This day in 1976 marked the wine tasting event referred to as the Judgement in Paris where French wine judges tasting blind, picked as their top white wine a Californian Chardonnay. Sacré bleu. The French have never been the same since.

Our Food master Nick Reynolds was in the kitchen and managed it pretty well all on his lonesome.

Canape. Nick served a stunning looker (see photo above) of filo pastry cases filled with a mascarpone and feta cheese mix topped with slices of olive and sun-dried tomato. A beautiful mouthful to go with the aperitif wine.

Aperitif wine. After seeing quite a range of post-General Meeting wines Paul served the Richmond Grove Watervale Riesling 2002. Under screwcap it was in excellent condition. Lemony yellow and a complex aromatic nose with polished fruit on the palate. Delicious.

Main course. Nick served slow cooked beef cheeks (8 hours) set on a mash with a powerful and complex dark sauce. The mash, despite many wrong guesses, was from cauliflower with lashings of cream and butter. The sauce was a combination of celery, carrots, onions, PX (of course) and Sangiovese all cooked with the cheeks. This was topped off with slivers of deep fried parsnip. The cheeks were very tender and non-fatty. Comments of “attractive to the eye”, “terrific flavour” and “bloody good” ruled.

The wines.

$1·         Burton Wines McLaren Shiraz 2004

$1·         Schild Estate Barossa Shiraz 2004

$1·         Allegrini La Grola 2010 (Veronese IGT)

$1·         Oliver’s Taranga McLaren Shiraz 2009

The Burton wine was thought soft, elegant, in excellent condition and probably at peak. Some thought it wine of the day. What a contrast to the Schild wine which was extracted and alcoholic. The 14.5% may have a typo for 16.5%.

With the cheese we had another significant comparison. The Veronese wine was predominately Corvina the mainstay grape of Valpolicella. In this case it was an IGT as it had a small proportion of Syrah added. Very soft, mouth filling and with a fruity though dry finish as would be expected. Ideal food wine. The Oliver’s Taranga was thought forward for an 09 and of medium body. It just lacked some middle palate and style.

Cheese and coffee. James Healey presented Grubb Cashel Blue non-pasteurised cows’ milk from Tipperary, Ireland. This cheese was mid-way through its aging process, still firm but starting to soften. It was much enjoyed.

Coffee by Ferrier Spencer via Forsyth Coffee was Kenya Karina Kirinyaga AA.