Held at Society Cellars Ultimo

Danny Ryan

I recently had the opportunity to attend a tasting of 8 Elderton Wines at The Society Cellars in Ultimo. Hosted by Cameron Ashmead we had the opportunity to go through 2 whites and 4 Reds including a 2002 Back vintage of the Command Shiraz. Elderton is a small family winery based in the Barossa Valley who has developed a fierce reputation for making excellent reds especially Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

The Wines on tasting with my accompanying notes are as follows:

2009 E Series Unoaked Chardonnay

This is one of the biggest selling Elderton wines and it is easy to see why. This is very drinkable wine with an incredibly fruity nose and palate. Small nuances of green apple and melon give way to more tropical and citrus based flavours.

2010 Eden Valley Riesling

A wine I am a little more familiar with – I did taste it at the Winestate wine of the year subscriber tasting where it placed in the Top 5 Rieslings of the year. This is 100% Eden Valley and the 2010 vintage was outstanding. A floral and perfumed nose- slightly citrusy as well. Long crisp palate on this wine with Lemon and Limes coming to the fore, a dry finish makes for an excellent Eden Valley Riesling.

2010 Eden Valley Shiraz

This is a softer, more fruit driven style of Shiraz that is definitely destined to be drunk now. A Young wine with a deep purple (almost pitch black) colour to it. Dark fruits such as Blackberry and Plum come through on the nose and the wine has juiciness to it like you would get if you squeezed the juice from the grape directly into your mouth.

2008 Estate Shiraz

From a relatively warmer Barossa Vintage, this wine was a lot more intense and with a lot more body than its 2010 Eden Valley Counterpart. The flavours to this were richer as well with a strong dark chocolate and stewed plum component. Like the Riesling, very good stuff.

2009 Eden Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

The aim for the winemaker with this wine is to produce a juicy fully flavoured wine without a lot of tannins. The Barossa can be a little warmer than some of the other Cabernet growing areas and as such there is less chance of Cabernet with that astringent or slightly bitter flavour. This wine didn’t have a lot of tannin or feel to it. The flavours were there, think blackcurrant/cassis. It did also have a slight mint/eucalypt component as well.

The last three wines on offer are part of Elderton’s Elite Series of Wines. We had the privilege of tasting The 2008 Ode to Lorraine and both the 2007 and the 2002 Vintage of the Command Shiraz.

2008 Ode to Lorraine

Sourced from the Barossa, this wine is perhaps the pinnacle of a truly Australian blend. This is made up of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Shiraz and 8% Merlot. Tasting this you can see that it is a clear step up from the other wines and that it has been crafted with love and care.

2007 Command Shiraz

This wine has scored 95 points with both the James Halliday Wine Companion and Robert Parker’s wine advocate. It is easy to see why when you taste this particular wine. This wine was dense in colour with a few brick red hues. This wine has a fabulously complex nose of plum, blackcurrant and perhaps some dark chocolate coupled with a subtle note of vanilla which carries through to present a richly flavoured elegant wine.

2002 Command Shiraz

Tasting this gives you the perfect example of what do expect if you cellar your wines. It gives the regular wine consumer the chance to see what will happen should they leave a bottle or two of the command lying down in their cellar. The result is magical. This was like drinking liquid rubies. Elderton’s recommendation is that this will cellar up to 15 years and you can see now, nearly after 10 years that it is coming into peak drinking. The colour of the wine is still dark and intense, the nose is showing more of those subtle secondary characters of the 2007 but they are still working in harmony with the ever present primary fruits of plums, cherry and chocolate.

Magic in a bottle.

Becca Johnstone

Before I jump in to this gorgeous, gorgeous wine we’d like to say a big congratulations to TRISH O’NEILL and DAVID VARVEL! These two lucky folk won our Mailing List competition and will be having tasty wines in their hot little hands SOON! If you didn’t get to enter in time but still want to join our mailing list that is A-OK. Send us an email at thebonvivantblog@gmail.com from the email you’d like to receive our fortnightly emails from. Back to the task at hand…

I have very few weaknesses in my life, but the ones I do have are significant. These include expert macarons, the smell of jasmine, my puppies, boys with dark hair and mopey eyes and perhaps most significantly, cool climate Chardonnays. Danny, rather expertly, decided to bring me face to face with at least one of them on my birthday the other week by presenting me with a bottle of the Heemskerk Coal River Valley Chardonnay 2008.

This is not my first foray into the wonderful world of Heemskerk. At the end of last year Danny and I were lucky enough to attend The Wine Society’s Young Winemaker of the Year awards. The winner was the wonderful Anna Pooley of Heemskerk Wines, and her stunning Tasmanian Chardonnay was really the one that pushed her ahead of the pack. Having tried the wine on the night, I was keen to give it a proper go (without the interference of 20 other wines prancing around my palate). 

The wine is a beautiful green and gold hue and the first thing I notice is the complexity on the nose: it has a subtle nuttiness, hinting at it’s maturation in French oak, some soft floral aromas and bright hits of orange zest. The nose is certainly enticing with it’s subtleties and on nose alone I know this is a Chardonnay I’m going to enjoy.

Like the nose, the palate is complex and flavourful without anything being too domineering. Stone fruit flavours of peach are balanced with a creamy textured oakiness with a hint of spice and warmth. It has a wonderful toastiness that’s balanced well with finishing acidity. It’s a wine of great harmony - creamy, fruity, nutty and acidic - with a healthy bit of palate weight and a great length.

Hand-picked from 19 year old vines on the Tolpuddle Vineyard in Coal River Valley, the Heemskerk Chardonnay is quite a special treat! Perhaps a bit pricey for some, but this is worth every penny. Everything from the nose to the bottle to the palate is elegant and subtle. This would definitely win over those pesky people who profess “oh no, I don’t drink Chardonnay.” Forget your sweet punchy numbers that leave you feeling like you’ve been sucking on wood-chips all night. Or worse yet, that prickly beast unwooded Chardonnay! This is where the industry is going, and the thank the Lord it’s going that way!

PRICE: $45-$50

COLOUR:2/3

NOSE: 6/7

PALATE: 9/10

OVERALL: 17/20

Are you a lover of cool-climate Chardonnays too? Or are you a sneaky ABC (anything-but-chardonnay)? Join the debate on twitter @bonvivantblog or Facebook. 

Danny Ryan

FIRST AND FOREMOST!!!! Have you entered our competition yet? Today is the last day to win the wine! Not sure what I’m talking about? Check here!

Today I just wanted to share some of my notes from the recent Sydney Cellar Door held as part of NSW Wine week. This is one of the main opportunities for NSW wine producers to show their wares to the drinking public. Everyone was taking part from the big boys up in the Hunter to producers showcasing some of the smaller and wine growing regions.

Despite by best efforts there were more exhibitors than I had time for which meant that I may have missed out on some liquid gold. That being said I did manage to get to 10 different producers and had the opportunity to try two wines from each of them. Here are my thoughts.

Lerida Estate:

These guys are based in The Canberra District and I am probably most familiar with the Pinot Noir that they produce. That being said I decided to try a 2010 Pinot Gris And their 2008 Merlot Cabernet Franc.

The Pinot Gris had a nice light yellow tinge to it. The wine itself was soft and lush but still had a nice level of acid to it. This wine had pear and green apple characters to it. The Merlot-Cabernet Franc was produced using half French and half Hungarian oak. The wine itself reminded me of stewed fruit/fruitcake on the nose. Very interesting.

Eden Rd – The Long Rd

Here I tried two whites a 2010 Riesling and 2009 Chardonnay. I was informed that the wine was sourced from the Murrambateman, in my opinion, an excellent region for producing good quality Riesling. This wine had a predominately lime/citrus palate which was coupled with a lengthy crisp dry finish. A big winner. The 2009 Chardonnay sourced from Tumbarumba was equally delicious. Not heavily oaked, the wine showed some good quality stone fruit flavours to it. It was served a little cold, I am not sure if I am doing this wine justice.

Tyrrell’s   

A hunter Valley giant and an outstanding producer of Hunter Valley Semillon, Secretly it is one of my favourite producers as well.  They did have the Vat 1 Semillon on tasting but I restrained myself and went for two wines that I am less familiar with. Firstly the 2007 Stevens Semillon which for mine was a bit more weighty than I expected – lemon peel my main note. It still has an excellent acid to the wine as well but it is now beginning to show some bottle aged characters. Yum. The other wine I tried was the 2007 Vat 47 Chardonnay. This was tight wine with only subtle oak noticeable on the nose but was only a subtle component of the wine. This had a bit more acid than the Eden Rd ’09 Chardonnay above and has a more flinty/minerally flavour to it.

Tulloch Wines

Another Hunter based winery doing great things. These guys aren’t someone I am super familiar with. This is clearly my loss. Again, I tried to of their wines a 2010 Verdelho and 2010 Pinot Gris. The Verdelho, sourced from the Hunter was absolutely lovely. It had a beautifully perfumed nose which complimented the good citrus and pineapple characters of the wine. The 2010 Pinot Gris was sourced from Orange and is a ‘Cellar Door only’ release. This was lush and viscous coating the mouth. Good pear flavours but probably lacking a bit of acid for my liking.

Cumulus

Cumulus Wines are based in orange and are probably most famous for their climbing range of wines. The two wines I tried where the Cumulus 2008 Shiraz and The Climbing 2008 Chardonnay. The Shiraz was the clear winner of the two wines. It had a beautiful dark colour, purples and no red tinges. An excellent example of good quality cooler climate Shiraz. Red berries, dark fruits and spice intertwined with fine tannin. The Climbing Chardonnay 2008 – predominately fruit on the nose. Nectarine and citrus dominating the wine. Again perhaps served a little cold for more liking.

Logan

These guys must have been popular. When I reached them they had only 3 wines on tasting. I decided to go for A 2010 Sauvignon Blanc and the 2010 Moscato. The Sauvignon Blanc had a strong nose which reminded me of passionfruit Pavlova. This had a low level of acid but the palate on this was quite lengthy. Staying around much longer than I expected. The 2010 Moscato is a wine made with desert in mind. Orange peel/glace orange on the nose.

Ross Hill

Two wines on tasting here the 2010 Pinnacle Pinot Noir and the 2009 Pinnacle Sauvignon Blanc. The Pinot Noir is probably what these guys are most famous for and with good reason. The wine had a light cherry colour to it. A nice savoury Pinot for which if you love Pinot you should try and get your hands on a bottle. The other wine I tried was the 2009 Pinnacle Sauvignon Blanc. Again perhaps a little cold but it didn’t have the same pungency as the Logan. Again a nice level of acid.

Peppertree

 By this time I was back to where the Hunter Producers where exhibiting their wares and found myself with another excellent Semillon in my glass. This 2010 Vintage smelt zesty with subtle lemongrass/lime characters to it. This was balanced with an excellent acid and had an extraordinary length to it as well. I was also talked into trying the 2009 Hunter Valley Shiraz. If I was serving this at home I would give it a good decant but given the circumstances this was not really possible. This is very much fruit driven – think Mulberry and dark berries on this one.

Nugan Estate

These guys had a large array of different wines under various labels that were available for tasting. One wine in particular grabbed my eye. The Manuka Grove Durif. If you love big reds then this is for you. This had a dark colour – almost black. Dark fruits come through on the nose with this wine, mainly blackberries and plums. This has a big and robust flavour dark chocolate, plum pudding and cherry.

The other wine I tried was under another one of Nugan Estate’s labels – Cookoothama. The wine was a 2005 Basket Press Merlot and is really good stuff. The wine has a great colour for wine 5 years + on the nose I was beginning to pick up some secondary characters but there is still a lot of primary fruit as well. A succulent and juicy wine making you salivate and drink more.

Lowe

My final stop, with two wines on offer, a 2010 Sauvignon Blanc and a Late Picked Riesling. The 2010 Sauvignon Blanc was for my palate miles away from the NZ offerings available today. The Late picked is something I would drink regularly. Probably a little sweet for my liking, I prefer the acidity present in the Long Road Riesling. It had good fruit weight when tasting but they dropped away quite suddenly which was a little disappointing. If you like things a little bit sweeter or if you eat foods with lots of chilli then this is for you.

Level 1

169 King Street

Newtown

By Becca Johnstone

As soon as I walked in to Madame Fling Flong I knew this was a place that I was going to dig. First and foremost it was empty! Dylan Moran once said, “there’s nothing more enjoyable than an empty bar,” a sentiment I wholeheartedly agree with I’m afraid. I must stress, it wasn’t empty because of anything lacking, more that we were the first people through the door on a Wednesday afternoon. We got a good feel for the place, very retro, very funky, dotted with all too welcome mix of Victorian and 70’s lounges. All that with a killer cocktail list and jazz standards in the background…. Oh yes, this is Becca’s kind of place.

The air-conditioning provided some much needed relief from a sweltering King Street at the peak of summer, but our saviour came in the form of the daily special: 1 jug of Pimms and Lemonade for a mere $18. The pitcher arrived glistening, full of mint and orange and as is the danger with Pimms, easily slurped by Danny and I. The jug served us three glasses each, and was just what the doctor ordered for that muggy afternoon.

The cocktail menu was inspired. As a cocktail gal, I sincerely felt a bit like Alice down the rabbit hole. Brilliant names and flavour combinations jumped out, such as ‘Hunny Bunny’ – guava, peach Schnapps, lychee liqueur and Cointreau. Being a ginger fan I couldn’t go past ‘Little Miss Ginger’: white rum, ginger wine, triple sec, lime juice and honey syrup. And there was a host of others that tempted such as Raspberry Truffle, Tortuga Queen and the elusive jug of Back Porch Lemonade… but someone had to remember her Responsible Service of Alcohol certificate and not get carried away! Admittedly, they do all sound a bit female driven, but all of the classics were there as well. I saw a Tom Collins being made with Tanqueray and was rather envious of the hipster patron it was going to.

The wine was an interesting mix of local and imported options, from France, Spain, Argentina and Italy – with only one or two options per varietal. A few familiar local names, Willowbridge SSB and Cable Bay Marlborough Sauv for example. But all in all the white selection seemed better than the reds. The selection was larger in general, and nothing really seemed to jump out at you from the red side of things. Local beers were available but there was again a push for some imports – the well known’s of Becks and Kronenbourg, and a couple I’d never heard of, Schofferhoffer (I just like saying the name) from Germany and Cintra from Portugal. Fun to say and to drink I’d imagine!

Feeling a bit peckish, we decided some tapas was in order. After we had made our selection, the first to come out was a steaming plate of Patatas Bravas – a favourite classic between us tapas lovers. They were rich with garlic, and had quite a firey tomato sauce. A very generous serving, blisteringly hot, so eager were we that I’m sure a few minor burns were sustained – but definitely worth it.

Next out was a plate of Haloumi, grilled, doused in olive oil then finished with fresh oregano. I’ve never been to Santorini, but I imagine this is what it’s like. The Haloumi was primo, juicy and oozey – not like some that you get that have that ghastly, bouncy textutre to them.

Immediately following was a plate of polenta cakes, one each flavoured with parmesan, tomato and spinach and basil. Each topped with toasted goats cheese and toasted pine nuts. I’m a classic kind of girl, so the parmigiano one was my fave, while Danny preferred the tomato. I felt the spinach/basil was just that bit too metallic, and somehow the texture didn’t seem as right as the other two. They were still some very tasty morsels that did a good job of soaking up some of the Pimms.

In a quick succession out came our prawns and a plate of chorizo. The chorizo was simply grilled, olive oiled and served with a small side of pickled vegetables. The chorizo was quite firm and well made – though I could have done with a little more heat. I’ve never had pickled vegetables with chorizo before, even though there is constantly an enormous jar of them in my fridge. It was a surprisingly delicious accompaniment. The sharp vinegar flavour of the crunchy vegetables contrasted really well with the oily, smokiness of the chorizo – something I’m definitely going to replicate at home.

The dish of the day had to be the Manzanilla prawns though – large king prawns that fried with garlic, saffron, I think a bit of sherry vinegar and some tarragon. The prawns were exceptional – but I haven’t had a bad one all summer, what a great season it’s been! They just carried so much flavour and were so juicy and sweet. And again, a generous serve – 4 prawns, but 4 mammoth prawns! I certainly would have paid at least $20 for that as an entrée in a restaurant, and happily!

The best part of the day came when we went to pay the bill – I noticed that a jug of Pimms and 5 tapas dishes came to a whopping $58. For me, that’s an absolute bargain – especially given the quality we were presented with. I can highly recommend Madame Fling Flong, have a chat to the staff and be sure to check out the funky bathrooms. Just get in early, before the trendies come and take it over!

Overall rating: 4/5

Have any other favourite watering holes along King Street? Let us know @bonvivantblog on Twitter, The Bon Vivant Blog on Facebook or email us directly: thebonvivantblog@gmail.com

Recently, Becca and I had the opportunity to attend a tasting for the three wines from Seppelt’s Xavier’s labyrinth range with former Seppelt winemaker Ian McKenzie. With Becca away in New Zealand for the week, The Bon Vivant will be skipping our usual Weekend Wine picks and I will be sharing my thoughts on what i thought were three excellent cooler climate style wines. The three wines in this particular range are Two whites, a Chardonnay and a Riesling both of which are sourced from the Henty region in South Western Victoria, a wine region with strong pedigree in producing fantastic cool climate examples of both of these wines with other varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc thriving in this area as well. There is also a red, a Shiraz available in this range as well which is sourced from the Heathcote and Grampians region. Heathcote Shiraz has always been a winner in my book and this one does not disappoint. All three of these wines are available from $16.99 which I think for premium Seppelt wines is an absolute steal especially considering you can pay up to $5-10 more for the equivalent Drumborg Riesling, Jaluka Chardonnay and Chalambar Shiraz.

Although this is a fairly new range of wines for Seppelt, tasting them with a former winemaker provides wine nerds and geeks like myself a great insight into a company’s winemaking philosophy as well as more practical information on the wines which aren’t available from any marketing/promotional material on the wine. Ian has a wealth of knowledge and experience and he was very happy to share this for each wine on the day.

Seppelt Xavier’s Labyrinth Wines (L-R) Chardonnay, Riesling, Shiraz.

My notes on each wine are as follows:

Henty is the source of the grapes for both the Chardonnay and the Riesling It is supposedly the most southerly vineyard on mainland Australia and as such is famous for producing both Chardonnays and Rieslings that can be best described as being fine with restrained elegance. After tasting both of these it is easy to see why.

Xaviers Labyrinth Henty Riesling 2008

This is a wine with a pale almost clear colour to it, the nose doesn’t have the floral notes that I have come to expect from a Riesling. I would describe this as having a steely metallic character to it. As such I felt that this particular wine was clearly lacking in primary fruit and the steely characters are now the dominant aromas. This wine did have a tart acidic backbone that is standard for these cool climate offerings.

Xaviers Labyrinth Henty Chardonnay 2008.

Whoa! What an absolutely cracking wine. Admittedly I am not Chardonnay’s biggest fan, and Becca would attest to that! With that in mind, I have been trying (and enjoying) similar style offerings from Victoria and this one definitely hits the spot. This is made in a more modern style of Chardonnay; a complex beast with good fruit, oak and lees contact all intregrated to produce an absolutely stunning wine. The colour on this is, again, incredibly light, almost clear. The nose on this is predominately stone fruit and melon which is coupled nicely with some quality toasty oak as well. This is an incredibly well balanced wine and like the Riesling has a good length of flavour to it.

Xavier’s Labyrinth Grampians Heathcote Shiraz 2008.

This offering is a combination of grapes from the Grampians and Heathcote regions. These two regions offer marry together to produces wines with good depth of flavour with Heathcote wines being bold, rich and full bodied in nature while the Grampians style is more restrained, medium bodied with spice and pepper the main flavour profiles. This wine is a good combination of both, having a deep purple colour to it which is deep and intense. A nice medium bodied spicy style of shiraz coupled with those dark fruit flavours.

Overall, all three are very impressive wines but for me (and i can’t believe I am saying this) the hero wine of these three is definitely the Chardonnay. This is so bloody impressive. For $16.99 you get a wine that is pleasant and complex with layer upon layer of flavour and at this price this wine is an absolute steal.

Happy Drinking,

Please feel free to chat with us directly via email thebonvivantblog@gmail.com We would love to hear from you. Alternatively you can follow us on Twitter and facebook.

By Becca Johnstone

MUMU Grill

70-76 Alexander Street

Crows Nest

Cow, Pig, Rabbit. It sounds like the start of a Beatrix Potter tale, full of wilful optimism, polite adventures and probably a little girl named Fanny. Cow, Pig and Rabbit are probably the best of friends – in reality it turns out they are… on a plate at least! Last week Danny and I were lucky enough to attend the Cow, Pig, Rabbit dinner held at MUMU Grill in Crows Nest, hosted by MUMU, Alvin Quah and Denea Buckingham.

A little about our hosts…

Supplying the Cow we have MUMU Grill, Sydney’s only sustainable steakhouse, owned by Chef Craig Macindoe. It is also home to Sydney’s first Jamon Bar. Keen participants in the Slow Food Movement, MUMU believes in sustainable, seasonal and regional produce. Located in central Crows Nest, this relaxed and funky restaurant was our setting.

The Pig for the evening came from Alvin Quah. Most people will be familiar with Alvin from his efforts on the past season of Masterchef – and what great efforts they were! Life PMC (Post Masterchef) has seen Alvin launch his own website, Cinnamon Pig, featuring a blog and recipes. He has also been cooking at a number of great restaurants around Sydney, and even a couple of TV appearances on Keri-Anne and The Circle.

The night’s Rabbit was brought forth by Denea Buckingham, aka Jess Rabbit, Editor in Chief of Gourmet Rabbit magazine. A simply brilliant food magazine, written by industry pro’s for industry pro’s and Foodies alike. Denea brings together exploring, creating, foraging, sipping, discovering and munching in Gourmet Rabbit – a crash course in local gastronomy.

It was a delightful, warm Spring night and it kicked off with 18 month Jamon Serrano and a glass of Poverty Hill Riesling 2008 at the Jamon Bar. All wines were provided by United Cellars. The Jamon was passed around and Danny and I shared the exact same thought: the Italians do it better. Blasphemous? Possibly. But we had only weeks earlier experienced the best Prosciutto di Parma at the Italian Festival. It’s really just something that comes down to personal preference, and we prefer the pungency of prosciutto more. The Riesling had a bit of hype around it having been written up by Huon Hooke a week prior. It didn’t have much freshness on nose or palate, and not a lot of fruit either – if you like those keroseney type Rieslings than go for it!

We took our seats and after a brief introduction from our hosts, the first course arrived: a tasting plate of pork and rabbit rilletes with an orange and date chutney with beef knuckle onion rings. What I loved about the rilletes was it really tasted like rabbit – often I find that rich flavour can be overladen with too many herbs in rilletes, but this was well pronounced. And perfectly matched with the chutney. The beef knuckle onion rings were the highlight though – an absolute revelation! The knuckle had been slow cooked, then thinly sliced, fried and served with caramelised fried onions. It was sticky, meaty and absolutely delicious, Alvin aptly described it as meat popcorn. This was matched with the Paco and Lola Albarino 2009, a highly aromatic wine – lots of rich tropical fruitiness on the nose. It was actually quite mellow on the palate, not too sweet and no great length. It was a good match and a very pleasant drop indeed.

Next up was the white bean, dark ale and rabbit soup topped with crisp Guanciale (pig cheek). A dark, rich and all too enticing soup, again with that really strong taste of rabbit. It was super intense, which I really enjoyed, but for those that found it a bit strong, the white beans in the base balanced it out nicely. The crispy Guanciale was a great textural contrast and packed full of flavour – this was a truly hearty dish. This paired well with the Brown Magpie Pinot Noir 2006, which was my favourite wine of the night hands down. From Geelong, the wine had a wonderful savouriness, made more in the Burgundian style of Pinot. And as it sat in the glass a while, really opened up into a complex and enticing wine.

The fourth course was a wonderful blend of flavours and temperatures. We were served beef shin and rabbit ravioli, truffled mushroom wonton with tomato jelly. I really enjoyed this one, the tomato jelly stopped me mid-sentence to say “oh my God, this is delicious.” And what I loved most was the contrast of the sweet and cold tomato jelly against the earthy and warm ravioli and wonton. It was a really exciting course for the palate, both with bright and hearty flavours. This was served with the Lowe Preservative Free Merlot 2008. Unfortunately, I don’t feel this wine did this dish justice: it was just a little lacklustre. Admittedly, I’m not a Merlot drinker, and there was a certain mustiness to the wine I didn’t enjoy. But I had a little of the Pinot left, and enjoyed it immensely with this dish also!

Following this we had Alvin’s offering for the night: caramelised pork hoc with bok choy, chilli vinegar and black sesame rice. I think this one was definitely the crowd favourite – it certainly was ours!  It’s very similar to a Sailor’s Thai dish I’ve had before, but with a little more heat from the chilli. And the whole hoc was served, sort of pressed into this brick shape. It was sweet and sticky and completely naughty. I challenge anyone who doesn’t enjoy pork not to devour this dish greedily! The wine for this one was a Sanguine Tempranillo 2007 – a good match I felt. It had some nice fruit weight, but a few fine, drying tannins to clear the fattiness of the pork from your palate, encouraging more consumption!

The final savoury course was a simple offering that truly let the quality of the ingredients sing. Slow roast grass fed Sirloin with duck fat potatoes, asparagus and bone marrow sauce. The King Island beef was melt in the mouth tender and had a flavour like no other I’ve tried at steakhouses across Sydney, and it’s no wonder you normally have to take out a mortgage to buy a few steaks. The asparagus was as it should be peak of season – sweet and perfectly cooked, I love it still a bit crunchy.  The duck fat potatoes and rich bone marrow sauce rounded out the dish. It had the feeling of French bistro, but the quality and sophistication of fine dining. It was served family style, dropped in the centre of our tabe, and I honestly thought a dish of that calibre should have been served individually – but I’m knit-picking. The wine it paired with was an unconventional one – the Gemtree ‘The Phantom’ Petit Verdot 2008. It was by no means a bad wine, but I question why it was matched with the dish. As Danny said “why couldn’t we get a hearty Barossa Shiraz?” Touche good Sir.

For desert we were served cardamom poached fruits with sheep’s milk Labna alongside the Delatite Late Harvest Riesling 2009. A delicious combination and a favourite of mine. The poached fruits were rich with spice, cardamom, cinnamon, star anise and I found myself rather greedily digging out as many peaches as I could find. The Labna was rich and creamy and helped carry the sweet, fruity and spicy flavours around the mouth. The Delatite Riesling was a good match – but it needed all elements on the spoon to really do it justice. Otherwise it was just that pinch too dry on it’s own. It was a perfect end to the meal – not too heavy and really celebrating what’s in season.

All in all it was a wonderful night at MUMU, filled with tasty offerings from three very talented people. It also made me very keen to come back and sample MUMU’s actual menu. A huge thankyou to Craig, Denea and Alvin for a great night out!

These chappies are all on Twitter as well! Denea @GourmetRabbit, Alvin @cinnamonalvin and Craig @Chefmumu. Don’t forget to look us up while you’re there @bonvivantblog.

Becca Johnstone 

This dish has got to be one of my all time favourite pasta dishes, hands down the best spaghetti dish I know! And it’s so perfect for those fresh, zippy, new vintage Sauvignon Blancs and Semillons and blends! The acidity and citric notes in these wines will bounce wonderfully off the heat and freshness of parsley in the spaghetti. The best thing about it is, if you have all your ingredients ready to go, it should take you no more than 15 minutes to throw together. And at the end of the day, I think clams and dry white wines are best friends! This dish is an absolute classic, and this is the way it’s done in my house.

• 1kg live vongole/clams that have been purged (see note)
• Good quality olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 long red chillis, finely chopped
• 1 pinch (1/2 tsp) chilli flakes
• Zest of half a lemon
• 250ml dry white wine (SB, SSB, Sem)
• 1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 packet of spaghetti
• Salt and pepper

Serves 4 

Put your spaghetti on to cook in a large pot of boiling, salted water.

In a large sauce pan, heat a good amount of olive oil over medium heat. Don’t be afraid to use a fair bit, this is effectively going to be your sauce.

Fry off the garlic, fresh chilli and chilli flakes with a little salt and pepper, being careful not to burn the garlic – that’s the last thing you want!

Add the vongole and lemon zest, shaking the pan and stirring to coat the clams in the chilli and garlic. Add the white wine, and cook for a minute or so just to burn the alcohol off. You don’t want the sauce tasting ‘winey.’

Put a lid on the vongole and let them cook for a few minutes in the wine and oil, until they all open up. Should only take 3 to 4 minutes or so. Remove the lid and stir through ¾ of the parsley. Adjust seasoning.

By this point your spaghetti should be done. Drain it, reserving some of the cooking water. Add the spaghetti to the pan of clams with a couple of tablespoons of the water and toss/stir. A tasty sauce should naturally emulsify.

Serve with an extra drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, an extra sprinkle of parsley, a chilled SSB and ABSOLUTELY NO PARMESAN! Cardinal sin!

NOTES:

•  It’s really important to ‘purge’ your vongole when you get them. To purge means to clean them basically, so they lose all of the sand and grit they naturally carry in their shells.
• There are a few different ways to do this, but the easiest I find is to put them in a big bowl, completely cover them in water and leave them soaking like that in the fridge for 6 hours or so (or overnight). When you come to use them any grit should have settled on the bottom of the bowl.
• Of course, as is with shellfish, you mustn’t eat any that haven’t opened during cooking. The reason they haven’t opened is because they were dead before you cooked them, and could make you quite unwell if they were consumed.
• Often, you’ll have some clams open slightly before you purge them. An old myth is that these guys are dead, and bad. This isn’t so, often they are just faking! So give them a shake and a knock, they might start to close slowly. If they don’t, never fear. Any ‘bad’ ones will be exposed in the cooking process.

What’s your favourite dish to have with Sauv Blanc and Semillons? Let us know thebonvivantblog@gmail.com, www.facebook.com/thebonvivantblog or on twitter: @bonvivantblog

Hentley Farm Caretaker Shiraz 2009

Barossa Valley

$20-$25

A delicious Barossa Shiraz from Hentley Farm a small boutique producer who focus on single vineyard offerings that are distinctively Barossan in nature. The colour of this is as a dark as night, dense and all encompassing; Ruby red on the edges. The nose on this doesn’t give away much. Tighty wound. A powerful example of a true Barossa with big rich fruit flavours coupled with mouth-puckering tannins. Will definitely reward time in the cellar. I would like to see this in the next couple of years.

Watershed Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2009

Margaret River

$12-$20.

Just a sneaky SSB that I tried recently for free at a Dan Murphy’s. Out of Margaret River, this 2009 vintage from Watershed. Not as fragrant as I would have imagined. Still extremely pale in colour with only a slight yellow tinge to it The nose was quite restrained not as big and citrusy as the other Margaret River SSB’s or the Deep Woods that I have tried recently.  It was a little more herbal or herbeceous with a touch of grassiness to it. Still vibrant and zesty with predominatly passionfruit on the palate. Drink now.

Engine Room White 2009

Adelaide Hills

$12-$15

I have a confession: I was drawn to this wine purely on it’s label! And what 23 year old girl can go past it’s tag line: “passion, glamour, heartbreak… the diaries of a vintage widow.” But on further inspection I discovered it was a Sauvignon Blanc/Chardonnay/Semillon blend, which sparked my interest further. Produced by Shottesbrooke, it’s a very approachable wine. The Sauv Blanc gives it really strong tropical fruit flavours and the Chardonnay imparts some interesting texture and fullness on the palate. It’s all rounded out with some sharp, zippy acidity from the young Semillon. It all equates to a rather tasty little number, which I will be BYOing with me to our local Malaysian restaurant tonight!

Rex Watson Merlot 2007

Coonawarra

$12-$15

I’m not really a Merlot drinker, but do love Rex Watson wines, so when this one crossed my path I figured it was worth a go! This really stuck me as quite a bright, Spring like red. I think it was because of the strong fresh cherry notes on the nose, it was really enticing. It was all ‘Merlot’ on the palate - quite fruity and medium bodied. It’d be a good wine for a red wine beginner. It’s perfectly drinkable, has a nice bit of subtle spice and if you’re a Merlot fan this will serve you very well. I couldn’t fight the thought running through the back of mind though: I make a killer Sangria, this would suit it to a T!

What will you guys be drinking tonight? Let us know on Facebook www.facebook.com/thebonvivantblog or on Twitter @bonvivantblog

Becca Johnstone

A couple of weeks ago Danny and I were lucky enough to attend a fantastic Champagne Masterclass at The Wine Society’s Vintec Tasting Room. Given that today brings us ‘the race that stops the nation’, we figured today was as good a day as any to bring you a Champagne Extravaganza! You know, just in case you win big and need a celebratory bevvie! Just how big you win will definitely influence your choice in bubbles, but the following post should pretty much have most bases covered.

Greg Williams of Moet Hennessey was running the show that day, and he made the great point that nothing has emulated Champagne. It holds a ‘caviar’ like perception – it gets people excited! He also explained to us just why the French take their Champagne so seriously: they have quite literally lived and died for their wine. During World War I, 98% of Reims was destroyed. To save their winemaking culture, and indeed their livelihood, Reims winemakers moved their entire operations underground. They produced wine all throughout the war, often picking grapes amongst the barbed wire and shells. Without the resilience of winemakers in Champagne during these tough times, I very much doubt this drinkable opulence would be the same today. Hats off to the French!

Enough history, let’s jump in to those glorious bubbles! We started with three wines from probably the best known Champagne house in the world. Just to clarify, it’s pronounced Mo-et. Not Mo-ee. See, now we can all speak propa good French!

Moet and Chandon Imperial NV - $50-$65

It’s often said that the NV is the style that defines the entire house, and with this style Moet has made it’s mark on the world. Easily recogniseable, readily available, Moet Brut NV has 300 million bottles in production at any point in the year. This wine spends 18 months in the cellar and is a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. It’s quite floral and strawberry fruity – quite fruit sweet. It has some big, luscious bubbles but backed up with some tight acidity. It’s probably the Champagne that most people cut their teeth on and is the most affordable of this tasty lot.

Moet and Chandon Grand Vintage 2002 - $90-$110

The people at Moet think the 2002 might be one of their ‘great vintages’, the climactic conditions in Champagne in 02 were perfect. Having previously released the 2003, the 2002 has been given a little more time to come into it’s own. A Pinot Noir/Chardonnay blend of up to 60 base wines, this Vintage wine is rich and creamy but with some nice minerality. I found it had a fantastic length, and wouldn’t bat an eyelid at paying the extra. I found it to be quite a noticeable step up from the NV.

Moet and Chandon Grand Vintage Rose 2003 - $120-$140

I don’t normally go for a Champagne Rose but this one surprised me. It had a wonderfully bright, strawberry nose but had a really yeasty (almost bready) quality on the palate. It was a wine that was all back palate, with tannins dropping at the front. It struck me as a great wine to have with food, I think it could really handle a bit of spice. I can see it dotted around marquees during Spring Carnival, clutched by ladies who love that their drink matches their dress! This would also be a great, festive and extravagant Christmas treat.

Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut NV - $60-80

Veuve run things a little differently to some of the other Champagne houses in that they don’t trial blend their wines. They blend and try and predict the finished product – the first time they get a sample is when they disgorge! I found this really amazing, as they achieve such great consistency across the board. This wine is floral and citric but gives way to those brioche like notes on the palate. A Champagne with a really fine bead – a favourite of mine, I must confess.  I think part of Veuve’s consistent, refined, longevity can be attributed to up to 40% of the NV drawing from Reserve wines.

Veuve Clicquot Vintage 2002 - $90-$110

The first thing I wrote in my notepad after sipping this one was simple and to the point: “Superb!” The Vintage Clicquot has luscious, rich complexity – it seems to completely coat your palate, wrapping itself around your mouth. 60% Pinot Noir, 33% Chardonnay, 7% Pinot Meunier it has great peachy flavours from the Chardonnay and a nice subtle spice from the Pinot. Again it has those rich, yeasty, pastry-like characters on the palate which lead to a lengthy, impressive finish. If my Each Way bet on Americain pays off, this is what I’ll be going for!

Veuve Clicquot Vintage Rose 2004 - $100-$120

A beautifully coloured wine this one, a gorgeous blushing pink. And that colour translates to bright red berry fruitiness on the palate and strawberry aromas. It had a really delicate bubble to it as well – very fine, almost frizzante style. The Clicquot Vintage Rose was crisp and clean, encouraging further sips. A really fresh and lively wine, one of the best Champagne Roses I’ve tasted.

Ruinart Blanc de Blanc - $90-$110

Ruinart is a House that doesn’t have an enormous following here – yet. It is the first Champagne House that dedicated itself purely to sparkling style wines. From the get go it’s an impressive looking number: a pale gold colour that seems to glow from within it’s clear bottle. It looks alive, vibrant and enticing! 100% Chardonnay, this wine has been cellared for 3 years and is racy, citric and above all, elegant. I found it to be illuminating – on the palate, in the glass and for the soul. I really think it’s a step above the rest as well. If it were up to me, I’d take Ruinart over Vintage Moet or Veuve any day of the week. I daren’t use the phrase ‘liquid gold’, but it’s getting pretty close! I’m hoping my long-shot pick to win, Once Were Wild, comes through so I can pick up this gorgeous wine!

Dom Perignon 2002 - $240-$290

This is a Champagne that’s only ever Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, only ever Vintage and only ever produced from Premium grapes – it’s whole ethos is excellence. Greg jokes that Dom Perignon “requires a short prayer”- so Our Lord and Heavenly Father, thank you for this wine! Another wine full of texture and finesse, it’s again palate coating – it seems to ripple through your mouth! It’s flavours are toasty and yeasty and creamy on the palate with a super foamy mousse. This is definitely a Champagne for the High Rollers!

Krug Grande Cuvee - $300-$350

We finally reached the pinnacle of the Champagne Mountain. “There’s Champagne…. And then there’s Krug.” It’s important to note that this more a Multi-Vintage wine, not a NV. Blended from 6-10 different Vintages, Krug spends 7 years in the bottle. It spends some time in small oak barrels, which gives it this fantastic toast and honey like flavour. A secret blend of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay it’s often billed as “the Winemakers Champagne.”I found it simply astonishing: I daresay it was the best wine I’ve ever tasted. It’s perfectly balanced – nutty, creamy but fresh and lingering on the palate. The bead is by no means aggressive; in fact some would mark it absent. It has the most subtle bubble to it – but in a wine of this calibre the bubbles aren’t important. Tasting this wine was a heavenly experience. To afford this one, my elusive Trifecta will need to win the day. We can all dream…

So what will you be going for if your horse comes up Trumps? Let us know – thebonvivantblog@gmail.com or on Twitter @bonvivantblog

Super big thanks to the amazing Patrick White for providing the sneaky photos!