Food review by Robert Wiggins and wine review by Richard Gibson

Doubleheader with a home run.

We all rocked up to another full house; the word had gotten around and queues began to form for places at the tables.

The twin bats of our resident Cooking Maestro, Bill Alexiou-Hucker and the wily old fox himself, Hal Epstein (whose resume of culinary delights spans almost every type of edible animal, and arguably inedible, did a double backflip twist, presenting a totally different take on his meal; completely vegetarian. (Lots of small animals out there were breathing a sigh of relief, especially the obscure ones).

However, this is where Kill Bill stepped in with an absolutely perfectly cooked slice of sirloin on the plate, in addition to Hal’s vegetarian fiesta.

CANAPES

We opened with three very interesting canapes.

There was a yellow (turmeric) pickled cauliflower, which was quite different, but extremely zesty and tasty, followed by some mini zucchini muffins and rounded off with the good old guacamole with tomatoes mixed in plus corn chips. The guacamole had two variants; hot or normal.

This was washed down with both the Seppelt Drumborg Riesling 2016 & Timo Mayer Doktor (Kabinett Trocken) Riesling 2016.  Both pleasant wines, but nothing outstanding with either.

The Drumborg Riesling is part of Seppelt's premium Drumborg Vineyard range and is sourced from the old, cool-climate Drumborg vineyard in Victoria’s southwest region.

The nose displayed attractive developed lemon/lime citrus followed by hints of apple and steely minerality. The lemon and lime flavours continued on the palate which displayed considerable fruit purity, balance and length with good acid levels.

Timo Mayer is a respected Yarra Valley producer with German origins. The  Doktor (Kabinett Trocken) Riesling however is sourced from vines grown on the family vineyard near Stuttgart in southern Germany.  The nose displayed lean, clean lemon citrus characters – still a very fresh wine with racy acidity.  The palate showed excellent fruit purity with lime and apple flavours, and clean minerality. It is a polished wine with good length and balance.  The room was divided on which was the better wine but both went very well with the canapes.

MAIN MEAL

For the main, Hal presented a delightful combination of a three coloured capsicum/ eggplant stack, consisting of very lightly cooked pickled capsicum, eggplant, caper berries, mixed with buffalo mozzarella cheese.

For his part, Bill had cooked up three large sides of sirloin that were perfectly cooked and immaculately sliced in a perfect uniform manner; when asked how he did this the answer was very simple; Rob in the kitchen sliced them; we are very fortunate to have him in the kitchen to both assist and occasionally lead our cooking fraternity.

The wines with the mains were;

Lindemans Bin 1100 HV Shiraz 2011 and Tyrrells Steven Shiraz 2011 (both under Stelvin)

The grapes for the Lindemans wine are sourced from the original Ben Ean estate vineyard, matured in old French oak for 18 months. With still deep crimson colour, the nose displayed a richness of (only slightly) developed cherry/raspberry fruits followed by a medium-bodied spicy, velvety palate with soft well-integrated tannins and excellent length. This wine (13.5% alc) remains in great shape and should develop nicely.

The Stephen’s Shiraz (13.00% alc) is sourced from both old Tyrrells and former Stephens family vines and aged 12 months in larger format French oak barrels (2500L & 500L). The nose displayed rich dark cherry and raspberry notes and spicy vanilla oak.  The palate was medium-bodied with spicy red/blackberry fruit, biggish oak/tannins and bright acidity (still a little dominant at this stage) and excellent length.  It will benefit from further ageing.   The consensus was that the Lindemans was perhaps better drinking on the day insofar as it showed better balance at this stage.

Saltram Mamre Brook Shiraz 2012 and Saltram  No 1 Shiraz 2010

The Mamre Brook (15% alc) is made from grapes grown in NE Barossa valley and the higher Eden Valley and is matured in large French oak (old and new) for 16 months. It showed aromas of dried, rich plummy red and blackberries, spice and liquorice.  On the palate, it was medium to full-bodied with ripe, intense dark fruit flavours, big tannins and high acidity.  At this stage, it is not yet in balance and needs time.

The No 1 (14.5% alc) is the premium Saltram Shiraz and is sourced from old vines grown on the valley floor near Angaston. It displayed a rich plum and mulberry nose with spice, cassis and chocolate notes.  On the palate, it was full-bodied, opulent with savoury, velvety well-integrated tannins. Balanced and complex, with excellent length, it was the clear favourite of this bracket.  Both wines went exceptionally well with the cheese.

(Wine report is provided by Richard Gibson)

CHEESE

James presented a cows milk, semi-hard, cloth-ashed cheddar in a 2kg wheel from Calendar, a Maffra Victorian cheese company.

Maffra Cheese Company produces an award-winning range of Australian farmhouse cheeses in the style of well-known British territorials.

Head Cheese Maker and Owner, Ferial Zekiman, considers herself a farmer first and foremost, as she believes that ‘without great milk, there cannot be great cheese’. Her herd of Holstein-Friesian cows graze on the lush rye and clover pastures that surround her dairy located in Central Gippsland.

To create their flagship Cloth-Ashed Cheddar, the traditional process of ‘cheddaring’ is used to remove excess moisture from the curds before they are scooped into large hoop moulds and wrapped in ash-dusted cloth. Instead of being rubbed with animal lard like their British counterparts.

These wheels of cheddar rely on the vegetable ash to suppress undesirable mould development and locked-in moisture as they age at the farm in temperature-controlled maturation rooms, ensuring they remain vegetarian-friendly. They are also Halal-certified.

Ferial grades the cheeses throughout ageing of up to 24 months with only the very best wheels receiving a hand-stencilled logo on the dark clothbound rind if they display a firm yet crumbly texture, sweet flavour and long finish.

We finished with the Society coffee and everyone agreed it was an excellent meal.