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

The room was packed for our last wine tasting of the year, Keith Steele was in the kitchen as Chef of The Day assisted by Shane Redmond and James Tinslay on canapés.

Canapés

As we have seen in the past the canapés were bountiful today and much appreciated and enjoyed by 50 members attending our lunch.

First up with James Tinslay showing his prowess with pastry, mozzarella twirls and a homemade tomato red pepper sauce.

Puff pastry twists. In between two sheets of the pastry layer a tomato sauce (processed tomatoes with the usual Italian herbs) with lots of mozzarella cheese, some oregano leaves, finely chopped pepperoni and finely chopped red capsicum.

Cut with a pizza cutter, twist and bake on high heat after an egg wash.

New member Shane Redmond was up next with some home-cured salmon with whiskey from Lark Hill winery topped with crème fraîche and dill fronds and perfectly executed homemade blinis.

Lastly, we had the terrine a Damian Pignolet recipe simple country terrine of fresh herbs, pork shoulder, chicken, chicken livers and pork back fat wrapped in bacon. With the numbers booked in today, Keith thought he didn’t have sufficient so he bought some duck terrine from his local butcher. Both had great flavour and texture and were simply served with a Dijon mustard spread on fresh white baguette with sliced gherkins on top.

Main course

Today’s main course went perfectly with the wine theme selected by our Cellar master today the sweetness of the beef cheeks and Pedro Ximenez was just perfect for the tannin expression of the wine presented today.

It’s a Frank Camorra recipe from Movida ‘Beef cheeks with Pedro Ximenez Jerez’.

The beef cheeks are simmered with the sherry and red wine plus carrots, garlic and onion Cook for 3 to 4 hours until they reach the right consistency.

Comments from the floor that was so well done that you could’ve just cut them with a spoon rather than using a knife they were so good. They were served on a bed of silky cauliflower cream, some suggesting more cream and butter than cauliflower. The cauliflower cream went very well under the beef cheek with the sauce lovely, rich unctuous and full of flavour. We had some sugar snap peas on the side and plenty of bread to mop up.

Frank Liebeskind said the other Frank would be very proud of what was presented on the plate today.

There were many favourable comments from the floor on all food presented today. Well done team.

Cheese

Our Cheesemaster James Healey presented Society's favourite today ‘Beaufort’ many in the room guessed the cheese and it came to the table in perfect condition. Again a great match for our Cabernet-dominated wines.

Beaufort is hard cow's milk cheese from France.

A naturally rinded cheese from European Alps is traditionally made in 45kg wheels and is the largest cheese made in the world. The cheese is made from late spring or summer milk when the best milk comes from cows that have ascended into the rich mountain passes.

The close-concentrating creamy texture, nutty, slightly sweet lingering flavours are typical of this rare cheese which also has excellent melting qualities.

Wine

On the 29^th of November 2022, we were treated to something special winewise. I have no doubt that the wines served were at least equal to or better than anything in the world put on a luncheon table today. Makes your modest investment in membership of the WFS look like a very sound investment indeed.

Anyhow, moving straight to the wines, we started off with a great Jim Barry Lodge Hill Riesling 2013 at 12.4%. Now 9 yo, drinking at its peak. Clean, wonderful balance, no sign of fading. The second aperitif wine was a Mader Gewurztraminer from Alsace, 13.5% from the vintage of 2020. Nothing wrong at all with the wine if you like that style. Very mouth-filling and noticeable residual sugar. By no means unpleasant, just not my cup of tea.

The luncheon wines. Now the real fun starts! At the outset, my comments relate to the wines as tasted at our table. I heard that on a few tables some of the wines were poor due to bad corks. The old saying that “there is no such thing as a great wine, only a great bottle of wine“, rings loud.

First was a Ch Meyney from St Estephe 2010 vintage 14.5%.  A non-classified Bordeaux wine, but has a good reputation and splendid value for money. This wine was well received by the room, was in good shape and drank well.

Second was the Lindemans 2008 Pyrus blend. I have always enjoyed this wine when fortunate enough to share a bottle. 14%. Cab/Merlot/Malbec. Big sweet fruit, but beginning to show some tiredness. When compared to the Bordeaux blends it lacked balance and elegance. Probably ranked at the bottom of the list. The competition was very hot.

Next on the list was the Ch Du Tertre, a 5^th growth from Margaux 13%. I really liked this wine initially, but it faded a bit after an hour or so in the glass. Still a very enjoyable wine with lots of Bordeaux flavours. Drank well.

Wine number 4 was the Ponet-Canet 2002, a 5^th growth from Pauliiac 13%. A very fine wine indeed. A large estate of some 80 hectares, producing silky Cab blends for many years with increasing quality year after year. Very popular worldwide, an estate that should be ranked much higher than its 5^th Growth status. In the same league as Lynch Bages another 5^th growth which deserves promotion. Such prospects appear remote as the French have only ever made one change to the 1855 classifications, by promoting Ch Mouton Rothschild from 2^nd to 1^st in 1973. They don’t rush things the French! I think this and the following wine were the picks of the litter. In a word superb. Worthy of its growing reputation.

Wine 5 was the epitome of the classic Bordeaux, Ch Leoville Barton. 2002 vintage 12.5%. from St Julien. An esteemed 2^nd growth needing no introduction.  A consistent wine, delivering all those classic Bordeaux aromas we have come to know and love. Via the generous nature of some rich mates, I have enjoyed this wine on many occasions and it never fails. Totally reliable.

The final wine was the Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet 1998 13.5%. This has always been in my view a magnificent wine. Perhaps I have just been lucky in getting great bottles! (See Par 3 above) In fact, when compared to a Grange at the same sitting, I have gone for the 707. The wine today had massive fruit and loads of oak. Trouble was that the wine was so big it was unbalanced and just too powerful with the overbearing oak. No elegance here. Sad to say, but I marked this wine down to second last on the list, just ahead of the Pyrus.

The tasting today to me showed the stark comparison between our finest and the best from France in the Cabernet blends. I may be a little unkind to the 707 as it was 4 years senior to the oldest of the French. In any event a terrific afternoon. Many thanks to Chilly.