Wine I enjoyed

 

Hughes and Hughes Dornfelder 2021

The response to my previous note about input from you prompted some good replies. It seems there is some interest but maybe not in this format, possibly a facebook site with member-only access would be better?

We do have a response from Andrew Bradley about a wine type I've never tried: Dornfelder.

"This wine was part of the Mitchell Harris Taste of Tasmania Dinner a few weeks ago. Absolutely loved it then and bought some for my cellar. Beautiful colour, fruity and an easy mid week wine. Not what I would have expected from Tassie but worth a try"

Dornfelder grapes are a high-yielding rot-resistant Hybrid cross from Germany, first created in 1953 and now the second commonest red grape grown in Germany. Three or four small wineries in Tasmania now grow the grape with a small volume grown in Bright.

Your Blog

 

This blog is now 12 years old. There has been little change in the format. It may be time to revive the content, which means that I want ask you the readers, what do you want?

My preference would be to make the content interactive with information from you. I thought that possibly we could have reports from you about good restaurants you have been to, which bottle of wine you drank recently that warrants a personal recommendation, or maybe a good recipe that you've used and enjoyed.

I'm sure there are other good ideas, please let me know if you want change via our email.

Bob

ballaratwfs@gmail.com

Menu Dinner 833

Testimonial Dinner 

Les Dickinson

Venue Lola's

Canapes

 

Tartare of Salmon

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Sebago & Mint Croquette

Devaux Champagne de Devaux La Cuvée D NV

 

Entrée

 

Braised Beef Brisket

2004 Penfolds Bin 389 

1998 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch 

 

Main

 

Lamb Shoulder, Smoky Eggplant, Crushed Potato

2010 Grosset Gaia 

2012 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Cab Sav

1990 Mount Mary Cabernets 

 

Dessert

 

Chocolate Gateaux, Double Cream

1994 Warre's Vintage Port

Menu Dinner 829

  Dinner 829

Thursday 16th June 2022

Mr Jones' Restaurant

Canapes

Fried choux pastry, chopped duck liver, pickled ginger wasabi leaf Savoury Thai cup cake
NV Sorby Adams Shiraz Morticia

Entrée

Quince, palm sugar, chilli, lime, prawn floss Betel leaf, smoked pork sausage, ginger, roasted rice 

2013 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1

2017 Mader Riesling Rosacker Mains

Southern curry of “western plain’ suckling pig, curry leaf. Stir fried brussels sprout, house made Chinese spiced bacon 

2006 La Fornace Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2012 Domaine des Sénéchaux Châteauneuf-du-Pape 1995 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde

Dessert

Belgium chocolate cake, whole mandarin sorbet

2013 Royal Tokaji Wine Co. Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos

Head Chef: Damien Jones Food Master: Andrew Lewis Wine Master: Andrew Rowan

Choosing wine to accompany Thai Food

Menu Dinner 828

Thursday 26th May 2022  Canapes  Beef Tartare, Scallops

2013 Heemskerk Coal River Valley Chardonnay Pinot Noir

Entrée

Local Salt Kitchen Wagyu beef pastrami, tuna remoulade, fried caper, parmigiano reggiano

2007 Gros Frere et Sceur Echezeaux

2014 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges ter Cru Les Chaignots

Mains

Ox cheek bourguignon, local mushroom, local Salt Kitchen lardons, whipped potato 
2015 Benevelli Piero Langhe Nebbiolo 
2002 Wendouree Shiraz Mataro 
1990 Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 707

Dessert

Warm dark chocolate & pear gateau, vanilla ice cream 
2006 Le Tertre Du Lys D’Or Cuvee d’Exception

Head Chef: Philippe Desrettes 
Food Master: Andrew Lewis 
Wine Master: Andrew Rowan

 

Cellarmaster's Report

 

Currently, the Ballarat Wine and Food Society Cellar is in good shape.

The new database makes preparing reports easy (see attached).

I have been a little slow on buying wines for the cellar - restricted space and Victor Gibson are my excuses.  I have some deliveries due, which will go in in due course.  The overall buying strategy has been to source variety (trying to provide wines that we would not usually drink at home) and quality.  I am deliberately avoiding wines that don't deliver value (for example, I will buy premium Australian Cabernets rather than mediocre bordeaux).

Please see the attached report of the current state of your cellar.

Cheers All,

shaun

https://www.mediafire.com/file/9qwkdzvcao6qyvj/W%2526FS_report_2022.pdf/file

Treasurer's Report

 

Annual Treasurer’s Report Financial Year Ending 30 June 2021

·      The 2020/2021 financial year started with an opening balance of $11,867. The closing balance as 30 June 2021 was $14,152. 

·      The society Bank account remains with ANZ Bank the account keeping fees total $125 for the financial year. 

·      The financial accounts are being audited by Sharp Accounting (Glen Sharp) and will be loaded up online on the Society Website once completed.

 

It is recommended that cellar fees remain at $500 p.a. Dinner Fees at $150 per dinner for Members and $120 for guest.  

 

A treasurer prepared income and expenses summary statement for the last three financial years below.

·      The income collected for dinner and cellar fees total $28,531.  The expenses can be split as follows:

§  Dinner Expenses represent 61% of total income $20,952 (YE19 $22,815)

§  Wine Purchases represent 26% of total Income $7,048 (YE19 $15,887.) 

§  Other expenses represent 13% of total income, noting that Victor Gibson Weekend there were some preliminary expenses for booking of venues or catering, this represented 65 of total expenses.

 

·      The cash position was higher than previous year as a direct result of a reduction in the number of dinners compared to previous years due to COVID-19 and limited numbers allowed on the dinners that we had during the period.

·      Whilst, VG Weekend event took place on current financial year, it should be noted that on cash basis there was a small profit after all cost were accounted for, this was after a few cancellations due to COVID were refunded.

 

Gabriel Yanes Treasurer

President's report

 

Members of the Society,

 

Whilst we continued our little game of cat and mouse with COVID over the past 12 months, we managed only to miss out on our September dinner. Since then things have been somewhat normal and it was great to see Bob being able to once again make the trip up from the big smoke to participate.

 

We did pull the pin on the second attempt to hold the Victor Gibson weekend in October 2021 but we were delighted to finally deliver the event recently this March. Suffice to say, that the entire weekend was a complete success. We had 103 registered dignitaries over the full weekend of events, toped off with 101 of them attending a wonderful evening at The Mining Exchange for the formal Black Tie, Federation of Wine and Food Societies Australia 25^th Commemorative Victor Gibson Dinner.

 

The weekend events were well supported by our members and I hope that you enjoyed all that was on offer. I wish to extend a heartfelt thankyou and congratulations to our hard working organizing committee for sticking with it for three attempts. We have had countless notes of appreciation and praise from our guests and the FWFSA Committee. Well done to all.

 

Sadly this past 12 months we have lost two very dear friends and long serving members, Mr John Stickland and Mr Les Dickinson. On behalf of the Society we passed on our gratitude and condolences to Adri and Trudie and families.

 

The Society has been enriched with new members and thank those current members who have done the introductions as this will ensure our Society continues strongly into the future.

 

I take this opportunity to especially thank our hard working Committee, Mr Andrew Lewis, Food Master, Mr Andrew Rowan Wine Master. Office bearers Mr Dean Stevens, Secretary and Mr Gabriel Yanes, Treasurer.  Mr Shaun English Cellar Master and to the rest of the Committee, Mr Andrew Bradley and Mr Paul Martino. Thanks for your support and hard work.

 

Thank you also to Mr Bob House for his continued work and upkeep of our blog.

 

It has been a very busy year but one to remember, I have been honoured to have severed as President of this historic and proud Society, not only this year but for the past two years. Thank you for your continued support and I look forward to sharing good wine, good food and good company well into the future.

 

 

Cheers.

 Anthony,

13^th May 2022.

25th Victor Gibson Commemorative Dinner

25^th Victor Gibson Commemorative Dinner

Ballarat Mining Exchange

Saturday 26^th March 2022

 

CANAPÉS

Oysters, Black Pearl and Wakame

Scallop Boudin, Red Pepper and Bug Cracker

Pol Roger NV

 

COURSE 1

Skipton Eel

Miso Grilled Eel, Daikon Cake, Eggplant and Pickles

2020 Best’s Concongella Blanc

2019 Clyde Park Block C Chardonnay

 

COURSE 2

Rabbit

Saddle of Young Rabbit and Rillettes of Leg, Seeds, Muscatels and Truffle

2019 Tomboy Hill ‘The Tomboy’ Pinot Noir

2019 Blake’s Estate Reserve Pinot Noir

 

COURSE 3

Mt Doran Fallow Deer

Roasted Hind of Venison, Crisped Tendon, Beetroot and Pommes Puree

2010 Best’s Bin 0 Shiraz

2013 Warrenmang Black Puma

 

DESSERT

Autumn

Lemon Parfait, Nougatine, Fruit à Noyau and Caramel

2013 Chateau Raymond Lafon Sauternes

 

Food Master: Andrew Lewis

Wine Master: Andrew Rowan

Cellar Master: Shaun English

Head Chef: Peter Ford