A home non-bake full of wine

The other day I was organising my preserved grape juice collection into a container (to minimise humidity and god forbid - laundry damp - out of my precious goodies) and, shock horror, could not fit them all in the 80L heavy duty storage tub!! So to rectify this situation, I've decided to share the love! What is the entry price then? Bring me something that matches wine, of course!

Disclaimer: We are not wine connoisseurs, but simply gluttons who aim to taste and try new flavours where we can!  :p

Starting with a foreign unknown - Pouilly Fume, a bottle I bought from a supermarket in France, a quick google search told me that this was a Loire Valley savignon blanc; it was followed by Hunter Valley Semillon (2013 Margan), then a 2014 rose called "Big Men In Tights" from Bloodwood (Orange NSW).

The Pouilly-Fume was nothing like a sauvignon blanc we've ever had: a gorgeous floral and fruity bouquet with a more earthy full bodied flavour than the usual sav-blanc. I'm planning to get a case of this thing when I can. Margan Semillon: fresh, fruity, sharp, very exciting and easy to drink, probably more suited to a summer afternoon, but then again, good wine is enjoyable regardless of season. "Big men in tights" - funny name, but as a normally big bold malbec now restrained into a rose, Bloodwood had created aa gorgeous concoction with more depth and flavour than a normally fruity, light and flighty rose. This was liquid strawberry and cream - delicious and interesting stuff.

What have we got to fill our stomach and satisfy our taste buds?

Lets start with meats. Lots of cured meats. Lovely truffle salami, wagyu bresaola, jamon serano, and "boring" prosciutto... We giggled at the thought that we now consider prosciutto "boring" ... oh how much the food scene has evolved! And it didn't stop there: Orange and duck liver pate was one of those things we must have on a charcuterie spread such as this.


And then there are the cheeses - "boring" brie, "boring" blue cheese, and now a couple of more interesting ones: raclette (Aussie version), traditionally a melting cheese, and one of my favourites - comte (French) which is a slightly crumbly milder version of a parmasen, full of umami and deliciousness.


One beautiful addition to the cheese - goes especially well on blue cheese - truffle honey drizzled all over a crumbly blue - heavenly.

We also had some hot stuff - Arancini on a bed of coleslaw with mustard dressing to cut through the richness, and some incredible mini tartlets of 12 hrs braised beef cheek, caramelised onions and crumbled up blue cheese. THANK YOU to the first time dessertee Anthony - you are SO invited to our future events! 

Moving on to reds - a 2000 vintage shiraz (Limestone Coast South Australia), Argentinian Malbec (Norton Reserva 2006), and finish with St Hugo cabernet sauvignon (Barossa Valley, South Australia, 2006). 

That Wonambi Limestone Coast Shiraz was a blast! Full on vanilla (we know for sure, because of the vanilla pods in my pantry), smooth and silky. The Argentinian malbec was also a well-received drop, not as silky but it was a lot of fun. The highly anticipated 2004 St Hugo Cab Sav was somewhat disappointing though - it felt flat, none of that cellared smooth sophistication either. Either it wasn't cellared enough, or that it had gone past it's use-by date.

It's not a dessert tour without something sweet: Some vanilla and rum caneles, a souvenir from Bordeaux (the molds, that is) and coffee flavoured vino cotto (Maggie Beer's delicious creation) over ice cream. 

I'm looking forward to when caneles become popular like the macarons - they're not as pretty, and definitely limited in flavours (vanilla, mostly), but the fresh canele with a crispy shell and a somewhat gooey center should absolutely trump a fancy macaron. If only I had a bottle of sticky dessert wine like a sautern.....
 
Vino cotto is a wine vinegar reduction similar to caramelised balsalmic, but on steroids. I didn't think coffee would be a flavour that goes with this, but it added much more depth and body to the otherwise (still delicious) sweet-tang. Drizzled generously on ice cream? Heaven. 

To finish off, a drop of port, a bit of gossip, and so ends a brilliant afternoon with a perfect mix of people .... 

CS

An Orange themed past and present favourites

The month of April saw the DDT CEO and Secretary off to two very different ends of the state - one to Byron Bay on a job, and the other to Orange with friends over the Anzac weekend. I am here then to report back on our Orange expedition where we wined and dined, and wined some more.  So this is a report that will start with our recent trip, and then meander down memory lane, all of which will revolve around Orange ... Just because.

We set off on our jolly trip mid Friday, loving the early mark like giggly school girls on an excursion complete with snacks and music for the road trip. Fully in country mode already, I couldn't help but repeatedly point out how beautiful the autumn colours are - not realising until now how deprived we are in the urban area! The glorious reds and oranges and golden shades of the deciduous leaves looking particularly vibrant in the afternoon sun against the (last of) the blue sky. Simply glorious.

The plan was to first relax and settle in on the Friday night, with a casual but delicious meal at the Union Bank Wine Bar. I kept suggesting this place simply for the triple cooked duck fat potatoes.... how much more convincing does one need!! Luckily we weren't disappointed with the food, nothing fancy, but all well made and delicious. Not going into details of the dinner (though that chicken liver parfait was bang on!) but skipping to dessert in true DDD style - chocolate mousse with dulce de leche topped with freeze dried raspberries. Really hit the spot on this chill crisp autumn night ... except that freeze dried raspberry bits were not right in terms of texture. Everything was soft and silky, then you try to bite onto these firm little pebbles. Get rid of that, sprinkle pink salt flakes on instead then it's a perfect 10.

However on my previous trip to Orange I had a very lovely citrus curd tart with thyme and lime, very refreshing, light crumbly base ... if that was on the menu, I would most certainly have foregone the chocolate mousse!

Photo courtesy of #weheartorange -
our own photos were taken in the dark
and do no justice to this glorious dish

I heart Racine. It was sad to hear they lost their Hat in 2015, but we still absolutely adored their food! Even the skeptics who thought fine dining restaurants will leave us wanting were satisfied (more like, stuffed to the point none of us touched the cheese when we got home). And there was another new favourite - the assiette of apple: spiced apple, sour apple balls, rosemary sorbet, toffee parfait and freeze dried apple slices - yep apple apple apple - it was amazing, very unique flavours and textures all on the one plate. LOVE.

It's a shame they took the peanut butter ice cream dessert off the menu though - it was one of my all time favourite. Served with warm little beignets which I'd almost forgotten about. Maybe we could petition to have it put back on the menu?

Not quite Orange, but nearby - Legall Patisserie was unfortunately nearly closed by the time we reached Bathurst, its shelves cleaned out by eager customers earlier in the day. So all I could do was reminisce the lovely lemon tart (the best in NSW according to our CEO and she is rarely wrong with desserts!) and the coffee profiteroles. Oh and making French toast with their brioche loaf would mean an absolutely decadent home made breakfast!!

Patina Winery and it's beautiful estate. Highly recommend the 2006 cabernet sauvignon

"This 87% alcohol free, resveratrol-
rich low-carb whole bunch-pressed
spicily dry Malbec rose will thrill your
health app with its, like, total absence
of cholesterol and its zero grams trans
fat analysis readings. In combination
with a pleasingly complete absence
of dietary fibre and an estimated
glycemic load of zero (and only 24
Calories per standard drink), its
suggestion of ripe strawberries and
generous cream across the nose
and palate ensures hours of guilty
forbidden pleasure for you and total
confusion for the many reductionists
amongst us. We recommend you should
keep a little handy in case of snakes...
which you should also keep handy"
Caution: May contain traces of nuts.

Our other focus was wine. Being a high altitude and cold climate region, the wines were subtle in comparison to the bold and bitey South Australian red. I once heard a wine snob describe SA reds as "cheap tarts" - colourful and loud and in your face - which is quite unfair but they've got a point. Orange wines are definitely your ladies of the manor in comparison. Just to highlight a winery or three - Moody wine, very reasonable in terms of price, we had the tasting in the owner's living room, along with the heads of a Kudu and Poomba on the wall (from his years in Kenya) and drinking his wine accompanied by his fascinating life story. Patina - gorgeous estate, special wine tasting room where brie and cheddar complimented the tasting of a dozen different wines from sauvignon blanc all the way to a tawny. And Bloodwood - again in someone's living room, hearing about how the couple started with nothing, living in a shed for nearly 10 years before they had a house to live in, and now making fabulous and adventurous wine and with a great sense of humour.

It's a shame Orange wine isn't more popular or well known.... but then again, we all love a hidden gem where only those in the know, knows... you know?

So this was our very Orange-centric favourites. And hopefully it entices you to visit the culinary NSW country side?

CS.