grape time

Last Saturday, February 25th, was kind of special for me: I lost my harvesting virginity in the spectacular heart of Gippsland.

This was an early morning and the mist was covering the valley, which fed some type of whimsical charm. Having left Melbourne at 5am with a temperature of 26 C, it was shocking to reach 90 minutes later my destination, where the Pajero's thermometer marked 16 C.

It took me a while, plus two cuts in my left hand, to figure out the best way to pick up grapes without killing my back. After discovering the benefits of seating on my bucket it all became a harmonious flow between vine and human.

The four year old vines looked beautiful, and they produced more grapes than I had anticipated. Luckily more experienced harvesters made the job much faster than I felt it was going to go.

Eventually I filled my first bucket, which somehow originated some sort of naturally unusual fulfilment.

I can't wait to see and drink the wine that comes out of those grapes. This 2012 vintage should have a more special flavour. So we'll see what Bill comes up with, once the whole process is completed.

royal loam

Our recent and memorable Victorian weekend could not have finished in a better place: Drysdale.

The reason to end up in such a nice and unpredictable location was nothing but LOAM restaurant.

This was our second visit, which absolutely reconfirmed my first impression from last November: after five years visiting the island, this is still my number one place to enjoy amazing food down under.

A combination of their smoky butter with chocolate bread initiated a palpable escalation of digestive excitement. 

Our starters wrongly suggested this was going to be a repetition of our first LOAM meal. They were still delicious, in particular, the salmon jerky with dill.

The first of our eleven courses was served: marron, lychee, turnip, macadamia  and celery. All of it escorted by a glass of 2008 François Chidaine "Les Tuffeaux", Mont Louis Sur Loire.

Oyster, butter, potato and curry were the key ingredients of chapter two, which worked perfectly with an excellent 2010 Bindi "Compostion" Chardonnay from Michael Dhillon's great vineyards in Gisborne.

A perfectly camouflaged egg yolk was hidden under a kind of bucolic and dry bush of cauliflower, asparagus mixed with sherry vinegar and oatmeal. A 2010 Leura Park "Voix de la Terre" Fumé Blanc was the nice matching selection.

Snapper was our fish of the day. An incredibly colourful presentation made it irresistible, even for anyone not big on fish. A dried black Russian tomato, salted lemon and samphire provided the right twist. The liquid context came from an unfiltered 2011 Jauma "Blewitt Springs" Chenin Blanc.

Salted rabbit, green apple, sunrose and quinoa became a fabulous exercise of textural fun, without having to push the limits. A 2011 Petite Manseng "Saludo al Txakolí" from Los Hermanos' Crittenden Estate in Dromana, Mornington Peninsula.

Shiitake mushrooms, cheese rind, onion, cucumber plus tea tree fungus made our sixth dish, which one more time triggered all the senses in a highly elegant  fashion. Luke Lambert's 2010 "Crudo" Shiraz from the Yarra Valley was a handy option for such a woody sensation.

The pork arrived undercover. It was watercress, lettuce hearts, purslane and a portion of pork jowl. The 2008 Müller-Catoir "Gutswein" Qba Trocken arriving to our table was a great support for this piggy moment.

Not only because purple is probably my favourite colour, but also because -aged- duck, beetroot, -purple- carrot and popcorn have such unique components, this plate was a real beauty to stare at, and immediately digest with a real sense of adventure. An outstanding 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Pyrenees, by Mitchell Harris, made it all work like a jumbo jet.

The last leg of this divine afternoon was inaugurated by a pretty plate of Bruny island C2 cheese, apple and rose. 

A glass of 2007 "Wally White" Semillon Viognier by The Islander graciously was part of this ninth nutritious instalment.

Berries, rhubarb, pine yoghurt, wild fennel and milk made a quite refreshing dessert. Perfectly matching a 2010 Michele Chiarlo "Nivole" Moscato D'Asti.

The eleventh course was not only mind blowing, but a perfect conclusion: fig leaf, wild plum, molasses, mint and grass. 

My thirsty throat was pleased to enjoy a glass of NV Domaine Mosse "Moussamoussettes", vin de France. A little bit of sparkling also helped. 

lau's third set

Following our healthy habit of visiting St. Kilda while down in Melb City, we religiously booked a table at Lau's Family Kitchen for 8pm.

A renovated joy invaded our mouths, minds, and stomachs. This third time Cher was joining us, again.

summer of crawford

After the kangaroos came the wine...

And much more than riesling

royal mail

Last Friday the morning started in Melbourne with a photo shoot, which turned out to be more fun than I had anticipated. We were right behind one of those captivating lanes where cool graffiti can be found. This apparently was the "Fast Lane".

After four hours of posing we were about to hit the road driving towards Mt. Sturgeon. We first stopped on Chapel Street to pick up a number one story teller and dear friend Cher. This one is not the famous singer, although she is in fact a famous celebrity of the digital era.

Cher, Lynne and myself weren't perhaps the most adventurous trio on the highway, but we certainly got thirsty. We talked about stopping to have a cup of tea, since it could easily be tea time, but it never happened. That last portion of our route didn't offer too many options, and the available ones didn't look tremendously inviting.

We finally arrived to our destination in the not so crowded town of Dunkeld. We had a couple of hours before dinner, ideal for a walk to the lake. However we felt it was more appropriate to have some bubbles.

A bottle of cava from Sant Sadurní d'Anoia was the chosen refreshment to recover from the long drive. I am not sure Agustí Torelló would be glad to know his cava was served in a Juvé i Camps cooler, but anyway, we were totally fine with it. As soon as the bottle was over we moved inside to the restaurant, one hour earlier than originally scheduled.

The girls were hungry and I was ready to discover the magic of the evening. We seated down by the window, being able to watch the sommelier crossing the road each time he needed a bottle from the controlled temperature room, on the other side of the street.

We were ready to get started, and so we did with a beautiful rice paper topped with finger lime and salmon roe.

A board with chicken crisps and vegetable salt pork mini sandwiches completed this tasteful introduction, which we swallowed with a little help from Ulysse Collin's blanc de blancs champagne.

I continued with tomatoes that came together with basil plus a fine aged muscatel. Pure and simple, once again. 

A glass of 2010 Domaine l'Anglore Rosé from Tavel, in the French region of Vallée du Rhone, was a winner match considering I have never been a huge fan of rosés. It equally worked for the tomato and prawn with cinnamon basil under  daikon ice, part of the omnivore menu, which also landed on our table.

Another side of the garden was served under the appearance of heirloom carrots, garlic, soy cream and sorrel seeds.

The first Victorian wine of the evening was served, all the way from Beechworth: Giaconda's 2008 "Aeolia" roussanne.

A shiny egg yolk with new potatoes, salt cod and fish crackling became our fourth entry. Unfortunately I decided not to turn the flash on, so the entire  colourful display can't be properly appreciated on these photographs. The matching choice for this one was a 2007 Verget "Terroir de Davaye" from St. Véran in Burgundy.

Sea bream (aka "besugo", if around the Spanish Kingdom) with mustard, nori and sugar snap peas came next. A perfect 2011 Crawford River riesling, from Henty, was a lovely way to go.

Perhaps the most experimental moment of this gastro trip was an eel and bone marrow construction, surrounded by eggplant and pickled vegetables. I was counting on being able to use one of those dated and captivating marrow scoops, but the bone never was meant to be part of the dish. A 2007 Dujac Fills & Père Chambolle-Musigny joined this peculiar combination of powerful flavours.

In a more comprehensive approach a delicious piece of duck and cucumber arrived, in addition to calamari cream and some unidentified "coastal plants". The third Australian wine, this time from the Coonawarra, helped digesting this mouth watering bird: 2006 Bellwether cabernet sauvignon.

The sweet chapter of the day begun with what was described as "Fallen Fruit", an amalgamation of apple, almond, caramel and a little glass of chamomile, which worked as an effective palate cleanser.

Part two of this sweetness period brought some berries to the table. A fine and crunchy dose of white chocolate, fig leaf and rose completed this second dessert,  to be enjoyed with a 2010 Marenco "Pineto" Branchetto d'Acqui from Piamonte.

Pistacchio, hazelnut, honeycomb and dark chocolate in various forms marked the conclusion of this stimulating excursion. An Aussie 2003 Port from Bendigo was chosen as our last alcoholic beverage, engineered by Pondalowie Vineyards.

The early morning amplified that sense of magic, by simply staring at the landscape, which I am sure we'll see again in the coming future.

baguetteburgers & seabirds

Nature always seems to somehow fuel the energy of the day. Last weekend, after a peculiar lunch, we went for a swim to our usual rock pool, and we had the opportunity to contemplate an elegant cormorant, which I believe is also known as shag in some corners of the globe.

Trying to come up with new recipes seems to be a hard exercise. And even more when you are not wishing to spend much time cooking. So, we took some sort of shortcut and innocently played with a traditionally Northamerican item, regularly brutalized by a number of disgusting and profitable multinationals: the tragically famous hamburger. In this case I decided to call it the baguetteburger.

An interesting 2010 syrah from the Barossa called Head -like the tennis rackets-  "The Brunette", which became the  second distinctive component of this summer afternoon gastroadventure. Quite good for our baguetteburgers, but I was not completely convinced I'd pick it for other celebrations. The label design was cute, with a reminiscence of neoclassic flavours.

The weather was kind of confusing, so we got to witness a variety of climatological events. Luckily it was good enough to enjoy the warm waters of the Pacific during a beautiful sunset.

summer of lovster

Quite a complete Saturday in Syd City. We had a thunderstorm, a sunny beach afternoon plus a  cool evening. It almost felt like experiencing three different seasons, all of them trying to collide in 24 hours.

In Spanish it's called "langosta", but in English sometimes it is lobster and some others it happens to be crayfish. Anyway, it's always a more than welcome treat.

Following the slogan of a bottle shop we often visit around Five Ways, we had our little "Summer of Riesling". This one was a recent discovery, which I don't see competing with Crawford River, but it still was an enjoyable wild fermented riesling to kick off the evening with some sort of "aperitif".

Instead of the usual and enchanting "salpicón" we went into a straight forward lobster dish.

Green asparagus with baked potatoes became the very simple formula to let the wonders of this cute lobster flow inside our mouths.

A stupendous Pedralonga Albariño, 2007 "Vendetta", was the perfect match for such an inspiring crustacea gathering.

Our meal was cooked and ready to go down our throats. It turned out to be a quite delicious meal, as well as an effortless digestive process; I guess that's the beauty of seafood most of the time.

I thought this could be a good time to have lychees, which proved to provide a sweet and fresh ending.