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

A full house today for our food master Steve Sparkes preparing a Burgundian-themed lunch to celebrate Bastille Day.

Canapés

Oven baked pear crisps topped with blue cheese cream mix, hazelnut, parsley and a spoonful of honey.

Mini pissaladière caramelised onion, anchovy and an olive.

As Steve says you can’t go wrong with caramelised onion.

Jambon Persillè on crusty toast finished with a cornichon.

High praise for canapés today.

Main

A perfect winter’s dish, beef bourguignon with carrots, mushroom, celery and parsley and a very good mash of potato, cream and butter.

As with most dishes, there is always a variation on theme and in today’s dish there was quite a lot of liquid but not too much as to distract from flavour and texture. Rich and hearty.

A spoon was provided to mop up the sauce along with a crusty baguette that was sourced from Lavie & Belle in Surry Hills.

Merci beaucoup, Steve. 

Cheese

Cheese master Mark Bradford choose a cow’s milk cheese from France.

Some comments were made about the ammoniated nature of the cheese however once the ‘crust’ was removed the resulting paste was very pleasant.

Le Conquérant Camembert is a close cousin of Camembert de Normandie. Its strong aromatic hints of wet straw, brassica and apples and are a reminder of why this authentic cheese has become a proud symbol of French cheese-making skills. Made in the Pays d’Auge region of Normandy, its secret lies in the use of specially selected cultures, moulds and yeasts and, of course, rich Normandy milk. The traditional wooden poplar box and wax-paper wrap create a microclimate that encourages the chalky heart of a young cheese to slowly break down over three to four weeks, eventually becoming deliciously soft and fudgy by the use-by date.

It was served with a four-leaf and carrot salad with olive oil and red wine vinegar dressing to ‘kiss the leaves’.

Also accompanying the cheese was a homemade chutney of grape onion and apple.

Frank was glad to see a salad served with cheese.

Coffee today was Lavazza.

Wine

At the outset allow me to pass onto Tony Scott our collective thanks for his magnificent donation of red and white Bordeaux for our lunch today. In my years of membership, I do not think I have witnessed such generosity in providing all of the wines for our lunch and indeed such high quality wines. Tony, you are a really kind man, and we are all touched by your gesture.

Moving on to the wines themselves, these were all from the Graves district, and indeed from the premier sub-district Pessac Leognan.  We kicked off with a 2015 Ch de Rochemorin a 100% Sav Blanc, at 14%, which was then followed by a Ch. de Cruzeau 2015 also 100% Sav Blanc at 13.5%. Both of these wines drank very well with the delicious pass arounds prepared by our chef du jour Steve Sparkes. It was such a treat to compare these two fine Graves whites. Both wines had great fruit and had retained excellent acidity, leading to a dry lingering finish. Both wines reflected the excellent vintage of 2015. Rich, ripe flavours. Of the two there was not any significant difference, however, I felt that the second wine was holding its age a little better than the Rochemorin. Both wines now being 8 yo. But who could complain!

The red wines for our beautiful main course were Ch de Cruzeau 2016, 54% Cab, 46% Merlot coming in at 13.5%, year rated 8/9. Wonderful classic Bordeaux nose, quite unmistakable, one of my favourite aromas along with quality coffee and hot baked bread on a cold morning.  This wine was a delight, wonderful integration of fruit, tannin and gentle oak. Years ahead of it. The following red was the Ch Couhins - Lurton 2015, a merlot 60%, Cab 40% blend Once again I was treated to that fabulous Bordeaux aroma. Heady stuff. Thank you, Tony.  7/9 rated year, 14.5%. Of the two, this was my favourite by a narrow margin. Terrific ripe fruit with that distinctive but gentle oak influence. Long dry finish. One suspects that this wine is a classic in the making. My wine of the day.

We finished off our Lunch with two further Whites, a Ch Couchins-Lurton Sav Blanc, 100%  and a Ch La Louviere blend, S/B 85% and Semillon 15%.

The first wine was from the vintage of 2015 rated 7/9. Fresh and grassy S/B overtones, mouth filling, lovely nose of mixed fruits, citrus and ors. Lingering finish and enough acid to carry it through. The final wine was the Ch La Louviere 2010. This Chateau is the flagship vineyard of the Alex Lurton wine empire. Say no more. This wine was from 2010, an 8/10 year. Now a 13 yo, but drinking superbly.  Great balance between acid and fruit and with grassy complex flavours, It does not drink like a 13 yo white, Aust Semillon and Riesling excepted.

At the end of this afternoon of wonderful afternoon, I wondered how Sav Blanc could taste so different when grown in France and when grown in NZ, Clues anyone??

 Finally, many thanks Tony Scott. You are a champ.