Food review by Frank Liebeskind and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Our President Bill was at the pans for our COTY cook-off and a Greek Feast it was.

I love Greek food, and as those who have been to Greece know, Greek food always tastes better in Greece, but Bill transported us to Greece with his lunch. No octopus and no Greek salad with this outstanding feast, Apollo Restaurant. Eat your heart out.

Bill was assisted in the kitchen by Mark Bradford. Mark was a late stand-in, as Rob Doll, the REX Chef, was away, and to challenge the kitchen further, the REX had a full house of 30 in the front rooms.

Canapes

We had three canapes. The first to be served was my favourite, a spanakopita, crispy, flaky triangles of spinach, feta, parmesan, cheddar, onion and eggs, in Bill’s buttery and light filo pastry.

Next was the Greek version of falafels, dried chickpeas (no tinned chickpeas here, Bill soaked the real stuff), with tomato, onion and mint, then baked in the oven, and finished off in deep fryer, and topped with yoghurt and pickled cucumber. The pickled cucumbers added complexity.

The third canape was a “Parmesan gelato” in puff pastry cups (parmesan, double cream and balsamic glaze), as Con the Fruiterer would say, “Beauuuutiful”.

All the canapes were well received.

Main

The moussaka, as Bill said, he tried to “pimp up” a traditional moussaka, no slices of tray baked moussaka today.

Bill served us individual moussaka, each having three layers of eggplant, with two layers of lamb shoulder (six hours slow cooked and pressed, then pulled), with a yoghurt bechamel, with grated halloumi and all topped with grated crispy potatoes.

The individual moussaka was plated with a warm tomato salsa of olive oil, cherry tomatoes, onion, celery and carrot.

After the voting forms were collected, members' comments were generous, and everyone appreciated the lifting of moussaka to a fine dining (well, almost) plate.

We all appreciated all the elements that went into today’s lunch, and Bill didn’t stop there, Goldie was given a moussaka with potato replacing the eggplant, and Bill used gluten free flour, so no one missed out on a fabulous Greek feast.

Cheese

Mark our Cheese Master presented a Greek Artisan Feta from Will Studd, the Aphrodite goat and sheep's milk barrel-aged feta from Central Greece.

Bill and Mark served the feta warm (10 minutes in the oven), served with great warm marinated mixed Greek olives, and EVOO and balsamic glaze (as Bill forgot the Greek honey ????).

Some of us bought the leftover feta, I liked the feta enough to buy some, but others thought it a little too salty, the Greek honey may have been a better balance, as the marinated olives (I loved them) were also salty.

I found the feta soft and creamy. A great way to finish our Greek feast.

The cheese is an authentic handmade Greek feta that has been carefully ripened in small, old beech wood barrels using traditional techniques that date back to the time when nomadic shepherds roamed the hills of northern Greece.

The barrels enable small amounts of oxygen to reach the salted curds as they ferment under whey, and the natural flora in the wooden staves helps to encourage a unique yeasty aroma.

Each barrel must be filled with curd by hand and after the cheese has been removed, it must be broken down stave by stave, washed and rebuilt by a skilled cooper.

After three months maturation in the barrel, the feta develops a soft milky texture and a seriously creamy peppery finish.

Wine

Lunch today was the last of our COTY functions for the year. Today’s lunch starred our President Bill Alexiou in the main role of Chef of the Day.  Not surprisingly Bill used his legendary skills with Greek food to produce an excellent moussaka.

The first wine of the day was a Bellone Bianco 2022 13%. I had not previously come face to face with this grape variety and I had to resort to Google, as my ever-reliable reference book by Jancis Robinson, failed to register the existence of this grape. Apparently, she had also not come face to face with it, so I am not alone. Anyhow, my research indicates that the variety is as old as Methuselah, with origins in the days of early Rome. Not exactly well known outside Italy, this wine is said to be the Italian answer to Chablis. Not too sure about that, but worthy of a mention. The wine was on first taste, very dry with high acidity. Fresh clean fruit flavours followed with a firm finish. A classic Italian food wine, perfect if you were tucking into an antipasto lunch on a warm Rome day, at an outdoor trattoria. Bellissimo!

[Note from our Winemaster:

Jancis does have the grape in her book Wine Grapes and calls it high producing. I know this maker restricts the yield, thus producing a more fine wine.

Wine writer and author Ian d'Agata writes this in one of his books:

“The wine has a telltale luscious texture and juicy acidity (wines without this creaminess or resiny mouthfeel are poorly made), and delightful honeyed, citrus, and tropical fruit aromas and flavours. Bellone’s large berries are very thin skinned but rich in pectin and polyphenols, so grapes need to be pressed slowly and vinification is reductive; despite its polyphenol content, Bellone wine’s oxidize easily. The variety is also blessed with high natural acidity (values of 8.5 grams per liter are not rare), which allows the production of good sparkling wines. When made from late-harvested grapes, the resulting sweet wine is thick, unctuous, amazingly complex, and never cloying because of its high acidity; I think it’s on par with the greatest sweet wines in the world. The stalk is twisted in September and the grapes are left on the vine until November, to lose about 50 percent of their water content. A good late-harvested or air-dried Bellone resembles high-quality Sauternes, with differences: more honey, sweet spice, and peach aromas and flavours, less saffron and tropical fruit. Without doubt, it is-or can be-one of Italy’s three or four greatest sweet wines.”]

Our second wine for the main course was a wine from Greece, as you would expect from the theme of the day.  The wine was a red, Alta Xinomavro from 2022, 12.5% A Greek red with moussaka, what could go wrong?  Plenty. A great idea, but let down by the product, This wine needed the intervention of that unlovable old lech Zeus to breathe some life into it! As I commented at lunch, the wine was a triumph of wine-making skills in producing a wine with absolutely no flavour! Not one of the usual signposts of a red wine. The most charitable comment I can make is that it was drinkable but without reward. 

The third wine was the Wynns Coonawarra Cabernet 2009 14%. Sue Hodder and her team at Wynns have been producing this wine for years with consistently excellent results. A Society favourite. Now at 15yo, the wine has reached peak maturity, but still plenty to offer. Great balance between dark fruits /oak and tannin.  Strong parting flavours.

The fourth wine was the Sinapius Gruner Veltliner, 2018, 13 %, from the Pipers Brook region of Tasmania. A well regarded winery. This grape has its roots firmly in the fields of Austria and other Eastern European countries. A wine that is gaining popularity worldwide. The wine to me, was dry but oily and thick in texture, not a combination I usually enjoy, however, the wine had sufficient acid to produce a clean, fruit-driven finish that kept on giving. Not exactly my cup of tea, however, that said, the wine was enjoyable, best drunk with ripe stone fruit.

The final wine of the afternoon was the Cuilleron Les Vignes d’a Cote Syrah 2014, 13%. A great way to finish the day.  Very typical of a Northern Rhone Syrah from a quality producer.  Excellent spicy fruit balanced by gentle tannins and mild oak. Drinking at peak maturity with time still ahead. Very moorish indeed. Hope we have more in the cellar!