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

Food

As Anzac falls on a Tuesday this year it was decided to hold our monthly wine tasting a week early.

In the kitchen was Merv Peacock as CoTD in the last ‘cook-off’ for Chef of the Year 2022. What could be better than some duck cassoulet and a brace of Bordeaux on an autumn day!

Canapés

We were served mini chicken pies made by Merv’s wife, Kerry. They were delightful with chicken, mushrooms, leeks and sweetcorn. Who doesn’t love a pie and these were exceptional. A lot of time and effort here with us being rewarded with the finished product.

Next to appear were crunchy toasts loaded with sliced rare fillet steak and horseradish, along with Merv’s own homemade spicy chutney.

They were both very tasty and abundant.

Main

Our main course was duck Maryland with cassoulet. There are many varieties and these alter from region to region and in Merv’s interpretation saw him adding tomatoes. The perfectly cooked duck Marylands were served resting on the cassoulet, the ducks spent 24 hours in a dry marinade and were then confit over the weekend for 6 hours, remaining in fat until Tuesday morning. The cassoulet was prepared from beans, tomatoes, pork spec, and onions and the sausages were a mix of Cumbrian and Italian. Croutons were added at the end.

A lot of preparation was evident and the result was full flavoured, textural and perfect with wines today. Much praise for the course today.

Merv wore an apron with the logo “Maddo the chemist from Paddo” in memory of Peter Madden. Peter had enlisted his aid in cooking 56 wagyu beef tongues for a society lunch in Lower Fort Street. Not only were they cooked but my memory is they had to be peeled as well. Peter went on to win the Chef of the Year award in 2007 for the dish.

Peter is well remembered.

Thank you, Merv.

Cheese

Our Cheesemaster Mark Bradford, in theme, presented Fromagerie St Mamet Cantal Entre Deux.

This is one of the oldest cheeses still made in France. When mature this cheese has a crumbly texture and buttery flavour with a little bite.

Tasting Notes

Category: Cheddar & Territorials

Origin: France

Milk Type: Cow’s Milk

Classification: Artisan

Rennet: Animal

This natural rind cheese is one of the oldest cheeses still made in France. It has been traced back at least 2000 years when cheese from Gaul was popular as far away as Rome. Being a large cheese, the flavour is mild unless it is matured over a long period, although smaller versions known as Cantalet mature more quickly.

The cheese was at least 14 months old when they have developed a moist and crumbly texture and buttery flavour with a little bite.

Accompanying the cheese was some red grapes and walnut crunch (honey-glazed walnuts) made by Mark. The walnut crunch was not overly sweet with tannin evident coming from cinnamon. They went well with cheese.

Wine

The theme for today’s lunch was a Bordeaux affair, more often please! What a great food and wine event it turned out to be. Merv Peacock’s Cassoulet was accompanied by some terrific wines from the Left and Right Bank of the Gironde River from a variety of years.

We got the ball rolling with a white from the Graves region to the south of Bordeaux, a region famous for the First Growth red, Ch Haut Brion and the legendary Ch d’Yquem, a sauterne. We enjoyed a bottle of Ch Boyrein 2016. A blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc 12.5%. A 7/9 vintage year for that district. A fine dry flavoursome wine, very different to the same blend made locally.  By way of comparison, we also enjoyed a 2008 Tyrrells Stevens Semillon. Now 15 yo but not showing any signs of adverse ageing. A most enjoyable wine, but the first was my choice. A perfect way to start with the pass-arounds.

With great expectations, we embraced the awesome collection of reds our Wine Master had in store for us. First was the 2014 La Gravette de Certan. I really liked this wine. A 6/8 vintage in Pomerol, drinking @14%. Plummy merlot flavours, good balance of tannin and oak. I think, going back into the deep recesses of my mind, Len Evans had something to do with this vineyard in the early 1980s, but only for a short time. Perhaps I am mistaken. Does anyone out there have any recollection?

Wine No 2 was a 2010 Ch Pezat, a Grand Cru from St -Emilion 14%. A 7/10 year in Pomerol. Despite its high pedigree and great vintage, this wine just did not connect with me. No one obvious fault, very dry on the palate, but finished without much lingering flavour. Perhaps it was just me.  From some comments around the room, which spoke highly of the wine, perhaps there was some bottle variation here, which can be expected with a cork seal.

Wine 3 was my favourite, the Cantemerle, 2009 from the Macau region in the Medoc. A 7/10 vintage. 13%.  This wine just snuck into the 1855 Classification, as a 5th growth, being the last included in that group. In French “Cantemerle” translates into “in the song of the blackbird”, so now you know, in case you get the chance to drop it into the conversation with some Bordeaux lovers. I digress, the wine was in my view excellent, classic Bordeaux flavours we all love when we are lucky to happen upon them. The song of the blackbird was running around in my head for a long time after we parted company. Thank you, Wine Master.

Wine 4 was the Ch Haut Bages Liberal, not to be confused with Lynch Bages a more prestigious wine, with of course a much higher price tag. In any event, this wine was from 2002, a year rated as 6/8 in the Pauillac region, drinking at 12.5%. An excellent wine, lots of Bordeaux flavours, not my pick, but nonetheless a most enjoyable, mainly Cabernet blend.

Wine 5 was the Ch L’Encios From Pomerol 2000, 12%. A well-respected vineyard.  My current vintage chart does not go back beyond 2002, so I cannot report on the vintage. This was my least favourite of the group. A dull finish, tired, fruit falling away, at 23 yo, an example of the old saying that nothing lasts forever. Perhaps a mainly Merlot wine such as this just does not have the legs to go 23 years.

Finally, we finished up with a 1995 Ch Pontensac, a non-classified wine 13%, I forgot to make a note of the district from where the wine hailed from. My reference books did not recognise it.

Anyhow the wine was very enjoyable, with persistent lingering flavours, not bad for a wine now 28 yo. A lowly rated wine in comparison to some of the Glitterati preceding it, the wine performed very well, still retaining soft flavours of Bordeaux character.

A memorable afternoon.