Food review by Mark Bradford and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Esteemed artist Paul Ferman (alias Paulo Fermano), after a stint in Italy, returned recently to Sydney and presented French-themed canapes and an Italian chicken classic for the main.  A renaissance man extraordinaire, Paul is careful about selecting his ingredients, and where possible sources organic and sustainable foods. James Hill, as he so often does, assisted with the canapes. 

Canapes

First up was foie gras served on a spoon. Luckily for our arteries but not so much for our taste buds, only one per person. This was followed by a Raymond Blanc-inspired simple country terrine.  While the Blanc version is based on pork livers and other bits of swine, Paul used chicken livers as well to give it some sweetness.  We then had a very green soup of good texture served in a cup dominated by leak and cauliflower, thickened with potato, and a variety of condiments. In addition, some walnut oil – which Paul had on hand (who doesn’t?) – was used to lift the flavour. Very good comments were made on the canape offerings. 

Main

Today, Paul gave us chicken cacciatore – aka “hunter chicken” – served on white polenta. The chicken legs were free range; Paul attested to their big strong bones being from their ability to run around and these bigger birds were 16 weeks old, double what is normally found. They had a wonderful texture and were cooked to perfection.  The chicken stock had milk and butter. The Po Valley white polenta was corn-based (polenta is usually yellow) and procured from Simon Johnson Providore. Green olives enhanced the presentation and taste. The salad served by Paul was an integration of salad spring vegetables and nuts, arriving on the table before the main.  It looked and tasted great with a wonderful dressing. Paul explained that his organic days go back to his mother, who grew organic vegetables at home a long time back. All comments were very favourable. 

Cheese

Society Cheese Master James Healey provided us today with Casa Madaio Calcagno, semi-hard cheese with some similarities to Pecorino.  The milk hails from the rugged Sardinian hills, when the mistral winds retreat, and the wild herbs and grasses grow, the local ewes rear their lambs. In July, excess milk is collected to create large wheels of Calcagno. Casa Madaio is located in Campania, and the wheels mature at their caves at Castelcivita, where the sweet and herbaceous milk is concentrated in flavour during a maturation over 7 to 8 months duration.  The offering somewhat divided the floor, with comments ranging from an excellent cheese to a bland one.  Paul accompanied the cheese with pears and pecan nuts, soaked to just prior to germination before drying

A very pleasant offering indeed Paul, enjoyed by a capacity gathering on the day. 

Wine

The wines served today kicked off with two Pewsey Vale Rieslings from the  Eden Valley produced by Louise Rose and her Team at Yalumba.  This wine is always a solid performer, and today we enjoyed a 2012 and 2013. Both wines were presented on the central table in the room and sadly I was only able to taste the 13, the 2012 not finding its way to my glass. Some Sherry also provided escaped my glass, save for a few drops.  In any event, I really enjoyed the 13 Riesling, fresh and clean, in pristine condition despite it now being 9 years since vintage. High-quality aged Riesling like this one are some of my favourite Society wines. I normally arrive for lunch at 12.30 pm, so I will from now on I will set my alarm to arrive a bit earlier so that I can report on all of the pre-lunch wines on offer, some of which I have in recent times missed out on.

The first lunch wine was a Seppelts Drumborg Chardonnay 2017 at 12%. Drumborg is in Western Victoria and produces my favourite Riesling, also from Seppelts, but sadly that regional excellence did not carry through with this particular Chardonnay. Frankly, I thought the wine was a bit of a flop, not objectionable, but nothing to get excited about, no real character. I would have much preferred to keep on with the Riesling.

The first red wine of the day was a Tasmanian Pinot from the very talented winemakers Glaetzer and Dixon.  Vintage 2010  and 13.4 %. I really liked this wine.  Holding its age exceptionally for a PN, the wine was delicious, with soft and smooth low tannins and a velvety texture. The PN fruit was still there after 12 years. Quite a big wine for a Pinot, with lots of body, not thin at all. Some commented that the wine would have been better if drunk 3 or 4 years ago, which is probably right, however at today’s lunch, I found it most enjoyable. My wine of the day.

The second red of the day was the 2012 Wynns Coonawarra Black Label Shiraz. The wine was served still quite cold and took a fair while to reach room temperature, even when cradled in my eager, warm hands.

A  reliable Shiraz, the wine was quite drinkable, even touching on pleasant after some encouragement. I am aware that Wynns make an exceptional St Michael Shiraz from Coonawarra in good years, which often has that much sought-after cool mint flavour, however, this wine had none of that as one might expect.  At 13.5 % the wine was well-balanced and a good accompaniment to the delicious Chicken dish created by Paul Ferman. In my view, however, the wine never rose to any great heights and was basically unexciting. Question: is Shiraz the right grape for that region?

The third red of the day was the Rosemont Balmoral Shiraz from the McLaren Vale region 2004 vintage and 14.5%.  A bit of a blockbuster with huge jammy fruit and still some tannin overtone. Very drinkable, but at 18 years since vintage was beginning to show signs of tiredness. Others may disagree, but I thought that the wine was drinking 6 or 7 years past its prime. The wine was certainly in my taste at least, a pale imitation of some of the great Balmoral Shiraz produced during the 80s and 90’s when Rosemont was a dominant force in the wine market.  

The final wine of the day was the 2009 Blue Pyrenees Estate Cabernet from Avoca Vic. Coming in at 14%, it was for sure a big wine but was well-balanced and very enjoyable. Quite flavoursome and now with 13 years of bottle age under its belt needs no further time in the cellar. Went very well with the cheese. Loads of plummy fruit, but in harmony, a suitable wine to finish the enjoyable lunch.