James Hill was giving us his best in the 3rd cook-off for Chef of The Year. The Hill Support Teams were the Kitchen Team of James and Bill Alexiou-Hucker and the Canape Team of Richard Gibson and James Healey. Nick Reynolds oversaw the canape preparation.

Canapés. Three starters got us underway. Bagna cauda, new to many, is a Piedmontese dip from garlic, anchovies, olive oil and butter. It was served on bread rounds. Then there was a classic duck pate (incorporating some chicken and pork mince) on Iggy’s bread. Great texture provided a wonderful mouthfeel. Lastly salmon on seaweed crackers. Simple but top shelf salmon made it a winner.

Aperitif wine. We started with a Muscadet Serve et Maine 2014. Under cork it had 24 months on lees and made from Melon de Bourgogne an unusual grape primarily grown in the Loire. A light crisp wine it did not suit many but others thought it was a good style of palate cleanser.

Main course. James served a lamb ‘pie’. The slowed cooked shoulder lamb was totally enclosed in pastry and was wonderfully tender. It was served with a light jus of Swiss brown mushrooms with garlic, tarragon and other herbs. A side serving of just cooked asparagus spears accompanied this meal. Excellent flavour and presentation.

The wines.

• Laurent Gauthier Morgon Beaujolais 2013 (cork, 13.0%)
• Chateau Peyredon Lagravette 2009 (cork, 13.0%)
• Vasse Felix Cabernet 2008 (screwcap, 14.0%)
• Chateau Le Bon Pasteur, Pomerol 1998 (cork, 13.0%) (donated by Richard Gibson)
• Craggy Range Single Vineyard Merlot 2005 (screwcap, 14%)
• Chapoutier Muscat de Beaumes de Venice 2014 (birthday wine from Peter Kelso)

With Richard Gibson’s kind donation and Peter’s birthday wine we had six wines over main and cheese.

The Morgon was a clean way to start with fresh fruit accompanying the normal Gamay medium palate. The left bank Peyredon was soft and dusty with just a touch of greenness and stalk. The Vasse Felix came across after that as a sweeter Aussie style, a style much loved by many in the Society. It was starting to soften and the nose stared to open once it had been in the glass for a while.

The Le Bon Pasteur Merlot was a wonderful wine. Loads of terroir with some mint and balanced tannins. Very refined with a long finish. The NZ Merlot still had abundant fruit but was a little one-dimensional compared to the forerunner. Good in its class.

Finally, the Beaumes de Venice fitted exactly where it should for the style. Like a spring morning with its sweetness and light. Good breakfast wine?  

Cheese and coffee. James Healey provided Le Marquis Chevre de Rambouillet, a blue goat’s cheese from Ile de France. It had a mild taste not overpowered by the subtle blue characteristic.

James had witlof leaves acting a ‘boats’ filled with walnuts to accompany.

Spencer provided us Kenya Karogoto (new to most of us) that exhibited fruit sweetness that should be classically nectarine and apricot.