19 September 2023 CoTD Madan from REX

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

Food

Our chef of the day was Madan the third member of our talented and professional team in the kitchen at the Royal Exchange. Madan is also the events chef at the Commercial Traveller’s Club in the CBD, another venue managed by Rex manager Alistair French.

Canapé

Aloo sandheko

Half potatoes served with mixed spices, tomato and yoghurt on the top, garlic and ginger.

Machha Achar

Prawns mixed with ginger, garlic and garam masala, Szechuan powder and scallops on the top it sat on top of a cucumber cup.

Hass choila (Duck choila)

BBQ duck breast mixed with Nepalese-style spices, garlic, ginger and garam masala and served in small pastry cups

A good mix of spice and use of textures in the canapés with some heat in the duck choila on the after palate.

Main

The kitchen was busy today and there was some delay in serving main.

Pork shaphaley (fried meat pie)

Deep-fried puff pastry is traditionally served with spicy chutney. The filling was minced pork, onions, cabbage and sambal,

Sichuan pepper, coriander and ginger.

The homemade chutney was made with tomato, garlic, lemon and chilli.

Who doesn’t love a pie, in this case a Nepalese pie .. we’re converts!

Lovely flaky pastry generously filled with the pork and a good balance of spices and aromatics with the sauce a perfect complement to the pie.

It was a great effort with a lot of preparation and thought going into today's meal and much appreciated by all for the authentic and interesting Nepalese food.

Cheese

Manchego aged 12 months

The distinct sweet, milky flavour and delicate herbal aroma of El Esparto Cave Ripened Manchego is very different to industrial plastic-coated Manchego.
Taking its name from the plaited Esparto grass belts traditionally used by farmstead dairies to girdle young curds as they drained, this unique cheese is produced in La Mancha from the highest quality ewe’s milk. Certified by the Manchego council, its rind is coated with natural charcoal before it is ripened in a series of stone-lined underground caves.

Each cave is connected to an above-ground greenhouse filled with herbs including rosemary, thyme and lavender. The warm, aromatic greenhouse air flows to the cave, filling it with unique seasonal aromas.

After 6 months aging, the moist ivory-coloured interior has developed a mild finish with a lingering hint of caramel and almonds. The natural grey rind has an ashy appearance and contains no artificial colours or mould inhibitors.

Accompanying the cheese was a dressed mixed leaf salad.

Wine

An impressive mix of wines was on the table for our gathering today.

We kicked off with a German Riesling a Wittmann from the Rheinhessen Region. 2017 12%. The wine was described as a Trocken Riesling. Trocken meaning dry. An enjoyable wine, well balanced with fruit and high acid. Overtones of citrus and apple were noticeable. Without a doubt a German wine with obvious sugar, despite the fact that this is the dry end of the scale of German Rieslings. I cannot help but feel that German Rieslings of this style get a bit lost on the Australian palate where we are more attuned to flavours of say a Clare Valley Riesling. The wine comes from a renowned producer and is clearly a good wine, but to me, this style is neither fish nor fowl, with lots of residual sugar so as to be noticeable, but falling short of the luscious degree of sweetness of say an Auslese. Perhaps I am expressing myself poorly in trying to slot this wine into a category of wines that would appeal to our local palates. I do think that the wine would be better accompanied by some solid food. I am probably being harsh as the wine is clearly of top quality.

A late entrant not on the published list was the magnificent Tyrrells Johhno’s Semillon. 2013. We enjoyed this wine only a few weeks ago, see my report of lunch on 5 September. Just hope we are not drinking it too quickly as it deserves extended cellaring A great wine.

Next to greet our taste buds was a Sancerre from the Loire Henri Bourgeois 2010 13%. I have enjoyed Sancerre from good years, and 2010 appears to have been a good year. Just how you can reconcile a Sauvignon Blanc from a Sancerre with an SB from NZ, I will never know. A Sancerre is dry, enjoyably pungent and well-balanced in fruit and acid with a delightful  ‘more please “ aftertaste. A far cry from the evil  Lantana-like aromas of the same grape grown in NZ.  I enjoyed the wine, but I must say it was as a 13yo SB, being drunk 5 to 6 years beyond it’s peak.

The next wine was a Chenin Blanc 2011 From Nicolas Joly 14.5%. In a word, “GONE“ The colour gave it away without even the need to sample. Age would not have been a problem as I have drunk plenty of Chenin Blanc 20 to 30 yo and they seem almost bulletproof, alas not this little number. The wine had vague smells of a Sherry. The wine was clearly oxidised and finished. All three bottles served were the same, not just one bad bottle. Let's hope we have no more in the cellar.

Moving onto the Reds, we were treated to two great wines, a Morgon 2013 and a 2014 Hunter Shiraz. Both silk purse categories. The Morgon is made from Gamay, the principal wine of Beaujolais, but that is about where the similarity ends. Most Beaujolais are medium in texture, light and fruity with the intention of being glugged down young. On the other hand, the Morgon is a very serious wine, meant to be shown respect for its class. Very popular internationally, the wine has a cult following which is not surprising, given it’s dense, meaty and hugely flavoursome taste. 12.5% now 10 yo, but drinking superbly. I loved it, wine of the day in my view, hope we have some more in the cellar for that special occasion.

The final wine of the day was the Tyrrells Stevens Shiraz 2014 at 13.8% I was expecting the wine to be good having enjoyed it before. I was not disappointed. Dark intense fruit flavours of black cherry mixed with some mild tannin and French oak, good acid providing for a lingering clean finish, a great wine.

About 10 years ago I had a professional relationship with a chap, who amongst other activities had a small vineyard in the Hunter. I think the 2014 harvest had just been picked when he bumped me in the street and told me how great was the 2014 vintage. His advice to me was to buy as much of the 2014, red or white as you can afford.  His parting words were “even a mug like me is making great wines in 2014“. Very sage advice indeed.

12 September 2023 CoTD Matthew Holmes

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

Food

Matthew Holmes was chef of the day presenting a spring lunch with a ‘Ship and Shore’ theme.

Canapés

It’s the perfect time of the year for freshly shucked oysters, served with lemon. Rich and briny they were delicious.

Matt was assisted by our cheese master Mark Bradford who prepared ‘Gildas’. These Basque tapas are named for a passionate beauty played by Rita Hayworth. Red and green peppers on pintxo are wrapped with anchovy and capped with green Spanish olive.

Then followed some warm toasts topped with halloumi, mozzarella and mini prawns.

Main course

Oven baked pancetta wrapped Norwegian Atlantic salmon on a bed of fried Brussel sprouts & potato pennys, with asparagus in a beurre blanc of lemon and dill sauce made from chicken stock, cream, butter, garlic and cayenne pepper, garnished with fried capers.

Great robust flavours and perfectly presented. The sprouts were rendered in fat from the pancetta and served under the potatoes garnished with lemon zest.

The asparagus was perfectly cooked sitting in a lemony beurre blanc of dill, chicken stock, cream and butter. There was some size variation in the salmon it was pink and moist in the middle, where it counts.

A great combination of flavour and texture perfectly executed within many suggesting Chef of the Year nomination worthy.

Two types of bread today. With main seeded sourdough and for the cheese course crunchy sourdough baguette.

Cheese

Cheese master Mark Bradford presented a French cow’s milk cheese ‘Comte’.

Made from unpasteurised milk, this hard-cooked raw milk cheese is made at small dairies or fruitieres using the milk from several herds of Montbeliard cows. This cheese was matured in the damp underground cellars of Marcel Petite at Fort Saint Antoine high in the mountains that border France and Switzerland in the Franche-Comte.

Wine

Matt Holmes produced a terrific lunch with some fresh oysters to get us started with the right frame of mind before we embarked on the main course of some baked salmon. Delicious.

With the oysters and other pass arounds, we started with a Riesling 2016 by KT Wines, from Watervale. 12%. Perfect. Now a 7yo and drinking beautifully. Great balance of acid and fruit. Hard to see it getting any better, but by the same token ticks all the boxes for another good 5 years or so.

Our Winemaster then treated us to two Chablis for the fish main, both from the very respected producer William Fevre, one a Petit Chablis and the other a Chablis, both from 2019 and both 13%. Both wines I thought were excellent. Except for a Grand Cru, of which I have been fortunate to sample several over the years, these wines today were delightful White Burgundy styles, but not an identifiable true Chablis. In his opening remarks, our Winemaster commented that climate change/warming has brought about a subtle change in the Chardonnay grapes grown in the Chablis Region, which is in the far Northern sector of Burgundy. The classic Chablis has a dry, flinty and steely taste, quite unmistakable. The wines today tasted much more like a softer White Burgundy from the warmer regions of Burgundy some 100 km to the south.

Of the two wines, I enjoyed them both, with the Chablis having a deeper colour and more complexity of flavour. I did enjoy the Petit, but the step-up in quality was noticeable.

The cheese wines were a Wynns Black Label Shiraz from Coonawarra 2012, 13.5% and a Craggy Range Gimblett Gravels Syrah 2008 also 13.5% from Hawkes Bay NZ. Both excellent. Big dense Shiraz, but no excessive alcohol, 13.5% just about right. A fair amount of bottle age on both, but to its credit the Craggy was not noticeably older. Two well-made Shiraz, still with time ahead. We are indeed fortunate at the WFS.

5 September 2023 Sam and Bill Alexiou

Food review by Mark Bradford and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

The Tuesday that follows the first Sunday of September has become the Society’s “father and son lunch”, again hosted by Bill and Sam Alexiou.  This time Greek cuisine was thrown aside, and the fare was Chinese – Aussie style – as we have all enjoyed at the local suburban “chow” in the distant past.  However, it was alluded by the chefs of the day that this cuisine – like most others – was probably based on the food enjoyed by the ancient Greeks anyway!

Just like the Aussie “chow”, the presentation was banquet-style; many tasty dishes and in true Alexiou style, in great abundance.  All comments from the floor were very favourable to superb, and a first for the Society members in attendance on the day.  It was noted that September is the choice for many members to holiday in Europe and so numbers were a little lower than other times of the year.

Canapés

China spoons (but with a small ‘c’) were the canapé theme, being used to present both san choi bow and dumplings. These were useful for delivering the traditional lettuce wrap, with the chicken mince sitting on shredded lettuce instead, and so avoiding the inevitable mess of eating the wrap standing with glass in hand.  The filling for the dumplings was lamb shoulder. Wonderful flavours, with both canapes being inspired by the cooking of Sam’s mother-in-law.

Entrée

None other than Peking Duck served on homemade wafer-thin pancakes with a sweet tian mian jiang sauce and thin green croutons.  Again, these Sam Alexiou creations were inspired by his mother-in-law’s skills.  Great presentation and taste.

Main

Being a Chinese banquet, we were presented with two main courses.  The first was tasty, moist and sweet beef ribs off the bone, garnished with coriander and sliced red chillies. The ribs were marinated in Coca-Cola for 24 hours, then slow-cooked in the marinade with cinnamon, five-spice, nutmeg, orange peel, orange juice and brown sugar.  Mention was made that additional chillies could have been offered as a side for those who were more daring when it comes to heat.

The mandatory fried rice was saved for the final offering, sweet and sour pork, which arrived on separate plates from the kitchen.  The rice was exceptional and contained juicy small prawns cooked to perfection. The sweet and sour pork was twice-cooked pork belly dusted with five-spice and corn flour, and garnished with red roasted capsicums, green spring onions and pineapple pieces, providing a colourful presentation to the succulent roasted pork. Very authentic indeed.

Cheese

China ranks first worldwide in the production of most foods – including apples and grapes – but cheese is not of them.  Research on a cheese that may accompany Chinese food suggested a theme of cheddar, particularly of the Monterey Jack type and Colby, all of which tend to be served melted atop hamburgers.  In his wisdom, the Cheesemaster presented Cantal, a cheese known to many of the members as being from the Auvergne region of central France with some characteristics of the hamburger ones. It was served with roasted unsalted cashews provided by the cheesemaster, a nut quite common in Chinese restaurants in Oz.

This natural rind cheese is one of the oldest cheeses still made in France.  It has been traced back at least 2000 years, when cheese from Gaul was popular as far away as Rome. Being a large cheese (32 kg), the flavour is mild unless it is matured over a long period, although smaller versions known as Cantalet mature more quickly.  The cheese provided for lunch was at least 14 months old, having developed a moist and crumbly texture and buttery flavour with a little bite.  This was noted by the members.

A truly memorable lunch was served to the gentlemen on the day, and it was evident that an astonishing amount of work went into its preparation.  Thank you, Sam and Bill.

Wine

A smallish turnout for our Father and Son Lunch, but nonetheless enjoyable. Bill and his son Sam Alexiou put on a splendid Chinese-style banquet which was delicious. Hearing about the effort and time that goes into lunches such as this, makes you deeply grateful to our member Chefs who put in the hard yards, something I am always aware of. God bless them all!

Anyhow moving onto the wines for the day, we kicked off with a Pikes Riesling from the Clare, 2022 vintage, 12.5%. I was mystified why we would be drinking a Riesling barely 12 months old when we have plenty of aged Rieslings in our Cellar. Bit hard to make an assessment of a wine so young. All I can say is that it seemed okay, and hopefully will develop well, good fruit/acid, and no obvious faults.

The next wine was in my view the wine of the day, a Tyrrells 2013 Johhno’s basket pressed Sem, 11.5% What a brilliant wine. For the second week in a row Tyrrells Hunter Sems have stolen the show! Last week it was the 2005 HVD, now this week the Johhno,s from 2013. Both vintages highly rated in the Hunter for Sem. This wine is drinking beautifully now at 10 yo with a complex lingering finish, however, it will develop further into yet another Hunter-aged Sem Classic. Please Wine Master, if we all behave ourselves, can we have another bottle in 2/3 years?

Our first red for the day was the very good John Duval Annexus Barossa Grenache from 2015. 14%. I have always been a fan of his wines ever since he left Penfolds in 2002, where he was chief winemaker. Since then he has developed a small but exquisite range of reds from material grown in the Barossa. This wine was up to his usual standard, 100% Grenache, medium weight, striking intense colour with some tannin on the aftertaste.  Very drinkable. Would love to see it again in another 3 years.

We then went back to white wine, the Orlando Lyndale Chardy from Adelaide Hills 2019 13.3%. It was quite a surprise to see the name Orlando reappear after it virtually disappeared from view some years ago, losing its identity to its brands Jacobs Creek and St Hugo. Orlando is one of Australia’s oldest wine companies being founded in 1847 by Joseph Gramp. For decades the name Orlando was the dominant player in the wine market.  No doubt the brand Jacobs Creek has been a runaway success, but why you would want to disassociate that brand name from the highly respected parent company Orlando eludes me. Some corporate wizard might have the answer. Vale Orlando, I remember you well.  Anyhow, getting back to the wine, it was an acceptable commercial Chardy, a bit old-fashioned in style, but with an appealing butterscotch finish. Enjoyable without rising to any great heights.

The final two reds for the afternoon were the well-respected Seppelt Chalambar Shiraz 2009 13.5% and the Torbreck Struie Shiraz 2008 15%. The Chalambar label was a creation of the late great Colin Preece chief winemaker from the 1930s to the mid-1960s. He was determined to create a distinctive Great Western style from fruit grown on the company’s Grampians vineyard, mixed with fruit from other Victorian vineyards such as Bendigo. Seppelt’s Grampians vineyard is right opposite Bests vineyards, the land being sold by Henry Best to Bruno Seppelt.

Since its creation, Chalambar has become one of our most acceptable and reliable commercially available red wines. This wine was in my view a classic Chalambar, juicy with loads of spice and pepper. Unmistakeable. Great drinking now and will continue on I am sure for many more years.

The final wine of the day was a Torbreck Shiraz. 15%. Robert Parker the American wine writer has a lot to answer for in encouraging several years ago, some Barossa red wine growers to produce huge wines with massive alcohol and as a result, they became coarse, heavy, hard and unbalanced. I did not enjoy this wine. In fact, I have never enjoyed any of the Struies I have tasted in the past for the reasons stated. Apologies for ending on a sour note on what was otherwise a pleasant afternoon.

29 August 2023 James Hill

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

Food

Near full house bookings for our wine tasting lunch today with yours truly in the kitchen assisted by Jonathan Casson, Gary Linnane, James Tinslay and Chilly Hargrave.

Canapés

Jonathan Casson was up first with bocconcini stuffed tomatoes topped with pesto. Good balance of acid from the tomato with the creaminess of cheese with the rich pesto.

Gray Linanne made some sardine rillettes topped with some sliced green onion sitting on a Ritz biscuit. The rillettes were made with canned sardines, cream cheese, shallots, green onions, and lime juice. Lots of flavour and finished with cayenne leaving some residual heat on the palate.

Who doesn’t like sausage rolls? We all do and thanks James Tinslay for making 120 today …beef and chicken, shredded carrot and pine nuts. James’ has a secret recipe in that he can’t remember everything he puts into the mix each is then different. A lot of work goes into making the rolls initial chopping, dicing and mincing the day before. Then on the day cutting and baking the individual pieces. James made a delicious tomato sauce of passata, cumin, fried onion, garlic, Middle Eastern spice mix and porcini to dunk our rolls.

Main

Lamb back strap cap on with potato mash and sautéed Brussels Sprouts. A simple dish with the fat adding flavour. The back straps were scored and then seared on the stovetop till crusty.

They were then poached in beef stock with seasoning, thyme and garlic. The lamb fat infused the stock which was then reduced over heat after removing the lamb pieces.

The lamb was pink and moist and sat on a potato mash of cream and butter. The seasoned sprouts were chopped and then sautéed in butter. One member has remarked on the subtle introduction of ‘dreaded’ sprouts into our lunches over a period of time.

The lamb was a good match for today's Cabernet tasting.

Cheese

Cheesemaster Mark Bradford presented a French goat’s milk cheese today. This was requested by our yours truly and it came to the table running off the cheeseboard. D’ affinois de brebis fromagerie guilloteau.

It comes in 1kg wheels, is around 6-8 weeks old is an extremely well-priced cheese for the quality that is delivered.

This cheese is made by Fromagerie Guilloteau near Pelussin in the Rhone Valley. This cheese utilises ultra-filtration techniques and modern lactic fermentation techniques to boost the protein and calcium levels in the curd. Made with added cream and ripened for three weeks under a thin white mould rind covering the cheese and gradually develops a mild and rich texture that is savoury, building complexity. These modern lactic fermentation techniques boost the protein and calcium levels, it had a good sharp finish.

Chilly Hargrave made the cheese accompaniment a layered salad of rocket, beetroot, segmented blood orange topped with sliced shallot and a balsamic dressing. A good balance of flavours from the individual components and taste went perfectly with the cheese.

Wine

Let me preface my report on Tuesday’s lunch by saying that our Wine Master Nick Reynolds seems intent on robbing me of the chance to have fun with some of the wines on display at our previous lunches. Instead of being able to heap ridicule upon some poor hopeless joke of a wine and provide a few laughs for the members, over the past few months, there has been nothing I could even raise a sarcastic laugh about, or send to the Naughty Corner for the day! Nick, what are you doing? Readers of my reports in the last few months must be wondering if I have lost my sense of humour and mischief.

The answer is, of course, I have had no material to work with. Nick continues to provide a flawless selection of aperitif and main course whites and reds, all with one or two minor exceptions, uniformly excellent. Dear members, do not give up hope for any comic relief, I have the humour radar set on high alert and I am sure before too long something will come our way. Watch this space.

Dealing now with the wines for today, we had two whites to start, a 2005 Tyrrells HVD Sem, 11.5% screw cap and a 2006 Leo Buring Leonay Riesling. Also, screw cap. What a way to start! Can it get any better from here?  Suffice to say the Tyrrells was my wine of the day. Despite now 18 yo, the wine was fresh, clear and in pristine condition. All that epitomises a great Hunter aged Sem.

The Burings was a delight also, great fruit/acid combo, drinking beautifully, but not one to hold onto for much longer. These two beautiful wines show the advantage of the screw cap seal over cork. Don’t whatever you do run this line in Spain! You’ll be dismissed as an ignorant colonial and risk deportation.

Now onto the main course wines of which we had six, in brackets of two. We started with some Italian wine, a Poggio al Tesoro 2010, a Syrah/Cab Merlot blend. Delicious, plummy, mouth-filling palate, medium weight, a good food wine, generally well received.

I did however prefer the second Italian, the Argiano Solengo 2008. I enjoyed this wine, again a Cab blend with Merlot, some Sangiovese and Petit Verdot. Reads almost like a Bordeaux. The wine had a good balance between tannin and fruit. A lovely lingering meaty finish with distinctive Italian flavours. Left a good impression. My second favourite of the day. I must point out that this wine received mixed reviews around the room. My table and some others I spoke to really liked it, other tables were less than impressed. It may well have a case of some bottle variation, which is unfortunate but it happens.

The next bracket consisted of two St Emilion from excellent years 2010 and 2009, both from the fine producer Ch La Serre. These wines were mainly Merlot with 20% Cab Franc. Both were delicious, big plummy Merlot fruit with a very dry finish, with some tannin noticeable in both. Hard to tell them apart, but I think the 2010 just had the edge in elegance.

The final group was the Penfolds Bin 407 Cabernets. Now I must declare my hand here, I have never met a 407 I have liked!  Give me any of the Penfolds Bin number reds over 407.

I have always found the style quite lacking in Cabernet character, with no luscious berry fruit on the mid-palate and little overall flavour. If Penfolds were intending to create a midpoint up the scale to Bin 707 in terms of Cabernet excellence, they have in my view failed with 407, not even in the same Post Code.

Having got that off my chest, I must say that today I found the 2004 quite drinkable, It did have some detectable Cab overtones! The 96 was in my view past its peak, which is hardly a surprise given it is now a 27 yo wine. John Howard had just become our new PM after Hawke!  It’s been a long time for this wine to be keeping up appearances.

22 August 2023 Bill Alexiou-Hucker and Irene

Food review by Frank Liebeskind, Wine review  incorporated by Nick Reynolds

Food and wine

What a noisy long, long lunch, wrapping up at 3.30 pm. Food, loved it. Well done Irene and Bill.

The first appetiser was grilled thin slices of haloumi on fig crackers with a jammy thick pomegranate molasses, brilliant, enjoyed by all, though the crisp tasty crackers challenged some members' teeth. Next followed was spanakopita muffins with spinach, shallots and parsley topped with yoghurt and fresh dill. These appetisers were accompanied by a delicious 2022 Fauve Rose from the Hunter Valley made by the inimitable P.J. Charteris.

We then sat down at 1.15 pm for a brilliant octopus entrée, very fresh large octopus Bill got from the fish markets, steamed at home, sliced in rounds, dressed with balsamic, and EVOO and seasoned, and served on rocket. Bill had intended to serve it on radicchio, but as they cut the radicchio, it was obviously rusted from the inside, so Bill made a quick bolt to a supermarket nearby, for rocket. It worked well, as it gave the touch of bitterness to complement the super soft and tasty octopus. This was accompanied by a 2011 Andrew Thomas Braemore Individual Vineyard Semillon.

Next was the star, a lamb moussaka, not an ordinary moussaka, no minced lamb here, Bill did slow-cooked lamb shoulder in carrots, onion, celery, tomato and white wine, then pulled/shredded, and served on layers of eggplant (no potatoes) with a Greek white sauce (kopiaste) of yoghurt, egg and mint. The moussaka was then served with a traditional Greek salad, and Bill got tomatoes that were as close to those in Greece as I've had, rich, red and with taste, a great Greek salad with feta of course. If you aren't an eggplant fan, this wasn't your moussaka, I loved it. Being a soft dish, the cellarmaster chose both a white and a red to accompany this. The first was a Scorpo Aubaine Chardonnay and the second a 2014 Elvio Cogno Bricco dei Merli Barbera d'Alba. Both were well received.

Then Mark served a smoked cheddar from Devon. Qucke’s traditional oak-smoked cheddar, smoked in their original hot smokehouse over shavings of English oak. The cheddar was smoked over a long period to allow the smokiness to permeate the cheese. I love smoked cheese, but I found this one over-smoked and a little too dry, but it went well will Bill's second salad of the day, (yes I was happy, as I love my greens and salads), a butter lettuce, served with avocado, orange segments, pomegranate arils and an orange dressing, very good. All tables were provided with a 2016 Frankland Estate Isolation Ridge Shiraz to accompany this dish. The other wine was an individual table drop of Chardonnay with two tables receiving a 2018 Toolangi, one receiving a 2010 Craggy Range Gimblett Gravels, and Bill's table (but most especially Bill) being treated to a big, blousy 2020 Kendall Jackson Reserve Chardonnay from the United States. 

Congrats to Irene and Bill, very enjoyable lunch.

15 August 2023 Ian McKenzie Escoffier

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

Food

A big thanks to Steve Sparkes for coordinating this lunch with the team from Escoffier. Ian Mackenzie was Chef of The Day with Steve Sparkes, Steve Liebeskind and yours truly on canapés. Escoffier and Society members David Gregory and John Banks generously donated Truffles and Caviar.

Canapés

First up, home made potato blinis topped with crème fraîche and caviar.

Then followed seared roast beef topped with enoki mushrooms and truffle sitting on pea purée and toasted bread. The truffle pea purée was made a day before for a flavour boost.

Last up salmon tartare made with pickled shallots chives, mustard and lemon sitting in pastry cups.

Main

Our main today was duck breast with parsnip purée, mushroom croquette and carrot.

The duck was brined then cooked sous vide 57degrees for one hour last Thursday then seared skin side down today.

The leftover duck was used to make a duck croquette and sat in a mushroom puree that had a sweetness to it identified as ketchup. Rolled oats and almonds sat in the duck with a rich unctuous truffle jus.

Then carrot cooked sous vide and finished in duck fat.

The skills of our chefs shone today and showcased flavour, texture presentation and innovation.

Canapés and main were highly commended by members in comments on the lunch today.

Cheese

Il Forteto Pecorino Toscano Stagionato an Italian sheep’s cheese.

Spread across 650 acres of rolling hills the farm was established by a group of friends in the early 1980’s with the help of grants from the Italian Government. The group runs the farm on bio and organic principles, and apart from growing most of their own food and wine, it has also become very successful in the production of cheese and beef. They now produce more than 1000 tons of ewe’s milk cheese and 350 tons of stretched cow’s milk cheese, and the brand represents more than 20% of all Tuscan D.O.P Pecorino.

This was served with truffle-infused yellow box honey, caramelised mixed nuts and well-dressed mixed leaf salad.

Wine

We were treated today to a truly first-rate lunch, both in food and wine. I will as usual restrict my comments to the wines, but I must say the entrees and the main were superb.

We got the party started with a pleasant NV Champagne Jacquart Mosaique. Enjoyable, easy-drinking bubbles, that went well with the pass-arounds. A good first up choice, but not the sort of wine you would crawl over broken glass to get some more.

Using that analogy, the next wine was in my view, a wine to crawl over broken glass for, the Tyrrells Stevens Vat 4 Sem from 2007. 12%. In my opinion the wine of the day! Bruce Tyrrell always maintains that the purchase of Neil Stevens vineyard became the jewel in the Tyrrells Crown. Excellent fruit, great acid still, although now a 16yo, gleaming straw/green colour, no hint of age. A grassy/honey aftertaste. In a word superb. A big thank you to wine masters of days gone by for securing this treasure.

For the main course, we enjoyed some terrific reds, a Burgundy and a Barolo. Both most enjoyable. We started off with the Lignier 2015 Morey St Denis. 15 was an outstanding year in Burgundy, and in my view, the wine did not disappoint. I really liked it. Classy PN flavours, good residual follow thru. Nice balance, velvety finish inviting more, great food wine. I could have happily settled into a second bottle! Oh for those days of yore, a lovers wine amongst a game of footsies in your favourite French Bistro. 13%.

Next wine was the Massolino Barolo 2012%14 . Barolo has often been described as the “wine of Kings, the King of wines“. All I can say is that those ancient kings must have limited exposure to other great wines. That said, Barolo is generally an excellent wine. I have had many Barolos over the years, and some of the highly-priced ones are indeed terrific, but to my taste, I would much prefer an equally priced Bordeaux.

Barolo needs time, with those assertive tannins and high acid. Today’s wine had all those traits, along with that slightly tarry, cherry finish common to Barolo. All in all, at the risk of severe censure by the Barolo cheer squad, my view is that Barolo has become an example of the Emperor's New Clothes. Everyone gets weak-kneed at the sound of the name and heads drop, bowed in homage of anticipated unrestrained joy, but in my view, the wine never matches the hype!  Fire at will and may God have mercy on my soul!

The next two wines were an odd match, an Italian white, Vernaccia di San Gimignano 2021 @ 13% and a Chianti Classico from Isole Olena 2019 @ 14.5%, Both were enjoyable wines that went well with the cheese served, a hard cows milk from Tuscany.

The white was a mouth-filling Italian white but finished with a clean fresh flavour. Good fruit/acid balance, not sure if it would have been better served as an aperitif wine, not having tasted it before, am flying blind.

The final wine of the day the Isole Olena Chianti @ 14.5% from 2019, was in my view a bit on the young side, with excellent potential, but a few years off full maturity. An appealing presentation of fruit and some tannin, potentially a delightful food wine in 4/5 years.

Many thanks to all involved with this high quality lunch today.

8 August 2023 Chef Varun of Manjits Wharf (Indian)

Food review by Frank Liebeskind and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Today, with a terrific crowd of 47 the Society was honoured with having Manjits, Varun and their team prepare an outstanding lunch based on their ‘focus to redefine Indian cuisine’. Dishes range from Bombay, Delhi street fare and home style tandoori cooking.

I certainly couldn't thank the key people enough. Grant for organising and Manjit and his son for organising. Food wise, the best Indian food I've eaten, not only in quality, but quantity, no one went home hungry.

We sat for the entrees as well as the mains, and each table had two generous servings of each dish, and condiments to share.

A true feast and all the senses were dancing as the dishes were passed around.

Bug curry was Balmain bugs, a homage to their original restaurant in Balmain.

Every dish was a flavour explosion, as Varun said to me, Indian food must be a party in your mouth.

A meal fit for Royalty and my expectations were totally exceeded.

Manjit and Varun were exceedingly generous, with two lucky members winning wine and food lunches at Manjit's on the Wharf.

I asked Varun if he could do something for the members, and yes, mention WFS, and have free BYO on a Monday evening.

Manji also brought a tandoori oven along, set it up at the REX outside area, and members got fresh naan, and some members went and learned how to do tandoor.

Great food.

Entrées

Gol Gappa

Chicken Tikka

Samosa

Boti Kebab (lamb)

Mains

Butter Chicken

Lamb Roganjosh

Bombay Aloo Methi

Bug Curry

Accompaniments

Dal, Rice and Naan

Cheese

Paneer cheese with honey and rose syrup and other assorted cheeses

Coffee was a chai course.

Manjits has redefined Indian cuisine, Winner of 12 AGFG Chef hats.

Dishes range from Bombay, Delhi street fare and home-style tandoori cooking, to the most sophisticated food of the royal families. 

Manjits, Varun’s father launched one of the first Indian restaurants in Australia in 1984 and during the 1980s, he introduced a catering division, and, began hosting and managing events of a much larger scale.

A solid foundation of respect for the history of Indian dishes while paying homage to the country that welcomed them so openly over thirty years ago is the basis of the creation in our fusion menu.

This inspired vision born Manjits Wharf, our latest and most luxurious location overlooking the incredible Darling Harbour in Sydney.

Join their Curry Club or find one of their vendors for Manjits Food at Home.

Follow them on Facebook, and see Varun’s videos cooking his specialities.

Wine

The format for today was Indian and very good it was indeed. I arrived right at 12.30 pm to find everyone already seated. At first, I thought my watch had misled me and that it was in fact 1.30! I was soon advised that due to the nature of the food we were to enjoy it was easier to consume seated, rather than juggling and dropping large dollops of Indian food on the carpet. A sound decision, although I did miss the 20-minute pre-lunch chat with other members.

Dealing now with the wines, the first cab off the rank was a Hugel Jubilee Riesling 2009 at 13.5% and at 14 years old it was in my view starting to show some wear and tear. Acid starting to fall away and beginning to lose crispness. Quite sweet overtones. Irrespective of these remarks I thought the wine went well with the spicy entrees. A good match, warts and all!

The second wine was in my view far better. An Italian Monte Tondo Soave 2021 at12%. I enjoyed this wine. Fresh and clean with good fruit flavours. Soave hails from Northern Italy and is made from the Garganega grape. A popular grape in Italy and Spain it produces a flavoursome taste with a crisp acid finish. It went very well with the food.

We then moved on to two reds, the Torbreck Struie Shiraz, and the John Duval Shiraz, both from 2008. Whilst they were both Shiraz from the Barossa district (Marananga and Tanunda) and from the same year, I found the wines quite different, in that I did not enjoy the Sturie, but very much enjoyed the Duval Wine. Reason? At 15.5% the Struie was too “hot“ with excessive alcohol throwing the wine out of balance. An unappealing initial front palate leads to a jammy, stewed, over-ripe fruit, finish. This wine had followed the same pattern of other Struies I have had in the past. I have never been a fan. No doubt others take a different view. I will just pass on the Struie thank you.

The Duval wine was, in my view excellent. With the Struie, I have never had a good one, with the Duval Entity I have never had a bad one! I really liked this wine. A solid hit of alcohol 14.5%, but a far better balance with an excellent finish. A terrific blend of fruit, oak and tannin. Duval in my opinion is one of the best winemakers in Australia. A far better wine than the Sturie.

We then moved on to two whites, a Tyrrell's Vat 47 Chardy from 2013 at 13.5% and another German Riesling from 2011 at 11.5% I thought the Tyrrells was a first-rate wine and the label indicated an impressive list of show awards. Excellent fruit, restrained oak and a lingering finish. Drinking superbly as a 10-year-old with plenty of time ahead. I have written in the past that I detect some members having a less than favourable view of this wine. For the life of me, I cannot understand why. All at the table I was on were very impressed. Go figure! Anyhow, to each their own.

The second Riesling, a Gunther Steinmetz, was typical of a German, high quality wine at 11.5%, mouth filling, with generous fruit flavours. Despite the sweetness a good food wine with the right choice. Most enjoyable.

The final wine for the day was a Bullers Tokay from Rutherglen Vic at 18%.   An outstanding sweet wine brimming with ripe fruit, but well balanced. The classic Tokay from its ancestral home Hungary is made from the grape Furmint. My research indicates that the Bullers wine is made from Muscadelle grown here. I am aware that sweet wines, Port, Muscat and so on have struggled in recent decades to regain their popularity of times gone by, however, I urge you not to give up. The Tokay we had today was an excellent sweet wine of high quality. Drunk in moderation these wines can be a great way to finish off a meal.

Many thanks to our Winemaster for bringing these wines to us today. Never an easy task to pick a wine to go with Indian food. Well done Nick.

1 August 2023 Peter Kelso

Food review by Peter Kelso (the CoTD) and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Canapes

The first was a walnut and pomegranate paste made on fresh walnuts and pomegranate molasses. It is actually from Turkeye (Türkiye? Turkey? get the spelling right), where it is known as muhammara. Sweet, spicy and a bit nutty.

The other was falafels, made from a mix available commercially, with parsley and some cumin added. More laziness with the accompanying relish of chilli and tomato bought at Harris Farm and not interfered with.

Main

My own version of a Moroccan slow-cooked lamb. The boned and diced lamb shoulder was slow-cooked with onion, garlic, chickpeas (tinned), pomegranate seeds, pomegranate molasses, za-atar (a thyme-based Middle Eastern spice mix), diced quinces and a bit of harissa (obviously not enough for many). Diced eggplant was added later. I deliberately avoided the usual sticky dates, prunes or dried apricots, with only the quince and the two forms of pomegranate providing sweetness. It was served, naturally, with couscous, cooked with chicken stock and with currants and butter added to give it a bit more interest.

Salad

A Society favourite, roasted red capsicum, cut into strips and marinated in olive oil. Some diced preserved lemons and capers were scattered over to enhance the ME theme. I thought it went particularly well with the washed rind cheese.

Wine

Many happy returns to all our equine friends of whom I have none, but I had once upon a time some friends who had horse friends and now have neither the horse nor any money. I often used to say that in NSW when someone goes bad, you can trace it to the track.

Anyhow, moving right along to today’s festivities we kicked off with a Keith Tulloch 2010 Semillon @ 11%. Some very fussy tasters detected excessive skin in the wine. To me it was a reasonable 13 yo Hunter Sem, doing its job just fine.  Plenty of fruit and acid to carry it along for a few more years.

We then went on to a mystery tour of cellar drops providing a variety of different wines at random. I happened across the Brian Croser Riesling from 2008, a wine from Oregan USA and a Minaia Gavi 2021. I have tasted both of these wines before. My previous experience with the Croser wine was positive, but not so this time. On prior occasions, the wine was aged as you would expect but still had vitality and good residual acid, enjoyable. Today I found the wine showing signs of bottle age, falling acid and a slight resinous taste. OK to drink, but you would not order another bottle.

The Gavi continues to impress from my initial contact some months ago. Good balance, clean, fruit driven A great all-rounder for an aperitif, no wonder the Italians like it so much!

With the main course, we had two Australian Cabernets, both from Coonawarra a Wynns 2009 and a St Hugo 2002. These wines seemed to provoke a mixed reception. There were some commentators in the Wynns camp and others like me, firmly in the St Hugo tent.  From my own assessment, I found the Wynns a big fruit style of Cabernet, but strangely finishing with a very dry aftertaste devoid of much flavour at all. On the other hand, the St Hugo although 7 years older, had a far more appealing Cabernet finish, delicious and lingering. I thought it was the superior wine.  

We then proceeded onto the cheese, a Milawa washed rind. We enjoyed two very distinctive wines, a German Kabinett Riesling at 8% and at the other end of the scale an Australian Merlot at 14.5% from master winemaker Stephen Pannell from his Adelaide Hills Vineyard. The Riesling was to me out of place, but several in the room thought the matching with the cheese was excellent What would I know? The wine was delicious, crisp and clean, but with cheese? Maybe a peach. To each their own. At the opposite end, the Malbec was huge, big black colour, nearly sucking the light out of the room! Plummy overtones, concentrated and intense, but to my taste a little one-dimensional and did not leave much on the palate by way of aftertaste.  

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.