Food review by James Tinslay and wine review by Chilly Hargrave

Chef of the day for this second last lunch of the year was Peter Fitzpatrick assisted by David Madson and James Tinslay. And, at least for the time being, this was the last COVID lunch limited to 25 members with the number rising to 50 for the final lunch of the year. We are hoping that this will a post-COVID normal in 2021.

Appetisers:

On the starter plate today, there were three different appetisers. The first two were both quiches, one satay and the other salmon served hot and cold, respectively. The pastry had been cooked ‘just right” and both were tasty. The other dish was Greek-style meatballs made with 80% lamb and 20% pork. The serving sauce was a middle Eastern spiced yoghurt, giving a dish, some cultural sharing.

Main:

Peter is a keen meat smoking man and he had smoked 6.3 kg of pork loin for about five hours in his home smoker. For plating, the pork had been sliced in substantial sized steak portions where you can see the ingress of the smoking rub into the meat to about 1 cm depth with the tasty crunch on the perimeter of the pork slice. The pork slice was accompanied with jus and some homemade apple sauce on the side.

For the green, a rather exotic salad (some likened it to a Caesar salad) with the ingredients of gem lettuce, baby rocket leaves, slivered toasted almonds, pecorino, mangoes and croutons. The dressing was lime juice, sesame oil and Tabasco. The result was a very satisfying salad that could have been served as the main course. But of course, not at our Society!

Cheese:

James Healey had selected Maffra cloth-aged cheddar from the heart of Gippsland for our lunch today. Maffra has always been enjoyed when it has been served previously and today was no different. The cheddar is matured to an optimal age of between 15 to 24 months and had a soft, crumbly texture with a long smooth palate.

The cheese was served with almonds and dried apricots.

Coffee:

The coffee was Kenyan washed process Maganjo AB Single Origin from Nyeri Kenya, roasted by Gabriel Coffee, Chatswood. Gabriel Coffee gave the coffee tasting note descriptions of blackberry, black tea and citrus peel.

Wine

Two aged Tyrrell’s Semillons were served as starter wines. Both (in the traditional low alcohol, high acid style) were still in good condition - a testament to screw cap and the judicious use of SO2. The 2006 (10.7%) showed extremely well with its freshness, length and acid tension. The 2004 (10.2%) was starting to show a lot of secondary buttered toast aromas and flavours. It was starting to dry out and the acid dominated.

Four Chardonnays were presented with the two main courses of fish and pork. The 2015 Domaine Leflaive Mâcon Verzé showed many of the characters we generally see in Mâconnais whites - rich fruit, full flavour and obvious oak. It was well made with struck match notes and little phenolic grip. Unfortunately, it was sealed with cork which hadn’t assisted its development.

A pair of Shaw and Smith Chardonnays followed. The room was informed that they were from the 2014 vintage and that one was Tolpuddle (Coal River) and the other was M3 (Adelaide Hills) - no more. It was a rather difficult exercise as they came out of the same cellar with the same winemaker. The first (the Tolpuddle) showed obvious oak with flinty aromas and citrus fruit. The acid was high (suggesting no or little malolactic) with a fine, long palate. The second (the M3) was a fuller, richer fruit style, although the pale was a little fat and lacked the tension of the Tolpuddle. Both bore the winemaker’s fingerprint.

The final Chardonnay was a 2012 Vincent Girardin Meursault ‘Les Narvaux’ was the favourite of many in the room(s). This is an interesting vineyard that sits above the village and hence many of the Premier Cru of Meursault. It is not one itself but is a highly regarded lieux dit (named place). Although showing some honeyed development (under cork again), it had excellent use of oak supporting the fruit on both the nose and the palate. It was long and linear with some ripe fruit and a great acidity.

For the cheese, we had two Bordeaux reds from the renowned 2000 vintage. One from the east (right bank of the Dordogne) and the other to the west (left bank of the Garonne). The Chateau L’Enclos from Pomerol was a disappointment to many at the first wine lunch. We opened 4 bottles and 3 were corked (2 very badly). The TCA became More obvious after pouring. The second lunch did well as neither bottle was corked, although that did allow some more of the Brett to show through. Château L’Enclos is an interesting property as it is one of the few in the area that actually has a chateau. Generally, it’s just a modest house. Typically, these wines are very Merlot dominant with this being no exception at over 80% (with a little Cabernet Franc and Malbec). It was very much in the old ‘claret’ style with plum fruit and dry, grainy tannins. Probably not a great future ahead of it.

The 2000 Clos du Marquis is the second wine of Château Léoville-Las Cases - a well-known and highly regarded Second Growth. Many say that their second one is one of the best to be found in Bordeaux. A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and a touch of Cabernet Franc, it showed the expected cassis aromas with attractive oak. The aroma was nonetheless showing some development as was the palate. The tannins were very soft suggesting at its peak. Some mentioned that they considered this to not be a good example and queried the history of its cellaring by the Society.