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.

WIne Tattoos Installment 1

Yep this is the latest trend.
Love your wine? I certainly do....thus when i heard that the mack daddy of wine geekness, riesling lover and superstar sommelier Paul Grieco had the name of his favourite varietal permanently etched onto his forearm, i decided to up the ante.

Visited my local parlour. Had to spell it out for them. It was worth it tho. I now proudly carry 'the word' with me forever.

I will never forget the 1st time I tried this varietal. The bottle was there. The time was right. the company was set. So we cracked it....and the world was never the same. Thanks to my boss at the time who provided this.



Get it on ya.

A Farewell to Bentley

The Bentley Bar and Restaurant on Crown St is without a doubt our favourite drinking establishment of late. Some have said it is our second home. Whatever the case, the wine list is inimitable and the selection of beers and spirits is excellent as well.

Recently we discovered that the Bentely was to close for 3 weeks in order to undertake some renovations. Keen to pop in for one final session, we perched up at the bar, talked shit and drank some wines.

2005 Clos Rougeard "Breze" Saumur Blanc
A favourite discovery over 2009, Clos Rougeard reaches a pinnacle with their red wines unmatched anywhere else in the Loire (it's in France). 100% Cab Franc, the wines (3 separate cuvees) are fresh and high in acid, with crystal clear fruit definition and stunning spice/earth notes holding the wine straight. They also age into quite fascinating dry reds.
They make only one white however - a barrel fermented Chenin Blanc. Wow.

Decanted into a funny looking teapot thing called Aventinus (spelling??), it took a few minutes to come into its own. A touch of musk, then almonds and sharp green fruits come into play. Is it a 1er cru Chablis? Half an hour later oatmeal and hazel with acacia is jumping from the glass. Is it Puligny-Montrachet? The texture is rich, soft and supple, the oak is massive but yet the heat is negligable and the fruit handles it. A revelation.



2007 Gamay Sans Tra La La (Loire)
Cool as a summer breeze. Redcurrant, blueberry, iron-like minerality, graphite, acid....bang. A bargain.



2008 Vertigo 25GR Riesling, Adelaide Hills
A cheeky collab between David Le Mire MW and Peter Leske of Nepenthe, this is one of many off dry rieslings sweeping the aussie market as we chase something slightly germanic. apples of many hues, citrus rinds and dull flowers, acidity not bracing enough to cope with the sweetness, some mild tangerine juice on the finish. Seeing as we drank it en bouteille, I was fairly happy with it. More on this incredible phenomenon later.

We eat some pimentos de padron, the russian roulette of chillies. some are hot, some aint....only one way to find out. Ouch.

Bentley will return bigger badder and blacker in the near future

Un nuit sans Richard

There is an ever-growing element of one-upmanship that is burgeoning amongst the circle of friends that often get together to have some wine...it is somewhat dangerous and ends with one very unhappy member of our group. Upon this evening it was to be Richard that missed out.

This is Richard. He is the Mayor of Windsor. You are able to discern his mayor-ship by his medal/wreath that he is wearing.



Richard had other important duties to attend to on the evening we decided to hold a small tasting of some champagne and wine.



We ate dinner at Le Pelican on Bourke St, a favourite for our wine dinners. The food is consistently good, with an oft-changing menu and stellar produce.

Wines -

2004 Weingut Wegeler Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett Riesling (a cheeky pre-dinner)
green apple, nectarine, pine. Uncomplicated but a touch staid. Fresh and easy.

2004 David Leclepart "cuvee l'apotre" Blanc de Blancs Premier Cru Trepail
A wine approached with more anticipation than perhaps any other. We had spoken of this for months. Perhaps with such high expectations it could do nothing than disappoint. Perhaps it was the glassware. Perhaps we needed to decant it. Perhaps, as one writer put it, it is a wine that has simply 'shut down' for the time being. Anyway...we plan to drink the 05 next month, so we shall see. It was closed for a good half an hour, although with such drive, acidity and tannin that it hinted at something explosive to come. A hint of daisys and peonies on the nose, with an overload of stony minerality. It just never came around, just more butter and cream coming through on the mid palate an hour in. A perplexing wine.

1996 Billecart-Salmon "cuvee elisabeth salmon" Rose
Massive. A joy. Yellow peach, rose oil, redcurrant, raspberry pips, strawberries and cream, with a giant yet focused structure. Held its poise and bead for hours. So creamy and yet with trademark 96 acidity keeping it fresh. This bottle was a farewell gift from Auge Restaurant in Adelaide in 2007, and as desperately as I wanted to hold onto it, the temptation was too great. It drank beautifully but is still keenly young.

2000 Albert Mann Grand Cru Schlossberg Riesling
Wine of the Night. A perfectly balanced expression of semi-mature riesling. Walking a tightrope between honeyed, crystallised lime cordial on one side and fresh kiwifruit, white flowers and fresh summer herbs on the other. Again, long an strong and beautifully mouthfilling.

2007 Francois Raveneau Chablis Village
Decanted but still too young. Cream, yellow apples and a fresh wet stone/lime finish, it is easily the biggest village chablis I've ever tasted. It was elegant and balanced but still needs to fill out.

1999 Louis Latour Aloxe Corton 1er Cru Les Chaillots
I'm not a fan of Latour but this was solid enough. Dirty earth, some brambly red fruit, a hint of poo, wet leaves and gravel. Palate intact but a touch short. Good for one glass then turned boring.

2003 Chateau Beausejours St Emilion
Not me at all. Bloody 03 just annoys me - cooked fruit all over. Too much extract and oak, fruit far too ripe, this could've fooled me as Australian. Mono-dimensional and outright boring, it was a good foil for the angus beef but frankly my dear I couldn't give a damn.

End Game - A lovely party night, immaculately finished off by Richard meeting us on the street, cradling the empty bottle of l'apotre.

A Welcome to Wine

A forum for the wine-oriented.

Herein shall be described some wine which was tasted, consumed or merely imbibed. Occasionally opinions will be put forth on restaurants, wineries, people, cocktails, glassware, and of course donkeys. Other matters will be given no more than cursory attention.

Let the drinking begin.