This week in the kitchen we had the well-known Crows Nest based chef Rudy Dietz, from Stuyvesant’s House as our guest chef of the day. Member Grant Montgomery invited Rudi to cook for us and it was very successful. Grant was assisting Rudi on the day.

In 2016 we had a small number of guests chefs and is something that members should be thinking about so that we can have this happen a number of times during the year.

Canapés. Rudi started us off with “chicken balls” otherwise known as Dutch bitter balls made with chicken and veal and deep-fried. Crisp on the outside and moist in the middle with a mustard dip. Excellent.

Aperitif wine. Vasse Felix Chardonnay 2009 started us for the day along with La Goya and Lustau sherries both bone dry. The Vasse under screwcap was slightly reductive (which blew off) but opened-up to a fine, more austere style wine with some years ahead. As some say, a fine line of acid.

Soup. The function notice indicated that Rudi was to provide us with a goulash but many of us thought we are ran out the winners with a pea and grilled bacon soup served in a brioche with the top removed and placed back on top when it was filled. A wonderfully rich creamy soup. It was difficult to not eat all of the brioche but the mind managed to send a message to the stomach, reminding it of the main course yet to come.

Main course. We were waiting for the Schweinshaxe or pork knuckle slow cooked with port, caraway seed, garlic and onion. Again, it was excellent in being tender, flavoursome, and had no shortage of what members like, meat. On the plate, it came with sauerkraut with cloves, bay leaves, wine onions and speck, and spaetzli, a German specialty. The dish received much praise.

The wines. In the absence of the Winemaster our wine presenter of the day was Steve Liebeskind. His selections were:

• Tellurian Rose (Heathcote) 2013 (screwcap, 13.5%) – with the soup
• Goaty Hill Pinot Noir 2010 (Tamar) (screwcap, 13.4%) – with the main
• Tyrrells 4 Acres Shiraz 2007 (screwcap, 13.5%) – with the main
• Guigal Hermitage 2005 (cork, 13%) - with cheese

It is always good to mix thing up a bit from our norm so the Rose with soup worked a treat. Bone dry being a blend of Shiraz, Mourvèdre and Nero d’Avola.

The red wines were an interesting bunch noting that the highest alcohol of the group was 13.5%. A pleasant change.

The Pinot Noir was a sweeter aromatic style with plum and cherry overtones. It was a smart wine and provided real contrast to the Tyrrells 4 Acres arguably the top and most expensive wine from Bruce Tyrrell. The latter wine was very impressive with soft red berry characters and whilst 10 years of age will improve with more time. Sweet fruit in the Australian wine style but not sugar sweet. Well balanced.

The Guigal Hermitage was an excellent comparison to a high-quality Hunter Valley Shiraz. The weight of the wines were similar, but the Rhône still very tight, savoury and tannic. What you may expect of a good Hermitage. It was also still a little closed and a 12 hour decant would have opened up the wine. At its peak, but not going downhill any time soon.

Cheese and coffee. Our Cheesemaster of the day Gary Linnane served us a French  Emmental de Savoie from Fromagerie Chabert which had more holes than Swiss cheese. The cheese is made 70 kg wheels so our portion did not touch the edges so to speak. Made with a natural, oiled rind and large walnut sized holes interspersed through the body of the pale yellow paste, its flavour is buttery with a distinct sweet fruity profile and smooth chewy texture. Bread also by Gary was a giant loaf from Sonoma and a quince paste from Rudi.

Spencer Ferrier in absentia provided us with the Arabica sub-species of Bourbon from El Salvador. The coffee was full flavoured, with a medium mouth-feel, soft acidity and a short finish.

Thank you Rudi and Grant.