Beginning of March saw the Club present our first wine dinner for 2013.

Menu for Henschke dinner
Menu for Henschke dinner

Renowned South Australian winery Henschke was selected and a menu was designed to complement the wines.

Table setting for Henschke dinner
Table setting for Henschke dinner
The VIVA Room set for dinner
The VIVA Room set for dinner

Unlike other wine dinners we have done, this time we kept it to 3 courses and were able to select wines that were a little more mature.

To start a wine I have not seen in retail Henschke Lenswood Blanc de Noirs NV. A selection of five canapes was offered along with the sparkling.  Unfortunately I only got photos of two of the canapes, the crispy bbq pork belly with bbq sauce and sweet potato and brie croquettes with coriander aioli.

Crispy pork belly with BBQ sauce
Crispy pork belly with BBQ sauce
Little sweet potato and brie croquettes with coriander aioli
Little sweet potato and brie croquettes with coriander aioli

First course was a Peking duck roulade, rather than use the traditional pancakes, we used a crepe with finely chopped coriander leaves in the batter which gave a pretty spotted effect. This was served with Henschke Joseph’s Hill Gewurztraminer 2010.

Peking duck in a coriander crepe
Peking duck in a coriander crepe

Our second course was a stuffed lamb loin, on parmesan and rosemary scented pommes anna, green beans wrapped in proscuitto, beetroot glaze and rosemary jus. The lamb loin needed quite a bit of work, firstly to minimise the amount of fat over the flap and then after it was stuffed with spinach, garlic, rosemary and thyme I had to tie them all up( 12 loins in total). Talk about rope cuts!! We served this with Henschke Henry’s Seven 2005.

Stuffed lamb loin, rosemary and parmesan pommes anna, beetroot glaze
Stuffed lamb loin, rosemary and parmesan pommes anna, beetroot glaze

Our mystery wine was a wonderful 20 year old Cyril Henscke Cabernet Sauvignon. This was the oldest wine we have ever been able to offer our diners, and I think they really enjoyed it. I know I did!

For dessert  a honey and vanilla pannacotta, coffee caramel sauce, coffee and almond brittle. so much flavour and a great range of textures. This was served with Henschke Muscat of Tappa Pass 2010. For a dessert wine this was not overly sweet and had a nice balanced acidity to it. Yum!! I also added a few raisins soaked in bourbon and maple syrup to complete the dish.

Honey and vanilla pannacotta, coffee caramel sauce, coffe almond brittle
Honey and vanilla pannacotta, coffee caramel sauce, coffee almond brittle

Over all everyone enjoyed themselves and had a great night. Even in the kitchen we had a smooth service of the food and we are looking forward to our next dinner in May.

Thanks for dropping by!!