BWFS

Menu Dinner 859

Thursday 20th March 2025

Canapes

Oyster, Seasoned Soy, Finger Lime

Pickled Mussels, Samphire, Dill, Sour Dough

Mushroon Skewers, Salsa Verde

2013 Heemskerk Coal River Valley Chardonnay Pinot Noir

Entrée

Rock Flat Head, Smoked Tomato Water, Lemon Basil

2016 Tomboy Hill"The Tomboy" Chardonnay

2019 Clyde Park Block C Chardonnay

Main

Roasted Aged Duck Breast, Ruby Grapefruit, Witlof, Dauphinoise Potatoes

2008 Tibooburra Solitude Pinot Noir

2008 Maison de Grand Esprit Cote de Nuits-Villages

2016 Foradori Teroldego

Dessert

Pineapple Tart Tartin, Lime Ice Cream

2022 Saracco Moscato d’Asti

Food Master: Andrew Bradley

Wine Master: Paul Martino & Shaun English

Head Chef: Damien Jones

Treasurer’s Report

For the Year Ending 31 December 2024

For presentation at AGM 20 March 2024

It has been a pleasure to serve as Tresure of the club for the past year.

Please find attached Financial Statements for the Year Ending 31 December 2024, comprising the Profit and Loss Statement & Balance Sheet for the Wine and Food Society.

Of note from the financials:

Dinner Fees for the year were $34,409 (up from $30,930 LY)

Cellar Fees were $13,200 (up from $13,650 LY)

Dinner expenses were $29,435 (up from $27,235 LY)

Wine Purchases Were $14,316 for the year (up from ($8,465 LY)

Moving forward it is becoming increasingly difficult to cover the dinner expenses with $150 per head. It is recommended to increase dinner fees to $160.

Wine prices have also continued to increase

Cellar fees for the year resulted in a deficit. The cellar has some gaps in it and the Wine master has requested more funds to replenish and restock the cellar. As such I recommend cellar fees be increase by the modest amount of $100 to $700 to allow for some restocking of wines.

I look forward to the coming year and continuing to experience the incredible food and wine we have had the privilege of consuming over the past year.

Yours Sincerely

Glenn Sharp

Treasurer

https://www.mediafire.com/file/hd32u231gfgii0b/WFS_Profit_and_Loss_2024.pdf/file

Wine master's Report

Ballarat Wine & Food Society Wine Master's Report 2024-2025.

Having now completed one full year in the Wine Master role, feel like I am getting to know our cellar and perhaps your tastes?

One aim I have for my time is to try and be a bit proactive in selecting some wines that are already at their peak and will only decline from here. To some extent those wines are at the pinot end of the wine spectrum!

We just enjoyed our second year of the local’s dinner, where this year we featured both Best Wines and Eastern Peake Winery. Special thanks to Hamish (Bests) and Norman (Eastern Peake) for making the time to share both their wines and their respective wineries history while we were treated to magnificent food by Laim Downes at Black Cat Truffles.

One trend I am noticing as a consumer of wine myself is the demand for grape varieties that sit outside those we typically grew up with. That combined with a desire to enjoy some of those grape varieties at a younger age, sometimes presents a challenge as a Wine Master selecting wines for your dinner when we have many aging wines that need to be drunk now. That said, as winter approaches, I will turn my attention to the older wines and try and select the best of the best for your drinking pleasure!

Special thanks to all those who have filled in for me when work commitments take me away on the third Thursday of the month. Thank you Glenn Sharp! Thanks to our President, Andrew Rowan and all on the committee for their work in putting our monthly dinner on.

Special thanks to Bob House. Bob has mentioned before about a more “interactive blog”. I would love to see each of us sharing via Bob comments on a bottle the opened or a new winery, restaurant they ate and drank at. Let’s get behind this idea.

Thanks for your patience as I try and take the trainer wheels off in 2025!

President's report

President's Report 2024/25

2024 was another great year for the Society, with strong attendances at most dinners, averaging close to 20 attendees.

I would like to thank our food master, Andrew Bradley who introduced some new venues to our membership over the year. Highlights for me last year was the combined dinner with Beefsteak and Burgundy, the dinner we attended at the Underbar, as well as our most recent outing at Blackcat Truffles. The last 2 venues underscoring our wonderful culinary scene, in what many would say was a difficult year for the sector.

Thanks as well to our Wine Master Paul, who managed to serve up some wonderful wines, with out having to resort to ChatGPT (or so I’m told). Having recently stepped out of that role, I can confirm that—even with our excellent cellar—the position comes with its own pressures. Each month, you must satisfy a discerning panel of dinner guests, and one wrong pour could see you (metaphorically) burned at the stake.

Equal thanks also goes to our Cellar Master Shaun, who is continuing to add great wines to the cellar, and in particular his focus on adding wines the we would “not normally drink at home”. It is note worthy to mention the Italian varietals he has added to the cellar for us to enjoy over the next few years.

Shaun has a well-developed contact list and a keen eye for a bargain, that enables him to source great wines at reasonable prices.

Thanks also to Glenn Sharp for keeping the accounts in good order and to Dean Stevens, who yet again fulfills the role of secretary for the Society, yes unglamourous as they may be (the role not the person) these jobs are an essential part of any organisation.

Finally, thank you all for your wonderful fellowship, good cheer and humor, and importantly your collective expertise when it comes to all things Wine and Food. I’m sure that I speak for not only the new comers to the scene, but also the longer term members, that each dinner we can go away a little more knowledgeable for the night. For me the dinners are something that I very much look forward to each month.

“Wine is wonderful stuff. But so many people are put off by the snobbery of it.”

John Cleese

Andrew Rowan

17 March 2025

Cellar Master's report

The Wine and Food Society of Ballarat's cellar is in good shape, with 1305 bottles, a fairly stable amount. The estimated value is $91 000.

Consumption over the year 1/3/2024 to 28/2/2025 was 299 bottles, valued at $20443 (this number does represent a recent stocktake and correction, so not all these wines were drunk).

Purchases over the same period amounted to 231 bottles at a value of $8466 (this is inaccurate - my apologies, not all purchase details were entered on the database).

Countries represented (in order) are Australia, Italy, France, Spain and then others. There is a predominance of red wine in the cellar, mainly due to the shorter cellaring times of white wines.

Future plans include offering some of the wines for members to purchase. This is to address the wines where too few bottles are in stock for a dinner. The funds garnered will then be reinvested into the cellar.

Buying strategy is to purchase wines that members may not usually drink at home, that offer interest and value. I hope this is being achieved.

Please find attached the current cellar list.

Shaun

https://www.mediafire.com/file/kzf4bdwhdvrifnn/W%2526FS%2527s_Wine_List_-_CellarTracker.pdf/file

Food Masters Report 2024/25

Thank you for entrusting me with providing the venues and food for the Society over the past year.

The Food Masters role is exciting, nerve wracking and rewarding at the same time as you never know how the Dinner is going to work out until it actually happens. However, working with all the venues, chefs and staff has, I trust provided the Members with a positive experience.

This year we dined at the following new venues:

Underbar

Olive Grove

Black Cat Truffles

Chez Bradley

All of these new Venues provided different experiences but ones that I trust were enjoyed by the Members.

The Society also hosted the Combined Dinner with Beefsteak and Burgundy which was a great success. Thank you to Paul Martino and Shaun English for their input into and the sourcing and buying of some of the wines for the Dinner.

During the year we had:

11 Dinners, March 24 to February 25, ex January

218 Diners – Ave 19.8 (LY 230 Diners - Ave 20.9 per Dinner)

16.7 Ave Members per Dinner (LY 17.4 Ave Members per Dinner)

34 Guests – Ave 3 per Dinner (LY 41 Guests - Ave 3.7 per Dinner)

$124 Ave cost per head (LY $118 Ave cost per head)

Ballarat has seen the closure of some venues that we have used in the past such as Ragazone and Mitchell Harris and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find venues that can provide food of a decent standard, have a private area for dining and at a cost that falls within our current budget.

A special mention to John Coco who stood in for me on one occasion and for being the only Member to have attended all of the Dinners throughout the year.

Andrew Bradley

13th March 2024