Weapon Club, hosted by Mark and Steve Bossong. The Qantas Club edition.

Pacific Oysters

Jez - Ruinart Brut Blanc de Blanc NV
Tim Ravet - Ruinart Brut Blanc de Blanc NV

Served blind, slight bottle variation with effervescence. Toast, limey acidity, brought out the sweetness in the oysters. Balanced and elegant.

Salmon with fennel salad

Cameron - Piero Pan "La Roca" 2012 oak, lemon hint of kero. Could of been a Chablis or Riesling if not for the oak.

Steve Hendry - Domaine Ballard Chapuis "Le Chatillet" Sancerre 2012. Honey, Apricot on the nose. that frenchy funk - a combination of tropical fruit and slightly sweet Gewurtz flavours that is hard to put a finger on.

Broome Bugs

Ben - Moss Wood Chardonnay 2011. A little heavy on the oak, restrained fruit, almost Pierro esk. Needs time and built to age.

Ricky - Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay 07 x 2. Unmistakable Margaret River Tropical fruit richness. Fruit / oak balance. Iconic.

Foie Gras with Brioche and Jam

Tim L - Chateau Pierre Bise Coteaux du Layon 2010 x 2. Darker in colour to the Juracon. Tropical, fresh, grass, honey generous but ultimately a well balanced straight forward wine.

Jan - Domaine Cauhape Symophnie de Novembre Jurancon 2004. Complex and elusive. Diesel, phenolics, high notes, lingering intensity with acidity. Flor characteristics.

Sous Vide Lamb with chevre and sides. 36hrs at 52 deg.

Steve Bossong - Vertical of Cape Mentelle Zinfandel. 94,96,97,98,99 decanted at 7am.
Cabernet mint, warming alcohol. My picks were 94 & 98 for their aged characteristics.

Rare roast beef with red wine jus and sweet potato

Dave Hendry - Penfolds RWT 03. Blackcurrent, black fruits, pepper, tannis settling out, older brick red edge. Popular this time given previous poor showings of the RWT. Ultimately a solid and technically correct but boring.

Jez - Spinifex "La Maline" Shiraz Viognier 08. Strong raspberry, wild strawberry (Fragaria Virginiana), 5% Viognier, purple edge. Every now and then a wine leaves a lasting impression of a particular characteristic. I recall a Chatauneuf du Pape that S Bossong showed a few years ago that highlighted the smell of cigar box. The line up of a Shiraz Viognier against the iconic RWT reinforces the impact of incorporating Viognier in a Shiraz. Very memorable.

Lemon tart with Ice Cream

Cameron - Peacetree Estate "Pineau des Charentes" 2010. Coffee, rasin, slightly bitter dry finish. Id drink this again.
Bicky - Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos. Sweetness, thought it was an Aussie Botrytis
Jan - Marc Bredif Vouvray Brut. Apple and yeast


Thanks to Mark and Steve for the food. It was a showcase of what can be done in a Sous Vide machine. The elemental and singular expression of the dishes, particularly the bugs, lamb and beef provided an excellent platform to explore the wine.

Weapon club Chinese

Why weapon club Chinese? was a question I was frequently asked on the day, the answer is:

• Partly to show case heritage dishes, e.g. ham choy tong
• Partly to challenge wine with spicy dishes (Chilli hot dishes)
• Partly to push new boundaries.

This review is not a review of wines tasted on the day, but a recap of key points, perhaps with a food focus, as I was cook on the day.

Chilled abalone salad: left me wanting more dressing. The smell of abalone genuinely evokes erotic heady aromas for me, I think this is partly why the Chinese value it so much. At S$39 per can this left me wanting more. The salad format whilst refreshing it did not do the aroma and texture of abalone justice.

Wines:
- Mosswood 2011 semillon
- Sancerre, Roger Naudet & fils

Harm Choy Tong with dumpings: note to self, do not wrap filling with the night before with wonton skins. This dish was more like pork broth with mince pork and dumpling wrappers. Still reminded me of my childhood though. Slightly herbal with the salted mustard and pork bones.

Wine:
- Lupiac 2010
- Chablis 1st Cru Cote de Lechert 2010

Prawns, shelled on then coated in a prawn chilli garlic ginger sweetish sauce. I enjoyed seeing the reaction from members here. It is a pain in the ass peeling prawns but it is finger lickin good, the punits seem to favour burning fingers peeling prawns over waiting for it to cool down (including myself). Almost claimed as a croching tiger hidden burn't fingers moment.

Wines served after:
- E Guigal Condrieu 2010
- Henriques & Henriques 15 yo Maidera.

Mapo Tofu, some essence of the previous prawn dish. ok this dish was hot, but the heat was short lived. I snacked on some peanut and ikan bilis chilli after, and found it much hotter.

This dish was critical in todays experiment. Overwhelming, dispite sweet or acidic wines choosen, they still couldn't deal with the heat. There were calls for a beer course.

Wines:
- Gruner Veltler 2011 Weingut Berhart OTT
- Fusta nova, moscatel

Steamed patagonian fish with ginger and spring onion. The sauce of light soy, Shao Xing wine, salt and sugar was so simple but blended well with the fatty juice that came out of the fish. I struggled a little in deciding to purchase this fish from a sustainability perspective and tried to balance it with a non-imported sparking water.

Wines:
- Marchant & Burch 2010 Chardonnay
- Chablis 1st Cru Cote De Lechart 09

Red braised pork, with steamed bread. Big heavy sauce, that left most wanting more with their steamed bread. I have traditionally struggled with steam bread, thinking how do people eat this steamed flour/water nothingness, but with the right sauce its ok. I must admit, normally I cut the skin out of pork belly, but with 3hrs + braising time, everyone including msyelf ate the skin!.

Wines:
- Wendouree Shiraz Mataro 02
- Ashton Hills Pinot 2010

Dessert - Red beans and coconut cream. Severely challenged most to the core, this is not a tradittional western dessert!

Wines:
- PX Cordenal Cisneros
- Pizzini Brachetto 09

Outcomes from Weapon club Chinese:
- No conculsive wine styles found for dealing with Chilli heat - beer seems the better option.
- The finer points of wine are lost in the heat.
- I am left satisfied that members were left feeling perhaps a little challenged in some areas, interestingly there was no talk of the caveat of not shopping at big box wine retailers. Most members looked to their cellars or boutique bottle shops to source their wine. The 2nd caveat of not bringing a wine previously brought to weapon club may of played a bigger part here. Much respect.
- Experimental food found some new dishes that were favoured - fish with ginger and spring onion & pork with steamed bread. This was perhaps most satisfying for me. sure the dessert was crap but had we not of pushed food boundaries these dishes might not of been tasted. You don't get this without taking risks.

Highlights for me were:
- people enjoying the rustic "eat oustide" prawn course wanting steamed bread for the sauce! All the dishes did not have specific sauces attached to them in the french sense, but the sauces were just part of the seasoning of the dish.
- Henriques Madiera was in the spirit of pushing boundries and needs to be commended.
- Marchant and Burch Chardonnay mostly due to familiarity. But why is it we value familiarity? is it because the new world is genuiely better? Would like to see a new world / old word event to address this question.;
- Most including myself were left wanting red wine!

Back to School

A back to school styled event with food from the school canteen, hosted by Cameron.

Le Snack

Dom Perignon 2002 Champagne - Tight, restrained, elegant, scent of Chardonnay grapes on the nose despite the 50/50 blend with pinot. Fermented pear notes, Toasty oak as it warmed up. A distinguished effort for a first up wine from invited guest - Josh Dunjey

Cream of Mushroom soup

Domaine Francois Raveneau a Chablis 2010 - A most curious Chablis enough sweetness, honey and floral notes on the nose to suggest a Gewurtz, followed by mildy sweet finish but not enough sweetness to be a German sweet riesling. Not a hint of mineraility.

Pewsey Vale, Contours Riesling 05 Museum release - a techincally correct and traditional australian riesling with kero notes. While this wine was a true representation of the style it lacked the odd bit of fruit zing or acid to make it original. Ultimately I found this wine uninspiring because it was too true to the style.

Hot Fowl roll and hot dog

Pierro 2010 Chardonnay - France, NZ were a couple of origins suggest for this wine. Sure it was restrained on the nose but it had power, poise, fresh fruit of melon and white peach with firm vanillin oak in the background.

Fonty's Pool 08 Chardonnay - Piss yellow colour showing age and perhaps too much time in oak. A buttery, flabby style, toasted oak rather than vanillin oak. Better luck next time stevo.

Jaffa Toasties

Felton Rd,  Calverts Pinot Noir 08 - Magnificent dusty, black berry, tobacco nose (reminiscent of a Chateaunuf du pape). A Cherry pinot with big tannins.

Felton Rd, Block 3 Pinot Noir 2011 - light nose, red berrys, ribena, warm drying dried herb tannis that I associate with central otago. Hint of green pea.

An entertaining show of 2 very differnet pinot styles from the same house.

Surprise wine

Babera D Alba, Granera Alta, Casina Chicco 2010 -  Black fruits, soft acidity, firm tannis. Hint of candied fruit. Impressed the membership, style worthy of further investigation.

Sausage rolls

Cullen Diana Madeline 04 - complete, young and fresh despite being older than the competition. Bright but very dark fruits.

Chateau Teyssier 06 - Pong, challenging but interesting nose. Well developed aged characteristics, dried herbs and very drying tannis. Smokiness of the speck in the sausage roll went well with this.  

Party pies

Peter Lehman Stonewell Shiraz 03 - big, briary tobacco, drying tannis, classic barrosan. Something I've often seen and wanted to try. Falls 5% short of the Elderton Command.

Faber Vineyards Reserve Shiraz 09 - This was a real odd ball next to 2 classic barossa shirazes. I felt it was a well made wine with a neat vanillin oak treatment but ultimately the fruit was lacking, stewed perhaps by the 40 degree summer days in the Swan Valley.  

Elderton Command Shiraz 05 - pepper, softer ripe fruit, cedary oak, beautiful.

Cheese

07 Chateau Rieussec Barsac
07 Chateau Fayleau Cadillac

too much wine for me by this point, I kept thinking of the car every time the region Cadillac was mentioned.

Thank you to Cameron for hosting.
 

Weapon Inspired Event

Slow cooked beef fillet

 

The good oil - 1982 PX

 Chocolate fondant - My dish of the day

 

09 Cloudy Bay Te Koko Sauvignon Blanc – Apricot + oak on the nose, a hint of butter, lovely mouthfeel, long finish and a good whack of acid... almost zesty. This fooled everybody and all bases were covered with Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay all named as potential varieties. A good opening wine – some calling it their wine of the day.

Blue Cheese Soufflé

 
Mader 08 Gewürztraminer Alsace – Sweet, lychee, floral rose petals a lovely wine and better matched with the Souffle but unfairly overpowered by the 79 Barsac it was up against.

Chateau Coutet 79 Barsac – Phenolic, improving to burnt honey, syrupy and nectar like, faded fruit but I must point out this wine was older than me!

Fungi Bruschetta

Casal Di Serra – Vecchie Vigne 09 – 100% Verdicchio I am always hoping to find the next big thing and wanted something similar but not Vouvray or Soave... Anne Marie for La Vigna recommended this one. Grass and a hint of smoke, long acid profile with good mouthfeel, melon fruit, dry complex tight finish. Got a bit lost following on from 2 sweet wines and tannis were needed to go with the mushroom.

Maison Dieu 2010 Bourgogne  - strawberry, light ribena fruits, soft delicate texture. This style of wine is growing on me.

Duck Breast with Ginger

La Belle Voisine 07 Nuits St Georges – Funk, barnyard, dirty, interesting, slightly stemmy red fruits.

La Belle Voisine 08 Gevrey Chambertin – Restrained cabernet like nose, purple colours, the bigger wine with more tannin and a dry finish that reminds me of  NZ pinots.

 Premier cru wines secured at bargain basement prices.
 

Slow cooked beef 4 hrs at low temperatures – looked raw but was cooked.

Elderton Command Shiraz 2000 – Ripe integrated fruits, that cedary sexy oak that I love, tobacco. I do not get bored of this style of wine... fill the cellar up with it, my wine of the day.

Chateau Batailley 09 Pauilliac – Cru snobs this is Grand. Dark fruit, pronounced fruit, dusty dry and quite tannic. Good to Great but maybe in 10 years or so.

 

Chocolate fondant – a winner

1982 Bodegas Toro Albala Don PX Grand Reserva – Refer picture, dark raisin and prunes thicker than crude oil, intense long and big enough to go with the fondant and vanilla ice cream.

Poltsamma Tommu 03 – an Estonian blackcurrant wine! Burnt fig, cough mix, grippy finish with bright acid.

Gaff of the day goes to Jeremy – some things just can’t be written in the minutes but I reckon it could of been an interesting car ride home.

Thanks to Jan and Tim for organising an enjoyable afternoon.

Over the top day.

Beef Carpacio

 

 

05 Absis left, 05 Capraia Chanti right

 

 

 Truffle Course no 1:

- White Truffle on brie back

- Manjimup Truffle on roasted field mushroom and quail egg

- Black Truffle on brie bottom right.

 

Palate Clenser - Sorbet of Voyager grape juice



 

 

Sticky Date with Butterscotch sauce

 

 

 

 1990 Vintage Port Cape Clairault, a wet cork if i've ever seen one, but still drinking wonderfully

 

 

 



Over the top day : Hosted by Mark B

 

Forget the food and wine matching thing, just bring your biggest wine was the theme for the day.

 

Starting Wine: Pierro 2010 Chardonnay

Restrained fruit, firm but not over oaked, long finish, well balanced "a little frenchy" fruit of the pear apple variety "crunchier" not of the sweet stone fruit variety. Nice. Perhaps a shift in style for Australian Chardonnay and this label.

 

Duck and Goose Foie Gras

 

Carmes De Rieussec Sauternes 07

Medium bodied, long finish, well balanced between acidity and sweetness honey picked as being 10 years old - will outshine noble one at its price point.

 

Chateau Climens Barsac 97

Sweet to very sweet with much sought after toasted marmalade aged flavours. Highly favoured by the club.

 

Chateau Doisy Daene 07 Barsac

Well made and balanced, slightly acetate nose that did not carry through to the palate. Broadly favoured over the Carmes De Rieussec 07.  

 

Veal Carpaccio

 

Absis 05 - From Spain
61% Temparillo. Hint of aged diesel, dusty Cabernet like aromas. Younger than it smells. Dark black fruits. A big wine that has some years to go fully develop. Not bad for a gift. Organic since 04.

 

Capraia Chianti Classico Reserva 05

Stawberries, light red fruits, light tannins. Apparently good for a Chianti, but expensive - better valued elsewhere.

 

Intermezzo - Muga Rioja 08

Serious funk and barn yard floor. "Who forgot to wash their under pants" "Like a good XXXXX, can smell bit funky but tastes like strawberries" erotic and interesting.

 

Truffle Course No. 2

 

Howard Park 02 Cabernet Sauvignon

Bright red fruits, black pepper, dirty ribena. Edgy, a little dirty with tannis falling out but exciting.

 

Viette - Nebbiolo 08

Softer red fruits, cleaner, well balanced but lacking excitement compared to Howard Park. I called this as a pinot for lack of tannis but was severely embarrassed. Massive furry tannis does not = Soft pinot tannins.

 

Fillet Steak with 20 hr sauace

 

Penfolds St Henri 01

Quintessential Barrosa Shiraz. Some folk a little disappointed upon unmasking but still an impressive wine in my view. Not over oaked considering the label.

 

Dessert - Butterscotch with sticky date pudding (my dish of the day)

 

Cheese - Selection of English "Olympic" cheeses from Smelly Cheese Club

(Noted this did spend a considerable amount of time in front of Cam on the pass around)

 

1990 Vintage Port Cape Clairault

Considered a great port from the many Jan has brought.

Thanks to Mark for hosting this event and for bringing foods from his travels for us to taste. It has certainly been a while between meetings.  

 



Weapon Club Japan

Weapon Club Japan, hosted by Tim L. The theme behind this event was to share a few Japanese dishes that I encountered whilst travelling in Japan last year.

Appetiser of citrus and umeboshi plum marinated fish with apple and wakame.

Tim: Rihaku Tokubetsu Junmai Shu (Sake). A smooth sake with a hint of pear, long lingering sake taste. Probably better than the sakes i had in Japan.

1^st Course: Sliced Duck breast with whole grain mustard

Cam: Kyeema Vineyard 2008 Merlot Reserve. Dusty, dark fruit, drying tannins, nice mouthfeel. Cam reckons Merlot is a forgotten variety at Weapon clubs, I agree this was a nice representation of the style.

Cam: Great Western 2010 Young Vine Pinot Meunier.  Red berry, Strawberrys,  soft cool climate medium weight wine. Well integrated, light tannins, good acid balance. My stand out wine for the night.

Jan: Bourgogre Mousseux Rouge. Jan’s educational piece. Rose petals, sweet glace cherrys, deep  ruby colour. A burgundy wine made into a sparkling wine using the traditional method.

2^nd Course: Grilled chicken skewers over coals, a mix of yakitori and salt seasoned skewers.

Mark: Houghtons  Jack Mann 2000. Dark fruits, oak, well balanced with enough acid to live a few more years.

Mark: Cullen Diana Madeline 2001. Black cabernet fruits, harmonised oak. Cullen wines remind me of French reds, i don’t know if it is the Bordeaux blend or the bio dynamic practices but it just seems to taste foreign.... particularly after its been unmasked.

3^rd Course: Saikyo Yaki – Miso Marinated fish. Dish of the day, the miso and ginger flavours penetrated the baldchin grouper. The slightly charred skin added complexity to the fish.  

Dave: Grosset 2000 Polish Hill. Old Riesling, I enjoyed this wine.  The acid had softened and the wine fully integrated. Went well with the fish

Jan: Cremant de Bourgogne Loise Bouillot Rose. Rich, Moussey, off dry finish, very impressive. At $25 it is a steal, the perfect Wedding bubbly.  

4^th Course: Sukiyaki  - Beef, mushrooms, tofu, chinese cabbage braised in a broth of dashi, soy & mirin. (needs proper fatty Japanese beef)

Tim L: Mosswood 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon. Hints of diesel , nicely textured, tannins still evident. Good expression of Cab Sav but I missed the freshness of it had it been drunk 2-3 years ago.  Did not match well with the food, but a better wine.

Paul: Glorioso 2007 Rioja Crianza Soft, generous, a better weighted wine for the food. I found myself searching for Rioja’s to go with pizza last night.

Dessert: Strawberry meringue with homemade tiramisu ice cream. (Thanks Mark)

Paul: Nobel one 2008 750ml bottle. I swear this was a sauternes. Intense honey, pear and citrus.

Membership matters: Members have decided that committed weapon club members are required for the club. Sadly Alex D will have his membership downgraded from fully paid member to special guest to make way for new blood.

Other discussions during Weapon Club Japan. It was discussed that the character of Weapon Club is partly made by the changing focus brought by each hosting member. In recent times, more emphasis has been placed on matching food and wine. Ideas were discussed:

Cam who is hosting the next event introduced the idea of a “scientific experiment” for the next club meeting.

Boozy flagged a return to the traditional Weapon Club of old where the focus is on the wine.

It was agreed that the beauty of Weapon Club is its focus can and does change over time and I am looking forward to a new direction.  

Vintage 64 - Manning

2 Iconic Red Wines were tasted on the night

1997 Hill of Grace - Juicy red fruit & ribena nose. Medium weight red wine, soft tannins, hint of pepper and spice. Fruit driven and fresh.

1997 Mosswood Cab Sav - Aged dust, red dirt and wood. Strong mouth drying tannins, dark fruits with in your face french vanillin oak. Very different to the 98.