25 July 2023 Paul Thorne

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Immediate Past President Paul Thorne was in the kitchen today, cooking for our monthly wine tasting.

Canapés.

Gary Patterson assisted with canapé’s first up, feta and herb filo pastry roll, served warm, flavoursome with a touch of pepper for some heat.

Then followed spanakopita, a Greek savoury spinach pie with feta.

And then blini topped with creme fraîche mixed with wasabi and lemon juice topped by a white anchovy.

Main

Beef cheeks ‘a la bourguignon’, an ideal match for our wines today.

Beef cheeks were cooked for four hours at 140 degrees fan forced, a slow cook that realises the sinews of the cheek without gelatinous overtones so as to not spoil the texture.

They sat on a butter/cream mash and were cooked with carrots, mushrooms, lardons and golden shallots. A rich pinot-based jus surrounded the mash. Well seasoned with balanced flavours.

A lot of preparation was evident in the dish today within good robust flavours and texture, and many favourable comments on the canapés and main today.

Delicious Paul, thanks.

Bread today was from Haberfield bakery ..this once was the stand-out bread in Sydney!

Cheese

Kaseswiss Selected Swiss Gruyere

Category: Hard Cheese

Origin: Switzerland

Milk Type: Cow’s Milk

The methods used to make this cooked cheese are strictly controlled by the Swiss authorities. Once made only from alpine milk high in the mountain pastures in the summer, but now made throughout the year. The production of cheese in the region can be traced back to 1115. It continues nowadays according to a well-tried recipe in the village cheese dairies of its native land – the district of La Gruyère in the Canton of Fribourg (Switzerland) – but also in the cantons of Vaud, Neuchâtel, and Jura, as well as in a few municipalities of Bern. The brown natural pebbled rind encases a dense smooth interior with the occasional small pea-sized hole formed by propionic bacteria and small horizontal fissures known as ‘lenures’. It has a slightly condensed sweet, nutty flavour that lingers on the palate.

Making sure we had our daily quota of greens Paul made a warm salad of Brussels sprouts, beans, lettuce roasted almonds and sesame seeds sautéed in butter.

Wine

Today was a truly excellent gathering of wonderful food and matching wine. One of those occasions when you forcibly recognise the value of your membership of our Society. Where would you get a better meal and wine for $95?? Outstanding all round.

We started off with a delightful William Fevre Chablis 2018. 13%. Enjoyed by all as a solid, if not great Chablis, very drinkable. Nice even! That was followed by a 2018 Aligote from Colin Morey. A very good aperitif wine, crisp and fruit driven, with tons of flavour. Went very well with the pass-arounds, which were excellent. So far so good, things were looking promising if this standard was kept up. The lunch wines were about to follow up in style, on the good groundwork of the aperitifs.

The main course from our Chef Du Jour Paul Thorne was a superb beef cheek dish with perfectly creamy mash. Well done Paul. Our Winemaster then treated us to a selection of Beaujolais initially, followed by some serious Pinot.

The first wine was Corcelette Gamay Cru 2021. 13%. The wine virtually leapt out of the glass with an explosion of fruit flavours. What a happy jolly wine it was. Warm and giving, not to be mulled over, but glugged down in some noisy French seafood café with a bowl of mussels. Just the way it was intended to be drunk.

The next wine was a bit more on the serious side, a 2021 Morgon Bellevue Sable. 13% This was I thought a great food wine, blending in very well with the beef cheeks. Great colour and solid fruit carried the flavours thru. If we are going up the scale, I’m getting excited!

The next two wines caused us to jump on the Concord and jet ourselves away from France to just about as far away as you can get from France and still be on this planet! Yes, good old Tassie! Welcome to the New World of Pinot Noir If anyone was ever in doubt about the quality of top-class Tasmanian PN, this was the opportunity to dispel any uncertainty. We were blessed by two fine Wines, both from 2014. A Pooley  Butchers Hill and a Tolpuddle. Both from the Coal River region and nearly close neighbours. In a word, outstanding. My pick was the Pooley, 12.5%,  vibrant, strong pinot fruit flavours, superb length and clean lingering finish. A wonderful wine.  The Tolpuddle, a Shaw and Smith wine was just a fraction behind, but there was not much in it. 13%. Concentrated PN aromas with a delicate balance. If ever there was a vineyard in Australia created with a silver spoon, this is it.  Yalumba money, with a great winemaking team and a top location. The result has not disappointed the parents in the least. These two wines were simply outstanding. Power, yet elegance, rich flavours of cherry and raspberry, yet in harmony with acid and tannin and restrained oak. Thank you Winemaster for this treat.

The final bracket caused us to leap back onto the Concord to Burgundy again, with a 2012 St Vincent from Girardin a PN,13%, now well matured at 11yo. This was again an enjoyable wine and very good indeed but in my view overshadowed by the huge fruit of the Tasmanians. It may well have been more refined and delicate but was overpowered by the close proximity of the two previous wines. The final wine was indeed a beauty. a Gevrey Chambertin Les Seuvrees also 2012 at 13%. Say no more some might say. It goes to say, this was a superior wine, by any standard.  Deep flavours of mixed fruit and leather but hard to describe the complexity of flavours and aromas a wine such as this conjures up in a mere mouthful. You can only do your best. A bit like trying to photograph our vast outback in a single photo, it cannot be done! In terms of overall excellence, I felt this was the wine of the day. Deep flavours, yet in balance, nothing too assertive restrained, smooth, warm and welcoming but always holding a little back, inviting, alluring.  Wonderful.

In conclusion, a fabulous afternoon, thanks to all. Looking back at the last four wines, I wonder if we down here will ever be able to reproduce the classic Burgundy characteristics of say the Chambertin, but, should we stop trying? Or just get on with producing our own unique style of PN as evidenced by our Tasmanians today!

18 July 2023 Nigel Burton

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Nigel Burton was our Chef of The Day cooking a Japanese-themed meal.

Canapés

I always think you should involve your friends when you’re cooking and Nigel did just that.

Greg Chugg was up first with a chicken liver pâté made with Suntory plum liquor whisky topped with bottled Bulgarian plums served on Sakata seaweed rice cracker. Togarashi was in the mixture adding some heat on the after palate.

Frank Liebeskind followed with Okonomiyaki with Japanese bbq sauce and two types of kewpie mayo. The omelette has no flour. Cabbage ginger shallots sesame and soy chicken katsu. It was done with panko pickled ginger Kikkoman teriyaki and a third kewpie Mayo.

Kewpies used were

• plain
• +siracha
• +wasabi.

Greg Brunner baked some Tsukuba with tare sauce for chicken thigh mince meatballs with panko breadcrumbs, spring onions, garlic, ginger and grated shitake. The sauce is made from soy, mirin, cooking sake, red wine vinegar, ginger, garlic and spring onions. Served warm and sprinkled with toasted sesame.

Plentiful canapés, commended by members today.

Main

A great meal today encompasses everything that makes a perfect lunch, presentation, use of texture, intense balanced flavours and umami.

A signature at Nobu restaurants, this sweet-savoury miso black cod recipe has been cloned by chefs all over the world. Nobu's miso black cod is made by marinating the fish in a large amount of sake-miso marinade for two to three days.

The recipe for marinating was 1/3 sweet Shiro Miso, 1/3 Sake, 1/3 mirin and then three days in the fridge.

The sauce recipe was 40% Shiro miso, 30% sake and 30% mirin, reduced for thickening purposes.

Nigel had hoped to serve cod however it was unavailable in the market, thought about Patagonian toothfish and then settled on grouper.

The grouper was perfectly cooked with no variation on our table and moist with the intense flavour of the sake miso. It was accompanied by some wild rice topped with konbu, and edamame (soybeans) served on top of choy sum that had a little pickled ginger sauce.

The black rice had sesame seeds, seaweed and mixed Japanese herbs. Kecap manis was then drizzled over the bok choy and edamame and blanched in salted water for 30 seconds.

Much praise for the dish today with most agreeing it was Chef of The Year worthy.

Domo Arigato  Nigel

Loved the bread today, Greg Chugg advised it was a house-baked olive oil and salt bread from Grana restaurant in Hinchcliff House in Young St in Circular Quay.

Cheese

Cheese master Mark Bradford presented a Milawa Blue.

Hand-selected batches of Milawa Blue are matured for up to six months to create slightly sweeter, stronger flavours, and a darker-coloured interior.

Ingredients are cow’s milk, non-animal rennet, cultures and salt.

In theme, it was accompanied by a plate of blanched spinach dressed in a savoury nutty sesame sauce, this is a Japanese spinach salad with sesame dressing (Gomaae).

Wine

Lunch for today was a real treat with chef du jour Nigel Burton whipping up a superb fish dish of Groper served with an exotic Asian sauce, superb.

For the wines, we started with an Andrew Thomas Semillon from the Hunter 2022 11%. Just a baby, but showing all the right signs for good things to come. Would like to see this wine in 10 years. Should be a beauty.

The next was my favourite of the day, a Leo Buring Leonay DWJ 17 Eden Valley Riesling from 2006 13%. A great wine, superb. I have never had a poor wine under this label. Sipping this wine took me back to the late 1960s and early 70s when John Vickery was turning out some classic Riesling under the DW series. The wine today was just as good, in my view as the memory of those past vintages all those years ago. Perfect balance, sufficient acid still to carry it through another 5 years perhaps. Thank you Winemaster for this gem of a wine.

After the excellent pass arounds, we then moved into unknown territory with a Junmai Daiginjo Sake. My first response was WHY! I found the sake on the first tasting very ordinary with little flavour. What was going on here? Redemption arrived with the groper and its accompanying sauces. Then it really took off. A wonderful match, truly inspirational. Would never have imagined how well the two matched. Congrats Nigel.

The next lunch wine was the delightful Tyrrells Vat 47 2013. 13.5%. I really enjoyed this wine, great fruit with an excellent mix of gentle oak and developed flavours. Drinking superbly with 10 years of bottle age under its belt. Some commented that the Chardonnay was a bit out of place with the fish flavours, however many in the room seemed to think it was just about right and well-placed. It was a lovely wine in itself, enjoyed by all.

The first red for lunch was the Curley Flat 2015 Pinot Noir 14.2%. I was a bit undecided initially about this wine as it seemed to lack body and texture, and was a bit thin, however after a glass or two it grew upon me. Some considerable benefit from time in the glass.  A well-made wine from a fine producer, just a little below the usual high standard from Curley Flat.  The final wines were a “Table Drop“ of various reds to be shared around the room. Earlier in the lunch I spied a St Hallets Old Block, yum and a Rosemont Balmoral, both well-aged. I was getting excited. My hopes were dashed however when a bottle of Larry Cheribino Shiraz from Franklin River arrived at our table. This chap is a great winemaker, however, you can only work with the material you have. This 2015 Shiraz at 14.9% and was well made and very drinkable but  I am of the view that this region is not suited to Shiraz. It was a considerable step down from what I was expecting with the other two. Damm!  One of life’s little letdowns. The old saying goes “into each life a little rain must fall“. Otherwise a terrific afternoon.

11 July 2023 Steve Sparkes

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

A full house today for our food master Steve Sparkes preparing a Burgundian-themed lunch to celebrate Bastille Day.

Canapés

Oven baked pear crisps topped with blue cheese cream mix, hazelnut, parsley and a spoonful of honey.

Mini pissaladière caramelised onion, anchovy and an olive.

As Steve says you can’t go wrong with caramelised onion.

Jambon Persillè on crusty toast finished with a cornichon.

High praise for canapés today.

Main

A perfect winter’s dish, beef bourguignon with carrots, mushroom, celery and parsley and a very good mash of potato, cream and butter.

As with most dishes, there is always a variation on theme and in today’s dish there was quite a lot of liquid but not too much as to distract from flavour and texture. Rich and hearty.

A spoon was provided to mop up the sauce along with a crusty baguette that was sourced from Lavie & Belle in Surry Hills.

Merci beaucoup, Steve. 

Cheese

Cheese master Mark Bradford choose a cow’s milk cheese from France.

Some comments were made about the ammoniated nature of the cheese however once the ‘crust’ was removed the resulting paste was very pleasant.

Le Conquérant Camembert is a close cousin of Camembert de Normandie. Its strong aromatic hints of wet straw, brassica and apples and are a reminder of why this authentic cheese has become a proud symbol of French cheese-making skills. Made in the Pays d’Auge region of Normandy, its secret lies in the use of specially selected cultures, moulds and yeasts and, of course, rich Normandy milk. The traditional wooden poplar box and wax-paper wrap create a microclimate that encourages the chalky heart of a young cheese to slowly break down over three to four weeks, eventually becoming deliciously soft and fudgy by the use-by date.

It was served with a four-leaf and carrot salad with olive oil and red wine vinegar dressing to ‘kiss the leaves’.

Also accompanying the cheese was a homemade chutney of grape onion and apple.

Frank was glad to see a salad served with cheese.

Coffee today was Lavazza.

Wine

At the outset allow me to pass onto Tony Scott our collective thanks for his magnificent donation of red and white Bordeaux for our lunch today. In my years of membership, I do not think I have witnessed such generosity in providing all of the wines for our lunch and indeed such high quality wines. Tony, you are a really kind man, and we are all touched by your gesture.

Moving on to the wines themselves, these were all from the Graves district, and indeed from the premier sub-district Pessac Leognan.  We kicked off with a 2015 Ch de Rochemorin a 100% Sav Blanc, at 14%, which was then followed by a Ch. de Cruzeau 2015 also 100% Sav Blanc at 13.5%. Both of these wines drank very well with the delicious pass arounds prepared by our chef du jour Steve Sparkes. It was such a treat to compare these two fine Graves whites. Both wines had great fruit and had retained excellent acidity, leading to a dry lingering finish. Both wines reflected the excellent vintage of 2015. Rich, ripe flavours. Of the two there was not any significant difference, however, I felt that the second wine was holding its age a little better than the Rochemorin. Both wines now being 8 yo. But who could complain!

The red wines for our beautiful main course were Ch de Cruzeau 2016, 54% Cab, 46% Merlot coming in at 13.5%, year rated 8/9. Wonderful classic Bordeaux nose, quite unmistakable, one of my favourite aromas along with quality coffee and hot baked bread on a cold morning.  This wine was a delight, wonderful integration of fruit, tannin and gentle oak. Years ahead of it. The following red was the Ch Couhins - Lurton 2015, a merlot 60%, Cab 40% blend Once again I was treated to that fabulous Bordeaux aroma. Heady stuff. Thank you, Tony.  7/9 rated year, 14.5%. Of the two, this was my favourite by a narrow margin. Terrific ripe fruit with that distinctive but gentle oak influence. Long dry finish. One suspects that this wine is a classic in the making. My wine of the day.

We finished off our Lunch with two further Whites, a Ch Couchins-Lurton Sav Blanc, 100%  and a Ch La Louviere blend, S/B 85% and Semillon 15%.

The first wine was from the vintage of 2015 rated 7/9. Fresh and grassy S/B overtones, mouth filling, lovely nose of mixed fruits, citrus and ors. Lingering finish and enough acid to carry it through. The final wine was the Ch La Louviere 2010. This Chateau is the flagship vineyard of the Alex Lurton wine empire. Say no more. This wine was from 2010, an 8/10 year. Now a 13 yo, but drinking superbly.  Great balance between acid and fruit and with grassy complex flavours, It does not drink like a 13 yo white, Aust Semillon and Riesling excepted.

At the end of this afternoon of wonderful afternoon, I wondered how Sav Blanc could taste so different when grown in France and when grown in NZ, Clues anyone??

 Finally, many thanks Tony Scott. You are a champ.

4 July 2023 Scott Witt

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Our favourite American, Scott Witt, was in the kitchen as Chef of the Day cooking an American-themed lunch. Scott announced most people celebrate Independence Day in the States with a bbq.

Canapés

First up Buffalo chicken wings with a blue cheese dipping sauce.

Scott had deboned the wings to make them easier to eat as finger food and the wings were coated with a sauce of butter hot sauce and red pepper.  A good spice finish on the palate.

The first plate of wings was served in 1964 at a family-owned establishment in Buffalo called the Anchor Bar. The wings were the brainchild of Teressa Bellissimo, who covered them in her own special sauce and served them with a side of blue cheese and celery because that’s what she had available.

“Pigs in blankets” followed, perfect sized cocktail frankfurts baked with puffed pastry and a typical yellow American mustard.

Lastly ‘crab cakes’ Scott has cooked these before and, as Roger said, these are the best version we’ve been lucky enough to have.

Canapés were bountiful and very favourably commented on by members today.

Main

With a bbq theme, what could be more representative of American cuisine than ribs.

Marinated overnight then cooked at 10:30 am in a warm oven then finished at a high heat. There was some delay in the service and some variation in the doneness of the ribs. Scott kept it simple.

ribs on the plate and perfectly cooked buttered corn cob and a potato salad that had to have some bacon.

A lot of effort and thought was evident in today’s meal, thanks Scott.

Cheese

In theme, our Cheese Master Mark Bradford presented a cow's milk cheese from Wisconsin.

Pleasant Ridge Reserve is made in the tradition of alpine cheeses by Uplands Cheese, a family run dairy and cheese making facility located on ‘Pleasant Ridge’ in southwestern Wisconsin. The cheese is only made between May and October, while the cows are grazing on fresh pastures. The grass-fed milk produces flavour complexity in cheese that can’t be replicated when cows are eating machine-harvested feed. The flavours of Pleasant Ridge Reserve are reminiscent of another alpine classic – Beaufort, with hints of caramel and salt, together with complex layers of grass and flora.

Scott presented this with mixed nuts and some drier-style dates. A good match.

Society coffee today with some handmade chocolate mixed with 1962 Bas Armagnac. Special!

Wine

American Independence Day saw us off on a journey from the USA to NZ, then back to Australia. There were some interesting wines sampled along the way with quality selections by our Winemaster. We kicked off with a Kumeu River Chardonnay 2022 from NZ. A very reasonable entry level Chardy, their Village wine, with their Estate wine being the top level. I found the wine to be quite reasonable, bearing in mind that it does not profess to be more than a well priced commercial Chardy without any great pretence. Certainly no obvious wine making faults, good fruit and acid with restrained oak influence. Acceptable as an aperitif, but somewhat on the uninteresting side. The second wine was a Frankland River Isolation Ridge Riesling 2017. A soundly made WA Riesling with good balance between acid and fruit. At the time I was drinking this wine, I felt quite content, that is until I tasted the following wine.

Not recorded on the programme, but produced towards the end of the aperitifs, was a Pikes Clare Valley Riesling 2010. Wow, what a wine!  Despite being 7 years older than the WA Riesling, the Pikes was much fresher on the palate, with a lingering crisp finish, with excellent balance. My favourite wine of the day, hope we have some more in the cellar.

Jetting back to the USA, the first American wine on the list was a Kendall Jackson Santa Barbera Reserve Chardy 2020. A very big wine, 14.5%, with huge ripe fruit and excessive oak. Sweet butterscotch overtones, all in all, a real handful. This must be the way Americans like their Chardys, as Kendall Jackson is a huge producer. To my taste, the wine was out of balance, too oaky and sweet. Happy to leave it to the Americans.

The first red of the day was another Kendall Jackson wine a 2019 Cabernet from the Sonoma Region. Another big wine at 14.5%. I felt that we were not doing any favours to this wine drinking it now, as it was very young and needed another 3 to 4 years in the bottle before hitting its straps. Clear potential as the quality structures were there. Hopefully to be revisited in say 2026/27. Will by then be likened to a quality MR Cab.

The final red on the official programme was a Fraser Gallop MR Cabernet 2012. A very appealing wine indeed. A Bordeaux style, mainly Cabernet with some Petit Verdot and Merlot thrown in. Drinking now as an 11yo, the wine was fully mature, with lovely integrated fruit, oak and tannin. Rich and full bodied, plenty of time ahead of it. A delight.

There were some other red wines served, our table had a Blue Pyrenees which was quite acceptable, however, I do not think it very profitable to discuss a wine in detail that only some of the room actually tasted.

27 June 2023 Roger Straiton

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

What could be better on chilly winter’s day than roast beef and a glass of red?

Roger Straiton (M. le rostbif) was in the kitchen as chef of the day for our monthly wine tasting lunch.

Canapés

Beetroot biscuits topped with some Swedish smoked salmon paste and a prawn. This was a salmon fish roe from a tube, a Swedish delicacy.

Blinis topped with crème fraîche and parsley, white anchovies and Granny Smith apple and pickled marinated fennel.

Main

Roast beef (scotch fillet or rib eye) gravy and vegetables, charred asparagus, crunchy beans, Brussels sprouts and cocktail potatoes.

Sounds simple but today the beef was perfectly executed, seared then finished in the oven. As members say, presentation is important and today Roger nailed it, looked good, and tasted even better.

A bowl of horseradish mixed with crème fraîche to top it off.

I love the way Brussels sprouts divide a room. You either love ‘em...

The main was served with a French-style crusty loaf baguette, perfect to mop up the rich flavoursome homemade gravy.

Fine fare, stonkingly good, thanks Roger

Good comments on both wine and food today.

Quote of the day

“To me, food is as much about the moment, the occasion, the location and the company as it is about the taste”.

Heston Blumenthal

Cheese

A six-month-old Ossau Iraty, a favourite of our Society but today no one guessed it, this time a little younger than what we’ve had in the past.

Ossau Iraty has a succulent and complex flavour, developing notes of hazelnut and caramel as it matures.

Tasting Notes

Category: Semi-Hard Cheese

Origin: France

Milk Type: Sheep’s Milk

New season ewe’s milk is collected from the shepherds of the Ossau Valley and Iraty Forest, in the Basque Pyrenees to make this traditional hard-crusted cheese.

The method used in making these cheeses is claimed to be one of the oldest surviving in the world and dates back at least 4000 years.

After cooking the curds, the rind is washed and hand salted before being matured in cellars for six months by affineurs.

This cheese is made exclusively with milk from local breeds of sheep (Manech and Basco-Bearnaise). It has a succulent and complex flavour, developing notes of hazelnut and caramel as it matures. Firm, nutty with a slightly sweet finish, this AOP cheese is often only available for six months of the year due to the short lactation period of ewes.

The cheese was accompanied by dried fruit apricot, pear, apple, prune and cashews.

Wine

Today’s lunch wine wise was an all Northern Rhone affair with wines from Guigal and Cuilleron. 2 whites and 5 reds plus a masked red from parts unknown. Moving straight onto the whites served with the excellent pass arounds by Roger Straiton, we were presented with a 2016 St Joseph Lyseras Blanc, a blend I was informed of Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier. The second white was a 2018 Les Vignes Cote Roussanne. A straight Roussanne.

At the beginning of the tasting, I began to feel that it was like Groundhog Day, with yet another barrage of Rhone whites, which I personally do not favour. My impression was that we were having these wines at every lunch, however, impressions can be misleading, and my records indicate that we have only had these wines on 3 maybe 4 occasions this year.  It just seems so much more often. Surely we must be getting close to the end of the bottomless pit of these wines in our cellar.

Anyhow, dealing with the two wines today, I much preferred the Roussanne, which notwithstanding my remarks about these wines generally, I enjoyed to some extent. A very big flavoured wine, a bit on the oily, unctuous side of mouthfeel, but not unpleasant to drink. Would probably go well with chicken or a good cheddar.

The second wine, the 2016 Lyseras was in my view over the hill and far away. Brownish tinges, perhaps a cork problem?  Flat and flabby were thoughts that came to mind.

Having tasted both wines my palate screamed out for a good aged Australian Riesling with a crisp, fresh acidic finish!   So much for the Rhone whites for today.

Dealing now with the red wines from Northern Rhone, my antipathy towards whites from that district is very much not replicated in my assessment of the red wines from that region, in fact, I have been very partial to their reds for many years. We had a delightful lineup of 5 wines from vintages ranging from 2007 to 2012, and in my view, there was not a poor wine among them. We were indeed fortunate to have 5 of the best from the N Rhone.

Trying to write a report about wines from the same region with similar grape composition is not easy, as in my opinion most of them tasted pretty much the same, which was very good indeed. A bit like trying to write a review of 5 Miss World finalists! They all look pretty damm attractive, perhaps just one or two stand out. So for my money wine no 6, the 2010 Cote-Rotie Brune et Blonde was the pick of the litter, a delightful wine with, a great balance between fruit and oak, powerful flavours and a clean lingering finish.  The runner-up was a toss-up between the 2007 St Joseph Vignes de L’Hospice Syrah and the 2012 Cote-Rotie Brune et Blonde.  In a photo finish, 2^nd went to the St Joseph, as I felt that the Cotie was a bit over-oaked.

The final wine of the day was a mystery-masked bottle.  My impression was that most of the room was perplexed by this little number as to my palate an initial tasting was unimpressive and out of kilter with the other wines. Most in the room were divided between a French wine or an Australian.  Time revealed that it was the famous Clonakilla Shiraz and Viognier blend 2017.  As a matter of interest, none of the members who spoke about the wines made any comment about their composition. One would imagine they were all mainly Syrah, with possibly, some  Viognier thrown in.  The point is, the Clonakilla is a blend of the same wines as those from the Rhone we had today, yet to me it tasted quite different.

Finally, a thank you to Roger Straiton for providing us with a fabulous serving of roast beef with horseradish sauce, just the way we like it, and of course thanks to our Winemaster for assembling this wonderful collection of Rhone wines.

20 June 2023 Rob Doll

Food review by James Hill and wine review by James Tinslay

Food

Resident Chef Rob Doll was on the hobs for us today delivering some exceptional fare.

Canapés

First up venison and juniper tartare topped with toasted sourdough on betel leaf.

Then followed warm cauliflower purée with foie gras served on spoons.

Main

Perfectly cooked pork belly with crackling accompanied by cabbage sautéed in butter and a silky parsnip purée topped with a stem of deep-fried cavolo nero. A light chicken pork sauce finished the dish.

Rob said the secret to cooking crackling is to put it in the fridge on Friday which reduces the water content of the skin. It’s salted on Tuesday morning the skin having become glass-like, perfect for ‘crackling’.

In both canapés and main we can see the skill of our chef, the presentation, flavour, texture and innovation.

It was a great lunch with a ‘wow’ factor.

Cheese

Selected by Rob an Australian white mould, cow's milk cheese from Castlemaine Victoria.

An artisan soft bloomy cheese in the style of a French soft cheese like those from Brie, but with its own Australian identity, named after Australia’s iconic soft-petalled wildflower. Creamy dense paste becomes softer and oozier as it ripens from the outside in, with mild nutty tones developing into more oniony/cauliflower flavours as it ages and softens.

Made in 1kg wheels in the style of a traditional French artisan Brie, with a soft dense paste and a thin rind, it ripens from the outside in, its mild chalky interior becoming softer, creamier and more pungent as it ages.

Aspect: white/cream colour, the bloomy rind is slightly wavy, becoming flecked with brown as it ripens.

Texture: dense and semi-soft with a slightly chalky core when young, becoming creamy and melty, slightly oozy but not liquid, as it ripens.

Flavour: mild, creamy/lactic and slightly nutty when young, becoming more full-flavoured, cabbagy and yeasty as it ripens.

 A Radicchio salad was served with the cheese.

Two types of bread with main and cheese today both served warm.

Wine

Arriving at the luncheon today and seeing the six wines that we were to enjoy, I got the clear impression that we were in for a range of grape and taste profiles.

Canapé wine 1. Gundog Estate 2019 The Chase Semillon. The visuals were medium hue with a clean profile on the palate, but more developed than, say, a Tyrrells from the Hunter Valley. It appeared to have a year good slug of sulphur and whilst not a poor wine was middling. From comments around the room, it was not overly popular.

Canapé wine 2. Pikes Riesling 2010. With wines at thirteen years old, there always tends to be a dichotomy between those who like their young fruity Rieslings and those who like the age characteristics. The fruit was drying but in its favour, there was a very developed Riesling character with a touch of sweetness.

2008 Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Le Serre Nuove – This is the second wine of Tenuta dell'Ornellaia. I have always enjoyed this wine and it makes me wonder why people pay much more for the upmarket “first growth” version. Even this second wine is not cheap. Full-bodied, with juicy, velvety tannins and a very long finish. Bolgheri has vastly improved over the last twenty years and was underrated but that appears to have changed. This wine was Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon (with small amounts of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot). It goes by the misnomer of “Super Tuscan”. At fifteen years of age. The wine is at its peak and showing significant browning. Drinking well now and enjoyed the dry chewy tannins which worked well with the food. 14.5%

2012 Monili Tarantione Primitivo - Primitivo is what we used to call Zinfandel back in the 70s and 80s. The style is basically rich and sweet and often alcoholic. This wine at 13% was surprisingly low in alcohol and at eleven years of age had a brown meniscus. The wine is from Puglia and whilst not my favourite grape seemed to work well with the wonderful pork we enjoyed from Rob today.

2010 Goaty Hill Pinot Noir - Goaty Hill, was a label from the wonderful Tamar Valley which produces many wonderful wines. The winery was relaunched some years ago as Small Wonder (go figure!). I agreed with many who thought this wine was probably passed its peak, having lost its fruit and was decidedly simple. A shame, Tamar produces some very good wines. 13.4%

2018 Toolangi Chardonnay - This wine comes from Dixon’s Creek in Yarra Valley and produces some very well-priced wines. At five years of age. I thought the wine was at its peak. Showing a buttery malo character. A little flabby and a touch more acid would have been appreciated. However, it did go well with the cheese and once again, a white wine with the Cheesemasters cheese was a big success. 13%

13 June 2023 James Hill

Food review by James Hill (as CoTD) and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Near-capacity bookings for our mixed lunch today with yours truly in the kitchen assisted by Jonathan Casson and Gary Linnane.

Canapés

First up Jen’s crisp cheddar biscuits topped with sesame seeds, with some cayenne adding a ‘bite’ at the finish. Perfect with champagne.

Then came Kay’s duck liver pâté, fresh organic duck livers were used to make the pâté, good lively flavour and texture, served on oven-baked white bread toasts. It could have had more cognac for my palate.

Jonathan Casson was up next with a savoury prosciutto roll with pears, Gorgonzola picante and wild rocket.

Gary reprised his signature canapé a white bean anchoïade topped with some Cantabrian anchovies served in pastry cases. Gary used the Tarbais beans that Society member Scott Witt provided.

The beans were puréed with some Parmigiano-Reggiano, cream cheese capers, anchovy, lemon zest and EVOO.

Full of flavour, creamy, thick and rich.

Plentiful canapés and highly commended by members and guests today.

Main

Our main course today was a chicken smoked cheese and bacon rotolo.  Served with chicken fat potato gratin, shaved brussels sprouts sautéed in butter and water and topped with a cream sauce of sherry, chicken stock, shallots and caramelised button mushrooms.

The rotolo main ingredients are chicken breast mince, diced salami, onions, garlic, mustard, parmesan, parsley and bread crumbs. It’s then patted out to an even rectangle with mint leaves pressed over the surface. Thin slices of ham are layered and then sprinkled with grated smoked Dutch cheese. It’s then rolled up and covered with bacon rashers it was baked for an hour, rested for twenty minutes sliced and served.

Lots of flavour in the rotolo complemented by the rich cream sauce.

Bread today was Iggys ‘super long’ white sourdough.

Cheese

Our cheese master Mark Bradford presented a superb Bay of Fires cheddar from the East Coast of Tasmania.

This was served with some quince, a Mark Best recipe, poached with star anise, sugar syrup, lemon juice and zest, cloves, juniper berries and vanilla bean.

A good accompaniment to the cheese.

Technically, cheddar cow's milk from St Helens, Tasmania.

A traditional cloth-bound cheddar from St Helens in Tasmania, made by 13th generation cheese makers hailing from England. This farmhouse cheddar is aged for a minimum of one year on Tasmanian oak boards, which gives the cheese its unique characteristics.

The result is an intensely earthy cheese reminiscent of a damp cave, with an authentic crumbly texture.

Each table received a bottle of 2017 Chateau Miselle Sauternes donated by yours truly.

Wine

Lunch today was with the ladies, a very pleasant occasion with a near full house. Our Chef de Jour James Hill treated us with some sensational pass-arounds and then a superb main. We finished up with a terrific cheese. Others will comment on the food and I will confine my comments to the wine.

As you would expect for a ladies lunch, Champagne was obligatory and a NV Lanson did the Job.  A satisfactory NV Fizz, the wine was well received as judged by the number of empty bottles! An excellent partner for the delicious pass-arounds.  Next on the aperitif list was the Minaia Gavi 2021 13%. I had reviewed this wine in my report of 22 March, when I reported that I found the wine unimpressive. The problem was that the wine was served with a strongly flavoured lamb dish.  The wine today was presented as an aperitif wine and went extremely well with the pass-arounds. Well balanced, flavoursome with a great balance of fruit/acid and an attractive aftertaste. No wonder this wine from the Piedmont district is a very popular wine in Italy. A good example of how food flavours can impact on  the taste of a wine.

Our first wine with the chicken main was a White Burgundy, a Macon-Verze 2015, 14%. From my vintage charts a reasonable year for whites in Burgundy, but not as good as for the red wines. Upon tasting the wine, I found it quite enjoyable, but nothing to write home about.  At my table, I found myself the odd man out, as the wine was acclaimed by just about everyone else, must be me? The wine had the usual features of a Village Chardonnay, had no obvious faults, and was balanced and still fresh and clean, although now 8 yo. I just felt the wine was a little lacking in flavour with no real aftertaste. Happy to accept that I may be out of step with the majority,

The Yabby Lake PN 2014, 12.5 % was a cracker, warm and inviting, with excellent PN flavours, substantial texture, and a bit more colour than the average Australian PN. Showing no sign of ageing, although it is now a 9 yo. Lingering clean finish. One of the best.

The excellent PN was followed by a 2012 Sancerre SB from the Loire. Enjoyable wine with a good balance of flavours, I preferred it to the Macon. Amazing how SB from the Loire tastes nothing like a NZ SB. They may as well be different grape varieties. Still fresh and lively with a clean aftertaste. Holding together well for a white now 11yo.

The final wine for the day was a Bricco dei Merli Barbera d’Alba from 2014, 13.5 %.

Totally enjoyable, in fact quite delicious. A perfect food wine as are most quality Italian wines. Excellent balance of tannin, oak and fruit. These wines never seek to dominate the taste buds, and just compliment the food being served. A very satisfying wine to finish the afternoon along with the excellent cheese.

6 June 2023 Jon Young sons

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

The North Sea

Simon and Chris North were in the kitchen cooking a memorial lunch for their father and our 50-year member, Jon North Snr.

Simon is a qualified chef, Chris a member of Escoffier and today’s meal reflected their combined talents in the kitchen.

Canapés

First up was a paté made with Swiss brown mushrooms a little chilli and topped with caviar served on toasts. The heat was evident but not too much to overwhelm the flavour of the mushroom.

Then followed some biscuit topped with caramelised onion topped with smoked trout crystal champagne jelly smoke comments thought it thought caramelised onion “novel” others “groundbreaking!”

Next was bruschetta of tomato with cream fraîche on toast. The flavour and texture were a theme in the canapés with favourable comments for the floor.

Lunch started with reminiscences of Jon by the eldest son, Jon.

He lived a full passionate life, devoted to wine and food, especially the Hunter. A great friend of Society he loved the camaraderie the comments on food and the interjections to which a resounding chorus of “bull shit” echoed around the room! His favourite wine was Gevrey-Chambertin and his last drink.

Main

Our main course today was cotechino with porcini mash and slow-cooked lentil sofrito with picada.

The cotechina was sourced from a soon-to-be retiring Haberfield butcher and it is traditionally served on New Year’s Eve in Italy. Today it was poached for  24 hours then pan-seared with slow cooked lentils a rich beef cheek ragu jus and topped with caramelised fennel and apple.

A simple wholesome meal perfectly executed, full flavoured and textural. A favourite dish of Jon’s, gutsy was his description.

Comments today included lip smacking, sticky, great mouthfeel. A perfectly executed winter dish.

Chris added that Jon always said that the Society is our cohort and gives us a  sense of purpose and we are part of the tribe. He reminded us that he and Simon cooked the last lunch at Lower Fort Street premises in 2010.

Jon is well remembered and it was a fitting farewell lunch

Cheese

Cheesemaster Mark Bradford presented an Australian white mould cow’s milk cheese today. It was a Tarago River Cheese Company Gippsland brie.

David Johnson and Laurie Jensen grew up on neighbouring farms in the small Gippsland village of Neerim South. Both families have been dairy farmers for many generations and Laurie’s great-grandfather, a Danish emigrant, often made cheese on his farm in east Gippsland, kindling his interest in cheese and inspiring him to complete a degree in dairy technology.

In 1982, Tarago River Cheese Company was founded when David’s parents formed a partnership with Laurie and his dad, building a small cheesery alongside the milking dairy on the Johnson’s Hillcrest farm. Tarago River Cheese Company is named after the river that winds its way around the gently sloping hills of this renowned dairy region. The farm, now grown to over 500 acres, is home to 400 Holstein-Friesian and Jersey-cross cows who are milked twice daily. The fresh milk, travelling only a dozen or so paces from the dairy to the cheesery, is pasteurized and transformed into a range of handmade, Australian farmhouse cheeses.

Gippsland Brie is made in a special area of the cheesery designed for surface-ripened cheeses. Jersey-Friesian milk is enriched with cream before select cultures and non-animal rennet are added. The resulting curds are gently hooped and then matured at 14°C over the next 4 weeks in dedicated maturation rooms. Penicillin camemberti and candidum moulds give this Australian brie a pristine, velvety white rind. The paste is soft and buttery, becoming creamier with age.

It was accompanied by a salad of English spinach and finely chopped kale, simply dressed, a good match for the creamy cheese today.

Wine

Today the Society had a memorial lunch to honour the Late Jon North an esteemed long-term member of our Society. His sons cooked our lunch and with the collaboration of our Winemaster, put on a superb afternoon. As usual, my comments relate to the wines served only.

The first aperitif wine was a delicious Andrew Thomas Hunter Semillon 2015, 10.3%. A 7/10 year in the Hunter for Semillon. An elegant wine with delicate balance and flavour. Thomas is by universal acclaim an outstanding Semillon producer as was evidenced by this wine. Now 8 yo the wine is drinking beautifully but has the promise of years more wonderful drinking ahead. Would love it see it again in another 5 years. All the key ingredients are there.

Wine no 2, was in my view the Star of the Show, the wonderful Orlando/Jacobs Creek Steingarten Riesling 2005, 12.5%. What a wine and to cap it off, we had our own winemaker Phil Laffer at lunch today, who actually made the wine.

I have always been a fan of this wine stretching back into the 1960s, yes I am getting old! I made a special trip to the vineyard several years ago to see for myself the famous ‘Garden of Stones‘, created by Colin Gramp in 1962. He was seeking to develop a high-altitude vineyard for Riesling similar to those in Germany. The vineyard is near Rowland Flat in the Barossa, on a stone-littered hill some 1600 ft above sea level it must have been a bugger to plant! His efforts have been rewarded by this wine, an Icon of Australian Riesling. Wonderful wine, a delight of mature, harmonised Riesling flavours in perfect balance. No wonder aged high-quality Riesling like this is my favourite Australian white wine. Many thanks, Phil, you did a great job, you should be proud.

Moving onto the red wines, the first was a Massolino Langhe Nebbiolo from the Piemonte 2015, 14%. They say sometimes that Nebbiolo can at times be austere, well I will second that motion. I found the wine to be medium texture with high acid and strong tannins. The wine was I felt unyielding, tight with a very dry finish. Perhaps more cellar time is called for.

The next cab off the rank was my second favourite of the day, the Tua Rita Rosso dei Notri 2016, 14.5%. A lovely wine, warm and generous, just like an enthusiastic hug from that special someone. A very different wine from the taught, harsh Nebbiolo. This wine had that special quality of being welcoming at first taste and wanting to show you more. I would describe it as a lover's wine.  I cannot recall if the components were mentioned on the label which they are often not, however, some research by me indicates that it was a Sangiovese blend with probably some Cabernet and a few others thrown in. Whatever was the recipe. The wine was a gem. Great balance and flavour with a lingering finish. Can I have some more please?

The next wine was the Vasse Felix MR Cabernet 2008. Wow, what a fruit bomb! Massive blackcurrant aroma and taste dominated all else. You would never encounter a quality Bordeaux Cabernet with this presentation. Many in the room seemed to enjoy the wine, coming from a quality producer, but to me, the wine was out of balance, so strong was the ripe fruit/blackcurrant influence. Perhaps the wine should have been opened 12 hours beforehand to lessen the assault on one’s olfactory system!

The final wine for the day, was a Larry Cherubino Franklin River Shiraz 2009, 14.9%. I have been impressed with this man’s skills as a winemaker for many years now, making high quality wines for numerous producers from all parts of the country. I do not think this was one of his best. Possibly my taste buds had been steamrollered by the previous wine, but I found this Shiraz lacked flavour and finished with a flimsy aftertaste. This region produces some fantastic Rieslings, perhaps Shiraz is not the grape for this district. Possibly if well separated from strong flavoured wines, my view might change. Let’s try again.

30 May 2023 Paul Ferman

Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Paul Ferman was in the kitchen today cooking for our monthly wine tasting. We welcomed member Bruce Tyrrell today, making the trek from the Hunter for our lunch.

Canapés

Canapés were bountiful today and enjoyed with the canapé wines.

Warmed king oyster mushrooms on spoons with polenta cooked with chicken stock/butter/ parmesan, a umami hit..they were full of flavour and great texture.

Home pickled sardines on GF seeded bread, another flavour hit with the taste not overly dominated by the sardine.

Terrine of pork and veal with a layer of wild rabbit ..one of Paul’s signature canapés, it’s a favourite of mine and didn’t disappoint today.

Main

Paul’s theme today was quality, simplicity and ingredients.

He promised "a couple of plump legs of the 4-legged type, slow cooked on a bed of halved potatoes and quarters of onion, lots of oregano, an insinuation of garlic, in a Greekish manner, accompanied by a Frenchish composed set of blow-torched greens with a dust of far-left Labour salt and ultra-right pepper, oh and Dutton mushrooms".

It was marinated goat, slow-cooked over Dutch cream potatoes with onions and lemon. Goat is notoriously difficult to cook and keep the moisture and favour balance, Paul succeeded today.

Great flavour and texture, wonderful mouthfeel and a long lingering aftertaste.

It was accompanied by a Salad Composé mustard and olive oil dressing over autumn vegetables of zucchini, beans, lettuce and Spanish onion.

Well done, Paul, a lunch of plenty.

Bruce closed lunch today by discussing the wines on taste and an overview of winemaking terroir, tradition and innovation.

Cheese

Our Cheesemaster Mark Bradford, in theme, presented two types of goat cheese.

1. Holy Goat La Luna Ring 1.35kg

Tasting Notes

Category: White Mould

Origin: Australia

Milk Type: Goat’s Milk

Classification: Farmhouse

This award-winning, surface-ripened goat’s milk cheese is handmade at Sutton Grange Organic Farm near Castlemaine using ancient cheese-making techniques that were refined in the Loire Valley over a millennium.

Lactic acid fermentation slowly sets the curd over 24 hours before it is gently hand-ladled into moulds, as to preserve its delicate structure. After draining, the young cheeses are moved to the maturation room where they are turned daily for seven days, then matured for another two weeks to allow the wrinkly Geotrichum candidum rind to fully develop.  As it ripens, the chalky centre softens to a soft, fudgy texture. Delicate citrus notes accentuate lactic sweetness and herbaceous flavours from the goat’s milk.

2. Fromager D’Affinois Florette 1kg

A hexagonal-shaped cheese that has the d’Affinois silky consistency that we all know and love and a delicate goat’s milk flavour.

Tasting Notes

Category: White Mould

Origin: France

Milk Type: Goat’s Milk

Classification: Co-Operative

Rennet: Non-Animal

Soft, surface ripened pure goats’ cheese made near Lyons, France.

This new cheese uses special microfiltration techniques that concentrate the rich solids in the goat’s milk ensuring a very smooth texture and delicious rounded creamy flavour.

Fromagerie Guilloteau are leaders in a modern process called “ultra filtration”. Ultra filtration is a technique co-created by Jean-Claude Guilloteau and occurs before the cheese making process. Pasteurised milk is forced through a series of membranes, extracting protein and removing water; concentrating all other desirable components. This results in the production of consistent, nutritionally rich cheeses that have a silkier mouth feel and creamy subtle flavour.

Wine

A very full house for today’s gathering which is excellent for our bottom line in revenue terms. We started the day with a Guigal Cote du Rhone white blend 2018, probably a blend of Roussanne and Viognier 14%. We have had this wine before on several occasions and it gets no better by repetition. Hope our Winemaster is doing a cellar clearout. Bit harsh perhaps, but I am sure we can do better. Enjoyable enough for a glass of wine at a bar with a female friend, but neither would you want to take home.

On a brighter note, the next wine was a truly excellent Tyrrells Semillon 2008, 11.3%. Bruce Tyrrell who was with us for lunch commented that this vintage along with 1971 was the most difficult in his memory. Whatever happened in the winery is unclear, but the finished product was wonderful. A 15 yo Semillon, defying age was fresh, clean, and balanced with no sign of adverse ageing. A wonderful example of a true Australian icon, hard to see how this wine would not go on for another 10 or more years.

Next on the table, we were presented with three wines from the legendary Brian Croser, namely three 2022 Tapanappa Chardonnay from his Piccadilly Vineyard in the Adelaide Hills region. Our Winemaster asked us to conduct a serious assessment of all three wines. Given the fact that all the wines were barely a year old, this was I suspect a bridge too far for most of our members, or at least for me.

Crozer has always made his top Chardys very tight, restrained and disciplined. No excessive oak, acid or fruit. At one year old these wines had little to offer for a tasting, very young and tight. The Tiers 1.5 M Vineyard showed some more fruit than the other two, and some real promise, but how they will develop is a bit like picking the Melbourne Cup winner at the 500 M mark. Would love to be around when we hopefully taste these wines again, when they develop in say 5 years.

The final bracket was a fabulous collection of Tyrrells 2014 Shiraz from the best vintage in the Hunter since 59 or 65 some say. My wine assessment skills are not sufficient to evaluate clinically each of the gems, suffice to say that I think I preferred the 4 Acres to the Vat 9 and the Old Hut in that order. At 9 yo these wines on their current presentation show no sign of adverse ageing and should present well again in 15 years from now. Hope I am around then to taste. We are indeed fortunate to be members of the WFS on occasions such as today.

23 May 2023 Hal Epstein

Food review by James Hill and Wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Hal Epstein was in the kitchen today preparing a Thai-themed meal.

Canapés

Tod Man Pla

Fried fish cakes made within fish fillets, capsicum, chilli, garlic, lemongrass, fish sauce, coconut milk, eggs, and snake beans, with sweet chilli sauce…good texture and fish flavour.

Ma Ho (Galloping horses)

This is a Charmaine Solomon recipe. Finely cut pork cooked with garlic coriander, peanuts, fish sauce, pepper, sugar, and chilli cooked down till dry. This was topped onto mandarin segments.

A favourite today with a good balance of citrus and pork.

I like it when Hal cooks. He challenges himself and us when preparing his lunch themes, Hal promised Thai street food nothing more nothing less.

As Hal pointed out street and market food changes from hour to hour as vendors add to the pots during the day. What started in the morning will change by the evening.

We sat down to some Tom Yum Goong. This is hot and spicy, sour and aromatic all the same time. Many people around the world who love Thai food say this is a measure of the quality of the chef and people swear by the soup to clear their heads when they have a cold.

The basis of the soup is lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime, chilli, mushrooms, prawn lemon juice, fish sauce and coriander.

Hal made the soup the night before to allow flavour infusion. Most soups just add prawn heads and fish bones for flavouring ..Hal added fresh prawns, squid and some flathead.

It was a great soup, full of flavour, aromatic and not too much heat.

Main Course

This was a simple green curry with perfectly cooked perfumed Thai rice and green papaya salad ‘Som Tum’. This salad was a David Thompson recipe.

This dish is one of the most loved in the Thai repertoire. Originally a marketplace, snack, or lunchtime dish from the northeast, it proved so irresistible, it is now eaten throughout Thailand and has become a signature dish. Shredded green papaya is mixed with a paste of garlic, chillies, roasted peanuts, dried shrimp cherry tomatoes, snake beans, palm sugar, lime juice, tamarind water and fish sauce.

Mostly favourable comments with one member voicing a contrarian view, some suggesting there could have been more heat if not in the dish than as an alternative suggestion to serve some chillis in a bowl on the table.

The afternoon was perfectly summed by member Julian Parmegiani quoting the Latin “De gustibus non est disputandum” (or, “in matters of taste, there can be no disputes”).

Thanks Hal.

Cheese 

Our Cheesemaster Mark Bradford selected an Italian-washed rind cheese to go with the food today. It came to the table in perfect condition with many comments of the quality and taste of this cheese. It was “Mauri Taleggio DOP” Italian washed rind, cow's milk.

The microclimate in the natural caves where these cheeses are matured, high in the Alps, encourages the development of a unique flora on the outer rind. Washed and brushed several times over a month, the cheese develops a thin bloom flecked with blue penicillium moulds.

Beneath the rind, the ivory chalky texture of the cheese begins to change slowly as it ripens, becoming buttery and soft. The creamy texture, when balanced with the delicious yeasty taste provided by the rind, is one of Italy’s best kept secrets.

Mauri Taleggio is considered one of the finest DOP cheeses.

Wine

We started the day with a Craggy Range Riesling from NZ, 2011, 12.5%  We do not see a lot of Riesling coming out of NZ, the Kiwi’s seem to prefer making Chardonnay, Sav Blanc and Pinot Gris. I really generally enjoy these wines save for the dreaded SB, which I studiously avoid. It always strikes me how a NZ SB is totally different from SB grown in the Loire, you would swear they were different grapes.

Anyhow getting back to the Riesling, what struck me was how much it resembled on first tasting a dry German Riesling, perhaps a restrained Kabinett. Enjoyable with good basic structures drinking well for a 12 yo. Pronounced floral overtones, with a dash of residual sugar. Nothing wrong with the wine, but just not my cup of tea for a Riesling.

The second wine for the pass-arounds was a delightful Toolangi Chardonnay from the Northern Yarra Valley region. The vineyard was planted in 1995 and since then has achieved many glowing reports for its Chardonnays. I can see why. This wine was from the 2018 vintage, 13%, the year rated 7/10

The wine was balanced and elegant, with no overpowering constituent features. Acid/fruit/oak all combined seamlessly. A winner! More please.

Wine No 3 was the Scorpo Bestia, a Pinot Grigio 2017, from MP in Vic. A highly regarded vineyard. I had in fact reviewed this wine very favourably in my report on Oct 22. I recorded “well balanced, good flavours, enjoyable, more please“. Something happened from Oct 22 to May 23 with this wine, maybe a dud bottle, or just me. I found this bottle to have a distinctly medicinal flavour, most unappealing. I am sure that if you were feeling unwell, a few glasses of this would make you feel better for a while, but that is not really the test.

What did attract my attention was the black label, depicting an ape-like creature holding a languid alabaster-skinned, large-breasted female in his arms. Then I saw the connection! Bestia is Spanish for Beast!  Now I get it, however, my mind was immediately taken to the notion that this was an attempt to replicate, within the bounds of copyright, some 16th and 17th-century artists, who painted images of the Incubus. Google Fuseli 1781 the “Nightmare“.  You will then understand.

This horrid squat man/beast from hell would sit on a woman’s chest during her sleep and squeeze the breath out of her and occasionally have sex with her. Nice type. In more recent times an Incubus has become the villain in so-called exorcism rituals.

Anyhow here’s the tip, if you find yourself having the good fortune of being on top of a woman and she yells “get off me you incubus“, just accept that the magic moment has passed and the relationship is doomed! I guess it is just as well that most women are unfamiliar with the term thereby saving us men from incurable self-image trauma and depression!  

Now where was I? Moving onto wine 4 the Massolino Barbera D’ Alba 2016. 14.5% a delightful wine. The Italians have perfected their skills at making wines that are harmonious with food, not assertive, just gently matching the food. What more can you say?

Wine 5 was the Andrew Thomas Hunter Shiraz from the Sweetwater vineyard, 2016 at 14.5%.   Thomas is a fine winemaker who deserves his high reputation. 2016 was only a 7/10 year in the Hunter but he has done well to get this wine to the very enjoyable stage. I thought the wine was a good example of Hunter fruit, balanced and without any wine making faults, went well with the cheese.                                                   

The final offering for the day was the Rosemount Balmoral McLaren Vale Shiraz 2010, 14.5 %. Now this was a no holds barred old fashion OZ Shiraz from the old school of SA Shiraz. Huge fruit, but balanced by superb integration of tannin/oak. Now 13 yo, still lively and drinking so well it is hard to see it not lasting for another 5/10 years, given its current presentation. This style of wine may not be to everyone's taste nowadays given the trend towards lighter styles,  but to me, it was a beautiful drink!