iS is fully licensed but allows patrons to bring their own wine ($4 corkage fee per bottle) and we took along a 2003 Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling. Despite its rather warm cellaring in our house it was in excellent condition – sprightly and lemony with just an occasional hint of that aged riesling character that we all know and love yet find hard to describe without annoying winemakers.

From the longish menu we chose Chili mushrooms – in a light sauce/marinade of butter, lemon juice, chili, garlic and finely chopped herebs; Parmesan crumbed artichokes – these were served with the stems (quite edible) attached and looked a little like chicken drumsticks – served with a truffle and lime mayonnaise; Manchego cheese croquettes – crumbed, about the size of pool balls – with a quince paste sauce, and Tempura vegetables on skewers -tiny morsels of crisp veg in the lightest of batter.

The food presentaion was attractive, the waiter was hip and we really enjoyed each dish. The bill for two, including corkage, totalled $42.

Highly recommended.

If ever there was a food and wine magazine with high production values this is it. Even the ad photos look good enough to eat.

Among the classy articles about Spanish food, wine and travel, you will find recipes reflecting Spain as a world leader in avant garde cuisine. I’ve fiddled successfully with recipes in the latest issue: the dessert, ‘Mango, papaya, citrus fruits and orange blossom honey jelly’ was stunning.

Spain Gourmetour is published three times a year. Best of all, it’s free to professionals in the wine and food industry.

To request a subscription, simply email your details and postal address with the subject line ‘Spain Gourmetour’ to the Economic and Commercial Offices of the Spanish Embassy in your country. For email addresses see Spain Gourmetour site.

This is a full-strength – 4.5% alcohol – beer sold in clear glass 355ml stubbies. A very different style from Coopers Sparkling Ale but quite enjoyable for all that. Lightish amber in colour with a pleasing malty nose. Surprisingly full-bodied in the mouth with the malt continuing to a dryish finish.

Reschke Coonawarra Sauvignon Blanc 2009 – $19 – **

Pale, hint of lime green in colour. Aromatic, almost pungent fruitiness on the nose, with the faintest hint of grassiness and toasted oak. A rather full-bodied style of sauvignon blanc on the palate, showing notes of tropical fruit salad that lead to an off-dry finish.

Cape Mentelle Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc / Semillon 2009 – up to $28 – *** ˜˜˜

In appearance, almost water pale. Fresh lifted aromas of cut grass and lime. The lime character continues through on to the palate along with a herbal edge and bottom notes of creamy barrel ferment. The finish is clean and tangy.

Moss Wood Margaret River Chardonnay 2008 – $57 – ****

Light golden colour. Shows a generously perfumed nose of apricots, brioche and beautifully handled oak. There are not many wines that deliver on the palate what is promised on the nose, but this is one of them. All components, including the toasty oak, are beautifully integrated in this classic and delicious example of Australian chardonnay.

Tahbilk Viognier 2009 – up to $21.50 -***˜

Nagambie Lakes, Victoria. Pleasant nose of newly picked white peaches and a touch of lemon zest. The palate displays pleasing stone fruit flavours and finishes with an impressive overall tanginess that is not unlike lemon sherbet.

Hickinbotham Pinot Sauvage 2008 – $32 – *** ˜˜˜

Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. A sparkling pinot noir rosé made using the methode traditionelle, without the usual dosage – hence the sauvage nomenclature. Pale pink rose hues. Nose of strawberry shortcake and honey. Given the sauvage label, tasters might expect enamel-stripping dryness. Against expectations, abundant pinot fruit more than compensates for the absence of dosage, and one is left with moreish flavours of ripe cherries and summer berries.

Annapurna Estate Merlot 2005 – $20 – **

Alpine Valleys, Victoria. Dark cherry red hues. Lifted nose of raspberries and a hint of dark chocolate. Smooth and mellow in the mouth showing soft to medium tannins with notes of sweet berries and a pleasant hint of mocha.

Epsilon Barossa Valley Shiraz 2008 – up to $21 – ***

Deep red, violet edged appearance. Warm spicy nose: blackberry flan with a touch of cloves. Noticeably dry and medium-weighted in the mouth with solid yet unaggressive tannins. Earthy fruitiness leads to a firm and penetrating finish.

d’Arenberg The Wild Pixie Shiraz / Roussanne 2008 – up to $30 – ***

McLaren Vale, South Australia. A blend of 95% shiraz and 5% of the white variety roussanne. A ‘foot-trod, basket-pressed, vegan-friendly’ creation of the ‘Wild Pixie’ himself, Chester Osborn. Dense crimson in colour. Savouriness and berries on the nose with hints of peppermint gum. The palate is led by lip-smacking tannic astringency, followed by notes of juicy, almost smoky, fruits of the forest conserve. Will go well with substantial mains dishes.

Ratings

*****  - outstanding

**** - classy

*** - first-rate

** - good stuff

* - commercial

A $ denotes excellent value for money.

From time to time lovers of fine wines and spirits get to taste those rare or obscure elixirs that comprise the distinctive or even archetypal alcoholic drinks of the world. Most of these, it should go without saying, are either expensive or hard to find, or both.

However, when just a few sips of any of these precious liquors will live in your memory forever, who cares about the cost? If you can’t afford to buy one for yourself, hint that a bottle of this or that might be a fine gift. Failing that, share the cost of a bottle with four or five friends.

Here is my selection of essential nectars of the gods, in no particular order:

Vintage Champagne – The universal aperitif. Let’s say… a Bollinger RD.

Super Tuscan – one of the modern classics of Italian red wine. A shared bottle of Sassicaia should leave a long-lasting impression on anyone’s senses.

Vintage port – of your year of birth preferably. I’m not talking fortified ‘port styles’ here – only Portuguese will do. I once had a bottle of the Kopke 1945 – black, powerful, spirity, one of the best wines I have ever tasted. Search online auction houses and sites like this and you’ll find one.

Burgundy – Try Clos de Vougeot or other Grand Crus. The grape is pinot noir but you’ll never find an Australasian pinot that tastes like this.

Chablis – Grand Cru Chablis – is it the best chardonnay in the world? From north of the Burgundy region. Pale, steely, dry crisp, ageless. Nothing like Australian chardonnay.

Absinthe – makes the dreams last longer. Was banned for years in many countries. Once known as the Green Fairy. Perhaps Green Goblin would have been more to the point as its combination of high alcohol and the wormwood-derived hallucinogen thujone sent certain French artists and poets to the edge of lunacy. Apparently, modern versions are less maddening.

Cognac – Fiery molten gold. Start with a VSOP. As an alternative, a vintage Armagnac will do… or a Calvados.

Penfolds Grange – A wonderful red by any standard and arguably Australia’s greatest wine – certainly its most expensive. The Penfolds RWT Shiraz will do as a substitute.

Black Sherry – from Jerez in Spain. A luscious and sweet, deep dark sherry made from Pedro Ximenez grapes. I like the Valdespino version. The closest you will come to it in an Australian wine may be one of Bill Chambers’ rare muscats.

Sauternes – Chateau d’Yquem, a sumptuous white from nobly rotted semillon and sauvignon grapes. For the sweet of tooth and thick of wallet. Try the De Bortoli Noble One as a less expensive option.

Bordeaux – Any of the first growths: Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Latour, Château Margaux, Château Haut-Brion, Château Mouton Rothschild. A good St Emilion is right up there with the best – say the Château Cheval Blanc, if you can find one.

Single Malt Whisky– Laphroaig or Ardbeg. Smoke gets in your eyes, and either of these could bring a tear to the eye of a first-timer. I get misty whenever I taste one.

10. What else is the winemaker going to do with it?

9. It’s not technically faulty.

8. It’s preferable to alco-pops.

7. It’s better than what you drank when you first Kombi-vanned around Europe.

6. It’s no more ridiculous than $3 bottled water.

5. You can blend it with a $38 wine to make two $20 wines.

4. It’s more economical than pouring expensive corked wine down the sink.

3. Penfolds Grange once cost $2.40.

2.  Your superannuation is partly invested in Woolworths*.

1 It’s $2 a bottle.

*Owners of Dan Murphys who sell the $24 per dozen wine.

You fry them for a few minutes in hot olive oil – until the skin blisters and shows just a few speckles of brown – then serve hot with a sprinkling of sea salt flakes.

They are not at all chili hot but rather, succulent and sweet. I lied. About one in 15 is hot – adds a little spice to a plateful and the palate.

A brilliant starter dish on any table – you won’t be able to stop eating them.

Serve with cold beer or a chilled Fino sherry.

 One Sunday for a treat, I wandered down and had a big plate of Eggs Benedict Florentine: two poached eggs smothered in a creamy Hollandaise sauce, on a bed of just wilted baby spinach leaves, on grilled sourdough. I just had to have crispy hash browns on the side and, to top it all off, a flat white.

 At no extra cost the club threw in a million dollar view of the surging Pacific surf. All for fifteen bucks.

 Out of town, non-members are welcomed.

After some research, the bar is looking well-stocked: a stainless steel cocktail shaker from the local op shop, Angostura Bitters, vermouth, all sorts of spirits and liqueurs. No teensy umbrellas. And in the fridge, the usual tonic water, dry ginger, and soda water. Not to mention various cordials, and limes and lemons and buckets of ice.

Mostly it’s traditional fare, like G&Ts, Margaritas, Dry and Dry, Daiquiris (black banana, mango variations are good), Pina Colada and similar. I should add that vulgarly named cocktails, like the ones seen boosted in upmarket bars, are of little interest. Nor are numbers involving eggs, cream or milk. Nor is the dry martini, which leaves me cold and with a numbed palate.

It’s great fun though, playing the alchymist (alcohol chemist I think that means). Trialling multiple variations on the themes of colour and content. And alcoholic strength: more than one cocktail at a time and I’m on a moving stairway to legless hell.

A footnote to the history of the word cocktail

Most historical references concerning the word cocktail cite European literature from the beginning of the nineteenth century as the first recorded use of the word to describe a (mixed) drink. (As distinct from actually referring to a rooster’s tail, that is.) For example, my edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary places the earliest usage of cocktail in the United States in 1809.

But, using Google Books Search, I found quotes – in French - mentioning cocktail as a drink dating back to 1767.

‘Elle boit un cocktail,’ one reads. That is, ‘She drank a cocktail.’

See it here, in Abbe Dumanet’s Nouvelle histoire de l’Afrique Françoise. I would argue that if the word was known in France at that time, it was certainly in usage, if not commonplace, in England during the same period.

A trivial point to some of course, but no doubt the cocktail pedants amongst us will be stirred, if not shaken, by the discovery.

Update 

We’ve had correspondence from experts in the history of the development of cocktails. They say that they cannot confirm information posted in Google Books about the earliest use of the word ‘cocktail’.

We emailed Google Books with a query to verify and confirm their linked ‘snippet’ but so far have received only a bland non-informative reply. The link remains active – we are no wiser.

Ice to the third power

This research (modest ahem) has a certain gravitas and is probably on a par with the formulations of that speedy, enlightened cocktail master Harry Einstein.

He it was, you will remember, who came up with the memorable formula, E = mc ice-cubed.

(Where E equals a dry martini, m equals gin, and c equals dry vermouth. Ice cubes are ice cubes, any way you look at them.)

100% Chardonnay. Very pale yellow with an edge of green, fine bead. White flower petals, light biscuity yeast and a hint of green apple on the nose. Youthful, dry and elegant in the mouth with delicate Apple Danish flavours against a background of beautifully integrated lime acidity at the finish.

De Bortoli Rococo Yarra Valley Rosé NV – $22 – ***

A sparkling blend of chardonnay, pinot meunier and pinot noir. The colour is a pale, just off-white, candy pink. Lively fragrant nose of rose water and strawberries. Shows a dry, clean palate of new season summer berries with a tang of lemon zest at the finish. Ideal summer luncheon fizz.

Hennessy VS Cognac Collectors’ Edition No. 1 – around $60

Look no further than this for the ideal Christmas present. The stylish bottle is designed by two artists, David Burrows and Kesh, and the decorative facade will save the thrifty giver the expense of gift wrapping. Lovely nose of mature spirit, cashew nuts and oaky vanilla. The palate is velvety smooth, with raisin-fruity top notes, mature oak, and undertones of warm spiciness.

Macadamia Nut Liqueur- 500ml bottle – $46.50

From the Mount Tamborine distillery near Queensland’s Gold Coast comes this nutty liqueur. Light sherry in colour, it offers upfront aromatics of the Queensland nut, AKA the macadamia. The palate is unashamedly sweet and slightly spirity (20% alcohol) and is quintessentially macadamia in flavour. Those who enjoy Frangelico will find this one appealing. I like liqueurs a tad drier and I found that a mix of this with the same amount of dark rum over ice is quite delicious.

Strongbow Clear Slow-Filtered Cider –a six-pack of 355ml bottles up to $15

A full strength (5% alcohol) cider advertised as low carb*. Golden colour. Fresh green apple nose. Refreshing, crisp, dry appley palate. Delicious.

*I’ve yet to meet a serious drinker who worries about this sort of thing.

Aja Blush Moscato Rosé 2009 – $20 – **

Displays bright raspberry hues. Juicy nose reminded me of strawberry conserve. A light (8.5% alcohol) sweet style with a soft and pleasant spritzig mouth-feel. Flavours of summer pudding: strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, are plentiful.

Gallagher Brut Rosé 2008 – $25 – **

Canberra District. Sparkling blend of pinot noir 65% and chardonnay 35%. Pale rose pink. Nose of cherries and fresh baguette. Medium-weighted palate has more of the dark cherry influence, along with notes of juicy Red Delicious apples.

Moss Brothers Margaret River Semillon 2009 – $27ish – ***

Pale straw hues. Generous nose of lemons, grassiness and young pineapple. Fuller bodied style of this varietal with a long palate of lychees and lemons and herbaceousness. Medium citric acidity adds weight to the finish.

Barambah First Grid Unwooded Chardonnay 2009 – $19 – **

South Burnett, Queensland. Shades of light gold. Ripe apricots and a tropical fruits on the nose. Flavoursome style that oozes ripeness on the palate. The warm climate fruit is quite distinct but there is sufficient lemon-like acidity to give a pleasant balance to the sweet juiciness.

Angove McLaren Vale Shiraz 2008 – $18 – ***

Attractive lifted nose shows a tad of black pepper and an acrid yet appealing edge not unlike peppermint eucalyptus. That mintiness follows through on the palate and with the blackcurrant and blackberry fruit creates a degree of pleasing, moreish complexity. Firm, slightly chewy tannins complete the overall package.

Tyrrell’s Old Winery Shiraz 2008 – $14 – ** ˜˜

Heathcote, Victoria, and McLaren Vale, South Australia. A savoury warm nose of dark cherries and toasted wood. Nicely balanced sweet blackberry fruit and medium tannic astringency make this a good all-round dining companion.

Wine Ratings

***** - outstanding

****  - classy

*** – first-rate 

** – good stuff

* – commercial

Senderens, Paris

Alain Senderens recently decided that such prices were way out of line, and that his stratospheric level of cuisine needed to be democratized, made more accessible, cutting prices by over 75% (allowing for inflation) and making it possible to enjoy his full menu for 110€, with a 40€ supplement for wines by the glass to match each course. This is not exactly tailored for the proletariat, but it is within reach of regular blogger folks who occasionally delve into the sublime.

The first impression is a fiery red visual spectacle, as you approach from the cold wind-swept Place de la Madeleine you can see the orange red lighting of the interior of Senderens. The howling wind propels us in through the entrance’s thick curtains and into the warm cozy art-nouveau wood-paneled interior. And you immediately notice the changes, the classic interior is now augmented with the orange hues of the new curved ceilings, which look like the surface of the moon upside down at sunset, and with flowery designs drawn in luminous ink on glass over the mirrors and activated by LED lighting in changing colors. There are no table-cloths; the tables are made of a thick white smooth warm polymer, possibly Corian™, with white backlit flowery motifs.

The full menu-dégustation is tempting, but our choices are driven more by the wine than by the dishes, so we ordered à la carte, where for each dish an optional glass of matching wine is proposed for a reasonable surcharge (11€ on average); a paragraph explains the match for those that might need guidance or miss the sensory experience. The wines proposed are all excellent and varied, of the 18 matching choices, 10 are French, 3 Italian, 2 Portuguese, 1 Spanish, 1 German and 1 Hungarian. Just reading the list makes you confident that you have come to “the right place”, to a place where wine is important and where they truly know about good wine. For example the Sauternes is from Château Nairac, an excellent choice and one of the rare sauternes that never get chaptalized on principle.

Salmon, suckling pig, baby lamb at Senderens

Dos de Saumon mi-fumé à la maison, concombre, pommes vertes et pistou wasabi
Riesling Kabinett, Reichstatt von Kesselstatt 2007, Mosel[-Saar-Ruwer]
Cristallin, épuré à l’extrême, à la fois délicat et charismatique, les Riesling Mosellan sont un symbole de la culture européenne du vin. Les notes fumées, dues au terroir schisteux, prolonge le saumon dans une mélodieuse délicatesse.

During my recent visit at monvínic in Barcelona, I had discovered the superb rieslings of R. von Kesselstatt, straight non-nonsense Rieslings with lots of character. This was the match proposed for the lightly-smoked salmon, superb in texture and taste, accompanied by paper-thin refreshing strips of cucumber and green apple with a light wasabi pesto. A very good match and a difficult one, full of risks: smoked salmon is not normally wine-friendly, and aggressive wasabi even less so, but here the smoking is done in-house and with a light touch, and the pesto manages to extract all the perfume and flavor of the wasabi without any of its sting. The fresh young Riesling’s acidity makes the salmon stand out; the green apple cleans the palate and finds plenty of echoes in the wine. My only nitpicky comment here is that the region name Mosel-Saar-Ruwer has been changed, thankfully, to simply “Mosel” since the 2007 vintage. A wonderful start.

Cochon de lait de Burgos, rougail de poireaux et mangue
Alsace 1er Cru Burg 2004 – J.M. Deiss
La générosité de ce vin tisse une sucrosité raffinée, riche de fruits exotiques, sur la trame d’une chair ferme presque virile, rehaussée de saveurs poivrées

Cathy chose the suckling pig and was rewarded with a superb Alsace wine from Deiss, very rich and mineral with definite botrytis flavors and a surprising aromatic development despite only being 5 years old, with some residual sugar. Nice surprise, a slightly sweet French Riesling right after a bone dry German one (one would expect the opposite) to accompany the light peppery mango flavors of the Spanish pork.

Agneau de lait de Castille rôti, aubergines aux deux façons
Langhe Rosso 2001, D. Roagna, Piémont, Italie
La subtilité aromatique et l’équilibre de ce Nebbiolo de la région d’Alba s’associent au fruité de l’aubergine corsé au massala sans étourdir l’agneau de lait par sa puissance.

The same pan-Europeanism pervades my own choice, baby lamb from Spain (one never forgets how good baby lamb is in Spain) with an Italian wine from Piemonte. A slice of tender shank and a little mound of very slowly cooked meat find a perfect complement in the baby aubergines, cooked in some magic way that makes their interior transform itself into a kind of light sponge, and very subtly flavored with massala. The wine is good but with a hint of reduction that could have benefitted from a long aeration, but it got better in the glass; at the same time, it seemed to be at its peak of development and probably destined to decline in the next years. The Rieslings were more impressive.

Chocolate and quinces at Senderens

Coulant de Samana millésimé 2007, pur cacao de Saint Domingue, noix de pécan caramélisées
Don P.X. 1979, Toro Albalá, Montilla Moril[l]es
Le charisme de ce Pédro Ximenez trouve écho dans la subtile amertume du cacao de Saint Domingue. La réglisse, le café et les noix de pécan sont autant de détonateurs de plaisir.

There is nothing like Pedro Ximenez and chocolate, that was my choice, a large splash of creamy dark vintage chocolate from Santo Domingo with caramelized pecans in a coffee sauce. Another nitpicky comment about the spelling of the wine area, they must have been thinking of morels… that’s ok…

Coing confit au fudge
Tokaji Cuvée Ilona 2003, Királyudvar
Le coing trouve, avec ce tokaji cuvée, un compagnon qui sublime son parfum

Cathy chose this classic quince and botrytis match; the wine is a superb Tokaji from István Szepsy’s joint venture winery, its tastes lingering forever and the perfume amazing, covering all the best features of noble rot, honeyed wax and citrus apple flavors.

Senderens is a great place to eat, feasting your eyes as well as your palate for about 110-140€ per person. Service is friendly and attentive – they simply will not allow you to pour your own water. When a grand master cooks without the stress of having to be 3-star every day, the result is pure laid back heaven, nothing is out of place, and everything is harmonious. Alain is past retirement age, but everything about this place including the dishes comes from him, he simply delegates the cooking now to highly skilled younger chefs. I wonder why it took me so long to try Senderens II, and I sure look forward to coming back.