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

Food

On a cold, rainy and grey day, there’s no better place to be than at our Society rooms for some hearty winter fare. Amosh and his team were cooking today with the theme of United States Independence Day, July 4th.

Canapés

First up, delicious, creamy devilled eggs, the yolks were combined with crispy ham, mustard and parsley.

Then came fried mozzarella cheese sticks covered in a light tempura batter. They were accompanied by a dipping sauce of mayo, siracha and lemon juice. Perfectly cooked, tasty, not overly oily.

Lastly, some chicken wings in a buffalo sauce, they were cooked the day before in a slow oven, marinated with bacon powder, butter, brown sugar, with some habanero and white balsamic vinegar. Tender and good spice on the palate, very moreish.

Main

Less is more. Our main was pork ribs, candied corn and mac and cheese.

Looked simple, but we know a lot of work went into the dish. The ribs, nicely spiced, were marinated in chilli powder, BBQ sauce, brown sugar, Dijon mustard and seasoned. They were slow-cooked for two hours under foil. Plenty of meat on the bones, best eaten with your fingers to chew on the bone.

The corn was grilled with butter, seasoning and condensed milk to add to the sweetness.

Mac and cheese made with bechamel sauce, cheddar and parsley.

High quality authentic food perfectly executed by our Rex team today, much appreciated by members and reflected in comments from the floor.

Two types of bread today, one seeded with main and sourdough with cheese.

Cheese

Master Mark Bradford selected a blue cow’s milk cheese from Oregon, USA. It was the first time this cheese was served at our Society, it came to the table in good condition, good flavour and texture.

Bluehorn Blue Cheese is a striking cheese soaked in local Syrah wine, giving it a distinct deep purple rind.
Oregon’s Rogue Creamery is recognised as one of the most innovative artisan dairies in North America. BCorp and USDA organic certified, sustainability is a key part of the process at the farm.

Handmade using Rogue Creamery’s traditional, open-vat cheesemaking methods, cave-ageing for an extended period of time allows this blue cheese to develop a soft, luxurious texture. Each wheel is soaked in an organic, biodynamic Syrah red wine sourced from Southern Oregon’s award-winning Troon Vineyard. The wine’s complex bramble fruit and plum notes enhance the naturally fruity profile of the cheese, whilst the wine seeps into the rind, providing a subtle purple hue.

Wine

On what must have been one of the most miserable days of the year weather wise, 30 or so members huddled together to enjoy some American-style food for our lunch. See full food report for details. 

Concerning things to do with wine, our winemaking legend Phil Laffer took over the task of Winemaster in place of Nick Reynolds, who is on vacation. The first wine to go with the canapes was the Tyrrells Bin 63 Sem/Chardy blend from 2017, a great year in the Hunter. I normally avoid this wine, which I have usually found to be profoundly disappointing. A good Sem and a good Chardy mixed together should produce something quite good, but sadly not so. The attractive aspects of each grape seem to me to get lost in the blend. The result normally is a bland, unexciting wine.  However, in the case of this wine today, I actually found myself enjoying it.  Clear light straw colour, crisp on the palate, good fruit, with plenty of enjoyable acid at the finish to produce a nice clean finish. A good wine to go with the canapés. 

Next wine was a beauty, 2005 Tyrrells Vat 47 Chardonnay. A great wine, my wine of the day.  A 20-year-old Chardonnay masterpiece. Deep straw colour, high quality fruit, balanced with subtle oak, mouth filling yet elegant, superb finish with sufficient acid to keep the wine alive till the last sip.  My comment at lunch was that the wine was rich, opulent and decadent. So much powerful flavour from the strong citrus backbone of the wine. This wine may not be quite as elegant and refined as some of the great French white burgundies, but in terms of taste and enjoyment, this top Australian Chardonnay could hold its head up high next to the French. Remember, this is our style of Chardonnay, which will always be different from the French, more robust and bigger, but a superb drink. Many thanks to the Winemaster for treating us to this wine. 

The third wine was the John Duvall Plexus GSM 2014. One of my favourite wine blends from one of our best winemakers. Duval was chief winemaker for many years at Penfolds, overseeing some of the great vintages of Grange, Bin 707 and so on, before leaving the company and starting to produce wines under his own name, which are always excellent. This wine was a blend of mainly Shiraz and some Grenache, with a dash of Mourvedre. A big wine, immensely dark with pronounced flavours such as plum and blackberries and cherry. Strong oak and tannin overtones with spice and cedar hints. A really gutsy wine, full of flavour, drinking at its peak. I love this style of Australian red wine.

Next on the list was a Pinot Gris from the very talented winemakers at Scorpio, vintage 2011. This Mornington Peninsula winery has produced many excellent wines in recent years, with their chardonnay and pinot noir being standouts. This wine, now 14 yo was drinking very well considering its age. Typical PG colour of light brass, with a rich aroma and taste of apple and pear, the wine was full-flavoured with still bright acidity. That's the upside; the downside is that just one glass will do me, thank you very much. 

The final wine for the day was the Poderi Aldo Contero Langhe Rosso 2011. My research indicates that this wine is usually a cocktail of Nebbiolo, Merlot and Cabernet, although this wine seems to be made from the Freisa grape solely. Does anyone know this variety?  Anyhow, I felt let down by this wine. Perhaps I was expecting too much from this normally excellent producer.  To me, the wine presented as tired and lacking flavour , with failing acid. My research tells me that Freisa is similar to Nebbiolo, strong in tannin and acid, but perhaps 14 years in bottle was just too much for this wine. Pity, I was looking forward to it as with most Poderi wines we have had in recent times here at the WFS.