Wilson Vineyard Clare Valley DJW Riesling 2009

It’s a character that doesn’t need to be there. Kerosene. It is a bi-product of Terpenes, where exposed fruit gets too much sun after veraison, something that isn’t an issue in the northern hemisphere. But it’s an Australian characteristic so that is cool, or hot, depending where Riesling is grown.

This effectively is my segue to the Wilson Vineyard Clare Valley DJW Riesling 2009. Drunk over two days, the wine initially displayed lovely nashi pear with a piercing lime finish. The next day a very obvious kero aroma wafted from the bottle. Well not really obvious but there none-the-less. I dunno know, but it’s not me. I like the pear. I like the lime. I don’t like the kero. Good day 1. Not so good day 2. For me anyway.

Drink till 2014
Drink with pan fried whiting
89
Screwcap 12.5%v/v $23 Dan Murphy’s Kew

Wolf Blass Clare Valley/Eden Valley Gold Label Riesling 2005

I love Riesling. I also love Riesling with some age; the ageier the better I say. Seeing this Wolf Blass Clare Valley/Eden Valley Gold Label Riesling 2005 at Psarakos in Thornbury I thought 'you beauty' - I really did! And $28, another 'you beauty'.

So I'm at home, and with my best Butthead voice, it was time for, 'Beavis, the test!' - my first Beavis and Butthead reference. Nice. But anyway, the wine. Golden in the glass so all good thus far. Prickly ripe pineapple on the nose - 2/2. In the mouth? Blousy, Flabby, Blah. Absolutely nothing that would suggest this is an aged Riesling, even a young Riesling for that matter; no acid or white phenolics either.

But hang on. What happened when I put it in the decanter. Lovely and soft, then almost a brute, and honestly, in a weird way almost tangible. A great wine.

Drink with sole and buerre blanc sauce
Drink till 2015
91
Screwcap 12%v/v $28 Psarakos Market, Thornbury

Pikes Clare Valley Riesling 2009

A nice riesling, a tad boring actually, with the nose and mouth bringing the usual suspects along for a mundane walk to the cornershop - citrus, acid and a hint of white pear. I really do think that Australian Riesling has become a little bit humdrum!

Drink till 2012
Drink with chicken and two veg
82
Screwcap 12%v/v $22 at Kooyong Cellars

Rockridge Clare Valley Watervale Riesling 2009

‘But the Eternal summer shall not fade’ – Sonnets, William Shakespeare

Another hot day, another bone dry Riesling. The Rockridge Clare Valley Riesling 2009 is soft and tight and has clear lemon and lime with a lip smacking finish.

As I said, another hot day, and really that’s all there is to say.

Drink with kingfish sashimi
Drink till 2011
88
Screwcap 12.5%v/v Sydney Rd IGA in Brunswick

Grosset Clare Valley Polish Hill Riesling 2001

Every now and then you need to pull something out of the cellar that a) you haven’t seen for a long, long time and b) you deserve it. The Grosset Clare Valley Polish Hill Riesling 2001 is just that wine. Last year on a golf trip to Tasmania, I took along the 2002 version of this wine where it was received very nicely by the other hackers. Nine into a bottle of wine does not go well however. So the 2001, over a dinner of chicken and blue cheese risotto – a monty for a Susan - had a crowd of three, with one of these participants being a Big 4 (Imogen’s way of saying she is four and a half) and it was Imogen’s comments on the wine that really made me sit up and take notice, and I quote:

“…. looks green and a little spicy on my tongue and its funny.” Imogen Cohen, Big 4 wine critic.

Pouring the wine, it is very hard not to notice the very green hue in the glass with a further big light yellow coming through the rest of the glass. Citrus is still very much up front for this wine, with lime and soft lemon curd being dominant; the longer in the glass a more prickly, spicy pineapple feel comes through also. In the mouth the lime is once again the dominant factor, with acid still playing a major role after eight years in the bottle – very much an Aussie Riesling!

Wonderful balance, length and complexity; oh yeah, it is also funny!

Drink with chicken and blue cheese risotto
Drink till 2021
95
Screwcap 13%v/v $20 – 2001 staff price at Como Wine and Spirits, South Yarra

Summer BBQ time! - CookbooksPart 1: Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook

‘Nature forms patterns. Some are orderly in space but disorderly in time, others orderly in time but disorderly in space.’ - James Gleick ‘Chaos’

A few years ago I bought this book for a little bit of light reading over summer. It turned out that it wasn’t, and isn’t, the type of ‘light reader’ you look for over summer. Though it was while reading this last night that I came across the above sentence that made this post seem all so necessary.

It is sort of getting warmer here in Melbourne, and with that the BBQ is going to get rather busy. There was a time in my life when a BBQ meant burnt sausages and greasy onions, but these days, with a little bit of culture under my belt, I am lending towards a more ‘anything goes approach’ – the Chaos Theory you might say, where chaos begins, classical science – or in this case classical BBQ – stops!

It is with this in mind that I have trolled through some of my more worn cookbooks, and Maeve’s DVDs of ‘Food Safari’, and put together a taste of what will be prepared for the 2009/2010 BBQ season here in Downtown Brunswick. Let the drooling begin!

Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook
A personal favourite of mine with many of the pages stained with sauces. I have chosen three very classic French dishes, with all of them needing the BBQ in one manner or another.

Salade Niçoise – this one will have two versions; no bonjovies for Erin and lots for me and Imogen.
· Salt for cooking and to taste
· 170 grams haricots verts or green beans
· four small red bliss potatoes, scrubbed
· One garlic clove, peeled and crushed
· Extra virgin olive oil
· About three tbsp red wine vinegar
· Black pepper
· Bibb lettuce
· One green bell pepper, cored and cut into thin slices
· Anchovy fillets, white preferred
· 100 grams Niçoise olives. Get these bad boys from a very good deli such as the French deli at the Queen Vic markets for all of you Melbournians
· Four ripe Roma tomatoes
· High quality canned tuna or seared fresh tunaFour hard boiled eggs, peeled and cut length wise in to quarters.

The ingredients follow very easily onto the plate, but a tip is do not leave the blanched vegetables sit too long; pat them dry when you remove them from water. I'd go for something like the Sorrenberg Beechworth Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2008.

Moules Marinières – this was a favourite when I was living in London all those years ago.

· About 150 grams of quality butter
· Two shallots, sliced thin
· 500 mL white wine, cooking – not drinking, yet
· 3 kg mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded just before cooking
· Flat parsley, finely chopped

Melt the butter off in a big pot over a medium flame and add shallots to cook for a couple of minutes. Pour in wine and bring to the boil and season. Throw the mussels in and pop the lid on to cook for about 10 minutes or until all mussels have opened – never force a mussel open; very, very bad for your tummy! Shake the pot as you go and keep the lid nice and secure so you don’t get any of the very hot juices scorching your private bits (always cook with your clothes on). Toss in parsley, stir some more and serve in a massive bowl is you have one. Open a Grosset Springvale Watervale Clare Valley Riesling 2009 with this one being a bit more flinty than the 2008.

Côte de Boeuf – this is the one from my Father’s Day post this year – super mucho fantastico!!!

· 1.5kg rib steaks, on the bone
· Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
· Olive oil, a couple of glugs

This is a big piece of meat, so it is going to be very cold when you pull it out of the fridge; get it out about 30-45 minutes before you put it on the BBQ so to bring it down to room temp.

I am not going to pontificate, but this is best cooked medium rare because it is so big. Only poke and slice until rested for about ten minutes or so. Eat with something like the Penfolds Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz 2007 - masses of rich dark fruit combined with chewy tannins make this one a Susan.

I think it wise at this point to break this post in to instalments, otherwise I will be writing this, and you will be reading, until tomorrow. So off you go, clean the BBQ, get your gas cylinder re-filled and cook, cook, cook!

Leo Buring Clare Valley Riesling 2007 and Lemon Tart from Babka Bakery, Brunswick Street Fitzroy

Quite possibly Australia’s most consistent wine – period! Year in and year out, Leo Buring Riesling can be counted on to produce young and vibrant wine, or with careful cellaring, a gorgeous glass of stewed pineapple and kero. Every wine list that I have run has had Leo Buring on the Riesling page, and I have no doubt that the next one will have it also.

So, on to the wine. Leo Buring Clare Valley Riesling 2007.

Viticulturaly speaking, 2007 was pretty ordinary in the Clare with little rain after flowering coupled with extreme heat in December and January. Riesling tends to favour conditions that are more on the cooler side, with plenty of rain when it is needed; in 2007 this did not occur. Yet this wine, through skilled wine making, offers all that is great about Riesling.

The colour still has a straw look about it, but you can already see a little bit of yellowy gold coming through. On the nose there is wax with a little bit of pineapple, un-ripe pineapple, also. In the mouth there is a wee bit of spritz with prickly acid being the primary feel. There is a little hole in the mid-palate, with more pineapple towards the end. After an hour the wine really gets going with stewed pineapple coming out quite big. It is here that I would recommend decanting wines such as Riesling and Pinot Gris so as to get through the initial acid whack and enhances the aromatics to come through, and I would use a cornetto decanter for this job.

The tart in question from Babka bakery in Fitzroy was really a side note for this wine. It was only the next day that Erin bought this home for me, and within three seconds of the tart being shoved in my gob, I realised that there was about a glass left of the Leo Buring. I left the rest of the tart and decanted the remainder of the wine and went back to it an hour or so later. Pure delight!! This worked because of the contrast of acid that the tart and wine both gave out; lemony puckery acid from the tart and prickly warm acid from the Riesling. Balance can be achieved through contrast. Acid with the acid and richness with the pastry and stewed pineapple.

Great balance, great length with the right amount of complexity for a young Riesling. And yes, mucho fantastico.

Drink till 2019
Drink with lemon tart from Babka in Fitzroy
17.8/20
Screwcap $19

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