Food review by Nick Reynolds and wine review by Richard Gibson

The fight for Chef of the Year 2020 is really hotting up.

Today we had Society's first time chef in September and Chef of the Year contender Bernard Leung recreate the dish that wowed us last time.

Bernard was ably assisted in the kitchen by Steve Liebeskind.

The starter was once again the Heston Blumenthal-inspired Pea and Ham Soup. Masterful handling of the peas during cooking meant that it was fluorescent green rather than the uninspired brown that most of us were served as children. A flavourful ham stock combined with the green peas and nature’s wonder ingredient bacon led to a dish that was silky smooth, vivid in colour and textured with shredded ham from the ham stock and fresh peas with a dash of mint oil.

Well received by all judging from the clean plates returning to the kitchen, it was a wonderful lead-in to the main course.

The main was 48 hour slow-cooked lamb shanks, cooked sous vide at 62C and then browned before service, the lamb shanks were still slightly pink with all the collagen rendered but still coherent such that the meat came easily off the bone as muscle groups and had great texture with bite but not chewy. Bernard served the shanks on delicious buttery mash with blanched crisp broccoli and deep-fried parsnip chips for crunch and texture and chervil as a garnish and liquorice element. It was all surrounded by an intense reduced red wine beef-stock jus of sufficient quantity that members for once did not complain that not enough was served.

Both the entrée and the main were well presented, visually attractive, and very tasty.

We look forward to more meals from Bernard in the future, although he has set himself a very high bar with this one.

The cheese, which was chosen and presented by James Healey, was a Will Studd-selected La Couronne Comte AOP which came to the table at a perfect stage of ripeness. Bernard accompanied the cheese with a green salad, which was well regarded, apart from some comments about the inclusion of Kale which was possibly one green too far.

The coffee today was our house blend, which is a mix of Brazil Fazenda Imperio, Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, and Java Jampit 1X.

Wines

The starter was served with two Yalumba Pewsey Vale Rieslings from the 2013 and 2012 vintages.

Both wines displayed very similar characters.  The nose of both showed intense zesty citrus (lime/lemon) notes and flinty/ stoney minerality.  The palate of each displayed a depth of citrus fruit (lime) and floral/herbal characters and was clean and dry with fresh acidity/minerality.  The 2012 showed some spice and perhaps was a little less fruit expressive than the younger wine – the 2012 also had more developed toasty/brioche characters with a bone dry finish. Both were well matched to the richness and textures of  Bernie’s delicious soup.

The main was served with two Rosemount McLaren Vale ‘Balmoral’ Shiraz.

The 2007 (alc 14.5%) was a cleanskin and perhaps reflected the (rather ordinary) 2007 vintage in McLaren Vale (at least for Rosemount).  The wine was aged in American oak (50%) and French oak (50%).

It had a developed blackberry, plummy nose and on the palate was big, ripe and spicy with supple tannins, plenty of vanilla oak and coffee/chocolate characters.  The fruit was a little short on the mid-palate and finish and the wine is perhaps fading.

The 2004 (alc 14.5%) showed developed blackberry/plum on the nose with cigar box/ coffee characters.

The wine was medium/full-bodied showing layers of savoury, spicy black fruits, and reasonably well-integrated tannins. However the fruit was fading on the mid-palate, it was over-oaked and lacked balance with a short, hot finish.  It was nonetheless a better wine than the 2007 and well matched the textures of the excellent osso buco.

 The cheese was served with two SA Shiraz wines from the very good 2002 vintage:

Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2002 and

Torbreck – The Struie 2002

The Bin 28 (alc 14.5%) is sourced from multiple vintages/multiple vineyards from the SA region and made very much to a Penfolds ‘style’ – rich, robust and generous.  The 2002 was aged for circa 12 months in aged American oak.

The nose displayed developed, rich plummy /blackberry fruit, spice and licorice with vanilla and coffee/ choc notes.   On the palate we saw rich, ripe (but not over-extracted) fruit, a medium body with well integrated oak and soft tannins as well as some mid-palate complexity and denseness. The finish was long and dry – it was a balanced and elegant wine, drinking very well now but retains enough fruit to age further.  It was generally regarded as the best drinking red of the day and well matched to the osso buco and cheese.

The Torbreck is made from fruit grown in the Eden (40 yr old vines) and Barossa (60 yr old vines) valleys.  It was aged for 18 months in seasoned French oak (80%) and new French oak (20%). 

The wine’s nose displayed big, rich raspberry and plum fruit with coffee and pepper tones.  On the palate, it was full bodied, rich, ripe and opulent yet showed a nice savouriness and elegance. The tannins were soft and well integrated  (with no ‘heat’) - secondary herb/earthy characters were also present.

In summary, the Torbreck was a balanced wine, showing intensity and complexity and drank well on the day and was an excellent match with the Comte.