Food review by Nick Reynolds and wine review by Charles "Chilly' Hargrave

Today saw a welcome return to WFSNSW lunches after 13 weeks of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

25 members entered the strange new world of dining with restrictions, sitting at their table on entering the Club and having all the wines already poured in front of them.

The President, Nick Reynolds, visited each table to welcome the members back to lunches and to discuss how the lunch would proceed. The restrictions were taken in good grace and members settled in to enjoy their lunch.

And what a lunch it was.

Our stalwart chef, James Hill, was in the kitchen ably assisted by the Royal Exchange Club chef, Leo. Paul Thorne sourced the seafood for one of the appetisers and also acted as principal prawn peeler in chief.

James treated us to two canapés. Under the new restrictions, they were served at the table to each individual diner, meaning that they were received more as an entrée than an appetiser. Appetiser wines were already poured at the table to enjoy with the food and a number of members kept some of the appetiser wine to try with the main course.

The first appetiser was a plate of assorted seafood, comprising natural oysters served with a small squeeze of lemon, the Paul-Thorne-peeled prawns, and smoked trout. These were served on a celeriac remoulade with chervil. It was a delicious start to the meal and was well-received by all members, with the smoked trout being a favourite in the comments.

The second appetiser was James’ famous prawn bisque to which he, unusually, added cream. Rich and with a massive depth of flavour, it rounded out our appetiser/entrée course wonderfully.

The main course was a masterpiece of balanced flavours. Tunnel-boned quail was stuffed with finely minced pork and garlic with pistachio pieces to add texture. The quail was wrapped in a vine leaf, which added a very interesting tangy flavour to the dish, resembling lemon. The leaves also kept the moisture in the baked quails making for a delicious eating experience. Accompanied by a rich quail jus, the dish was served on a kipfler potato salad with finely sliced fennel adding not only texture but also an aniseed element to the dish that complemented the flavours of the stuffed quail. The final element in the dish puzzled some as it resembled the long-stemmed broccolini in shape but was pure cauliflower in taste and texture. In his comments on the meal, Paul Thorne opined that it could be called “Cauliflowerini.” It was a new vegetable-hybrid called the Fioretto Cauli-Blossom (Paul’s name is probably more evocative). Fioretto means little flower in Italian. This sweet, delicious, creamy vegetable rounded out what was a top-class plate of food.

As usual with James’ meals, we were treated with Iggy’s bread during the meal and to accompany the cheese.

In line with our dining restrictions, the cheese and coffee were both served at the table to each individual.

The cheese was a Maffra cloth-bound cheddar, which is rapidly becoming a Society favourite. When given a quick options game, members picked it as a new-world, cow’s milk, cheddar, which was spot-on but omits the high quality of the cheese. James Hill served the cheese with a slice of Spanish quince paste, which proved an ideal accompaniment.

With Spencer Ferrier having stood down from his role as coffee master, the President sourced some coffee from one of the top roasters in Australia, Ona Coffee (declaration of conflict of interest – his daughter is the Ona’s Retail Group Manager). The coffee was a single-origin filter blend called Ethiopia Violet, Natural. The tasting notes for the coffee, which follow, are very like wine tasting notes, and reflective of the direction in which the coffee world is heading. Coffees in Yirgacheffe are typically grown as ‘garden coffees’, before being sold through the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX). This lot has been created through extensive screening of coffees, which separates them according to size and shape while being prepared for export. For this lot, the smaller coffee beans/seeds were gathered together, tasted and named ‘Violet’ for its intensive purple notes in the flavour profile, which include blackcurrant, grape and violets. The coffee displays deep fruit notes of blackcurrant, grape and plum, with a hint of orange-like citrus and violet-like florals in the aroma and finish.

In all, the lunch was thoroughly enjoyed by all and James presented a perfect example of a contemporary Society lunch to welcome us back after lockdown.

Wine

Today’s lunch started with a couple of Chardonnays. The 2014 Tyrrell’s Belford was very oak driven with rich melon fruit (not particularly varietal) and good mouthfeel. The 2014 Fraser Gallop Parterre again showed obvious oak aromas and flavours. It was a little simple regarding fruit flavour and quite lean. Certainly more an aperitif wine than something for a main course.

With the main, we had a white and a red. The 2011 Tyrell’s Vat 1 Semillon was still fresh and lively, even with a little residual SO2. It showed typical regional varietal character although starting to develop a little toast. Similar fruit was apparent on the palate with good weight and length drawn out by a slight phenolic finish.

Then followed three Cabernet wines. A pair of Wynns Black Labels provided an interesting comparison of styles and vintages. The 2012 showed a lovely bouquet of mint and cassis. An excellent cool vintage has yielded a wine of great purity. Tannins and oak were perfectly in balance promising a great future. The 2005 (another highly regarded vintage) perhaps lacked the defining characters of the former. That said, it was closed under cork. It was a big wine with rich, ripe fruit characters and some developing oak notes. The palate was of similar size with some rather grippy Cabernet tannins.

The final of the trio was a Cabernet blend (Sauvignon, Merlot and Franc) from the Haut Médoc classified Chateau Lanessan. From a consistent producer that is well represented in our cellar, it was starting to show its age. The fruit was a little diminished with a dominant earthiness and slight Brett taint. The palate had red currant fruit with genuine texture and balance - finishing with fine, grainy tannins.

The consensus of the room was that the Semillon was the best match for the quail and the 2012 Wynns was the best of the reds.