Erin's 40th at Esposito@toofeys - part 2

So where were we....

The big day had finally arrived and all that was needed to do was to get frocked up and then pick the cake up from French Lettuce in Carlton; job done.

On arrival Erin and I had our first drink for the day, a glass Prosecco, and got down to opening and checking the wines with Erin organising the place settings; done, done and done.

Our guests started arriving, and all I asked of Erin was not to hang around the door of the restaurant – you know how easy bottle-necks form. So after we broke up the first bottle-neck the mingling started, and before you knew it, everyone who needed to be there were happily sipping their aperitifs and chatting about whatever they were chatting about. So with everyone there, we got started.

Now one of the main reasons for doing a dego was that Erin was always banging on about how she had never seen me in action, doing the sommelier thing and all, and also not seen me work a group, something that I would do on almost a nightly basis at The Point. This day I was responsible for the food and wine matches and also the introduction and explanation of the food and wine – for Erin and our family and friends. This was not a garden variety group let me tell you.

So, on with matches.

The amuse of Tathra oyster and Manzanilla worked because both flavours are essentially palate cleansers – the salty glycerol of the oyster and again salty, yeasty texture of the sherry.

The first savoury course I think is always the most important. Degustation events are all about savouring and catching the attention of your taste buds. If you don’t achieve this in the first course, it’s going to be a tough trick to bag it after the first. This is why I went with two wines with two different flavour spectrums. So, in having two different flavours in the glass, you need two different flavours on the plate, and this was achieved with the abalone and chicken consommé.

The Bual Madeira is a wine that grabs your attention straight away; a massive spice hit on the nose followed by that brandy spirit hit. In the mouth, the wine deceives the nose by being soft and rich, with an almost fragrant feel. The longer in the mouth, the wine builds in flavour and mouth feel, becoming warmer and warmer with a toffee finish. The Bindi Sparkling was courteous of my friend Michael Dhillon from Bindi. With only 100 magnums produced, the two bottles of the 1994 Blanc de Blanc could not have been fresher with lovely citrus and bready notes in both nose and palate. The idea was the Madeira with the consommé to break through the oiliness and the sparkling with the abalone, with the sparkling lifting the saltiness of the abalone.

Next we had the mud crab with a wine that I just love, the Chateau Jolys Jurançon. This is a style of wine that I dearly hope will one day challenge the Savvy B domination in this country. This wine has an elegant white floral nose that is further pronounced in the palate along with citrus and soft acid, something that I wanted when matched with mud crab. This match was for the wine to accompany the flavour of the crab, not compete with it.

What dego would be worth its salt if there were not game there. What game you say? Barramundi I say! Barramundi is the game of the deep, with almost earthy texture about it, followed by a long clean flavour of sea and salt. With a fish like this, you need a wine that is a stand out amongst its peers. The Tapanappa ‘Tiers’ 2007 Chardonnay from the Adelaide Hills may be a new label, but it is sourced from possibly the best Chardonnay vineyard in Australia.

The ‘Tiers’ Chardonnay had belonged to Petaluma until recently, with Petaluma having recently belonged to Brian Croser, possibly the most respected winemaker in Australia. The Tapanappa label is a partnership with Lynch-Bages of Bordeaux and The Bollinger family in Champagne – a handy alliance you might say. This wine is all white Burgundy, citrus, grapefruit, stonefruit, liquorice and custard, and thats just the nose. The palate is similar with flavours that just seem to go on forever, and yes, the liquorice powder hit at the end was sexy sexy sexy. I think this wine was easily the favourite amongst the group. This whole match was just down to savouring two gorgeous flavours simultaneously. This was a no brainer.

Three courses to go, stay tuned....

Erin's 40th at Esposito@toofeys - part 1

Fortieth birthdays are big occasions. This is obvious. People get dressed up, go and get their hair done (for an ungodly amount of money), buy a new pair of shoes or two and generally get caught up in the event. And why not! This birthday marks quite a mile stone in peoples live, similar to the 18th and the 21st birthdays. Yet the 40th is a birthday that is full of reflection, as opposed to starting a journey with a UDL can.

Six weeks ago, 24 of our friends and immediate family gathered at Esposito@Toofeys in Carlton and celebrated my true love’s 40th birthday. But this was no ordinary get together for lunch. With the help of Maurice Esposito in the kitchen and his front of house manager Michelle, 26 diners were treated to an 8 course degustation with matching wine (Maurice was kind enough to let me bring in our own wine) that was quite simply perfect.

About six weeks out from the day, I asked Erin what she wanted to so for her birthday. There was plenty of thought. There was little too-and-frowing. There were not too many options; party at our place – Nope, drinks at a pub/bar – nope, dinner at a restaurant? If we were going to do this, then it would have to be done properly. How about a dego I asked. OK Erin said. Done, now I just have to find a venue.

Toofeys was the second place I contacted with the first venue categorically stating they did not need our business, even though they averaged about 8 covers for Sunday lunch – obviously they did not need the $3,500 that was spent.

Next thing was to meet with Maurice and Michelle and work out a menu. With 20 odd people, there are always going to be some dietary requirements; vegetarians, pregnant women, gluten free and just plain ‘I don’t like that’ so all of this was laid out. Twenty minutes later we had the skeleton of the menu and of the wines also. Simple. And here it is with the matching wines -

Erin Taplin May 29th, 1969 with
Esposito at Toofeys May 31st, 2009


Tathra oyster; red wine vinegar, ginger, soy and sesame
Valdespino Manzanilla Delicioza, Jerez Spain


Chicken consommé with goats’ cheese tortellini, seared Greenlip abalone
Henrique’s & Henrique’s Bual 15 year old Madeira and
Bindi Sparkling Blanc de Blanc 1994, Macedon Ranges, Victoria

Mud Crab with green apple, avocado and spinach essence
Chateau Jolys Gros Manseng Sec 2006, Jurançon France


Wild Barramundi with braised fennel, salad of surf clams, baby mint
Tapanappa Chardonnay ‘Tiers’ 2007, Adelaide Hills SA

Porterhouse roasted, potato puree, exotic mushrooms and 50 year old balsamic
Yannick Amirault ‘Le Grand Clos’ Bourgueil Cabernet Franc 2006, Loire Valley France


Cheese: Bruny Island white mould cows’ cheese and
Healey’s Pyengana Cheddar

Callebaut white and milk chocolate semi freddo with chocolate sorbet
Mount Horrocks ‘Cordon Cut’ Riesling 2008, Clare Valley SA

As I commented before, Maurice kindly let us bring our own wine, something that saved us a pretty penny let me say. Matching wine and food is what I do, and I was very pleased that Maurice let me have some say in how the menu was constructed in order to get the most out of the wines. A lot of chefs will simply flat out refuse this, for what would a sommelier know about designing menu’s. Yeah, what would we know, we just bullshit our way through a service to sell booze!

Now the invitations. Invitations I learnt, are a serious matter. You just don’t send an email or a text and say, ‘hey, want to join us for lunch’. This is where the male and female brain is different – I would have probably done that. If I did my name would be mud.

Our good friend Fiona Sproles (http://fwoglegs.blogspot.com/) in absolutely no time came up with a fantastic invitation – just brilliant. Erin had requested everyone hold May 31, they obliged, and all we had to do was wait.

.... to be continued

Arrivo 2006 Adelaide Hills Nebbiolo

I really like good wine. I also like the idea of good wine, even when the wine is not that great. If this does not make sense, I’m sorry, what I am trying to say is that when something is average, it is easy to picture the average whatever being really good. That was hard.

So without further delay, Arrivo 2006 Nebbiolo from the Adelaide Hills should have been spankingly good, but was only just good – nothing more, nothing less unfortunately.

I was really looking forward to this wine. There has been plenty of press about this new producer from SA, all good as well. And the variety Nebbiolo, my favourite variety (red that is), is all about sex and lust and elegance and wackiness and just plain too much yum. But it wasn’t to be.

‘Alas, poor Yorick. I knew him well, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest’
Hamlet, act 5 scene 1 – William Shakespeare

You see, it says Nebbiolo so here was I quite excited thinking I’m going to get a bargain(?) at $55 and drink something comparable to Barolo – lovely word isn’t it? I think I was a bit disappointed, but I did raise the bar quite high don’t you think?


Anyway, on to the wine. The colour was very Pinot stylie; very translucent and very hazy. The nose was the highlight for me – dried beetroot and wild raspberry, but it took its time; give this fella quite a bit of time in a decanter. The mouth was very closed, tight, lean, crisp clean acid and not much more.

This is a wine that needs to be open a good day or two before drinking – fair dinkum. And it is not Barolo, so don’t go in there with your hopes to high.


Drink till 2020
Drink with slow braised meats or aged parmesan
16.5/20

Epis 2007 Macedon Ranges Chardonnay

Another ripper from the Macedon Ranges.

This wine to me is all old school. It is only a couple of years old, but it already has got a heap colour development, with an already golden hue about it.

The 07 vintage up in Macedon was quite warm, with some vineyards copping a bit of smoke taint for their troubles; not sure if Epis was affected. The nose on this wine is bright grapefruit up front, with a smack of stonefruit quick to follow – nectarines and locuts stood out for me. The initial mouth feel was very warm, with cream and mascarpone being the obvious. I don’t know if there was any MLF, tipping there was and tipping quite a bit too, but this wine seems to be developing quite fast.

The saving grace however is the little bit of liquorice powder at the end; what a lovely way to finish.

Awkward balance, good length, wonderful complexity, but just too heavy for a young Chardonnay.

Drink with coq au vin
Drink till 2012
16/20

By the way, you will notice there is no photo of the wine. My daughter somehow managed to delete quite a few photos from the camera while she was 'taking photos' of her little brother; true story!!

Jasper Hill 'Georgia's Paddock' 1996 Heathcote Shiraz

There are wines in the Australian psyche that are truly Aussie; Penfolds Grange and Bin 389, Wynn’s Black Label, Lakes Folly Cabernets and De Bortoli’s Noble One. These wines I would put in to the bracket of the ‘Triple M’ category; mainstream wines that have the ‘everyman’ appeal.

Then there are the wines that rock the boat, or do not necessarily play by the rules. These are wines that are a bit more edgy in style, marketing and flavour; Bass Phillip, Nicholson River, Domaine A and Jasper Hill. These are the producers that I will put in the alternative pile, the ‘Triple J’ wavelength.

Unlike the former, these last four producers undertook their lot by throwing caution to the wind; Bass Phillip with Biodynamics and a gravity fed winery, Nicholson River fermenting Riesling in oak, Domaine A growing Cabernet Sauvignon in Tasmania and Jasper Hill growing dry grown, or more simply, with no irrigation. And it is Jasper Hill more than any of the other wines that have pushed its way in to semi mainstream, and still coming with a large price tag.

Ron Laughton has been making wine in Heathcote since the mid 70’s, primarily Shiraz with his ‘Georgia’s Paddock’ which is 100% Shiraz and ‘Emily’s Paddock’ which is a blend of Shiraz and Cabernet Franc. Dry grown fruit relies entirely on what comes out of the sky, and with the current drought not looking like going away, growing conditions remain tough up in Heathcote, with Ron resorting to donning a weed-spray backpack full of water and walking the rows spraying his vines – that’s hard work.

Recently I had the pleasure of sharing a bottle of Jasper Hill ‘Georgia’s Paddock’ 1996 Shiraz with Arnaud, my former assistant at The Point restaurant. Now Arnaud is a young Frenchman with knowledge of Australian wine. He has already come to the conclusion however, that Barossa Shiraz is crap – smart fellow this one hey? So when we happened across this gem, he was quite taken aback by not only its power, but also elegance for a wine that has spent the best part of 12 years in a bottle.

The colour was still quite deep, with no sign of fading or breaking up. On the nose was bright eucalypt; very Heathcote. In the mouth came savoury chocolate, cedar, a little bit of prickly plum and acid a plenty, which once again tells me that there is still plenty of kick in this bad boy.

Wonderful balance of secondary flavours with this wine with enough complexity and length for this wine to still be stunning in many years to come.

Drink till 2026
Drink with lamb shoulder in onion sauce
17/20

Willow Creek 'Tulum' Mornington Peninsula Chardonnay 2007

Now sometimes there is just the wine to talk about.

This bottle of Willow Creek ‘Tulum’ Chardonnay came my way when I hosted the crew from Willow Creek at The Point’s private cellar dining room when I was the sommelier there. The wine was a sample, so being polite I had a look with my staff, and you know what, we all liked it, except for Leanne who likes a woodier, fatter style of Chardonnay. Unfortunately, though, there were far too many Chardonnays on the list lying idle due to the epidemic of Savvy B’s.

The wine had a pale straw about it which tells me that there is plenty under the hood (essentially, this wine will age very well). The nose was bright grapefruit up front with stonefruit coming after a while. In the mouth there was that instant smack of grapefruit like on the nose, with long, long acid dominating the middle palate. The length just went on and on, and then, just when I thought it had finished, the little bit of flavour that I love in Chardonnay came along – liquorice powder.

There is great balance, great length and wonderful complexity about this wine. So, the next winelist I will be running (and it may not be too far away), be sure to look out for this gem.

Drink with prawn cutlets with chilli
Drink till 2014
16.5/20

Season of Soup - Chicken noodle soup with Cave de Beblemheim ‘au chateau’ Alsace Pinot Gris 2007

With shadows growing longer and longer earlier in the day and noses become runnier and runnier, we retreat in to the kitchen for a bit of luvin in the form of soup. Soup has been for so long the one dish in winter that is not only remedial, but in so many forms can bring many smiles to the dinner table. Did I also say how easy they are to prepare.

Like all food, soup goes wonderfully well with wine. Be it vegetable, bisque, consommé or whatever, wine is suited to a gamete of soup styles.

This is going to be the first in a series of soup and wine matches, a ‘Susan’ series if you may – ‘...this goes with that at Susan’ you may remember.

So, without boring you anymore, I will kick off this series with Erin’s favourite – Chicken noodle soup!!
Prep time – 20 minutes
Cooking time – 40 minutes
Ingredients
· 2 tbs (or there abouts) olive oil
· 1 onion, finely chopped
· garlic
· 1 carrot, diced
· 1 stick of celery, sliced thin
· 2 potatoes peeled and diced
· 1.5 litres of chicken stock
· 300 grams chicken breast, minced
· 1 egg
· Parmesan cheese, grated
· 50 grams ≈ dried spag, broken up in to little bits
· Handful of flat leaf parsley
· Toasted croutons

Method
Heat the oil over a medium heat without burning or boiling oil. On same heat slowly cook onion and garlic until they are translucent for about 10 min. Add rest of veg and cook for 5 min.

While this is happening, ball the minced chicken, egg and parmesan cheese and sit in fridge for about 30 minutes to congeal the balls. The balls should be just smaller than a golf ball.

Add stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 min. Add chicken balls and pasta and cook for a further 8 min.

Add croutons and parsley and get stuck in!

Wine
Cave de Beblemheim ‘au chateau’ Alsace Pinot Gris 2007

This is a great little find from King & Godfrey in Carlton.

The colour is real Pinot Gris, coming through in pinkish greyish tones with a clear pink hue. On the nose comes white petal straight away with just a little bit of prickly acid. The mouth is once again all Alsace Pinot Gris; slippery glycerol, a bit of bees wax and clean long acid.

In Australia we seem to bastardise this grape and create wines that are either too thin or too big. Sometimes we should leave it to the experts, the French that is. Saying this however, I do believe T’Gallant from the Mornington Peninsula and Grey Sands from Tasmania are probably our best interpretations of this style of wine.

The reason for this match – the wines acid is ample enough to cut through the oiliness of the soup, not that the soup is acid, but the oily feel from the chicken, onion and garlic that is left after reducing all for so long.

So, I would drink the Cave de Beblemheim ‘au chateau’ Alsace Pinot Gris 2007 till 2016 and give it a 16/20.

Stay tuned for more soup adventures!!

Toodaloo