The Hook Up

Best Restaurant in Australia, 2 years running.

Dining with current staff member and girlfriend of one of the chefs.

It was, you might say, all on....

Back amongst the rich, famous and just downright food-and-wine geeky for one last night of sumptuous decadence. The 3 muskateers of Windsor - myself, Richard and the up till now unintroduced Morris were going to paint the town red....nebbiolo red.

To start, a cheeky bottle of Larmandier Bernier 'Terre de Vertus' downstairs at Main Bar.



Mineral and taut, it is lime, stone, wet rocks and wet lemon peel with crushed macaroon crumbs as the bead. Very good, yet undeveloped...and did not develop despite time in the glass and a rising temperature. Again I am reminded how hideously young we always drink champagne, NV or otherwise. Give these bottles the time they deserve - a mere 5 years would do wonders for wines like this.

On to Quay, Sydney's ultimate dining destination.

A very kind glass of NV Bauchet fizz to start, then into the real stuff.

A dish of Kangaroo Island marron served with lime creme fraiche, tea and seaweed jelly, leek and spring onion




A stunning melange of various heirloom tomatoes (old varieties no longer commonly propagated for god knows why - invariably packed with flavour) served with fennel flowers, pine bud extract and a sheeps/goats milk curd combination. Incredible. The dish of the night. I feel it impossible to describe the harmony of textures, the sweet/acid interplay, the delight of the flowers and herbs....this is a dish you MUST eat.



With this and the subsequent course we drank a wine that I very much enjoy, yet has been rubbished by some of my colleagues for what they describe as a 'false sweetness along with odd acidity'. Anyway, we all found it more than adequate on this evening

2009 Foster e Rocco Sangiovese Rose




Made by Adam Foster (former sommelier at 3, 1, 2) and Linc Riley (former sommelier at Taxi), this is a bright, fresh, zappy rose with structure and a hint of sweetness upon entry. It finishes bone dry however. Delicate rose, white pepper, and raspberry pip aromas are enticing and moreish.

Next up confit of South Australian squid with octopus 'coral', violet flowers and red core radishes and garlic custard.



Also eaten - quail breast with iberico jamon, bitter chocolate black pudding, hazelnuts, morels and truffle custard



Here we segued from the rose into the main event - 1997 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco
NB - decanted for 3 hrs prior to us drinking it.



This wine intrigued me, annoyed me and made me just a little happy.
Intrigued me because of the changes it went through - from raspberry juice, to earth/dirt/coal to plum to rose (and finally tomato sauce the next day!), and also because i didn't f*cking understand where it was going, or what would emerge next!

It annoyed me because I realised it is not an appropriate restaurant wine. You order it, decant it, drink it...and 3 hours later is ready to consume. Fail. You really need to call ahead of time and have it opened prior to your arrival. This is clearly not an option most people would consider....thus I decree Nebbiolo to be a drink at home wine, when you can take all the time you need to enjoy it in all its majesty.

(It was rather good tho :)

Next up -

Confit up duck, wrapped and crisped in its own skin, served with sea scallops, garlic scapes, winter melon and 'duck juices'



Also (another winner) pig jowl coated with maltose crackling, served with pedro ximenez soaked prunes and a cauliflower puree. SWEET. The maltose and the prunes, with the lush fatty pork is a divine combination, and one that called for some inventive food and wine matching...



We already had dessert and an accompanying wine planned, but we knew the sweetness of the pig would play havoc with the barbaresco, so we got tricky - bring on the dessert wine with the mains!

Cue 1996 Rene Renou 'Cuvee Zenith' Bonnezeaux



BOOM. Wine of the night. Apricot kernel, intense date pit, dark yellow flowers, peach, burnt honey.
Great acidity meant it maintained a lightness of being I wasn't expecting. Lush and full and powerful, yet elegant. This is wine.

It carries over nicely to the parade of desserts -

White peach snow egg :



Meringue ball, coated in toffee, filled with ice-cream, on a bed of granita and cream. All flavoured with white peach.

Cherries and Berries :



A plethora of fruits - 3 types of cherries, raspberries, fraise des bois, boysenberrys and blackberrys, with berry sorbets and caramelised puff pastry base.

Mangosteen, coconut and lychee :



Fresh mangosteen with a ball of rose jelly, coconut cream, lychees, vanilla mousse and fresh rose petals.

All with helpful eating instructions from our friends in pastry.... x x.


It was a night to remember. A heartfelt thank you to all involved.

Wines on a Sunday

Sundays are a great day for drinking.

No responsibilites, no worries, no work. Plenty of time to get down to the serious business of vino.

Champagne was on the cards -



Rene Gefferoy 'Expression' Brut from Cumieres in the Vallee de la Marne, just to the north of Epernay.

Yellow flowers and a slightly oxidative note dominate the nose to start; a pleasing aroma of crushed almonds. The fruit is slow to emerge but is rich if not fully ripe when it does. White peach and a gentle honey bathed tangerine note. Lovely texture, but a little short despite the acidity. Fresh and complex and an absolute bargain.

Didn't quite make it to the other one - next week maybe....have never tried and am quite excited.


Later with cheese was 2008 Maddens Rise Pinot Noir.



The Chardonnay by this innovative and natural winery from the Yarra Valley was one of my favourite wines of 2009, and so this bottle felt heavy with expectation.
Stem and sap and greeness, so fresh and vital and raw. Very light on fruit, some prickling spice at the back, but the trace threads of acidity running through the wine are what its all about. The nose is funky but not heavy or rich....even with a quick spin through the decanter it doesn't put on weight. Maybe another year in bottle will do it some favours, for now it is interesting rather than thrilling. Back to the mini-meursault chardonnay for me.

A brief note also on a wine from last Sunday -
Etna Rocca d'Api 'Le Moire' Etna Bianco



A new appellation for me - Etna Bianco DOC - it is situated in Sicily on the slopes of Mt Etna, in volcanic basalt soils, all tended organically, 500m above sea level. The varietals are 60% Carricante and 40% Catarratto (bloody Italians, how many varieties are there??). NB for Etna Rosso the varietals are Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio.

This wine was quite an eye-opener for me. Rich, lush fruit - some pineapple, apricot and red apple, quite full on the nose, but then the palate was fresh and tingling with acidity. I suppose this is from the altitude. The richness of fruit became a bit much after 3 glasses, and it didn't really develop with air, but the palate stayed clean and refreshing, and the acid balance and texture was delicious. Again, a bargain.


Next little flight of wines should be good - a visit to the current restaurant of the year is on the cards...

Clos Windsor

The main picture up the top of the page here is one of the world's most famous vineyards - Clos de Mesnil, located on the Allee de Mesnil in the village of Mesnil-Sur-Oger in Champagne.

A 'clos' is a vineyard entirely surrounded by a wall. Enclosed as such, it actually generates its own micro-climate, and the fruit from such a vineyard may be completely different from neighbouring ones, despite a commonality of soil and weather. Strange as it may be, wines from a clos are most often seen as pinnacles of their expression. Consider Clos Ste Hune, Clos Vougeot, Clos de Lambrays, Clos St Hilaire, Clos Mogador and Clos de la Coulee-de-Serrant.



I had the rare good fortune to be wandering around the town late last year, stuck for an hour in between appointments at Salon and Pierre Peters. Upon discovery of this fabled vineyard I was overwhelmed, and went just a little crazy...

I scrambled over the wall and ran amok through the vineyard, my head thrashing from side to side as I was surrounded by some of the most famous chardonnay grapes in the world. I could not resist - stopping briefly, I bent and gently removed one of the grapes from the vine and swiftly dispatched it into my mouth.

Pure, fresh and screaming with acidity, this is how a fully mature grape should taste.

I made my escape as quickly as possible and lived to tell the tale.



Here at Clos Windsor, we attempt to drink only the best, although sometimes this noble aim is thwarted by evil spirits (most often gin).

We shall however, struggle on.