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

Food

In the kitchen today was Paul Thorne assisted by James Tinslay, Gary Linnane and yours truly.

Canapés

First up, Gary Linnane with some caramelised onion topped with very good quality anchovies in a pastry cup, garlic chives to finish.

Texture and salty, sweet flavours with this canapé, simple yet delicious.

Then yours truly reprised Damian Pignolet’s simple country terrine with fresh herbs. The main ingredients are pork shoulder, chicken mince, chicken liver and hard pork back fat. Served on crostini with a morello cherry

Paul presented pea soup, asking the question, what’s the main flavour ingredient. No one guessed it. Paul blended peas, duck stock and shallots in the soup. The secret ingredient? Kafir lime leaves added another dimension of flavour.

James Tinslay baked some pinwheel scrolls made with ham, sopressa, Gorgonzola, paprika and Dijon mustard, fresh out of the oven, they were warm with the cheese perfectly melted, adding a subtle piquancy, they finished with some residual heat on the palate.

So tasty, we wanted more.

Main

Paul served pork neck, plated on a base of pea and ham soup. The pork comprised five pieces cooked in the oven for 4.5 hours at 135 C. The pork was cooked in trays and sat on a base of onions and duck stock. The pea and ham soup was a combination of many vegetables and legumes/pulses including carrots, peas, beans (2 or 3 types) barley and lentils.  The ham hock flavour was infused and then shreds were throughout the soup.

The meal came to the table smartly presented with a late addition of finely chopped herbs. The pork had terrific colour and showed it was cooked perfectly. Pork can be a challenge to get right and, as it rests, it still cooks. The pea and ham soup provided good colour and the broth provided additional flavour and moisture to the pork.

Overall, the flavour was delicate, the soup well seasoned with layers of flavour.

The bread was from Haberfield bakery, an old favourite of the Society.

Cheese

Our cheese master Mark Bradford, presented a French white mould goat’s cheese for our enjoyment today it was ‘Bûche de Lucay. P.Jacquin et fils produce traditional-style goat's milk cheeses in the Loire region of western France.  This typical, French log-shaped cheese takes its name from nearby Lucay-le-Male. Fresh salted curds are covered with Penicillium candidum and ripened in humid rooms to encourage the moulds to form a velvety white coat.

Transported in a special ‘cloche’ to ensure the mould continues to ripen, this chevre has a dry, crumbly centre surrounded by a ring of soft ripened goat’s cheese, all blanketed in a soft velvet-like rind. The flavour is rich and creamy with a traditional goat’s milk tang.

Accompaniments were big, plump grapes, dried figs marinated in port and some spicy pickled zucchini, a sweet and sour match to the cheese.

Wine

The proceedings were kicked off with an excellent Italian white, an Arneis from Robert Sarotto 2023 @13%. This wine from the Piedmont region was an excellent choice for the canapes, which were tasty and plentiful. The wine was a delight to drink, fresh and clean with attractive acidity. Colour pale yellow with strong citrus-type fruits on the palate. Clean lingering finish which complemented the canapes well. Overall, a most appealing wine, hope we have more in the Cellar. 

The second wine was however a letdown. The Schmolzer and Brown Riesling 2024 @ 10.5%. A wine intended to be similar to a German Kabinett Riesling with fruit grown on one of the highest vineyards in Victoria and with an alcohol content similar to some German Rieslings on the higher end of the alcohol scale, but sadly, that is where the similarity ended. The wine lacked flavour. Very pale, dry with strong acidic overtones, but no real follow through at the finish, rendering the wine quite nondescript. Perhaps I am being harsh as it is only a 1 year old riesling, usually not a good combination, and given a few more years to develop in bottle, it may come good. Not an attractive wine at present. 

The third wine was the star of the afternoon, the Seppelt Sparkling Shiraz 2008 @13 %, made by none other than our own Chilly Hargraves. A wine produced in only the best years of quality fruit, this wine is one of Seppelt's top shelf wines, along with St Peters Shiraz and the Drumborg Riesling. I love a good sparkling shiraz with that voluptuous, rich, velvety mouthfeel. Gentle tannins with spicy Shiraz overtones. The wine is now 17 yo, but still possesses great mousse with fine bead. A delightful finish, persistent and alluring. A wonderful wine. 

The next wine represented a huge step down in everything wine can offer. The dreaded Guigal Rhone white 2022 @14%. A blend of mainly Viognier, with probably some Marsanne and Roussanne thrown to complete the witches' brew. I really dislike this wine style with its unctuous, cloying, oily mouthfeel and sickly aftertaste. What have I missed? The thing is I very much like the Guigal Reds, which are always good, reliable wines, you know what you're getting. A bit like the Coca Cola of wines. Why they persist in making these horrible white wines, I do not know. Perhaps there are some people in France who like them, but then the French are different!

The final wine of the day was yet again a letdown, and indeed a very surprising let down. The wine was an Andrew Thomas Hunter Sem 2022 @11%. Some of you may recall me raving about one of his Sems, a 2015, in my report of the 25th of June last. Thomas is a fine winemaker, arguably the best in the Hunter. What happened to this wine, I do not know. The wine was quite pale, plenty of acid with good fruit evident, but the wine just lacked flavour. It was very restrained, tight and unyielding.

Perhaps the wine was still evolving at only 3 yo. Who knows? Something was missing, flavour certainly. Let's hope that 2/3 years in bottle may reveal its true potential. I have great confidence in the winemaker.