Thanks to James Hill for the reviews of food and wine.

The room was packed today with sixty plus members booked for our mixed lunch with Chef of the day Denis and Trish Redfern in the kitchen assisted by Jennifer Darren, Dennis Cooper and Josef Condrau. Lunch today also served as a memorial to Pat Healy well known to many members of our society with Pat's close family attending.

Canapés

Canapés were plentiful today with Josef Condrau kicking off with 'escargots Bourgogne' done traditionally by baking in parsley, garlic and butter then served on bread. Great flavour and texture but not overly garlicky so as to kill our wine palate. Josef advised that he initially had some trouble in sourcing the snails but happened to be sitting in a pastry shop called 'C'est si Bon' they overheard his dilemma and voila! they sourced them for him and our pleasure.

Then came duck rillette on crostini with cornichon and radish. The rillette had been sitting in tubs for a week prior to service,2.2 kg of duck flesh yields 1 kg of rillette.

A perfect example of rillette full of flavour, a great mouthfeel without too much overlay of fat.

Traditional French onion soup with brioche croutons followed served in shot cups.

Last canapé a riff on 'coquilles Saint-Jacques'.The scallops were first seared on a hotplate then assembled on a bed of duxelles, with a mushroom, shallot and Lillet cream sauce topped with a panko and parmesan crisp.

Main course

All the canapés were superbly executed as was our main course of confit duck, crispy roast potatoes cooked in duck fat, cabbage and apple, green beans, red currant jelly and duck jus.

The duck was perfectly cooked, initially brined then sous vide, into to oven to warm up and lastly seared by Denis' industrial strength scorch torch.

The flavour and presentation was superb,the duck was moist with the vegetables cooked to perfection.

The attention to detail was noted and praised with many favourable comments about the food from members today.

Cheese

It all came together today with a great example of the Berthaut AOC Espoisses a Burgundian cheese of pasteurised cows milk running across the cheese board as it was served at room temperature. Epoisses is a strong musty wine smelling washed rind cheese. The intense aroma comes about by way of its maturation. The cheese undergoes intense affinage of five weeks which was washed three times a week with Marc de Bourgogne diluted with water,as the cheese matures more and more of the Marc is added to the washing solution. The fine-textured pate melts in the mouth with a mixture of salty, sweet and milky flavours dominating the palate.

Coffee

Spencer sourced some rare Cona coffee from Hawaii a special treat for our lunch today, roasted medium showing acid and long flavour.

Wines

Our Cellar Master assisted by Paul Ferman was kept busy today decanting wines as many of the wines were large format double magnums or magnums. They did a sterling job.

Ray Healey very generously donated wines today and we saved some for a toast to Pat.

Tapanappa Eden Valley 2015 Riesling drinking well on the day reflected the austere granitic soil, floral and dry.

Brokenwood Beechworth Chardonnay 2014 bit fat and overworked, some intensity and depth.

Christian Clerget Bourgogne Rouge 2014, not a complex wine. Cherry notes a little short on the palate.

Domaine Grivot Nuits St Georges 'Les Prulliers' 2006 tannic showing fruit. At peak with traditional Burgundy characters.

Tyrrell's 4 Acre Shiraz 2018 (double Magnum) good tannin, soft, showing fruit, clear and bright.

Tyrrell's Old patch Shiraz 2018 very pure and enjoyable, be good to see how this wine develops. 

Canoblas Smith Pinot Noir 1997 brown, still showing fruit sweetness, delicious for a wine of this age.

Brown's Padthaway Trellis Shiraz 1998 great year, good mouthfeel, bright, good oak balance and acid.

Memories of Pat were shared with Monique Burton mentioning her wide-ranging interests, magnetic energy, warm smile and expressive ways and obvious enjoyment of people and life in general.

Terry Stapleton closed our lunch with a tribute to Pat saying he was first introduced to Pat over 40 years ago at Society mixed functions at which she and Ray were regulars and which included lunches, evening functions, also Society tours of the vineyards in Mudgee, the Hunter, Orange, Griffith. As well over the years Ray and Pat hosted small Society groups wine tastings on occasions at Hunter Hill. Pat was always willing to speak with knowledge about the wine and food.

In 1988 when we ran the Australian Wine and Food Convention (over 100 attended) in Sydney Pat volunteered to join the organising committee and to organise the travel and accommodation offered to Interstate and NZ members and she did a very good job.

A great day for our Society.