And it begins.....

The idea of a wine club was first discussed after about 30 beers, 20 rums and 5 wines your typical drunken promise between mates to grow up, slow down and get serious. However unlike most drunken agreements this one got off the ground. After a few false starts the inaugural wine club dinner took place on Saturday 13th of November 2010.

The venue : Balzac Restaurant, French and English restaurant on 141 Belmore Rd, Randwick, Sydney.
The Wines:
Matthew, Hundred Acre 2006 Kayli Morgan Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
Richie, Moss Wood Margaret River 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon
James, Godolphin Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, Barossa Valley
Peter, D’Arenberg Mcleren Vale 1989 Museum Release Cabernet Sauvignon

The report: Sydney decided to bring out her best weather for the inaugural wine club dinner. So we decided we should have a few ice cold Boags Premium Lagers before we went to dinner. A pleasant easy drinking malty beer was the perfect way to start the night.
With our core temperatures dropped to a comfortable level for the red wines to come we made our way to Balzac.
We were greeted by the very friendly and welcoming staff. We had pre arranged to BYO as they do not usually provide this option on weekends. A maximum of 4 bottles with $20 corkage per bottle was agreed to. The wines were immediately decanted and ready to consume.
Our first drop for the night was The Hundred Acre. To accompany this divine wine we shared the Truffled Pigs Head Carpaccio, Trotter Canapes, Crisp Ears and a dozen Freshly Shucked Oysters with Red Wine and Shallot Vinaigrette and Verjuice Granita. The food was first rate and the wine:

Rich wine with a smooth taste. Not a great deal of length on the palate with minimum tannins and a low alcohol flavour. In the glass we looked into a dense purple colour with not a great deal of viscosity. A great wine for a relaxed environment and an easy meal. Traditional well made very drinkable Aussie wine. The Wine Club was away and we were ready for round two!

We had a little breather between entrée and main. So what better way to take a breather than with a sniff of an aged red? The D’Arenberg Mcleren Vale 1989 Museum Release Cabernet Sauvignon was like a smoky house on fire but then the breeze of fresh fruit hit the nostrils a young sniff for an old wine. The colour is typical of an aged wine a dark rusty brown. The alcohol has been lost in its old age but not forgotten. The palate is up front and lip smakingly good. A wine well balanced up front and to the end.

For the mains two went for Assiette of Lamb with Globe Artichokes and Crushed Garden Peas and two for Braised Brisket of Wagyu Beef with Grilled Asparagus. Wow first rate cooking. Thanks Chef!
The wine to go with our mouth watering meals? Godolphin the wine not the horse stud in the Middle East. Out it comes with a BANG! A robust deep purple almost coca cola look. Matthew says “its like you are looking into the abyss” I am not sure if it the 3rd bottle of red or the romantic lighting but Matthew sticks to his statement. A strong alcohol to intoxicating smack up front (A dead give away with the long legs on the glass). A spectacular wine with an American oak up front taste and a blueberry after taste.

The meal makes us thirsty for more and we order the 4th bottle. A young and vibrate Moss Wood Margaret River 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon is poured from the decanter. I am ready to blow my nasal hairs away but it’s no deal. Sure it’s up front but it’s not knock your socks off. The wine is deep burgundy in colour. This has no massive gum sucking tannins but the alcohol leaves a tingle at the end of the tongue. Stone fruit upfront with a stewed orange taste at the end of the palate. A peppery number made for a real red wine drinker. Would only get better with age but still a top drop now.
We conclude with a cheese platter Quickes - U.K., Iberico – Sp, Coulommiers – Fr, Bleu D'Auvergne – Fr and Petit Prince - Aus accompanied by a 2005 St. Croix-du-Mont, Château La Rame – 375ml – Bordeaux.
A fantastic way to end a great night. Top cheese with plenty of texture and taste. The wine was a perfect match for every cheese.
We are off and running. Tune in for more updates. Some relevant and some way off topic but all worth a look.

The who

Our crew have an interesting past. Three from Sydney and one from the Metroplex in the great Lone Star State. The one common ingredient is we all enjoy a good night out and a lot of fun.
From Secluded bars in down town Buenos Aires to the larger than life Honkey Tonk of Billy Bob’s in Forth Worth. We have partied in every continent on the earth. Well every continent that has a bar. Enjoying Caipiroska’s at moon bar in Bangkok, Pimms by the Thames in London, Bottles of Grey Goose at XS in Las Vegas to Tequila shots at Mama Mia's in San Miguel de Allende. We have experienced plenty of night spots and we have partied hard. Does that make us wine experts? Well we like to think so.
Behind all the showmanship and bravado there are a few well developed palates.

James has a background in insurance. We all know what this means. Long lunches with expensive wines and a love of a good grain feed steak (Medium rare of course) and a big bold McLaren Vale Shiraz. Many a red wine has been consumed at the family table to accompany his mothers famous Sunday Roast. To keep his education James also accompanied a microwave hamburger after a big night out with a good strong red from South Australia.

Matthew is our American import. From the great state of Texas, a state that loves Bud, Coors and a big fat hamburger. It was Matthews’s time at Princeton when he first got his mouth around a nice crisp Napa Chardonnay. Matthew took his study at Princeton very seriously, his study of wine that is. Chilean wines and Argentinean wines went hand in hand with his collection of wines from California but it was his first sip of a Barossa red that sent his taste buds into a spin. After that sip Matthew had a plan. Find and Australian girl, get married move to Australia and drink good wine!

Richie is the dark horse of the four a man who grew up with red wine running through his blood. His Dad is a great lover of a good wine. While most boys learned to count sheep Richie learnt to count corks. A party boy turned good by the good drop. Richie was going down the deep dark path of a Scotch drinker for a while until a trip to South America and “f#@king sensational steak with a f#&king amazing bottle of wine!” changed his dark ways. When pushed on what the wine was Richie responds “Mate I had 4 bottles of the stuff I can’t remember what it was but what I do know is it went down like mother’s milk” Truly his father’s son!

Peter is the youngest member of the quadrant a man who took an interest to wine during a year 12 school excision to Tyrlles Wine in the Hunter Valley. A part time job at McWilliams Wines was followed by three years at Angove’s. Angove’s is one of Australia’s largest wineries based in Renmark South Australia. During this time Peter tasted many a good drop. A love of travel resulted in a resignation letter and an 8 week tour of the globe. Plenty of good wine was consumed and wild nights had until the funds ran low and a return to reality.