Graham Fear and his assistants both in the kitchen and on the canapés this week participated in the final cook-off for Chef of the Year. His assistants being James Hill, James Healey and Bill Alexiou-Hucker

Canapés. Graham and his team presented us with three canapés this week. Being one of our seafood heroes. Graham produced seafood for all three. We started off with a Jeremy Strode recipe of scallops on black pudding followed with white anchovy with red and yellow capsicums on a biscuit. The final canapé, served in spoons, was Western Australia spanner crab with a aioli, parsley and dill. Whilst all three were good, it was the texture and the love of black pudd that many liked.

Aperitif wine. It’s always a special treat to have a selection of wines with the canapés based on bin ends from our wine cooler. Besides our usual sherry there was a Barwang 842 Tumbarumba Chardonnay 2007, Stoney Rise Riesling 2008, Tyrrells Vat 1 Semillon 2000 and Lindeman’s Hunter Valley Semillon Bin 9655 2000. Enough range to suit anyone.

Main course. The seafood fest continued with a beautifully presented and beautifully prepared piece of Milford Sound salmon. The salmon was simply cooked in ghee and apparently, the cooking was consistent across the room with a number of comments about the lack of oiliness in the salmon. It was served on a mascarpone sauce with risotto sans butter with spears of asparagus on the side. A great meal to finish off the 2017 cook-offs.

The wines.

• Timo Mayer Pinot Noir 2012 (Yarra) (screwcap)
• Glaetzner-Dixon Reveur Pinot Noir 2010 (Coal Valley) (screwcap)
• Giles Robin Crozes-Hermitage 2011 (cork)
• Tyrrells Vat 9 Shiraz 2011 (screwcap)

The two pinots served with the main course were a great contrast. The Yarra Valley wine from Mayer had terrific power and needed still more time. The Coal River Pinot had complexity and length and was the more Burgundian of the two.

Moving on to the two cheese wines also showed that our Winemaster was trying to provide contrast and he did so with a northern Rhône Syrah and a Hunter River Shiraz, both from 2011. Predictably, the Croze Hermitage was the lighter of the two, less muscle, but with more complexity. The Tyrrell’s Vat 9 with its relative youth had power and intensity indicating that it needs a few more years.

Cheese and coffee. James Healey this week served Caprinelle Tomme de Chevre from the Midi-Pyrenees. It was very pale, semi-hard and had a wonderful rustic aroma. A distinct salty flavour matched the sherry for those who kept a nip in their glass for the cheese.

Spencer Ferrier provided us Yirgacheffe beans from Ethiopia. It was bright with a fruity dry.

In closing his comments, Graham thanked Peter, the REX chef, for his invaluable assitance to the serving of the lunch.