Wine Tasting

On the table, wine master Paul Ferman gave us 6 reds: 5 cabernets, 5 from WA and 1 foreigner which might or might not be from WA. The permutations were many, as were the opinions on which was the odd man out, but most settled correctly on no. 6 as a shiraz, before the wines were revealed as all from WA except one: 2010 Vasse Felix cabernet, 2008 Vasse Felix cabernet, 2008 Yalumba The Cigar cabernet (from the Coonawarra), 2002 Vasse Felix cabernet, 2000 Vasse Felix cabernet and 2001 Vasse Felix shiraz. It was an interesting lineup, with no one picking the SA stranger, and most favouring the youngest wine on the table. The 2002 Vasse Felix, which together with the Yalumba was the biggest wine on the table, also attracted support, reception of the rest being warm but restrained.

In the kitchen, the sous vide wizard Nick Reynolds did it again, with a Moroccan-influenced dish designed to complement the cabernets. Preceding that, some spicy merguez sausage, made on beef and pork, was served with slices of cleansing radish, and with the usual potpourri of aperitifs, including a 2000 Alkoomi riesling which was in surprisingly good , if soft, condition; various Tyrrells whites below the top Vat numbers; and, of course, the reliable Lustau fino sherry. Nick's other canape was an attempted seafood roll, containing scallop and calamari with lemongrass and chili which failed to set and was served as a light subtly flavoured mousse on rice crackers.

The main was shoulder-end lamb backstrap, rubbed with a multi-ingredient Moroccan spice rub and cooked sous vide at 57 degrees for 48 hours. It was fall-apart rich and sweet, served on a bed of pequillo peppers, oil and garlic, mild and slightly smoky, with crunchy green beans and some slightly mealy Israeli couscous with chopped parsley. It was a dish more than worthy of the tasting wines.

The cheese course moved west, with an excellent Cabot clothbound cheddar from Vermont in USA, a great rebuttal of the received wisdom about US cheese. Soft-textured with low salt content and a sweet caramel palate with mushroom hints, it went well with a choice of dried fruits, including dates, muscatels and a dark organic dried apricot. The tasting wines continued into this course and were an acceptable match.

Last, but definitely not least, came coffee made on beans from Pacific falls estate in Uganda; a new region for the Society but a beauty, with rich satisfying mouthfeel balanced by a long soft finish ; more, please.