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

Food

Not to be outdone by the iconic Bill and Toni in Stanley Street, our own Bill and Sam sent the Society on its way for the final meal of 2022 with an offering fit for a king.  Being wary of Greeks bearing gifts, our lunch was more Italian themed than Greek, but what the hell, great Mediterranean flavours, aromas, textures, and colours. 

Canapes

The three canapes were in abundance. The first was a beetroot relish, made with the addition of yoghurt, cumin and lemon juice. The second was tuna tonnato, made with tuna, capers, anchovies, lemon juice, olive oil and mayonnaise. Members would recall with fondness this cold combination served as a main with veal and tuna mayonnaise; a Piedmontese delicacy. The third canape was a tomato, basil and garlic bruschetta.  Great comments from the 50-odd members on the day. 

First Course

The first course was a vegetarian antipasto with pickled vegetables, Scillian olives, zucchini and a corn frittata. This provided an excellent palate cleanser from the canapes. 

Second Course

Crafted by Sam, we were presented with a slow-cooked pork rib ragu served on pasta with ricotta cheese. Lovely colours and textures, and just enough in terms of quantity. 

Third Course

And just in case we hadn’t eaten enough, we were presented with a wonderfully juicy and pink steak Fiorentina with rocket and spinach salad. 

Cheese

Our Christmas favourite and at most other times too was selected by Dr James Healey: Holy Goat La Luna from Sutton Grange Organic Farm outside of Melbourne.  A wonderful goat’s cheese and excellent flagship for the quality of the cheeses now being made in Oz. James has given us an excellent education, now over many years, on wonderful Australian cheeses. Bill accompanied the cheese with cured meats which were a great match. 

Digestive

Not being able to keep entirely away from things Greek, the Alexous served us with Mastiha, derived from the mastic resin grown only on the Greek island of Chios.  Doing likewise with resin from the Sydney blue gum is not recommended. 

Conclusion

A wonderful lunch with many Society members in attendance. We look forward to 2023. 

Wine

Lots of people, lots of laughs and lots of different wines! A real Xmas Scramble! The traditional WFS last lunch of the year knees up! Many thanks to our Chef Bill Alexiou-Hucker and son Samfor a sensational spread.

This is my wine report which will be a bit truncated as I noticed my last report on the wines on 29th Nov suffered some heavy editing in the last few paragraphs. The gist of those final comments was to the effect that the French Bordeaux blends are a cut above our best Cabernets, even Bin 707.  For the sake of my wine reporting integrity, I needed this to be recorded.

As alluded to, there were many wines on the tables, both reds and whites. I can only comment on those that passed my lips. First was the Tyrrells Belford Chardonnay 2015. I have not seen much of this wine in recent times at the WFS, our predilections fancying the Semillon. To my taste, the Chardy was a bit flat, 7 years of age beginning to take its toll on the fruit/acid structure. By no means a poor wine, just a little disappointing. The next wine I tried was the Yalumba Pewsey Vale Riesling 2012. As always with this never fail wine, excellent. At 10 yo a classic Oz Riesling drinking at its peak. Say no more.

My empty glass soon found its way to the next white I tried a Roussane from the Rhone district.  A cousin of the Marsanne grape, which gained fame when served to the late ER 2 during her maiden voyage to Aust in 1953. A curious selection I have always thought! I recall it was a Chateau Tahbilk.  Nonetheless, the Roussane had a beguiling aroma, hints of honey, thick and mouth-filling, but not unctuous or cloying. A nice wine if you could climb the mountain of distinction between this style with our Oz whites.

In the Red Dept, we saw a number of wines scattered around the room. In the published list there was a 2006 St Hugo, a 2012 Chalambar and a Tyrrells Vat 9 from 2011. Also deposited on our table was a 2014 Ch Rochemorin from Bordeaux and a Bowen Estate Cab from 2008. There were I understand some other wines served but I was not able to either taste or record. It was a busy afternoon!

The St Hugo was to my taste an excellent wine. 14.4 % and now 16 years of age. A fine blend of tannins/fruit and acid all holding the together and no obvious excessive oak. An impressive wine.

The Rochemorin. A non-rated wine from the Pessac Leognan region of Bordeaux 13 %. A Merlot/Cab blend, predominately Merlot. A consistent producer with a reasonable price tag. The wine on our table must have been just out of the fridge as it was quite chilled. The initial impression was, good colour, but the chill on the bottle masked other assessments. Returning to the wine half an hour later revealed a pleasant Bordeaux with plummy Merlot overtones. Overall, a nice wine with no obvious faults.

The Chalambar from 2012. A wine we see here quite often and I am glad we do. As with the Pewsey Vale, a solid reliable performer which never lets you down. Big fruit, loads of flavour a very pickable wine style from Seppelts in the Grampians region. I compared this wine to the Vat 9 {see below} and in my view, there was not much between them. Think about the fact that you can just about buy three bottles of the Chalambar to one Vat 9! An excellent value quality wine if I ever saw one.

The Bowen Estate 2008 Cabernet from Coonawarra was 15%. Despite the heavy alcohol factor, I found the wine to be well-balanced, and very flavoursome. A big wine no doubt, not any elegance here, but overall an enjoyable drink. Holding well together for a 14 yo.

The final wine for our table was the Tyrrells Vat 9 from 2011. Tyrrells said {in 2021} that this wine is fully matured and should be drunk now. I think they are correct. Whilst I enjoyed the wine, I was a little underwhelmed, it was not noticeably a step up from the Chalambar. Both wines were high-quality Shiraz, but the comparison was interesting. You do not the opportunity to make these contemporaneous comparisons anywhere else but at the WFS and only for $85 with wonderful food and superb cheese thrown in. Your membership fee is the best investment you ever made.

This is my final Wine Report for the year. Many thanks to members who have been so kind to express to me at our lunches their enjoyment when reading my material. It is I can assure you taken on board with much gratitude. I do try to make the reports a bit of fun to read, whilst throwing in some hopefully interesting stuff.   SO’H.