As if EOFY problems weren't enough, our industrious Wine Master presented a lineup of 6 reds with no identification except that 1 was from each of California, France and Italy and the rest were from Oz. We were told to identify and talk about the style and fruit/acid/tannin balance rather than their origins, but that didn't stop members from trying, with varying degrees of success.

Fortunately the food, from Master Nick Reynolds, was not masked, and indeed deliciously apparent. Canapes of rich smooth sweet and creamy chicken liver on toasts, and of crème fraiche made from the leftovers from the handmade butter on the tables inside a round of cucumber topped by salmon roe, were a nice match for a few aperitif whites, notably a 1999 Lindemans Bin 9455 Hunter River Semillon which was still in good order although with fruit starting to drop out. The usual Lustau sherry was somewhere in the mix as well as a couple of rieslings which went fast.

To accompany the mystery wines, Nick produced a simple but elegant (if cholesterolic) dish of lamb shank with sauce on mash. Ah, but with differences: the shanks had been cooked sous vide for 48 hours at 60 degrees, the sauce combined a warm mirepoix of vegetables with a variety of stocks and 2 bottles of good red; and the mash was of the Parisian variety ,with a load of butter which would do Guillaume Brahimi proud. The meat was the star, the slow cooking removing all trace of greasiness from the cartilage and yielding a soft, uniformly pink, meat on the bone. As to the wines, they were finally revealed as: 2011 Seghifio zinfandel from California; 2010 Cerotto nebbiolo From Italy; 2008 St George cabernet from Coonawarra; 2007 Balmoral shiraz from McLaren Vale; 2005 Ch Lanessan from Bordeauz; and 2001 Shottesbrook Cabernet from McLaren Vale. Opinions varied wildly but there was a consensus that wines 3, 6 and 5 were the pick, with Balmoral not far behind and the 1st 2 foreigners lacking, at this age at any rate.

For no particular reason (other than taste and quality), we were taken to Spain with the cheese, a Queso Iberico made on a mix of cow's sheep and goat's milk and showing the distinctive plaited grass imprints on the rind. A medium hard cheese with a distinct nuttiness and sweet finish on the palate, it was once again a crowd-pleaser, accompanied by a simple green leaf salad with a mild, slightly sweet vinaigrette.

The coffee, from Master Spencer Ferrier, was the Illy commercial blend, the best of the commercial coffees with plenty of Italian-style dark roasted bean flavour.