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Thursday, October 09, 2008

Jeremy Oliver Launches Australian Wine Annual 2009

Not an Italian region in sight, we're back for Jeremy Oliver's launch of his 12th Wine Annual (The Australian Wine Annual).

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While we milled around waiting for the dinner to start we enjoyed glasses of Dal Zotto Prosecco 2006 (90/100) followed by Chandon ZD Blanc de Blancs 2005 (94/100)

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which were matched to Long Nose Point oysters in the shell served with watermelon and prosciutto.

One of the interests aspects of the night is that we will be tasting some of the highest scoring wines from this latest edition.

First Course:

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Green Pea Soup with Foie Gras
Mountadam Riesling 2007 (96/100)
Grosset Polish Hill Riesling 2007 (96/100)

From the outset we're gaining an insight into Jeremy Oliver's palate and he does enjoy his acidic wines. Of the two, the Grosset seemed to keep that acid in check and found excellent balance with the soup.

Second Course:

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Salad of Raw Artichoke, Fennel, Broad Beans and Pecorino, Shaved Fratelli Galloni Prosiutto
Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay 2005 (96/100)
Penfold's Yattarna 2005 (96/100)

The Leeuwin Estate was the more appealing wine in our eyes though I'm not sure the dressing of the salad really worked with the wine.

Third Course:

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Pigeon Raviolo with radicchio di Treviso, walnuts and parsley
Kooyong Ferrous Pinot Noir 2005 (96/100)
Epis Pinot Noir 2006 (95/100)

Absolutely gorgeous dish which in my eyes, outshone the wines.

Fourth Course:

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Roasted Angus Eye Fillet, porcini, briciole di patate
Claredon Hills Astralis Syrah 2006 (97/100)
De Bortoli Yarra Valley Reserve Syrah 2006 (97/100)

Its a bit unfair to be harsh on these wines as they are too young to fully appreciate.

Cheese:

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Touree de L'Aubier and Casa Madaia Calcagno Liscio with house made breads and condiments
Wynns Coonawarra Estate John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 (96/100)
Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 (95/100)

As with the wines before, they are too young.

Tonight's crowd seemed to be made up of mostly Jeremy Oliver subscribers along with people from the wine industry. It's unfortunate that most of the time when Jeremy or featured Winemakers came to talk about the wines we'd tasted, that the crowd couldn't be quiet. It's absolutely frustrating to those that want to listen and just incredibly rude behaviour to boot. So please, general public, shut up and let people talk.

As noted earlier, it's extremely helpful to find out what appeals to Jeremy Oliver and as we tasted, he does have a fondness for acid.

On reflection, perhaps the food camorra could take a page from this and divulge their tasting peccadilloes. After all, we have the ludicrous situation of a food reviewer with 11 allergies reviewing restaurants - how can a menu that is so compromised be effectively judged especially when we the public are in the dark to these matters. But then, that is probably a topic for another post.

The details:

Church St Enoteca
527 Church Street, Richmond

Phone: 9428 7898

Restaurant Open:
Lunch: Monday-Friday 12-3pm
Dinner: Monday-Saturday 6pm to late

Web:
www.churchstenoteca.com.au

2 comments:

  1. Oooh, I wrote up that evening on my blog as well! It had been a while since I'd visited CSE, but I loved their food...

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  2. The food was excellent and the night quite entertaining too.

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