Food review by James Hill and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

First time chef Jonathan Casson was our Chef of the Day showing his skills in the kitchen all done with one hand! Mediterranean influence on the cuisine today.

Canapés

Peter Kelso and yours truly assisted today with Peter preparing a rich flavourful tapenade on toast topped with cornichons and preserved lemon.

Up next were some ‘Acciughe Salate’. These are Sicilian anchovies, once caught head lopped off and packed in tins sealed with salt and EVOO. They are best rinsed in wine to remove the salt crust.

Today the fillets were prised off the spine, rolled and served on oven-baked toasts with crème fraîche.

Main

Perfect on this cool autumn day Jonathan presented lamb shanks served with a luscious red wine sauce, some pearl couscous and leek. The leek was baked in wine and butter and a good complement to the course. The lamb shanks were simmered for three hours, and fell off the bone, the pearl couscous perfectly cooked with the red wine sauce adding a great depth of flavour.

Many favourable comments on the meal today.

Big bread love from Iggy today.

Steve Sparkes presented Jonathan with his COTD apron and Jonathan responded by saying how much he enjoys the comradeship of our Society and the new friendships he’s formed since joining.

Cheese

Our Cheese master sourced some artisan cow's milk cheese from Cornwall, England ‘Cornish Kern’.

‘Kern’ is the Cornish word for ‘round’ and suitably describes the shape and flavour of this cheese. Created by Lynher Dairy, this modern British hard cheese is made in West Cornwall to an adapted gouda recipe using milk from nearby farms.

Each wheel has an attractive coat of thin black wax that allows the cheese to be matured for 16 months without losing too much moisture. The result is a dense, fudgy texture and complex flavour profile that is intensely savoury. The lingering caramel sweetness is accentuated by a proper dose of salt.

John Rourke spoke of the passing of member Terry McDowell. Terry was a member of our society for more than thirty years. John recalled meeting him at our Society after having been overseas for a number of years. He joined Terry’s table at WFS which he was hosting with his sailing crew. John went on to join the crew as well as many adventures in the kitchen with Terry.

Terry had a passion for food and wine, a good cook with an extensive cellar, he is well remembered and sadly missed.

Quote of the day:

‘One of the most generous things you can do for someone else is to cook them a meal’

Josh Niland

Wine

Today we had a new Chef Jonathan Casson, who treated us to a fine meal of lamb shanks. Delicious, looking forward to your next plan for us. See the food report for more detail.

With regard to the wines, we started with a Seppelt Drumborg Vineyard Riesling from Central Vic 2018. I am an unabashed fan of this wine. 11.5% pale straw, clean and fresh with a terrific fruit/acid finish. A delight. You may remember we had a Drumborg Chardy last week, a much inferior wine to the Riesling today from the same vineyard. Last week’s wine was from 2016 which may explain a few things. Anyhow, the Riesling today was a winner.

The first red was the Stella Bella Cabernet from MR, WA. 2019, 14.3%. Very dense fruit almost black. Big fruit, with assertive tannin on the finish. This I think is a very good wine, but needs more time, another 4/5 years would be just about right.

The second red was from the same district, a Vasse Felix Cabernet from 2010, 14.5%. Equally dense with huge fruit, but well-balanced oak and tannin showed the advantage of extra bottle age. A rewarding clean firm finish, sufficient acid keeping it together after 14 years.

The next wine was a white, a Tyrrells Bin 63 Semillon/Chardonnay blend. I understand this is Bruce Tyrrell’s favourite Hunter white, Humm, not sure why. When this blend was first released in the late 70’s I think, I was eager to sample it, coming from a fine pedigree of Hunter white grapes. My impression at the time having consumed a few bottles over a period of time, was that it was a waste of a good Chardy and a good Sem.  In my view at the time, the offspring of these fine parents was an uninspiring ugly duckling, which was a disappointment to both parents. For that reason, I have not consumed a Bin 63 for 40 years or more. I always thought the wine was flabby and lacked a clean finish due to insufficient acid.

The wine today was from 2017, 12.5% a very good year, but that did not save it from being a wine without much character or attractive flavour, unlike its parents, when drunk alone. I really don’t think I have missed much over the years.  Anyhow that’s my opinion, fire at will!

Today's final wine was the Hewitson Mad Hatter Shiraz 14.5% 2013 from the Barossa. Despite the comical name this was a serious wine. I really liked it! Big Shiraz fruit, but good balance. Despite its age of 11 years, the wine has plenty of time ahead, a rewarding and enjoyable drink.