One fine day

wandering the streets of Fremantle. May it always remain apart, intimate, and alternate. A relaxed cocoon comfortable in its place and story.

Brezza Santa Rosalia Nebbiolo D'Alba 2008

Italy. Nebbiolo. 14%. Vino lok. Approx $A46

Sealed with something modern and clean, I had wanted to like this more. The night before, I had re tried an Australian Nebbiolo. It was pure, pretty and succulent. In contrast, this is earthy and inky. Char, bay leaf and aniseed. Rustic as opposed to something prim and unsoiled. Tight, zippy and savoury, the tannins are grainy and meaty. 87. Now - 2013.

Image: Ratatouille

Frozen wine

I have a tendency to forget about things. . . Which explains why my pantry holds an unopened bag of red lentils first purchased in 2003 and a half used pack of linseed from 1999. . .

This particular wine, the McHenry Hohnen Tiger Country Red was first opened in May 2009. Two years ago. I had a few glasses, shoved the cork back in and froze the rest, thinking that it might be good for cooking or a sauce. I finally retrieved it today and was curious to see what it had become. . . Straight from the freezer, the crusted ice smells of every inhabitant of the space - prawn heads, fish stock, master stock, chicken wing tips. All manner of left over, suspended and waiting for my neo-cortex to recall their existence.

Once warm and free of ice and the cork, which is smelly only on the exposed side, the wine is surprisingly similar to what I had experienced before. It still smells ripe and porty, there is a suggestion of varnish and eucalyptus and perhaps there is a suggestion of something vegetal, but certainly nothing that would make you think this is anything more than a day or two old. The structure is preserved, it's bold and big with inky, meaty tannins. It is of course no better than before, but it is pleasing to see how well it has survived the past two years.

Related.

Harvest

Like parenting, there are multiple opinions on how to harvest and pickle your olives. I prefer to climb a ladder and hand pick. I can't bring myself to shaking the branches of my favourite tree. Far better to get close and feel the warmth of the exposed berries and the brush of pointed leaves on my face. Whether it was more thorough picking, or just a better season, I found I had about twice the amount of fruit as last year.

As a reward, a distinctly non Mediterranean cake - an Indonesian Soda cake.

Ingredients:

• 220g of caster sugar
• 1 cup of water
• 90g of softened unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
• 4 eggs - lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup of condensed milk
• 150g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)

How?
Melt and caramelise the sugar in a pot. Stir and once all the sugar is melted and you are happy with the colour, add the cup of water. The sugar will immediately harden and hiss. Return to the boil and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside and cool. Cream the butter and vanilla essence, then add the beaten eggs, the condensed milk, the flour and bicarb and finally the caramel solution. Fold and mix before tipping into a cake tin (18cm), which has been pre buttered and lined at the base. Cook in a 160-180 degree oven for 40-50 minutes. The centre should be firm.

Collector Reserve Shiraz 2009

Canberra, Australia. Shiraz. 13.5%. Screwcap. Approx $A30 for a half.

Smells and feels like a Shiraz Viognier. Musk, apricots, slippery flesh and something filmy and elusive. Though I can see the appeal and taste the quality, I wanted something more defined and chiseled. Something with more edge and less cream and fewer rose petals. . . The less I drink, the more pernickety my palate becomes. The texture and length improve with time, and as I partake in the penultimate sip, I feel more favourably disposed. 92+. 2013-2020.

Donnhoff Tonschiefer Dry Slate Riesling 2009

Nahe, Germany. Riesling. 12%. Cork. Approx $A45.

Something light to break the drought. . . Floral, or more specifically, acacia and pollen. . . Slate on the nose and in the mouth, it's salty and soy like but also quite soft and fluffy. I thought it a touch short when I first tasted it, but now, some hours later, with the bottle at room temperature, I can appreciate the lingering sensation and texture of tropical fruit. 89. Now - 2014.

Autumn reading

We all see with our own eyes, coloured and tainted by our experience and expectation. Theroux's Singapore is dystopian, repressed and conformist. I'm impatiently planning a return visit. . .

Little tinky-winky Singapore was unrecognizable, the most transformed of any city I had ever known in my life, a place twisted into something entirely new; and the people, too, like hothouse flowers that are forced to grow in artificial light, producing strange blooms and even stranger fruit. But I was disarmed by the feline good looks of Singapore women, soft, pale, kittenish girls with skinny arms and fragile bones; vulpine women, fox-faced and canny, quick-eyed, tense with frustrated intelligence. In great contrast, the toothy men hurried clumsily after them, down futuristic streets, giggling into mobile phones, pigeon-toed in their haste.

Ian Morris's book is broad and ambitious and his thesis, that material factors are more significant than cultural, has clearly upset and offended some who hold a different world view. As a curious reader with no position to defend, I'm impressed by the lightness of his prose and appreciative of his attempts to blend history and science.

The consequences of global warming were mind-boggling. In two or three centuries around 17,000 BCE the sea level rose forty feet as the glaciers that had blanketed Northern America, Europe, and Asia melted. The area between Turkey and Crimea, where the waves of the Black Sea now roll, had been a low-lying basin during the Ice Age, but glacial runoff now turned it into the world's biggest freshwater lake. It was a flood worthy of Noah's ark, with the waters rising six inches per day at some stages. Every time the sun came up, the lakeshore had advanced another mile. Nothing in modern times begins to compare.

Saturday

A crisp clear morning after several days of sustained rain. . . The first signs of the coming winter have been late this year, and the snails, unwilling props for an anosmic wino, are only now emerging and reclaiming their garden.

Test

Two weeks of relative sobriety now extended by what I assume is a mild dose of influenza. I've been playing around with Hipstamatic and hoping my anosmia and myalgia will resolve by the weekend.

Related - 1, 2, 3

d'meure Pinot noir 2008

D'Entrecasteaux Channel, South Eastern Tasmania. Pinot noir. 12.8%. Diam. Approx $A75

In January 1788 the First Fleet chanced upon intrepid French naval explorer la Pérouse at Botany Bay.

From The Fatal Shore - But the next morning they were thunderstruck to see, far out on the cloudy horizon, two large and obviously European ships trying to beat in to shore against a stiff breeze. If coincidence, this was incredible, if not, menacing. Were they Dutch men-o'-war, sent to attack the fleet? In the evening the strange ships vanished in the haze, still tacking impotently against the shore wind. . . The ships were commanded by the French explorer Jean Francois de la Pérouse, two and a half years out of Brest on a voyage of Pacific discovery. . .

La Pérouse subsequently disappeared, but not before presciently giving his charts and journals to the crew of the Sirius for eventual delivery to Europe. In response to his non return, the French sent Bruni d'Entrecasteaux on one of histories most extraordinarily optimistic, though ultimately unsuccessful, search and rescue missions.

Tasting note. A clean and appealing nose to begin - strawberry and raspberry. It seems pure scented and zippy, though later it becomes more earthy and small good scented. Frontal and quite full, certainly it seems bigger than stated. Bold and quite assertive - a raised, slightly stern voice, where I'd hoped for something more refined and delicate. Certainly a little too much for my piece of pan fried ocean trout. The combination imparting the wine with an adhesive, slightly animal accent.

A Sunday duo

An indulgent and excellent lunch at Rockpool Bar and Grill in Perth. For such a large space, it maintains a pleasing sense of intimacy and warmth. The service was noticeably better than the usual casual and informal Perth standard and the food was wonderful. I suspect the goalposts and aspirations are more international than local and for a few hours it is easy to think you might be somewhere else. Of course the odd patron dressed in a faded blue Bonds singlet brings you home. . .

I tried two superb wines from the extensive and reasonably priced list. The 2008 Chateau Moreau Vaillon (1er Cru, Chablis, France, 13%) was pure and coiled. It had intensity, tightness a hint of smoke and an obligatory suggestion of mineral. Beautiful poise and shape. 95.

There's a good selection of smaller (and larger) format bottles, including this 500ml 2006 Roda Reserva (Rioja, Spain, 14%). It was expressive and charming. The nose rose scented and with terrific clarity and grace. Muscular in the mouth while still being pert and sappy. 95.

Unrelated footnote: For the past few days, the most popular wino sapien post by a considerable margin has been my 2009 post about slow cooked eggs.

Related footnote: Rockpool Bar & Grill House rule #2 (as it appears in the cocktail menu) - Don't look fiercely at people, or talk loudly or harshly, but cultivate a smiling countenance and a quiet, but firm tone of speech.

Shobbrook Riesling 2010

Eden Valley, South Australia. Riesling. 12%. Screwcap. Approx $A28.

Wild fermented, unfiltered and unfined, though in the bottle and later the glass, it is clear and limpid. It smells as it should - lime zest, citrus oil, something verdant and sappy. Initially it seems quite light and attenuated, but by mid palate it is apparent that this is quite different in emphasis and texture from its geographic peers. Pith and bitterness, but also a slightly oily, fleshy texture. 88. Now - 2015

Image: The Wino's (of Margaret River) verandah late one Summer afternoon.

Paella with chicken and seafood

I decided to invest in a modest paella pan. At 30cm in diametre it's not much bigger than a conventional fry pan, making it ideal for my kitchen and inexperience. . .

Ingredients:

• 12 mussels
• 1 cup of white wine
• 10 large raw king prawns
• 700g of chicken thighs - skin off and cut into 2-3 inch pieces
• 100g of pork - cut into 1 inch cubes
• 50g end piece of jamon - cut into small cubes
• 200g of squid rings
• 1 small green capsicum or two green paprika - cut into small batons
• 400g of tomatoes - skinned, seeded and diced
• 100g of broad beans - shelled (I used frozen ones)
• 800mls of stock (250mls of mussel and 550mls of prawn stock)
• 350g of Calasparra rice
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• pinch of saffron
• 9 peppercorns - crushed in a mortar and pestle
• 1/2 teaspoon of paprika
• 1 large red capsicum - roasted, peeled, seeded and cut into strips

How?

The key thing is to prepare each ingredient and have it ready in advance. The paella itself takes around 18 minutes to cook, but the prep takes around 60 - 90 minutes.

I started with the seafood, first scrubbing and debearding the mussels. Once done, I set these aside and peeled and deveined the prawns. Reserving the heads and shells to make a stock. For the squid, I used 4 small fresh squid and after removing the fins and skin and entrails, I sliced the body into fine rings.

For the prawn stock, I boiled the shells and heads in 1 cup of chicken stock and 2 of water. After 5-10 minutes, turn the heat off, cool slightly and then strain.

Cook the mussels in 1 cup of dry white wine, I used riesling, to this add half a small onion which has been roughly chopped and if you wish the cores of four tomatoes. Cover and bring to the boil and cook for a further 1-2 minutes. Remove the mussels, and leave the liquid to boil for a few more minutes. Remove the mussels from the shells and set aside. Strain the cooking liquid, and use this later when cooking the paella.

I cooked for four, and so used a 30cm paella pan. To begin, heat the pan and when hot, add a generous amount of olive oil and fry the two cloves of garlic until golden. Remove the garlic and set aside. Now add the chicken, pork and jamon. Let the meat brown and turn occasionally. Now add the diced tomato, green capsicum, squid and broad beans. Stir and after a few minutes, add the two pre-prepared stocks. Bring to the boil and now scatter and stir in the rice. Squash and chop the two, part cooked, cloves of garlic and return these to the pan, along with the bay leaves, saffron and spices. Allow this to cook on quite high heat for about 10 minutes, before turning the heat down. Now add and arrange the raw prawns on the top of the rice, along with the roasted red capsicum slices and the mussels. Cook for another 8-10 minutes, periodically tasting and testing the rice. When almost done, turn the heat off and sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Calasparra rice

Surely the best looking bags of rice you can find. I'm tempted to take mine to bed. . .

Lucien Albrecht Weid Pinot noir 2004

Alsace, France. Pinot noir. 13%. Cork (mostly stained). Approx $A50-70 (lost receipt).

I have been tasting wine, though perhaps with less focus and attention than usual. Presumably this is a comma rather than a full stop. . . In the last 36 hours, three stand out bottles, the 06 Bindi Original - has improved - it is caressing and rich and certainly more adolescent than middle aged. The 02 Grosset Polish Hill is glorious and if possible it seems to have intensified. Finally a Pinot from Alsace, which in far away Perth at least, is still an oddity.

Lovely. A satisfying combination of savouriness and structure. Stalk and stem on the nose, paired with spice and earth, while in the mouth it is sappy, well paced and tight before eventually unfurling. 92. Now - 2014+