(Apoligies to Bill, our photo arrangements were disrupted on the day)

Bill Alexiou-Hucker this week attracted over 45 members and guests to his luncheon. Assisting him on canapé preparation was Peter Squires, minus Bill’s other stalwart, Peter Manners who was otherwise engaged.

Canapés. Bill provided us with two canapés to start the luncheon. Bill wanted simplicity in the canapés and the first was a herb and chili fetta with a Kalamata olive on toast. This was followed by taramasalata with lemon juice and black caviar on some ‘stale’ bread. They were all snapped-up and matched the aperitif wine well.

Aperitif wine. To begin proceedings, we were served a Tyrrells Belford Vat 18 Semillon. This was a single vineyard wine from the Elliott family’s vineyard which is leased by Tyrrells. It was quite a substantial style with a richer and almost honied palate that is commonly associated with that vineyard. Current vintages are simply labelled as Belford. A reviewer once said of the wine that it was “Vat 1 priced for the real world”.

Main course.  The main was a good introduction to cooler weather cooking, slow cooked beef cheeks in red wine and cloves on a bed of risoni pasta "risotto". The beef had been marinated for 24 hours and came to the table with a black coating which Bill could not quite explain. The beef cheeks were wonderfully soft, “creamy” in a protein sense and moreish. They were served on top on a rich risoni sauce and asparagus.

The wines. In the absence of the Winemaster our wine presenter of the day was James Tinslay.

• Chateau Bellay (Canon-Fronsac, predominately Merlot) 2010 (cork, 14.5%)
• BVE Ebenezer Shiraz 2002 (cork, 14%)
• Hugel Gewürztraminer 2012 (cork, 14%)
• Coriole Sangiovese 2009 (cork, 14%)

The only wine consistency in this group was that three were 14% and the other damn close at 14.5%. Otherwise, certainly contrasting wines. For the main course wines, the Bordeaux and the Barossa whilst not similar were both substantially structured wines. Merlot is thought by many to be a lighter style but this is certainly not the case in Bordeaux. The right bank Bordeaux was drinking very well with a typical European tannin structure. The 2002 Shiraz was a little bit of a surprise in terms of its elegance, despite its substantial structure. Beautifully long and a credit to Barossa Valley Estates.

With the cheese, the contrast was interesting. The Hugel had an initial appearance of being a sweet wine but at 9.3 g/L of sugar it was dry on the palate, mouth filling and had a long aromatic finish. Many thought it a great match for the cheese. The Coriole wine would not be mistaken for a Tuscan wine but nonetheless was drying and had some savoury characteristics. The Lloyd family had planted the Sangiovese vines some 35 years ago and now had more experience with the variety than any other Australian growers.

Cheese and coffee. Our Cheesemaster of the day was Gary Linnane served a Will Studd Roquefort. It is such a distinctive style with its salty flavour that many picked it immediately. The cheese was in peak condition.

Bill provided poached pears soaked in tawny port, orange peel and cloves to accompany the cheese.

Spencer Ferrier provided us with Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, a lighter and more elegant style. Bill matched the coffee with a beautiful Ouzo flavoured Turkish Delight. We finished it off quickly.

Bill once again showed us a good time.