Paul is that will have soup. So, Paul served us a vegetable soup made up of far too many ingredients to list but showing in the taste of potato and cream, apparently Dutch cream. It looked a treat as you can see from the photograph above. Next, we also had one of Paul’s favourite dishes, a terrine made from pork, chicken, chicken liver and a range of herbs. Paul had made this two weeks ago so the flavour had integrated beautifully. It was served on Burke Street Bakery baguette with a base of tomato with herb influence.

Aperitif wine. For mixed lunches, our Winemaster likes to start off with some rose Champagne and we did that today with the Aubert et Fils NV Rose. An entry-level Champagne with a touch of sweetness but still, the genuine article.

Main Course. Paul served us braised chicken which was mainly the tastier part of the bird, the leg. Paul’s dishes are nothing but complex. So, there was a host of vegetables making up the plate, including roast potatoes and three types and colours of carrot. The presentation was excellent as was the combination of textures and tastes.

The Wines.

• Yves Cuilleron Sybel Rose 2013 (cork, 12.5%)
• Fontodi Chianti Classico 2011 (cork, 14.5%)
• Metrat et Fils Chiroubles “Cote Rotie” 2012 (cork, 12.5%)
• Leflaive Macon Verze 2015 (cork, 14%)

Beginning at the beginning we enjoyed the Cuilleron Northern Rhône Syrah Rose, a maker of great prominence for his Condrieu wines amongst others. It was dry, flavoursome, and a very workable 12.5% but better still a good match for the chicken. For many, the Fontodi was the wine of the lunch with flavoursome and mouth filling Sangiovese fruit and at 7 years of age, drinking wonderfully at its peak.

With cheese we again enjoyed a red and a white wine. The Beaujolais we have had on previous occasions and it is a very pretty Chiroubles from 2012. Those who scowl at drinking Beaujolais should have a hard look at the individual Crus which are now readily available. They are nothing like the rubbish of Beaujolais Nouveau that we had to deal with 20 or more years ago. The Chardonnay from Macon was up there in terms of favouritism at the lunch. There is Macon and there is Macon and this one had beautiful burgundy overtones with a light touch of oak and importantly, restraint. I could drink buckets of it.

Cheese and coffee.  Gary Linnane was presenting the cheese this week and it was a cracker. It was a truffle D’Affinois from Guilloteau from Rhone-Alpes. The truffle flavour was noticeable but not so noticeable that it adversely affected the beautiful silky and creamy flavour of this wonderful cheese. Our cheese guys always make sure that the cheese is removed from refrigeration hours before serving so that we get it at the correct room temperature.

Spencer in absentia, was playing with blends this week and gave us a blend of 80% Colombian with 20% New Guinea Pearl. The intent was to bulk up the flavour of the elegant Colombian with the more flavoursome New Guinea Pearl. Whilst I’m a fan of Colombian as a relatively neutral coffee, the addition of the Pearl was something that we should try again in the future.

An excellent mixed lunch with a spirit that underlies the values of the Society.

10 April - CoTD Bill Alexiou Hucker

It being the week after Greek Easter we had an enthusiastic Bill Alexiou-Hucker in the kitchen for a Greek feast shortly after he was elected the Society’s Foodmaster for the coming year. Bill’s sturdy assistants Peter Manners and Peter Squires (otherwise known as the Canapé Masters) were assisting Bill with this complex feast.

Canapés. Of canapés, there were two. First off, cucumber with taramasalata (home-made of course) with brown olives topping. A pleasant and sharp start to the day well matched with the aperitif wine. The second canapé is one of my favourites, meatballs, or keftedes, which were made with pork and beef with bread crumbs then dusted in flour and deep fried. These are always stunning and there was certainly none left for sale.

Aperitif wine. Given that the AGM was held there was a quite a bit of wine with the main aperitif wine being the Coldstream Hills Chardonnay 2013. Most bottles were drinking well, and many drinkers were highly complimentary. However, there was some bottle variation showing with a range of lighter to dark hues despite the screwcap.

Main Course. When we sat down for the meal we were each presented with a red chicken’s egg. The challenge was to hit the egg with your neighbours and not crack the shell. There was some concern expressed that Bill had not hard-boiled these eggs, but that rumour proved to be false. The immediate past President, Keith Steele, seem so happy with his new role that he managed to defeat everybody else on the table by some method that probably broke the rules of engagement.

The main course itself was of course based on lamb. A picture speaks a thousand words, so I will leave most of it to the picture above. However, the lamb shoulder had been cut into circles and was accompanied by spanakopita liberally lathered with butter before and during baking. It was stuffed with pine nuts and sultanas and was a meal in itself. The lamb was topped with aubergine which had been chargrilled. There were various vegetables on the plate as well. There were some comments made that the lamb could have been a little more moist and Bill agreed with this when discussing the dish later in the day. A great hearty meal with some feeling the quantity was probably a little much. We know however that complaints are more frequent at the other end of the scale.

The Wines.

• Heidi Schrock Klum Blaufrankisch (Austria) 2012 (cork, 13.5%)
• Devil’s Lair Cab blend 2007 (cork)
• Duval Plexus 2015 (screwcap, 14.5%)
• Alvaro Castro Dao Tinto 2011 (Portugal) (cork, 13%)

The first pairing of the Devil’s Lair and the Blaufrankisch was interesting. A number of those present picked up on the “Cabernetish” nature of the latter wine which despite the ribbing it often gets from members can be an excellent Austrian wine. The Austrian wine was somewhat softer, even at its younger age, than the Devil’s Lair, which was a very good entry-level style Bordeaux type blend from Margaret River. Both were suitable matches for the lamb.

John Duvall is rightly somewhat of an icon in Australia after being Penfolds chief winemaker. Some Barossa blends such as Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvèdre are about was enjoyable to me as drinking sump well, on a good day. The Plexus wine still had luscious fruit, but the gentle tannins and touch of oak make it very approachable at its young age under the guise of a Barossa wine. Only 250 cases made.

The Portuguese wine was educational and a very good drink. Alvaro Castro is an acknowledged superior winemaker from the Dao region and the grapes used are pretty much unknown in Australia except for Touriga Nacional which is the base wine of Port but is also grown from some of the enterprising winemakers in McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills. The wine had excellent lighter but ripe fruit with great elegance.

Cheese and coffee.  Cheese this week from James Healey was easily identifiable from its looks, which has Barolo leaves encapsulating the cheese. It was Ocelli Testun di Barolo, the cheese we have enjoyed on a number of occasions. It is a mixture of goat and cow milks and has a winey flavour due to the leaves. It has a unique and amazing flavour profile

Spencer served Mexican peaberry beans today and they attracted favourable comment. A month or so ago he served the same beans, but whatever reason they seemed a bit acid and light. Today they shone.

With the coffee and cheese Bill had made Greek biscuits and serve these with dates and walnuts stuffed dates. A great finish.

May Greek food prosper.

27 March 2018 - CoTD Nick Reynolds

A great turnout of over 50 people greeted our Foodmaster’s, Nick Reynolds, return to the kitchen for this wine lunch and probably his last gig as Foodmaster. Assisting Nick was the potential Foodmaster in waiting Bill Alexiou-Hucker.

Canapés. We had two canapés and the photographs above do more credit to the servings than mere words. The hot canapé which Nick had been studiously evasive about and which led to many incorrect press guesses, was pickled young ginger, wrapped in Serrano ham and deep-fried. The guesses were wild, mine included. The cold canapé was blinis with sour cream, salmon, chives, dill topped with salmon roe. Both were delightfully successful.

Aperitif wine. The aperitif wines served at this wine lunch was a 2001 Steingarten Riesling. Whilst the wine was under screwcap, there was some bottle variation but only one poor bottle. Two of the screwcaps had leaked but surprisingly, these were very drinkable. The Steingarten was in wonderful condition at 17 years of age with a developed Riesling character well balanced by the more than lingering acid that had survived the years. A beautiful wine

Main Course. The main was advertised as pepper steak and veg and in a way, it was. Nick’s evasive smile when asked before the meal about the meat was answered during the wrap-up when he declared that he had used chuck steak sous vide for some 24 hours before being seared. In retrospect, it was easy to tell by the shape of the meat between the fat that it was indeed chuck steak. It worked.

The steak with pepper sauce (made up of juices, chicken stock, tomato paste, Merlot and pepper) was served with smashed potato and onions, with garlic and thyme. The main was a great surprise for many.

The Wines.

• Tyrrells 4 Acres 2005 (screwcap, 13.5%)
• Lindemans Stevens 2005 (cleanskin) (cork)
• Rosemount Balmoral 2004 (cork, 14%)
• Seppelts St Peters 2006 (screwcap, 13.5%)
• Torbreck The Struie 2004 (cork, 13.5%)
• Murdock Shiraz 2004 (cork, 14.5%)

A wine lunch at first sight for those who like their reds large, Australian and Shiraz. But looks can be deceiving.

The first set of three saw the Tyrrells wine leading off and it did cause some discussion. It was a lighter elegant wine with marked perfume, not unlike Nerello Mascalese or Pinot Noir. It was also a little sweet for some. Next came the Stevens 2005, which was a beautifully elegant Hunter Valley ‘Burgundy’ style. The third of the trio, the Balmoral 2004, was a huge wine but with little of the extracted fruit that those wines sometimes have. It was elegant and well received.

Next was the St Peter’s 2006, running in at only 13.5% alcohol. The wine was rich but not inelegant, but it did not fit into the top echelon of the wines from this label. Next up was the Torbreck 2004, which had its lovers and haters. There was definite bottle variation with the one I tried being extracted, dull and boring. Our table didn’t like it. Finally, the Murdock Shiraz 2004. This label was not known to most of us and again it was a rich Barossa style wand few who found it in the top league of wines at the lunch today.

Cheese and coffee. Cheese by James Healey today was a Neal’s Yard Montgomery’s Cheddar from Somerset. It was of the big wheel variety weighing in at 24 kg. Most had a pretty good idea of what the cheese was although many picked it for a high-quality Australian cheddar. It was drier than many cheddars and hence Pyengana was suggested a few times. Again, a wonderful cheese.

We had a holiday from coffee today, but Spencer’s coffee will return next week.

20 March 2018 - CoTD David Madson

We waltzed into the final cook-off with the fifth and final contestant being David Madson assisted by Peter Fitzpatrick and James Tinslay. Again, good numbers with 47 in attendance. Notes are a bit scarce this week as your reporter was assisting and a certain vagueness crept in.

Canapés. One hot and one cold canapé to start the lunch. The hot canapé was a palmier pastry often referred to as elephant’s years. In this case the puff pastry was rolled around crispy bacon and sun-dried tomatoes on a base of Philadelphia cheese (with other bits and pieces), and then baked after being smothered in butter. All 140 disappeared. The cold canapé on crisp bread was a base of avocado topped with chopped fresh prawns with cream fraiche crowned with vinegar “pearls” which David “discovered” for us in 2017. In this case they were tangerine flavoured and very much enjoyed and a first for many.

Aperitif wine. It has been a while since an aperitif wine attracted reasonably consistent dislike but that is what happened with the Giesen Riesling 2012. It appeared to be made in the Germanic style slightly off-dry but with insufficient acid to carry it across the line. Our Winemaster, Paul Ferman, railed against the comments pointing out that he had at least 100 dozen left for people to get to know the wine better.

Main Course. David was recreating the pork belly and watermelon dish that saw him get to the cook-offs. In May last year the review was “pork belly and watermelon salad with the salad component using ingredients such as rice wine vinegar, Thai chilli, kaffir lime leaves, ginger and palm sugar”. The recipe was same, but the dish had been refined/changed somewhat resulting in a range of comments. The pork itself was excellent being double fried but some found the salad too strong in terms of pickling strength and the higher level of acid. Others found the meal just worked well. There was some variation in the plating much of it to do with yours truly and the use of the sauce between the first plating in the last. Just cooked and seasoned green beans accompanied the meat. Once again, the meal was something outside of most attendee’s norm and as such should be applauded.

The Wines.

• Glandore Single Site DPJ Chardonnay (HV) 2017 (screwcap, 13.5%)
• Laurent Gauthier Morgon 2013 (cork, 12.5%)
• Timo Mayer Pinot Noir (Yarra) 2012 (cork, 13%)
• Orlando St Hugo 2001 (cork, 14%)

The main was served with a Hunter Valley Chardonnay and a Morgon Beaujolais. David generously donated the Glandore wine from his vineyard. The young Glandore wine was in fine form with just a light touch of oak and many thought that the acid in the wine worked well with the main. Morgon is one of the more substantial Beaujolais styles and it was drinking well with elegant fruit and mouth filling Gamay characters. Once again, the wine showed what Gamay in Beaujolais is capable of.

The cheese wines were a bit like chalk and cheese (no pun intended) with a young Yarra Pinot Noir up against a 17-year-old Coonawarra Cabernet from Orlando. The Timo Mayer Pinot whilst clearly an Australian Pinot Noir style, was a little lacking in character, but at six years of age it may well hit its straps later. The St Hugo showed significant bottle variation and was becoming a little tired even when one got the opportunity to try a better bottle.

Cheese and coffee. This week, James left the well-trodden path by serving us Berry's Creek Riverine Blue buffalo cheese from Gippsland. White in colour with a very slight blue, it was wonderfully creamy and a cracker of a cheese.

Spencer provided us with Colombian coffee today for the first time in a while. He described it as chocolatey and first class. A few members commented on how delightful it drank.

So, the cookoffs are over, the school sheets are in and will find out our winner in due course.

13 March 2018 - CoTD James Hill

Nearing the end of the Chef of the Year cookoff’s, we had James Hill once again cooking for members and guests. A tremendous turnout today at just under 60 which stretched our providers capacity and food but certainly not their spirits or goodwill. James was assisted by Bill Alexie-Hucker and Matthew Holmes and they were accused of doing a wonderful job under the pressure of such numbers.

The write-up today is a little different (and longer) as Tony Scott kindly provided all eight wines that he had directly imported. The tasting notes below in italic print are from the notes that were provided by Tony and distributed to every table.

Tony was invited by the President to give us a short presentation on each of the wines and the depth of his knowledge was very clear. Thank you Tony.

Canapés. We were treated to three canapés, all substantially different. The first two were Ajvar, a Turkish condiment of red peppers and eggplant on Iggy’s bread and then smoked eggplant with yoghurt and mint on spoons. Most of us could eat Iggy’s bread on its own but the red pepper condiment with its touch of heat with a great match for the first aperitif wine. The mixture of the yogurt and eggplant was a simple but delicious taste looking wonderful on the spoons.

The third was foie gras which was donated by Paul Ferman and was up the at the very upper end of the quality chain. Paul advanced around the room with Sauternes in hand in front of the trays with the George Bruck foie gras to ensure that most attending got the opportunity to taste the classic flavour combination. Thanks to Paul for the donation, which may have otherwise seriously blown the budget lunch.

A wonderful selection of canapés to start the day. The Foodmaster pointed out that we were forbidden on judging James’s performance today on the canapés and we must concentrate on the main.

Aperitif wine. Two interesting and very different wines were served today. The Chenin Blanc from Loire started us off with the first two canapés. The third canapé was foie gras for which Tony had provided a Sauternes from the 2007 vintage. Whilst an entry-level Sauternes, at 11 years of age it was wonderfully drinkable and mature but may last many years. Tasting notes follow.

• 2015 Domaine du Closel, “La Jalousie” – Savennières AOC, Loire (100% Chenin Blanc 13.5%).

Appearance: Light gold with green tinges.

Nose: Clean, fairly subtle nose of pear and red-apple like Chenin fruit. Some white flowers – sure to develop in weight and richness with bottle age. Palate: A lovely Chenin Blanc. Medium bodied and slightly spicy with terrific acidity, very attractive mouth-feel and a long, spicy finish. Delicious but sure to improve with bottle age. Very much up to the quality expected of this revered appellation.

• 2007 Château Barbier (J. Medeville et Fils) – AC Sauternes, Bordeaux (90% Semillon, 10% Sauvignon Blanc 13%).

Appearance: Brilliant light to medium gold, green tinges. Nose: Clean, but quite reserved – subtle pineapple and botrytis honiedness is coaxed out.

Palate: A superb, quite mature Sauternes, fruity with pineapple and peachy flavours, good botrytis character, but lovely delicate acidity giving an impression of freshness and emphasising the wine’s quite extraordinary length. Beautifully balanced and while completely ready to enjoy now, this will happily cellar for at least another 5 years. A really fresh Sauternes – not the super-rich crème brûlée style at all.

Main Course. The main came to the table looking serious indeed. Seared duck breast with pomegranate molasses, duck jus, pickled radish, plums with leek and ginger baked in extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Accompanying this was a black dome-shaped object that had many of us scratching our heads. It was in fact a stuffed mushroom (portobello mushroom topped with mushroom pate and duck liver). Theories abounded about the ingredients and nobody near me was close to the mark.

The presentation of the main was generously commentated upon as were the flavours and textures that James had managed to get onto the plate.

The Wines. We enjoyed six red wines over the main course and cheese, three from France and three from Spain. A wonderful collection. As usual there was no standout winner amongst the large number of comments. There was not a bad wine amongst the group and in the end it got down to personal preferences. The Bordeaux wines were the preferred of the first group whilst the Priorat was probably the most popular of the Spanish set. It was a big wine and young being 2015. It has a wonderful future. Tasting notes follow.

• 2015 Domaine Les Granges de la Perrière – C. Baudry/J-M. Dutour, Val de Loire - Chinon AOC (100% Cabernet Franc 12.5%)

Appearance: Beautiful ruby red of medium hue.

Nose: A classic Cabernet Franc nose – the leafiness is there but there is good ripe fruit too. Attractive.

Palate: A textbook Chinon. Really elegant as well as displaying beautifully ripe red fruits that are truly delicious in the rich strawberry/raspberry spectrum. Really classy tannins and characteristic acidity provide structure and balance and there is a graphite/’pencil shavings’ nuance adding complexity. The moderate (12.5%) alcohol completes the picture of a benchmark Loire red.

• 2015 Château de Haux – Côtes de Bordeaux AOC (30% Cabernet Sauvignon; 60% Merlot; 5% Cabernet Franc; 5% Malbec / 13.5%)

Appearance: Lovely bright ruby red – shines in the glass.

Nose: Very enticing – excellent depth of ripe fruit without any ‘green’ characters – reflecting the very ripe vintage that 2015 delivered.

Palate: A truly great de Haux. Medium to full bodied – perfectly ripe fruit with the hint of violet seen in great years. Lovely fine tannins in perfect balance and really outstanding length. Delicious already but this has, in the panel’s view, real potential to age as well for easily a decade or more.

• 2010 Château de Lussac - Lussac Saint-Émilion AOC, Bordeaux (80% Merlot; 20% Cabernet Franc 14.5%)

Appearance: Deep inky purple/black – almost opaque. Impressive and substantial looking.

Nose: Classic Right Bank nose – blackcurrant, tobacco and dark fruits. Lovely.

Palate: A big, impressive dry red with lots of everything. Rich Merlot fruit, nice complementary oak of quality, some alcoholic warmth (14.5%), substantial chewy tannins and terrific length. Reflects a great year. Already ready to enjoy with some substantial protein but has a long cellaring future ahead of it.

• 2015 Clos Figueras – Christopher Cannan Family - Font de la Figuera, Gratallops – Priorat DOQ (60% Grenache; 10% Carignan; 30% Cabernet/Syrah/Mourvèdre 15%)

Appearance: Very attractive deep ruby red.

Nose: Clean, still quite closed but hints of rich fruit emerging – plum and prune.

Palate: A lovely ripe-fruited Priorat. Already drinking very well but with the depth and structure to cellar to advantage. Less evident alcoholic ‘warmth’ than some vintages and all the better for it. A really balanced Priorat that should appeal to all its loyal fans.

• 2014 Bodegas Monteabellón – Ribera del Duero DO (100% Tempranillo 14%)

Appearance: Deep ruby/black, almost opaque.

Nose: Very closed but a hint of pepper/spice and deep fruit.

Palate: A deep flavoured, rich Tempranillo. Showing very young at this stage but with real depth and balance. Totally fruit (not oak) driven, some alcoholic warmth (but in balance) and, while it will go very well with rich meat dishes already, it has substantial potential to continue developing complexity with time in the cellar – easily 5 to 10 years for those who are patient.

• 2010 Bodegas Viña Herminia, DOQ Reserva – Rioja (85% Tempranillo 10% Garnacha 5% Graciano / 14%)

Tasting Notes – Club Aquitaine Tasting Panel: Appearance: Very deep ruby/black. Nose: Lovely, classically rich Tempranillo nose, with a eucalypt like complexity.

Palate: This is sensational – beautifully balanced, ripely fruity, with a gorgeous backdrop of very well integrated vanillin oak, medium to full-bodied, with delicious brambly fruit, some spice, complex, savoury and super long.

Cheese and coffee. The cheese from James Healey this week was a chevre from Jean Faup made in the Pyrenees in France. This was an unusual, semi hard cheese made by hand from 100% goats milk. It had a wonderful creamy texture and goaty/tangy/earthy flavour. A great cheese and the leftover portions were snapped up immediately.

Cheese was served with green figs which provided a first for some who are more used to the more standard figs that are currently out-of-season.

Coffee was from the absent Spencer Ferrier who again provided us with an example of Rwandan coffee, with notes indicating that coffee from that country is now regarded as some of the most high-class coffees available whilst still lacking the grace of the best Ethiopian and Kenyan AAA coffees.

The President, Keith Steele, closed the lunch and thanked the room for the abundance of comments and Tony Scott for his generosity in providing the selection of wine.

6 March 2018 - CoTD Steve Liebeskind

Back in to the Chef of The Year cook-off maelstrom today with Steve Liebeskind and cook-off number 4 being assisted by David Simmons.

Canapés. Two tasty starters today, the first being, beetroot relish topped with half an oven baked cherry tomato and a sprinkling of sumac. It was much liked. The other starter was a mixture of tuna, beans, anchovies, lemon juice and thyme on a toasted bread round. Also flavoursome.

Aperitif wine. Most members today had the opportunity to try two aperitif wines being the Philip Shaw Chardonnay 2010 (Orange district) and the Tyrrells Belford Chardonnay 2012. The Orange wine was a little sloppy with overworked wood, which at 8 years of age had begun to overwhelm the wine. The Tyrrells on the other hand was the wine preferred by most with oak also very evident but with enough acid and fruit to provide a balanced experience. The Belford is not a Vat 47 and needs to be consumed.

Main Course. Steve was recreating the dish that saw him selected to enter the cook-offs, rack of lamb. The lamb had been smoked and marinated for 24 hours and did not lack flavour. It was simply served on mash with asparagus, char grilled cauliflower and zucchini is in a tarragon, honey, marmalade and mustard seeds sauce. There was good contrast colour and texture, in particular the cauliflower which was the highlight of the vegetables. Some comments from members thought that the lamb was not as tender as it could be and with our steak knives hiding themselves somewhere in the building, there was a bit more work involved to cut the meat. The thinly sliced zucchini had a beautiful complementary role with the honey and marmalade, providing additional sweetness.

The Wines.

• Chateau Lanessan 2005 (cork, 13%)
• Taylors Jaraman Cabernet 2005 (screwcap, 14.5%)
• Lowe Block 5 Shiraz 2009 (cork, 14%)
• Lindemans Bin 1003 Shiraz 2010 (screwcap, 13%)

The main course wines pitted a left bank Bordeaux from the great 2005 vintage with the same vintage of a Clare wine from Taylors. Two Cabernets could not be more different. Both wines played to their origin with the Lanessan a good average non-classified wine with a dusty European finish. Some detected Brett, an observation which always has the potential to throw up arguments for how much is too much. The Taylors wine was very fresh under screwcap and was distinctly sweeter in the larger Australian style. The French wine was preferred.

The cheese wines saw quite a large Mudgee wine against elegant Lindeman’s Hunter Valley “Burgundy” style wine. The Lowe wine was well made but lacked the elegance of the Lindemans wine which is drinking particularly well despite it being only 8 years of age. The Lindemans was the favourite of the lunch for a number who spoke to the wines.

Cheese and coffee. For our fromage this week, James Healey provided us with Taleggio. This Lombardi sourced cow’s milk cheese was wonderfully ripe with the external mould showing well in the photograph above. This was a first-class cheese, mild and delicate with its creamy texture melting in the mouth. A wonderful cheese.

Coffee this week selected by Spencer Ferrier was Kenya Karogoto AA from a cooperative in Kenya. We have had this copy coffee before and it has always been well liked and today represented a fresh import batch which had only recently arrived at Forsythe coffee.

Two more Chef of the Year cook-offs left, be sure not to miss them.

27 February 2018 - CoTD - Gary Patterson

Gary Patterson was in the kitchen today for the February wine luncheon celebrating the 97^th anniversary of the foundation of the International Working Union of Socialist Parties. It was really just a front to ensure that we could identify and eliminate any commies in the room. Gary was assisted by Matthew Holmes despite stories Matthew heard about the excitement of cooking with Gary.

Canapés. Gary had promised us a complete seafood menu and he came good on his commitment. The sashimi tuna was very fresh and its intense colour was a stand out. What grabbed the attention of members on the day were the crab cakes which were described as fabulous and for some the highlight of the meal. A great start.

Aperitif wine. Our Winemaster started us off with the New Zealand Framingham Dry Riesling 2006 under screwcap. Framingham is arguably New Zealand’s top producer of Riesling with a range of styles loosely modelled on Germanic styles. I thought a fantastic wine but clearly there were others who found the residual sugar not to their liking and others who just found the wine boring. For many, the 12-year-old dry Riesling was a wonderful way to start the day.

Main Course. To those who have been to meals before cooked by Gary you can see the style. He likes to accompany his main portions with salads or similar to produce light fresh dishes. Today we had a salad with individual seafood terrines. Gary made a point of saying that he had used whole pieces of seafood in each terrine preferring this over pureeing. The resulting texture was excellent. Whole pieces of French sourced scallops provided a beautiful plump centrepoint for the dish which was accompanied by king prawns from the Gulf and salmon supplied by Tassell. He had sourced all the seafood from a local wholesale outlet avoiding retail to ensure quality. The image above is unclear but the salad was lettuce, mushroom and tomato on a yolk-based sauce. A wonderful dish.

The Wines.

• By Farr Char Three Oaks Vineyard 2015 (screwcap, 13%)
• William Fevre Chablis Premier Cru Fourchaume 2010 (cork, 13%)
• Vincent Girardin Meursault 2012 (cork, 13%)
• Hugel Jubilee Riesling 2009 (cork, 12%)
• Lindemans Pyrus 1998 (cork, 13%)
• Lindemans Pyrus 2008 (screwcap, 13.2%)

A great collection of wines which was preceded by the birthday wine from Ross Tzannes, a wonderful Remoissenet Chassagne -Montrachet 2014, a simply delicious wine and a generous gift from Ross. Thank you.

The By Farr 2015 wine was a very well-made wine but was in the shadow of the complexity of the other white Burgundies. It is still young, and some found it a little over oaked although that was not a universal view. The Premier Cru Chablis at 8 years of age still had some lemon complexity and minerality and was ready to drink. Some thought it a wine of the day.

Next came the Girardin Meursault wine which had beautiful stone fruit richness and again the minerality one expects of Burgundy. It was quite a contrast to the Chablis and drinking beautifully. Last of the whites was the Hugel Jubilee Riesling from 2009. This wine was not a match with the other whites but was an excellent Alsace Riesling with less than 4 g/L of residual sugar. The acid and the sweet fruit (thought dry) made for a stunning wine that in isolation with the seafood would have gained a higher rating with many of those at lunch.

We finished with the two Pyrus wines from 1998 and 2008. Surprisingly, the hue and colour of the wines were not dissimilar. On the palate obviously the 1998 was more aged with most thinking it was in excellent condition for a 20-year-old wine whilst others thought it was past its prime. The 2008 was still very fresh at 10 years of age and was definitely showing its regional origin. Fresh, somewhat simple but very drinkable.

Cheese and coffee. The Cheesemaster served us a El Esparto Manchego Artesno (see image of the beautiful looking packaging) from the Will Studd collection. James has been buying from Will Studd for a while. They are a Melbourne-based wholesaler. It would be simplifying Manchego to say that they all tasted the same. This had quite a different coloured rind and was a dryer style of Manchego with some comments I heard suggesting it was too dry.

Spencer Ferrier had selected a Mexican peaberry coffee bean at the behest of Gary Patterson and it was interesting in so far that it was a change from recent coffees. The dosage was apparently the same, but it is a lighter flavoured more acidic coffee which I found to be a little on the bland side.

President Keith Steele closed the lunch noting the numerous stories that existed about those who had cooked over the years with Gary in the kitchen. The good news is that Gary can laugh along with us on these incidences and it doesn’t gloss over the fact that Gary always turns out a good meal despite the path that may have got him and his assistants over the line.