24 July - CoTD Milan from Brick Lane

Special thanks to Peter Kelso for preparing this lunch review.

Something a bit different this week, with Milan Thapaliya, the executive chef from Brick Lane, producing some authentic Indian/Nepalese food.  The owners of Brick Lane run the kitchen at the REC, so it was great of them and Milan to serve us.

Canapes were some freshly fried papadoms (natch), but also a crunchy-coated pakoras made on slow-cooked onion and besan (chick pea flour) with assorted spices and coriander leaves deep fried, and some wonderful “chicken tandoori” rolls, with moist chicken, onion and spices cooked in a fried filo pastry case – a sort of Indian spring roll. To wash them down, we had a choice of Seppelts sparkling shiraz from 2010, and a Jay Tulloch Semillon from the Hunter, also 2010. Both stood up to the spice and (mild) heat of the canapes, although the sparkler was probably a better match.

The main course  saw a lamb rendang-type curry of medium heat accompanied by a mild raita blend of vegetables and a finely cooked long-grain rice dressed up with sultanas and whole green cardamoms to give a burst of flavour in the mouth. Plenty of melding flavours and certainly only too hot for the wimps!

Nick Reynolds on wines had thought long and hard about the match of wine and curry, and provided us with an eclectic selection, some kindly provided by him. They were:

2017 SC Pannell Aromatica, a blend of mainly gewurtztraminer with riesling and pinot gris from the Adelaide Hills, which lived up to its name; a bit too aromatic for some, but with a soft sweetness which cut well across the complexity of the food;

2017 Helm half-dry Riesling from Canberra, made off-dry and therefore with residual sugar, but finer in palate than the first, an excellent wine in its own right;

2013 Craiglee Shiraz from Sunbury in Victoria, a cooler climate wine with a good dry but light body which matched the food well;

2004 Wynns Black Label Coonawarra Cabernet, showing typical Coonawarra nose and good fruit although starting to tire.

The four wines were all served with the food, allowing all to be drunk against the spice; although the prudent saved some of the reds for the cheese, which was preceded by a gulabjamoon, a sweet ball of milk and flour fried and served on a ceramic spoon with sugar syrup and a bit of yoghurt.

The cheese, simply served with a homemade chutney from Milan, was an Ossau Iraty, a sheep’s milk cheese from the Basque region of north-west Spain, an ancient variety showing a slightly pressed firm and oily texture with a nutty almost olive-like flavour. It was especially good with the Wynns. 

The coffee was a bean from Sumatra, with rich drying flavour in the moth and a refreshing hint of acidity.

17 July - CoTD Gary Linnane

Special thanks to Peter Kelso for preparing this lunch review

10 July 2018 - CoTD Peter Manners

Peter Manners and his experienced group of assistants provided us with a Christmas in July lunch which has apparently gained popularity throughout this city. His assistants were Bob Swinney, Neil Galbraith and Tony Scott. There is a lot of knowledge and experience in that group.

Canapés. Three canapés greeted us. We first enjoyed a seafood bisque made up of southern New Zealand crayfish and snapper. No reduction of a sauce but simple high-quality seafood cooked quickly and served quickly with a dash of hot water. Clean and beautiful.

The next two started with a chicken pate on a thin biscuit topped with capsicum. The pate was beautifully rich but there were some comments that the biscuit had started to soften under the moisture of the pate. Then came a triangular pastry beautifully browned and filled with a meat sauce.

Aperitif wine. Keith Steele’s selection of wine today began with the Denmar Chardonnay 2010 under screwcap. The wine had been divisive in the past and continued its reputation. At 8 years of age it was still in a good condition and there were some comments about the richness and suitability to taste such as pate.

Main Course. The main today was, in the Christmas spirit, roast turkey. It came with peas, roast potatoes, roast pumpkin and a light sauce which added a fragrant flavour. Some of the comments suggested that the turkey was somewhat dry but nonetheless it was flavoursome.

The Wines.

• Tamar Ridge Kayena Pinot Noir 2009 (screwcap, 13%)
• Seppelts Sparkling Shiraz 2011 (cork, 13.5%)
• Wynns Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon 2001 (cork, 14%)
• Zema Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 (cork, 14%)

Serving turkey, a sparkling Australian Shiraz was a no-brainer. Some chose to suggest it should have been served with the cheese, but we stuck with tradition. Charles “Chilly” Hargrave spoke to the Seppelts sparkling as he was the chief winemaker responsible for sparkling wine with TWE at the time. He explained the technique of sparkling red wines and the higher degree of residual sugar needed to deal with the tannins. The Pinot Noir at nine years of age was still in strapping condition showing some of the sweet southern hemisphere style but drinking very well.

Two Coonawarra Cabernets were served with the cheese, the Wynns Black Label and the Zema. The Wynns was fuller in colour than the Zema but both were midweight, clean and classic Coonawarra Cabernets. The Zema had more lifted fruit but opinions were divided around the room about the favourite.

Cheese and coffee. No one had any particular difficulty in picking the Stilton that was served today. Apparently, Stilton no longer comes from Stilton, but this particular producer comes from Nottinghamshire and had classic crumbly yet firm Stilton characteristics.

The cheese was served with Iggy’s bread sourced by James Hill and as usual was excellent.

A treat was had with Peter Manners providing tiny puddings on a white chocolate base topped with cherry. Look above for the photo.

Spencer Ferrier in absentia provided us with a Costa Rica coffee which was quite strong in flavour but very smooth and balanced.

Time was set aside to remember past President and good friend to many, Peter Madden. John Rourke provided a spirited memorial speech to Peter with a few stories about his quirks and style. We all stood and remembered Peter was a toast of the traditional Green Chartreuse.

Peter Manners spoke to his concept and presentation of Christmas in July pointing out that the Society had no “real” December party so he decided to turn it on in July. Apparently, Christmas ingredients such as turkey are difficult to find in July in Sydney.

A fine lunch experience with the combination of our cooking team and fond memories ofPeter Madden.

3 July 2018 - CoTD Paul Kuipers and Exec Chef John "Goldy" Goldsbrough

In what has become an annual extravaganza, Goldy and Paul Kuipers from Courtney’s Brasserie presented a meal to some 65 of us today. Goldy had commissioned a caricaturist, Paul Biddle, to draw him and Paul for our amusement. Paul must have been well paid as Goldy had lost a few years!

Canapés. Paul provided two canapés for us today. The first was venison sausage sliced and topped with pan fried and caramelised eschalot. Extraordinarily tasty. Next came a chicken pate on a toast with field mushrooms topping. The toast had been kept crisp on its trip from Parramatta to the restaurant and the field mushrooms had that natural just picked and cooked look about them. Both canapés were enjoyable.

Aperitif wine. The main aperitif wine today was the Richmond Grove Riesling 2008, under screwcap. It was in excellent shape with some toast and honey overtones. A very good if not great Australian style Riesling.

Main Course. As can be seen from the photographs above, Goldy is parading the piece de resistance, a salmon coulibiac. Coulibiac is the French adaptation of a traditional Russian dish, kulebiaka, wherein a flavourful mixture of salmon, rice, mushrooms, shallots, hard-boiled eggs and dill are baked inside a pastry crust. It looked stunning and the detail and the work involved must have be substantial.

The slices of the pie were served on Paris mash peas with a fennel marmalade on the side. The rice surrounding the salmon is used to soften the dish, prevent overheating and absorb moisture. The salmon had been cured before cooking.

A wonderful main from a true professional.

The Wines.

• Craggy Range Gimblett Gravels Chardonnay 2010
• Burton Cabernet 2008
• Elderton Shiraz 2004
• Rutherglen Estates Sparkling Shiraz 2012

The matches to the main today took a safe course between a richer style Chardonnay and an aged Coonawarra Cabernet. The Craggy Range 2010 Chardonnay was in the rich southern hemisphere style and many preferred it with the salmon. I’m not so sure of that, preferring the Burton 2004, which was a soft medium bodied Cabernet drinking beautifully.

An interesting comparison of two reds with the excellent cheese today. The Elderton Barossa Valley 2004 Shiraz was rich but not inelegant. 2004 was a good vintage in the Barossa and this was an unexpected (for me) success. Goldy was keen on having a Durif style sparkling with the cheese and thanks to the generosity of James Hill who donated the sparkling Shiraz Durif blend, we had that.

Thanks to member Charles “Chilly” Hargrave for presenting the wines on the day.

Cheese and coffee. Cheese today was the blue d’Affinois and it was in beautiful condition. The cheese was accompanied by raisin and walnut bread with truffle butter and the match worked extraordinarily well.

We also enjoyed a Muscat donated by David Gregory, who noted that it had a base material age of some 90 years.

Spencer Ferrier provided us with (in his words) ‘the best commercial coffee in the world’, Illy espresso. A richer and fuller style, it is always enjoyable.

After Paul had spoken about his lunch. Goldy thanked Paul for 15 years of friendship and once again going out of his way to cook for us in the city. Goldy is well known at Courtney’s Brasserie and is likely that a Society lunch or dinner will be organised soon at the Parramatta location.

A memorable lunch and one that we hope can be repeated by this duo in 2019.

PS: a note re Spencer's picture above. No there was no accident, no drama and definately no alcohol. Spencer was simply scouring the wine refigerator for a tea for Walter Edwards.

26 June 2018 - CoTD Josef Condrau

For our first winter wine lunch Josef Condrau was rattling the pans. He was assisted by Denis Redfern on the canapés and the main.

Canapés. I did not get to try either of the canapés so a description will have two suffice. The first was salmon roe (from Tasmania and Yarra Valley) on blinis with crème fraiche. This was followed by wild boar rillette and chicken paté both on sourdough bread with gherkin on top. I must say that the boar and chicken pate looked wonderful as it was being prepared, but after that our paths did not cross. Commentary after the lunch supported this inkling.

Aperitif wine. The aperitif wine today was the Tyrrells Belford Chardonnay 2012. Many in the room knew the history of the Belford Vineyard with fruit being grown by Elliott’s in the early days. This wine under screwcap was in excellent condition with the 9 months it spent in oak not overpowering the fruit. It was well balanced and classy drinking.

Main Course. The day was cold and a perfect day for a rack of lamb that had been frenched and then baked with garlic, fresh mint and Dijon mustard. The image above does not show it properly but the lamb was tenderly cooked with the centre of the jewel of meat just beyond the rare stage. The meat was tender, succulent and a joy. Some commentators spoke about the love of the dish but would have liked a little more to further extend the pleasure. The protein was served with witlof braised in port with sliced mushrooms and polenta sticks (the polenta was done with parmesan and then reheated in the oven).

A satisfying meal leaving everybody I spoke to wanting more. Literally.

The Wines.

• Chateau Pontensac 1995
• Clos du Marquis 2000
• Chateau Villa Bel Air 2008
• Huntington Special Reserve FB20 Cabernet 2002
• Orlando/Jacobs Creek St Hugo Cabernet 2002
• Grant Burge Shadrack Cabernet 2002

The theme of this first winter wine lunch was a comparison of Left Bank Bordeaux with Australian Cabernets.

The Pontensac had leathery dry characteristics but was clean. The comments tended to the view that it was starting to dry out and would have been better a few years ago. However, there are those in the room who prefer this older dryer style and never the twain shall meet. The Clos du Marquis , a high-end cru bourgeois, was from the wonderful 2000 vintage in St Julien. Still a dense, the wine is beginning to soften and whilst drinking well will go on for many years. There was a bit of a showdown over this wine and whether in fact it was the famed super-second growth of Leoville Las Cases or whether it was often thought to be that. Some excitement was caused with raised voices. No names, no injuries. The final French wine from Villa Bel Air was obviously the youngest, but also the lightest and an earlier drinking style. A very good Medoc. All three wines had a significant Cabernet content, but in each it was pipped by the Merlot content.

There was a chasm to cross going on to the three Australian wines with the immediate sweetness being overwhelming. The Huntington wine was the driest of the trio and some felt that it was beginning to dry out a little. However, there was a certain elegance about it. The St Hugo was a little lighter than expected with fine tannins and a wonderful mouthfeel and long finish. For some this was the wine of the day. The Shadrack was a Barossa sweetie. It was holding its age well and was still a substantial wine, although not particularly well-balanced and not well particularly liked by the room. An interesting and diverse range of six wines.

Cheese and coffee. Cheese today by Gary Linnane was Gruyère always a firm favourite of many of us. The image above shows the chunk we had from the 32 kg wheel. It was sweet, creamy with just a touch of saltiness that makes this cheese so eatable. The cheese was served with dates and Nashi pears. The bread was of course Iggys.

Coffee from Spencer Ferrier (in absentia) today was a blend of Colombian and Mexican peaberry beans and was presented by James Hill. Spencer had used the full body of the Colombian to offset the more acidic Mexican flavour to produce what he called ‘a good end to a wine lunch’.

Josef gave us a quick rundown of Swiss history during his description of the meal. No surprise there. An excellent meal Josef.

19 June - C0TD Leigh Hall

Leigh Hall was back in the kitchen this week after a stint in Scandinavia which resulted in the meal today. John young was assisting him in the kitchen and on canapés. Today was also a pleasant moment for the Society with Viv Thompson, the patriarch of Best’s Wines, attending as a guest and presenting a range of his wines. Thank you to Stephen O’Halloran for organising this.

Canapés. Leigh served us three canapés to start the lunch. Many of the ingredients came from the Swedish store IKEA which specialise in such fare. First off all were pickled herrings on toast followed by mustard herring on pumpernickel.

The final canapé, which I personally thought was the best, were meatballs inside a pastry cup on a layer of lingonberry and mash. Very tasty.

Aperitif wine. This being the Best’s wine day we began with two of their Rieslings from 2017. The first was the House Block Riesling which was made in a Germanic style with some 16 g/L residual sugar. Whilst this sounds like a lot sugar the acid perfectly counterbalanced that residual sweetness and worked perfectly with the canapés. A kindly reminder of its residual sugar content was that the wine was only 10% alcohol. The second Riesling was the classic black label Great Western and it was terrific. Wonderfully fresh fruit matched by an acid that whilst not searing will settle down given some time to produce a long-lived and memorable wine.

Main Course. Leigh had previously explained to us that for centuries the Portuguese purchased dried and salted fish from Norway and over time the Norwegians learned to make some Portuguese style dishes. Today we had one of these the Norwegian bacalao. The dish was made using salted cod and was served in a bouillabaisse style which included potato, onion, black olives, tomato, fish stock, garlic, capsicum, chilli and which was garnished with aioli, parsley and green beans.

There was not an abundance of fish and each plate despite using over 6 kg in its preparation. However, the flavour of the dried fish was very evident, and it made a very flavoursome dish to eat. Potato played a useful role adding to the texture of the dish.

The Wines.

• Best’s GW Dolcetto 2017
• Best’s GW Bin 1 Shiraz 2011
• Best’s GW Chardonnay 2017
• Best’s Concongella Pinot Meunier 1994

Looking at the fish main course and the wines above it would be easy to say that this was not a match made in heaven. We had the 2017 Dolcetto followed by the 2011 Bin 1. Being a firm Piedmont fan, I was pleasantly surprised by the elegant and beautifully crisp and clean young fruit on this Victorian Dolcetto. It did not have the dry finishing tannins that you would get from Italy, but it was an excellent southern style and one that we in Australia should support. Most of us know the Bin 1 Shiraz and in this case, we had the 2011 vintage which was surprisingly soft at 7 years of age. 2011 was a very difficult year for Great Western and Viv indicated during his presentation to us that he was very surprised that this wine picked up the Jimmy Watson trophy in 2012. It is a very good wine.

With the cheese we had a fascinating combination of the 2011 Great Western Chardonnay followed by the 1994 Old Vine Pinot Meunier. My initial thought was that the 1994 wine may be tired but I was proved wrong. Starting with the Chardonnay at 7 years of age it was showing that age and whilst drinking well lacked a little bit of interest. The Pinot Meunier on the other hand was in fabulous condition and interestingly of the 6 bottles opened under cork there was little variation. A great variety that is well known in champagne as a minor component does particularly well in the Best’s vineyards and was a delight to try today.

Cheese and coffee. Cheese today from our acting Cheesemaster Gary Linnane was another local cheese in Jensen’s Red Washed Rind from Tarago River in Victoria. At room temperature the cheese was soft to the touch with an orange, stinky-aromatic rind. The texture of the interior was soft and supple with a well-balanced creamy full rounded flavour on the palate.

Coffee from Spencer Ferrier today was Sumatra Aceh Gayo. It is an Arabica bean and was a heavier but smooth style.

Leigh spoke to the easy working relationship that he had with the chef at the Royal Exchange, Leo, and explained at some length the basis of the food and his learnings over a number of weeks in Scandinavia.

Viv Thompson was a guest of member Stephen O’Halloran today and in a very sprightly way gave us a history of Best’s over at some 150 years of operation. He spoke to the climate of Great Western changing to a warmer climate in recent years and the still unknown background of why Pinot Meunier out was originally planted . His assumption was that it was grown to make Australian sparkling wine in the Champagne style.

Viv and Leigh were thanked for their contributions to another well attended and enjoyable meal on this cold and rainy Sydney day..

12 June - C0TD James Hill

The Society’s never-ending chef, James Hill, was back in the kitchen today with a tricky dish for this mixed luncheon with our better halves. He was assisted by his sage Jenny Dowling and Nick Reynolds and we had some 50 seated to enjoy the day.

Canapés. We had a range of canapés from James today, the first two involving celeriac with olives and then with fried chorizo. Both of those toppings were tasty, especially the chorizo which had indeed been to a good school. The third canapé was tuna and butter served on a simple crisp bread covered with dill. This was delightful and in no way overpowered by fish.

Aperitif wine. Firstly, most of the wines today were supplied by Tony Scott as a generous donation to this lunch, the second time he has done this kind act in the past year. Thank you, Tony. A range of starters today, including the Aubert Rose NV Champagne and a crisp, Bordeaux from Cote de Bordeaux, Chateau de Haux 2016. The Champagne we have had on several occasions, but the Bordeaux sec was interesting (and unusual) in that it was 60% Sauvignon Gris and 40% Sauvignon Blanc. A more than pleasant wine. Of course, there was Sherry, on this occasion a Gonzalez Byass 12-year-old Amontillado in excellent condition and much liked.

Main Course. Another overcast and potentially rainy day in Sydney was made brighter by James’s is duck pie. James made a duck ragu and then extracted the moisture for the filling for the pie. The presentation on the plate was stunning with a beautifully brown and textured pastry forcing you to look at it as opposed to talking with your companions. The pie was circular (seriously, not all are!) and it was set on a circular pea purée with crème fraiche which included parmesan and dried nuts. The pie itself had field mushrooms and dried porcini and there was a singular radish, which may or may not have been cooked in stock and butter.

The presentation was stunning (look at the picture, imagine an old sun with red planet revolving around it) as was the flavour and texture of the dish. Of course, James provided us Iggy’s bread, Sydney’s best bread.

The Wines.

• Clos Alivu Patrimonio (aka Sangiovese) (Corsica) 2015 (13%)
• Chateau Puy-Servain 2014 (14%)
• Chateau Belingard Monbazillac 2013 (12.5%)

We had two wines with the main. The first was Nielluccio from Corsica which, while French, is known in Italy as Sangiovese. Corsican wines are a rarity at Society lunches. This wine had a quite spicy and savoury nose that you would expect of a Sangiovese. The second wine with the main was varied across all six tables from Morgon to a Sangiovese from Mudgee.

With the cheese we served a white and a red. The Chateau Puy-Servain from Bergerac was predominately Merlot with a lesser portion of Cabernet. Quite tannic at this age and tasted a bit like a right bank Bordeaux. The sweetie of the day was the Château Belingard Monbazillac which is the lesser region after Sauternes, but still makes wonderful sweet desert style wines. True to script this was Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle. The sweetness cut through piquant style of the blue fromage.

Cheese and coffee. Cheese today from our acting Cheesemaster Gary Linnane was Cantorel Bleu Dauvergne from Auvergne, France. It was very creamy, and salt was evident. To quote our suppliers “A natural rind cheese with a minimum four-week affinage, the pate is soft whilst also being slightly crumbly. The flavour is creamy, contains the spice of the blue moulds and has a salty, tart finish on the palate. This is a well-balanced blue”.

The cheese was served with some wonderfully fresh Medjool dates.

Coffee from Spencer Ferrier today was a combination of the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe with some Indonesian and New Guinea beans. Spencer has been trying to replicate espresso coffee via plunger and has tried many different styles recently. This exploration came to an end today. Thank you for the education Mr Ferrier.

James Hill, whilst addressing the lunch thanked Leo in the kitchen for his masterful assistance and thanked Tony Scott for his contribution with the wine for today’s lunch.

A lunch with fine food, wine but most importantly, spirit.

5 June 2018 - Bill Alexiou-Hucker CoTD

Thanks to James Hill for this review

Our Foodmaster Bill Alexiou-Hucker was back in the kitchen with Graham Gardner and Mark Bradford assisting.

Canapés. Bill's canapes were Mediterranean inspired with skordalia (garlic dip) with crispy fried caper berries and hummus with cumin spice cauliflower florets. Mark prepared guacamole with homemade smoked chorizo and capers on toast.

Aperitif wine. The main aperitif wine was a Society favourite, Richmond Grove Watervale Riesling 2006, which was a good match for the starters. The wine had good acid and structure drinking young for a wine aged 12 years. We had a variety of other wines from previous luncheons. The Tio Pepe sherry was again popular.

Main Course. On a rainy overcast day our main today was perfect. It was Alexander the Great vs The Duke of Wellington, a huge portion of Beef Wellington wrapped with a prosciutto, mushroom duxelles, Dijon mustard, spinach and rosemary with a base of filo and puff pastry with a red wine jus accompanied by a Greek themed mixture of small tomatoes beans bacon. The flavours were robust and well balanced with the perfectly cooked beef. Excellent.

The Wines.

• Balnaves Shiraz Coonawarra 2008 (14%)
• Barossa Valley Estates Ebenezer Shiraz 2002 (14%)
• Burton Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 (13.5%)
• Zema Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 (cork, 14%)

The Balnaves Shiraz had good fruit flavour and balance and was elegant. The BVE Ebenezer Shiraz was over oaked and bitter on the palate and quite astringent.

With cheese the Burton Cabernet was a very good wine with soft tannins and acid and drinking well now. The Zema Cabernet of the same year, 2014, was well balanced and flavoured.

Cheese and coffee. Gary Linnane was acting Cheesemaster and he selected Maffra cloth aged cheddar from Gippsland. I came to the table at room temperature. Gary thought it could have been a little cooler to highlight the flavour. Tasting notes describe it as classic cheddar flavour sweet and rich with a moist slightly crumbly texture. Bill served it with homemade giardiniera and capers.

Spencer Ferrier provided a coffee from Rwanda described as not so sweet, clear with floral overtones.

29 May 2018 - CoTD John Rourke

There was certainly no trullfling for experience today with John Rourke in the kitchen assisted by Terry McDowell, both long-term and experienced cooks. John was very generous agreeing to blow out the numbers from the normal maximum of 48 to some 54 attendees.

Canapés. John and Terry concentrated on one canapé for us today which were French snails in a pastry case. Th pastry case had been kept beautifully dried and was crispy to the bite. The large French nails came from a can and had been sautéed in butter, shallots, garlic and red wine. A beautiful canapé and a step up from the escargot that one often gets in a so-called French brasserie.

Aperitif wine. Paul Ferman put on the Aubert NV Rose Champagne which, whilst an entry-level Champagne, was a decent enough match for the canapé. There was somewhat of a thirst for Sherry on the day with multiple bottles of the Tio Pepe Fino being consumed. Over the past few years Sherry consumption has been on the increase in the Society and it is a tribute to our members that we are swimming against the trend in Australian society. Ray Kidd always has a special smile on his face when you are pouring him a Sherry.

Main Course. The much awaited Rourky main event was worth the expectation. The photographs, above, tell you why. John had organised his butcher to deboned six ducks which were stuffed with ground chicken and sous vide the for two hours. The flavour of the product of this work matched with the orange sauce was a delight. The protein was accompanied by duck fat potatoes (say no more) and accompanied by tiny capsicums from Peru and Brazil served on a salad shell as were mushrooms. Apparently, Leo, our resident REX chef from Brazil, was very familiar with these delicate vegetables. A very successful main event.

The Wines.

• Moss Wood Pinot Noir 2012 (screw cap, 14%)
• Yabby Lake Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2010 (screw cap, 14%)
• Freycinet Pinot Noir 2012 (screw cap, 14%)
• Dom. Du Pavillon Aloxe Corton 1er Maruchudes 2005 (cork, 13%)
• Dom. Du Pavillon Clos du Maruchudes Corton Grand Cru 2005 (cork, 13.5%)
• Gaja Pieve Santa Restituta Brunello di Montalcino 2006 (cork, 14%)

The first trio of wines for this tasting lunch were Australian Pinot’s. The Moss Wood wine was an eye-opener for many who did not realise that Moss Wood sourced fruit from the Mornington Peninsula. Whilst all three wines had the typical sweetness associated with Australian Pinot Noir’s the Moss Wood was also accompanied by a fair degree of tannin and the wine still has some time to go. The Yabby Lake had a couple of years on the previous wine and was drier and leaner and for many was the favourite of many on the day. The Tasmanian Pinot was lighter and whilst like by a number of attendees, sweetness was very noticeable. My least wine but all three were well made quality Australian Pinot’s.

The rubber hit the road with the next trIo. There was not a lot separating the Premier Cru from the Grand Cru with one technicality being an extra 0.5% on the alcohol level of the latter. Both wines had substantial body with drying tannins as you would expect from quality Burgundies. The Grand Cru had a touch more sweetness and more power. Both wines left me wondering about their future. Given the substantial price of Burgundy in the world market (and particularly Australia) it was a treat to have these served at our Society. The final wine was a Brunello di Montalcino from 2006. Potentially biased, this was my wine of the day, savoury and powerful with savoury herb characteristics typical of Sangiovese. The dryness and structure were almost reminiscent of a Piedmont style Langhe wine based on Nebbiolo. An excellent group of wines.

Cheese and coffee. Our acting Cheesemaster, Gary Linnane, served Saint Secret Buche en Cloche, a traditional log shaped white mould cheese from goats milk. This had a rich creamy flavour and was extraordinarily smooth. We rarely get poor cheeses and this was a delight.

Spencer Ferrier (in absentia) again provided us with the Mexican peaberry bean on the basis that it would be some time before fresh beans were again available in Australia. A more acidic flavour with this bean but sweet on the palate.

Accompanying the cheese were walnuts and honey and is a special treat, strawberries frozen with a sugar coating in the French style.

John Rourke is one of a group of very special cooks who make mere mortals like me realise I have a long way to go to reach standards he sets. Excellent work John and Terry.

22 May 2018 - Leo Rachid (REX chef) CoTD

On this beautiful Sydney day, we enjoyed the food of the REX chef, Leo Rachid, who was assisted by Raj in his kitchen. At least once annually Society members get to enjoy the fruits of the local chef or a chef from another restaurant and we did so today.

Canapés. Leo prepared us two canapés, both looked stunning. The first was confit chicken terrine with pistachio and cranberry chutney on melba toast. The toast had been baked made in the kitchen with a touch bit oil. The second was smoked eggplant tartlets, goats cheese and basil. The basil had been deep-fried and added a beautiful look and texture to the finished mouthful. We were fortunate to have plentiful quantities, although they did not survive our appetites, always a good sign.

Aperitif wine. One of the delightful aspects of our Society is the ability to split the room on wine tastes. Today we enjoyed a Bellarmine Chardonnay 2010 from Pemberton in Southern Western Australia. At 8 years of age the wine showed some luscious characteristics with suggestive nectarine overtones. At its peak and as such a good addition to the lunch. Mind you, that is my opinion and others were not so impressed.

Main Course. Leo was going a little classically French today and provided us with salmon en croute, dauphinoise potatoes, sauté spinach with hollandaise sauce. Obviously, a lot of work had gone into the meticulous presentation. The pastry on the salmon was beautifully cooked and tasted wonderful (in other words, smothered with butter before cooking) and the comments were complimentary. One commentator suggested that the potatoes were not strictly dauphinoise as there were not lashings of garlic and cream. Whatever, Roger, I enjoyed them anyway.

The Wines.

• Brokenwood Indigo Chardonnay 2014 (screwcap, 12.5%)
• Château de Pizay Morgon 2013 (cork, 13%)
• Roux Pere Rully Clos Des Mollepierres 2013 (cork, 13%)
• Pala Cannonau 2012 (Sardinia) (cork, 13.5%)

As we were enjoying seafood today, the wines were selected for lighter food. The two main course wines, the Brokenwood and the Morgon, were well suited to the task although invariably there were different opinions as to the better match. The Gamay was a classic Morgon and whilst a little lighter than expected was, for me, the best match. This is not to undermine the Brokenwood Indigo which was for Australia a more austere style and all the better for it.

However, for my money, the two best wines of the day came with the fromage. The Rully Chardonnay from the Burgundy region had a poise, minerality, and complexity that the previous two Chardonnay did not exhibit. It was not Chablis and it had overtones that at a blind tasting would have indicated Burgundy although obviously not a top-notch example, but very enjoyable. The wine of the day for me was the Sardinian Grenache (called Cannonau in Sardinia) from Pala. It was a lighter dry style than we would typically see in Australia, but then again Australian ganache examples are now super in the hands of the right maker.

Cheese and coffee. Our acting Cheesemaster, Gary Linnane, served Le Gruyere from Switzerland (obviously). The cheese was in wonderful condition and was dense but still a little flexible in the style of a Comte from across the border. I very much doubt that anybody in the room could argue that this is not one of the world’s best examples of cheese.

Spencer Ferrier (in absentia) had provided us with Colombian coffee again, but this time there was a twist. Spencer has been trying to see how fine the grind can get (moving into the espresso particle size) before the coffee comes a little strong and extracted using the plunger. This week he had the grinder turned down to 6 from 7 last week and there were two comments about the strength and density of the flavour. For those who like a stronger coffee and for those strong enough to push the filter down in the plunger, the result was very good.

Cheese was served with mixed nuts, grapes and a fruit jelly.

Leo emerged from his kitchen during the meal to give us a full description of the meal.

Well done Leo and his team.