‘You’ll be wantin’ something for lunch then, Martin?’ she asked, semi rhetorically, in her soft Irish drawl. I had told her I’d had no breakfast and had just hitchhiked from Clonmel.

A short while later she served up a whopping great plate of boiled bacon and cabbage, accompanied by a small mountain of creamy mashed spuds adorned with a generous lump of pale farmhouse butter. On the side were thick slices from a just-baked loaf of wholemeal soda bread. Oh, and a bottle of Guinness.

Every evening my uncle Joe drove me into Kilkenny, where we pub crawled in style, revelling in the music of the ‘ballad’ (folk) singers and fiddlers - and drinking numerous pints of Guinness. Less fun was the twilit drive home in Uncle Joe’s old Morris. I swear you could see the road through the rusting floor and only the Leprechauns knew what his blood alcohol content was.

Here it is: ‘Sherry; Tomato soup; Sole; Roast chicken, Roast potatoes, peas and sprouts; Fruit salad and cream; Wine [unspecified]; Coffee; Cheese and biscuits.’

What would Australians choose as their perfect meal in 2009?
Source: Plenty and Want, by John Burnett, Pelican paperback, England, 1968. See another edition at Google Books.

“Phylloxera at Kangaroo Ground - The Government viticulturist (Mr de Castella) has reported to the Assistant Minister for Agriculture (Sir Pennington) the discovery of phylloxera at Kangaroo Ground. Vines are dying in one orchard. The owner first noticed this about four years ago, and it is thought that the pest must have been introduced about 10 years ago. Though Kangaroo Ground is not an important vine district, this outbreak deserves special notice as it is the first time phylloxera has been found so close to Melbourne. With the exception of the Geelong outbreak phylloxera has not seriously been found south of the Dividing Range. It is officially stated that the metropolitan district cannot now be looked upon as "clean" and even if it is it will not remain so for long.”

Monteiths Doppelbock Winter Ale - $16 plus the six pack of stubbies - ***
Another seasonal brew, this one from New Zealand. The colour is a deep russet. Blended from six different malts, it has a lovely rich malty nose. The mouthfeel is velvety and the flavours reminded me of a chocolate malted spiced with a dash of Kahlua. Delicious.

Yellow Tail Moscato 2008 - around $10 - **
A light (7.5% alcohol) spritzig white. Slightly sweet, with a tropical fruit salad nose which continues on to the palate. Soft fruity finish.

Tulloch Verscato NV - up to $16 - **
Hunter Valley, New South Wales. Verdelho, shiraz blend. Rose petal pink. Light (7.5% alcohol) sparkling style. Fruity nose, refreshing in the mouth. Sweetish at the front of the palate with a little tart apple acidity to balance. An easy drinking lunch accompaniment.

Robert Oatley Chardonnay 2008 – up to $25 - ***
Mudgee, New South Wales. Peachy bouquet along with subdued French oak aromas. The palate shows ripeish stone fruits and fresh lemon crispness – the oak treatment is nicely integrated. Try with pasta entrées.

Domaine Chandon Pinot Noir 2008 – up to $34 - ***
Yarra Valley, Victoria. Dusty, strawberry conserve bouquet. Flavours of cherry liqueur, a hint of white pepper and cedary French oak. Dry in the mouth with medium tannins and youthful, forward acidity – this last will soften off in the short term.

Crittenden Estate Los Hermanos Tempranillo 2008 – up to $30 - ***
Port Phillip, Victoria. Ripened plums, leather and maraschino cherries on the nose. Savoury and secondary wine characters in the mouth along with drying grippy tannins. This is a red that will show up really well when served with well-seasoned main courses.

Moss Wood Ribbon Vale Merlot 2007 – up to $49 - ****
Wilyabrup, Western Australia. Elegant blueberry and blackcurrant nose. Medium bodied, excellent depth of flavour showing firm tannins and ‘fruits of the forest’ berry essence. Cellar to 2114

Wolf Blass Grey Label Shiraz 2007 – up to $41 - ****
McLaren Vale, South Australia. Dense deep crimson. Inky nose of blackberries and sweet American coconut oak. A solid, chewy and warm (15.5% alcohol) red packed with stewed plum and dark berry flavours. The finish is mocha-like, long and moreish. Cellar to 2115.

Rating system
Five stars ***** - outstanding
**** - classy
*** - first-rate
** - good stuff
* - commercial
A $ denotes excellent value for money. Prices in Australian dollars

The Oettinger Pils - at only $30 the slab of 24 - was a great bargain – that’s only $1.25 per stubbie. Brewed under the ancient German purity laws of yore, the beer is hoppily aromatic with stacks of flavour on the palate – a hint of sweet malt and a bitter tang to the finish.

I tasted three two litre casks: the Banrock Station Shiraz Cabernet - $13; the Yalumba Cabernet Sauvignon - $12; and the De Bortoli Premium Merlot - $11. The Banrock Station was easily the most appealing to my palate – a good balance of fruit, dryness and acidity - I looked forward to the next glass. The other two wines each had a certain soft sweetness that did not grab me at all.

Next in the glass was a Berberana Marino El Vino del Mediterráneo at $4.60. A Spanish number that I thought was no better than it ought to be at the price.

A bottle of J.P. Chenet Sauvignon Blanc 2008 at $8 showed as good value. Totally unlike Oz and NZ styles, it has no asparagus grassy notes, but rather secondary wine flavours with a hint of dried pears and almonds.

Numerous visitors enjoyed a feast of wine and food presentations by luminaries from the world of hospitality. Amongst others, sharing their knowledge and wandering through the stalls and chatting to the punters were John Lethlean, Ralph Kyte Powell, Huon Hooke, Peter Forrestal and Matt Preston.

Curiously, Queensland’s healthy wine industry had only microscopic representation. I stopped for a sip and was astonished to see five wine producers cooped up, shoulder to shoulder at one tiny stall.

Imagine if there were a major wine and food festival in, say, Victoria, and only five Victorian winemakers showed up – ‘twould be a state scandal.

One wonders what Queensland’s ‘Ministry of Wine’ does with its budget for wine events and wine tourism...

‘A Victorian's Opinion on Queensland Wines.
The Rev. Dr. Bleasdale has supplied us with the following comments on Mr. Lambert's wines, samples of which were left at our office by that gentleman for the doctor's opinion:- Hermitage and Closter: A delicious sweet wine of beautiful color, with full fruity flavor. It is truly a "ladies' wine" spirituous enough, but not over strong, and likely to improve with age. Solfono: A fine dry wine, with less body than the White Shiraz, and probably will be more valued than it by lovers of light wine. It was slightly sparkling. I noted in it, but in a lesser degree, the pleasant light tonic which I noted in a higher degree in the White Shiraz. White Shiraz: This is a full-bodied, natural wine, in fine condition, apparently between three and four years old, with a pleasant, well pronounced bouquet - a useful wine in the cellar, and one likely to pass readily into consumption, if obtainable in quantity. Muscatel: With one or two exceptions, this is the best of the white wines I have tasted in Queensland. It leaves a slight bitter taste peculiar to the description of grape, the juice of which forms its principal constituent. Both as to smell, color, and the slightly peculiar bitter taste left on the palate, this wine gives me the first indication of the capabilities of the district where the grapes used in it were grown, and Mr. Lambert's careful treatment of it to produce the fine, slightly bitter wine of Spain, called Manzanilla - a word meaning "Camomile."

*George Shelton Lambert bought a little over 17 acres of land at Indooroopilly in 1874 and established a vineyard. Later, in 1881, he bought a 30 acre vineyard at Mount Walker and built a winery there. He died in 1916.

Other sources – excerpts kindly provided by the State Library of Queensland: In the Grip of the Grape, John Moran, Preferential Publications, Brisbane, 1993. Deed of Sale, September 17, 1874. Brisbane Directory, 1878-9. Brisbane Courier, 15 August, 1931.

The kind folk at Granite Belt Wine and Tourism invited us to look around the Granite Belt wine region. ‘Take the scenic route to the Granite Belt,’ they said. We did, it was mid-summer, and on the five-hour drive from Noosa the scenic route was off, it rained all the way. In Stanthorpe, it was about fifteen degrees. Luckily, log fires were commonplace and we were happy to find one in our B&B at Heather’s Cottage.

The coolish weather was due no doubt to the Granite Belt’s elevation, some 1,000 metres above sea level – making it the only Queensland region with four seasons. The altitude has created a grape growing climate similar to that of South Australia’s Clare Valley and has made the area unarguably Queensland’s premium wine region.

We couldn’t visit all of the 60 or so cellar doors but on a madcap two-day trip, we grazed on a fine selection of regional wines and tucker. Here are some of the highlights.

At Summit Estate, Argentinean winemaker Paola Cabezas, poured me a barrel sample of her 2007 petit verdot. An inky dark drop with concentrated fruit and a very firm finish. John Handy, winemaker at Heritage Estate had an impressive 2008 reserve chardonnay: a big, dry, perfumed style showing musk and apricot nectar.

Jim Barnes of Hidden Creek showed me a still very youthful 2005 chardonnay, with a lemon and peachy nose and a hint of toasted oak. At Robert Channon Wines, the standout was a superb 2008 verdelho – with a distinctly limey nose and a palate like a freshly cut dish of lychees and grapefruit.

We then headed off to the Granite Belt’s major olive producer, Mt Stirling Olives, where owner Jim Miller fed us a range of spiced and herbed olives and a slurp or two of his green and grassy extra virgin olive oil.

As we continued our sippin’ and spittin’ tour of Granite Belt wines, the vintage and the apple harvest were in full swing. Backpacking pickers were everywhere and the vines were mostly netted to prevent birds joining the fruit gathering.

As you tour the wineries, you can’t miss seeing Sirromet vineyards all over the place. Sirromet has the largest plantings in the region - but no local outlet. Their current strategy is to feature cellar door and restaurant facilities at Mt Cotton, much nearer to Brisbane and Gold Coast punters. Some locals, we noticed, have a touch of the Hyacinth Bucket - “Boo–Kay!” - about them. They spin up the name Sirromet to Sirromay – as if there’s a French derivation in there somewhere. Hardly likely, it’s simply the owner’s name - T.E. Morris – spelt backwards.

At the Shiraz Restaurant in Ballandean, we sampled local wines by the glass as I tucked into an entrée composed of grilled Turkish bread, extra virgin olive oil, and tangy macadamia dukka. For the main, I enjoyed a creamy dish of ravioli stuffed with mushrooms, pine nuts and fetta.

At the next winery, Tobin Wines, the 2008 Jacob Tempranillo was first class: a sweet tobacco pouch nose leading to a dryish palate of cherries and leather.

Golden Grove Estate has been making wine in the region for decades. Grace Costanzo related that in the early days her family would send bulk wines by rail to Italian canecutters in northern Queensland. I was taken with their 2007 durif, a nearly opaque, gutsy number, full of dark cherry essence and thick, chewy tannins.

Along with its many wineries, Stanthorpe boasts the Queensland College of Wine Tourism. This is a world-class facility where high school, TAFE, and university students study winemaking, tourism and hospitality. They have their own vineyard and a smart 60-seat training bistro, which also serves wines made by the students.

Last call was lunch at the rustic Sutton’s Cidery, where Dave Sutton showed us his lip-smacking dry cider and a superior apple brandy he’d distilled from cider and aged in small oak.

Wine quality and Queensland verdelho
Like most wine drinkers who’ve grown up on wine from the southern states, my experience with Queensland wines has been very limited. The more Queensland wines I taste the more I believe that if there is any variety particularly suited to this and other Queensland regions it is verdelho. I’m happy to report that the general quality of Granite belt wines at most price brackets is comparable with wines from the more familiar regions.

A bunch of New Zealand winemakers were in town recently as part of their Australian roadshow – the occasion was a grand dinner with NZ wines at Berardo’s Restaurant.

I rang the restaurant well in advance to request a no-meat, no-seafood meal. The person who answered asked if I realised that this was a seven course degustation menu with wines carefully matched to courses. I said that I’d be well satisfied with a couple of vego dishes and asked her not to drive the chef mad.

On the night, every guest was presented with a menu describing the wines and food. To my surprise, I was given my own menu, each dish a variation on the seven-course omnivore’s banquet. My meal was cleverly constructed to mirror the main menu and at the same time to harmonise with the wines. This is what I call true professionalism.

The wines were top notch, the list without any undue emphasis on the expected theme of sauvignon blanc. One of the winemakers asked me for my pick of the night and I chose the 2007 Marlborough Staete Landt Chardonnay: elegant and light-bodied, with elements of newly picked nectarine, understated oak and a crisp tangy finish.

We had a few birthdays in the family in March – always a good excuse to open some decent bottles of wine. The chosen whistle-whetter was the value for money Pol Gessner NV. There was a brilliant 2001 Penfolds St Henri. The 1997 Penfolds Bin 707 was good and black curranty but showed, I thought, a smidgin of advanced age - no doubt due to our warmish ambient cellar temperature in Noosa.

Surprisingly classy was the McWilliams 1969 "Sauterne", a blend of Hunter Valley semillon and "white hermitage". It opened a tiny bit tired then improved as it aired, with a fragrance of new apricots, and Seville marmalade. The palate was not too sweet, showing a hint of citrus blossom honey and just enough acid at the finish. Then, just as the wine started to lift, it started to fade - so we finished the bottle hurriedly.

Ardbeg Single Malt Scotch Whisky 10 Years Old – seen for $80 and more - *****
Isle of Islay, Scotland. In his book, Whisky, James Ross relates that as an advertising gimmick in the late 19th century, the Pattison Brothers trained “hundreds of parrots…to cry out ‘Drink Pattison’s whisky.’” Apparently with great success. Jump to the early 21st century, where the blurb on the packaging of the Ardbeg, modestly quotes whisky expert Jim Murray: “Unquestionably the greatest distillery to be found on earth…” With a rave like that, you don’t need parrots.

The whisky is pale in colour, intensely smoky and malty on the nose. The palate hits you (to paraphrase a well-used cliché) like a diamond claymore in a silken scabbard. Flavours are peaty, complex, and full, with seaweed, iodine, a smidgin of sweetness, and smoky, mocha-like edges. Alcoholic warmth (46%) is upfront – a splash of water will soften that a little and also bring out phenolic, estery aromatics.

Malamatina Retsina - non-vintage – I paid $12.99 for a two litre bottle - **$
Thessaloniki, Greece. Retsina has had a bit of bad press over the years in Australia. Admittedly, some of the Oz produced versions smelt a tad of the turps bottle, but times have changed. This one is a delightful dry white, displaying a grapey bouquet with the faintest fragrance of Aleppo pine resin. The palate is light, fresh, and nicely balanced, with medium acidity. Drink well chilled with starters. I decant the two-litre bottle into recycled screwtopped bottles. Top value for money – equal to approximately $4.88 the 750ml bottle.

Hungerford Hill Hunter Valley Semillon 2008 – up to $25 - ***
Fruity nose with hints of lemon. The palate is quite dry, fresh, and tangy, with plenty of mouth-watering, food suiting acidity. Will do well as an aperitif.

Delatite Catherine Gewürztraminer 2008 375ml - up to $22 - ***
Mansfield, Victoria. A late picked sweet white with 95 grams per litre residual sugar. It shows a perfume of rose petals and honey in the bouquet. The palate displays sweet apple and Turkish Delight, finishing with acidity reminiscent of lime marmalade.

Hardys The Gamble Chardonnay/Pinot Gris 2008 - up to $17 - **
South Australia. Dried pears and tropical fruits are evident in the bouquet. The palate is full-bodied, displaying ripe peaches and medium acidity. Serve with entrées.

Gapsted King Valley Ballerina Canopy Durif 2006 – up to $30 - ***
Deep crimson. Heady aromas of blackberry conserve, blood plums and a hint of vanilla. A substantial style, showing medium tannic astringency with stacks of ripe fruit and spicy dark fruitcake flavours.

Fox Creek Vixen Sparkling– up to $22 - ***
A blend of shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. Dark red with a thick purple foam. Fruits of the forest nose shows a touch of oakiness. Delicious ripe berries are supported by a mouthfeel that is rich and creamy, leading to a not quite dry finish.

Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet/Shiraz 2006 - up to $60 - ****
Year in, year out, this wine remains one of my all-time favourite Australian reds – this vintage maintains the quality. Dense to opaque in appearance. The nose is complex, with blueberries, tobacco, cherry liqueur, and leather. The palate is solid, savoury, and chewy, with hints of plums, blackcurrants, liquorice allsorts, and a slight earthiness. Will cellar happily to at least 2020.

Rating system
***** - outstanding
**** - classy
*** - first-rate
** - good stuff
* - commercial
$ - value for money
Prices in Australian dollars

This Saturday, I was lucky to find a table for 4. We headed for the Luberon with our friends Michael and Marie Rose, about 1.5 hours’ drive, to the village of Cucuron, one of the most beautiful in Provence, with its clock tower, its walls and the immense pond on the main square surrounded by old plane trees. La Petite Maison de Cucuron (Place de l'Etang, Cucuron, 04 90 68 21 99) is right next to the pond. It is Saturday noon and Eric is conducting a cooking class on the ground floor, we happen to arrive during the preparation of a soufflé pancake.

The restaurant is small, the kitchen is only 4m2 ... It is well known that to make good wine you need to keep yields low in the vineyard, but in restaurants yields can be very high, this minuscule kitchen is sufficient to treat 40 guests to a cuisine as generous, honest, tasty, creative and cheerful as its author, the dishes are always perfectly cooked and well presented, the service, thanks to Patrick and Camille, is friendly and competent.

Our choice is Clos Syrah Leone 2002 from the Domaine de Peyre Rose of Marlene Soria, one of the top wineries in the South of France (in the same category as Clos des Fées and Grange des Pères). This powerful syrah is superbly balanced, for two hours it evolved continuously from a strong black fruit perfume to an explosion of spices, with a beautiful roundness. At 80 €, this wine is priced in the restaurant barely above a wine merchant’s price, and there is no charge for aging…

The Menu de la Maison at 40 € (salmon tartar, stewed lamb, coconut ravioli) would have been fine; not being a fan of coconut we thought about the Menu de Saison (60 €), but 6 courses seemed too much... No problem, we are told that if we skip the cheese and the monkfish we can have a light version of that menu for 40€. At this price, we are talking about value for money in line with my recent discoveries in Barcelona, and unthinkable for a star restaurant (Eric has just been awarded his first Michelin star).

We begin with early local asparagus and late melanosporum truffle, fried egg and chicken sauce, a successful combination of winter and spring produce mediated and bound together by the egg and the sauce, the grassy asparagus flavor rounded out by the egg and the scent of truffle. The wine is powerfully aromatic and has no compatibility issue with the asparagus, the truffle scent goes well with the subtle earthy flavors of the wine.

We continue with roast pigeon breast, thigh ballottine with foie gras, stewed new turnips with coriander, cabbage stuffed with offal, simply superb. The turnips are remarkable, slowly cooked and reduced to a fraction of their size, shaped and colored like miniature cannelet pastries. The stuffed cabbage is delicate and creates the right texture contrast with the pigeon, very tender yet crispy on the outside. The stuffed thigh is wonderful - just how does one debone an object so tiny, then stuff it with foie gras? Catherine’s favorite dish is pigeon, she confirms that Eric Sapet’s ranks right up there with the one she experienced at Fulvio Pierangelini’s Gambero Rosso.

For dessert, chocolate tart with stewed tangerine, bitter orange sorbet and a tuile with cocoa nibs. The tuile is crunchy, the chocolate creamy; the tangerines seem to be a little too present, but this may be just my personal taste. We match the chocolate to two shared glasses of 2003 LBV Porto by Ramos Pinto and a wine from the Montilla Moriles area, a Pedro Ximénez Viejo Dulce "1927" by Alvear. Two definitely different styles. The Porto seemed to demand a darker chocolate, I think the Andalusian wine went better, with its hints of cocoa and raisins.

To end the meal we get a tangerine mousse and a small cup of caramel panna cotta, a panna cotta the way it should always be made, and not comparable to the gelatinous mass that is served under this name elsewhere.

Eric Sapet is far removed from the “verrines” and mousses that every trendy restaurant is serving now (and yet Eric in a previous life had made us some fabulous verrines). Eric Sapet’s cuisine is all about long cooking times at low temperature, precision and subtle balance in combining ingredients and spices, and the use of top local seasonal produce. When Eric asks you whether you liked your meal, it is not a routine question, he really wants to know what you think. It's very good Eric.

Strengths: welcoming atmosphere, the use of high quality local products, precise cooking, the choice of wines and their prices, the environment.

Weaknesses: the fact that it’s too far from home to eat there every week.

This place grew out of the ideas of Sergi Ferre-Salat, CEO of a local major pharmaceutical company. We can not say that Mon Vínic follows the rules of a normal commercial activity, I think it is rather a case of patronage and passion. This logic extends to the marketing of Mon Vínic: there is none! This explains why, during this week when Barcelona is invaded by 50,000 visitors to the Mobile World Congress, when it is almost impossible to find a table at a restaurant, this place is still serenely quiet, a few regulars are in the wine bar and in the restaurant there are about fifteen guests. At the weekend it remains closed – too bad, I would have taken my wife Catherine to experience it...

By mutual agreement, the evening will be almost entirely in Catalan, a good opportunity for me to practice what I have learned after a few weeks of study...

After visiting the kitchen, we sit at one of the two long tables and we immediately get a little appetizer of chickpeas, thyme and black pudding, accompanied by a glass of Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt, Scharzhofberg, 2006 Riesling, extraordinary Mosel riesling from the legendary Scharzhofberg vine, the one that this winery shares with Egon Müller, and available here by the glass for... 5 €.

The evening menu is displayed on the wall by a projector. We choose to start with Amanida of Carxofa I Pernil ibèric - the famous Joselito iberico ham with artichokes prepared in two ways, boiled and pickled. Riesling gains nothing from the confrontation with artichokes, proving once again one of the few dogmas about wine: it does not like artichokes (but maybe a sherry or a structured rosé from Bandol?). Oh well, I’ll just have to drink the wine with the ham ... I have to say objectively, as an Italian living in France, the best ham of this peninsula has no equivalent in Italy or France ... even the best culatello must bow in front of perfection...

We continue with Pèsols amb tòfona I cansalada - young green peas with truffle and pork bacon, with Zarate, Rias Baixas, Tras da Viña, 2005 Albariño, excellent Galician wine with good balance and a taste of tropical fruits and herbs.

As a main course we take a Peix de llotja amb verdures I bolets - generous portions of market-fresh Saint Pierre with mushrooms and vegetables and a glass of Barbadillo, Manzanilla en Rama, DO Jerez, Saca de Otoño 2007. This wine is extraordinary, it is a Fino sherry from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, therefore entitled to the descriptor “Manzanilla”, in addition, "in Rama" means that it is bottled directly without filtering and without stabilization, thus bringing with it a bit of the magic "flor" lees responsible for creating the very special taste of these wines. This is even more intense than Vin Jaune from the Jura and three times more powerful in the mouth, a real explosion of concentrated aromas of smoky hazelnut and almond that demands to be accompanied by very tasty dishes.

There is no room for dessert, except maybe in liquid form, a chance to make another step in the discovery of this vast world of southern Spanish wines, with a sweet 1979 Toro Albalá, Pedro Ximenez, DO Montilla Moriles, superb expression of this grape with scents of coffee, chocolate and dried raisins. The value for money of sherry wines and its nearby cousins is among the highest of any wine, thanks to the fact that they have managed to remain immune from parker-induced speculation (but for how long?), and helped by the fact that they are indeed an acquired taste, and a very rewarding one.

The total, with tips included, 60 € per person.

Mon Vínic is a place of learning and popularization of the pleasures of wine that has no equivalent in the world. Thank you, Joan, for this beautiful discovery.

Sitting in this beautiful modern room, we start with a series of three tapas to share:
Tàrtar de tonyina amb soja, mostassa Antigua, ous de salmó i fulls verds - a tuna tartare with soy, mustard and salmon caviar, spicy and tasty
Mozzarella i tomàquet sec italià - mozzarella and sundried tomatoes, fairly simple and lightweight
Cecina de Lleó amb formatge Idiazàbal – dried smoked beef from the hind quarters, a delicacy from the province of León, beautiful dark red thin slices served with basque Idiazábal ewe’s cheese, which I find similar to Pecorino di Pienza.

Finally, a plate of Stilton cheese, Manchego and goat.

It is worth noting the attentive and friendly service by Oscar and Eva. Prices remain at a very reasonable level, on average 50 € per person all inclusive.

Rosal34 (encore!)

On Saturday 21 February 2009 I took the occasion of my family joining me in Barcelona to try Rosal34 a second time, for lunch. The service, the menu, the atmosphere make you want to come back here...

The wine list offers a nice selection, we start with two glasses of Ferret JM, Gebre, DO Penedès 2006, a generous and fruity white, accompanying simple Croquetes de Rostit de Pollastre - roast chicken croquettes, as well as the Cecina de León and the excellent Saltejat de bolets variats de temporada - sautéed seasonal mushrooms.

For the main course we have two glasses of Hermanos Lurton, DO Rueda Verdejo 2007, dry with hints of sauvignon. My daughter chose the Jarret de xai (lamb shank), while on my recommendation Catherine took the Saltejat de xipironets de plancha amb bolets de temporada i ou poché, while I opted for Escopinyes al vapor amb fruits de la passió – steamed cockles with passion fruit, a wonderful combination, the intense iodine aroma from the cockles tempered by the fruit juice and further enhanced by the wine.

Finally, my daughter took the Coulant de Xocolata, classic chocolate dessert with the addition of mango, while Catherine tried the Crema Catalana in a version reinvented as a kind of soufflé or mousse, light and creamy. We drank a Molino Real, DO Malaga, Mountain Wine, 2006 Moscatel by Telmo Rodriguez, a young Malaga sweet wine of great freshness.

The bill came to 146 € for three persons, all inclusive. If I must find a flaw here it is a very small one, the fact of having to pay a 1.85€ cover charge per person ; it is not easy to find anything wrong in such a pleasant restaurant combining tradition and creativity, reasonable prices and an excellent wine list.

It is not easy to find a table on Monday evenings in Barcelona, but on Monday 16 February 2009 I found a table at Gresca (c/ Provença 230, Barcelona - Eixample, +34-934516193). The minimalist website does not mention opening days, but it seems that the place closes on Saturday noon and Sunday. The chef Rafael Peña presents a very interesting combination of traditional and contemporary cuisine, focused on the accuracy of the cooking and presentation rather than on molecular techniques ... The beauty of the dishes is impressive, especially entries like "Anec fumaţ amb llagostins ", a lobster wrapped in thin slices of smoked duck in order to imitate the shell of the crustacean, delicious and well presented. Another is the "Carpaccio de Pop amb butifarra negra ", a mosaic of white slices of octopus on a background of black pudding with a frame of herbs. For the photos I "borrowed" some images from the excellent photo-blog Encatadisimo because my Blackberry decided to empty its batteries for the day...

For the main course I enjoyed the “Colomí amb gingebre”, succulent pigeon with ginger served with a reduction of its juices, perfectly cooked. My only comment, it would have liked to see even a symbolic presence of the plant kingdom on the plate.

I ended the meal with a "Coca de Roquefort amb poma i litxi", a thin wafer covered with Roquefort and lychee, with a green apple emulsion.

Prices remain at a level rarely seen in France for such elaborate cuisine, first courses are around 10 €, main dishes € 20 and desserts around 6 €.

Perhaps the most simple and enjoyable food and wine match is that of wine (red especially) and cheese. French winemakers have it right when they say, ‘Sell with cheese, buy with apples.’

Like many wine and cheese lovers, I’d experienced aspects of the winemaking process but I’d never seen cheese production. Until, that is, friend and cheesemaker, Christian Nobel of Fromart Cheese, invited me to his cheese factory. Or, as we would say in Noosa, his fromagerie.

Before entering said fromagerie, I donned a dinky little white hat, a long white apron, and big white gum boots. I’d also had to walk through an antiseptic pool and had scrubbed my hands and arms to near surgical standards – the first of many scrubbings during the day.

Fifteen hundred litres of fresh creamy milk, from Jersey cows fed on lush verdant Mary Valley pastures, gushed into a stainless steel vat as I arrived. [Ed: enough with the pastoral imagery already.]

After the cultures started working, he added a non-animal coagulant that turned the vat of milk into what I can best describe as a 1.5 tonne junket. He then used a giant steel whisk to chop the junket into a texture that I thought resembled pale scrambled eggs. At this stage you could see the liquid whey start to separate from the soft curds.

We then pumped the curds and whey into another tank. As the whey drained off, we scooped measured buckets of curd into cylindrical, perforated, stainless steel moulds. With a cunningly designed hydraulic machine, Christian lowered pistons into the tops of the moulds and pressed the new cheese to the desired degree of firmness.

At this stage, my role as assistant cheesemaker was over and I asked Christian what would happen next.

‘I’m now going to put the new cheese onto untreated pine planks in the maturation room,’ he said. ‘Until it’s sold it will be kept quite cool in an atmosphere of steady humidity. Every day for the next two weeks I’ll turn and smear the fresh cheese with a salty brine solution, until it builds a proper rind. The Tilsit will take about two months before it’s mature enough for consumption.’

He added that from the 1500 litres of milk we’d used he expected to make approximately 150 kilograms of cheese.

I’ve condensed the above procedures timewise but it was actually a day long process. The work was hot and sweaty and I ended up smelling definitely cheesy. I was glad to get home for a shower and a beer. Followed, of course, by a plate of mature tilsit and a bottle of Coonawarra cabernet.

Noosa is one of Australia's premier tourist destinations and most Noosa visitors we know stay at condos in or near the famous Hastings Street strip. They tend to dine at nearby upmarket restaurants but being unfamiliar with the greater Noosa region, will often ask me where they can eat out in surrounding areas.

Here are my Top Ten recommendations – in no particular order of merit.

At Sunshine Beach you’ll enjoy Alegria – their Spanish oriented tapas are excellent and the staffers are friendly. The stylish Wasabi serves modern Japanese and is one of the highest rated restaurants in Queensland – top service and presentation. Don’t miss the Sunshine Beach Surf Living Club – go for a surf then have a decent feed on the club’s balcony overlooking the ocean – you might even see whales. Beer and wine prices are very reasonable.

In Noosaville: Kukai? is a small Japanese restaurant on the river. The chef used to work at the Japanese embassy in Canberra and knows her stuff. First-rate Agedashi. Top value for money (BYO). Nearby is Krung Thep Thai – Thai staff and tasty Thai tucker – try their smoky Pad Thai noodles. It’s always busy and bustling, always full up – so book. Up the road apiece you will find the Noosa Yacht and Rowing Club (visitors welcome) where you can enjoy watching the boatie traffic on the Noosa River over a glass and a plate or two of well-priced tucker.

At Noosa Marina: Amici on the Water – offers outside dining on the jetty – very good wood fire oven pizzas. Beware, if you order a sprinkle of chili flakes you’ll be charged an extra dollar on the bill. I sneak my own in, ‘cause I’m cheap.

In Cooroy – about a 25 minute drive from Noosa – you’ll discover Ploy Thai - a tiny Thai restaurant. (BYO) – where the food is lovingly prepared by chef Prim. Everyone we’ve taken there insists on going back on their next Noosa holiday.

Between Noosa Heads and Noosaville is Humid, an upstairs spacious airy eatery overlooking the Noosa River. Easy to drive past – we did on our first visit. Helpful staff, pepper grinders for each table – how hard is that? Good vegetarian choices. BYO lunchtimes, fully licensed evenings.