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.
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