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

Food

Answering our Food Master’s urgent request for a Chef of The Day after our AGM David Madson arranged his team James Tinslay and Peter Fitzpatrick.

Canapés

Given that the canapé time was more than usual the team responded with bountiful canapés.

First up was betel leaf filled with fried shallot, spanner crab and grapefruit although some of the crab flavour was lost. David advised that he had been rather too generous in marinating the crab in lemon juice.

Then followed crumbled feta cheese with homegrown chives with portions of fig on top of toasts.

Did I say bountiful?

Blinis topped with crème fraîche dill smoked salmon followed next from Peter Fitzpatrick.

James Tinslay is renowned and heralded for his sausage rolls and variations thereof, and today was no exception, he made curried chicken puffs. Well seasoned and spiced, with great flavour some heat evident, but not to kill the palate.

All canapés were appreciated by members today.

Main course.

David presented us with some spice-mixed marinated pork belly, pickled kohlrabi with parsley, torched corella pears and an ale brown sugar malt vinegar and mustard seed sauce.

I like it when David cooks he always comes up with something a little different, and in this case, it was the kohlrabi that he marinated in white vinegar and sugar for an hour to pickle. The idea was for the pickled Kohlrabi to cut through the fat of the pork and it worked. No one could guess the vegetable. The pears were sprinkled with caster sugar and a kitchen blowtorch was used to caramelise the pears The texture was quite firm. My crackling was a little underdone however more was served with extra crackling and sauce.

A good hearty meal for autumn and well executed.

Thank you, David.

Cheese

Mark Bradford presented the cheese today with any picking that it was cow's milk, blue mould cheese, but no one found the correct origin, that of Ireland.

The cheese was J&L Grubb Cashel Irish Blue.

When young, Cashel Blue is firm yet moist, with just a hint of fresh tarragon and white wine. With age, its true character emerges, mellowing to a rounder, spicier style. The interior softens, and then when the cheese is at the peak of perfection it gives up the battle of the bulge and collapses, providing a challenge for the retailer but a treat for the connoisseur.

Cashel Blue is named after the historic “Rock of Cashel,” a medieval castle that was once the seat of the Kings of Munster, and where lore has it St Patrick commenced the conversion of the pagan Irish to Christianity by using a shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity, giving birth to one of Ireland’s national symbols.

David accompanied the cheese with a salad of Bartlett pears and rocket.

Wine

The AGM for 2023 was the backdrop for today's lunch.  There were no surprise Boardroom coups, and the meeting proceeded without bloodshed and ended harmoniously.  Many thanks to the outgoing Board and welcome to the new office holders. There are some big shoes to fill.

Moving right along, the aperitif wines were plenty in number with the  Wine Master carrying out a required clearout. Accordingly, we were confronted with a potpourri of white wines, I did not get to taste them all. Of those I did taste, I very much liked the rare Craggy Range Riesling  2011 from the Hawkes Bay region. Excellent wine with superb fruit, clean and with a lingering finish. Do we have any more?   That was about the pinnacle of the white wines I tasted, the rest ranged from undrinkable to acceptable.  In the former category was the Domaine Oratoine St Martin 2016  a Rhone blend of the usual suspects, Roussanne et al.  Horrible, hope I never see it again.  Moving up the scale a bit was the Guigal Cote du Rhone 2018. Contents were not disclosed on the label, but I suspect it had a similar composition to the other wine.  It was however drinkable.  I do wish Guigal would stick to red wines.  The last of the whites I tasted was the Tunkalilla Riesling from Oregon USA. A wine made by our own Brian Croser in 2008.  This wine provoked mixed reactions around the room. I found the wine oily and unctuous, with a cloying finish. Despite having 15 years in the bottle, the fruit was holding up well and the wine was quite sound. Others in the room were very impressed, liking it to a German-style Kabinett. I suppose it comes down to how you like your Rieslings!

The lunch wines were firstly, a Craggy Range Chardonnay from Hawkes Bay vintage 2010  which was delicious. Elegant with balanced fruit, acid and oak all intermingling well.  Excellent wine.  The first of the reds was a Glandore Estate Hunter Tempranillo  2011  from our own Chef Du Jour, David Madson’s vineyard.  An enjoyable wine, with good fruit, but a little thin on the palate and a quickly fading aftertaste.  Maybe this is how Australian Tempranillo in the Hunter develops after 12 years.  Otherwise a sound wine and good food wine.  The next cab off the rank was one of my favourites the Charles Melton Nine Popes blend, Shiraz / Grenache from 2009  14.5 %. Buckets of ripe juicy fruit with firm oak and tannin, just the sort of wine you would want to consume large amounts of before marching into battle!  I hope we have more of this wine in our cellar.  The final wine I tasted was the Ebenezer Barossa Shiraz from 2005. 14.5 %. Now  18 yo, but in very good shape. An old style big Barossa Shiraz drinking well. Good balance even at the high alcohol level.  Another red was served but not at our table, a  Craiglee Shiraz. I did not taste it, but from comments around the room,  I apparently did not miss much