Tannic Teeth

After receiving an email of a former-reader now hungry-reader, desperate to “take her husband to somewhere yummy on the weekend”, I have been piled high with guilt. So I’ve self-lurched back into writing another post, this time perilously close to a wine-review deadline. If I miss the cut-off date, you are to blame. Yes, you know who you are.

I’m a sucker for a good wine list.

It can tell a great deal about the experience and confidence the propriters have, their worldly awareness of all things vinous, and the degree of playfullness their clients have with the dollar bill.

At Lamont’s Cottesloe the carte du vin is as extensive as any cerebral bottle-shop — for it is a restaurant spliced with a fine wine store.

Set in a row of shops on Cottesloe’s Station Street, this Lamont’s is the forth incarnation by owner-chef, Kate Lamont. The vision of an enoteca, of serving wine by the glass, light meals to something substantial with an open option for cafe, came into fruition in 2008. Yes it’s a small bar, yes it’s a restaurant, and yes, it’s a winestore. The place is packed on the later days of the week with most of the movers-and-shakers of Perth.

Diners sit alongside the kitchen which stretches the length of the store — as do the wine racks — giving an involved atmosphere to the food. The dramatic face of the kitchen, with it’s many moods of the night, and gastronomic miracles woven, are for all for the viewing. You can sit behind a wall of Comte Georges de Vogue Chambolle–Musigeny and dream of drinking every bottle. This restaurant marries sense-of-place well.

Rolling with the seasons, the menu follows the cycle of years in thigh-cast ripples. It’s modern Australian in style, with no holding back on calories. Winter had the standout dishes of duck arancini and venison chorizo. Oh, and the memory of the pork rillette — my liver just got hard thinking about it. They’re full-flavoured, provincal-esque, and laconically satisfying.

The dining experience overall — each time I’ve been there — has been great.

It’s what you’d expect from the restaurant in Cottesloe and surrounds. And it’s what you’d expect to pay.

Few songsmiths are able to lurch feelings so freely as Paddy Mann from Grand Salvo. So freely and with such piercing clarity.

His second fifth album, Soil Creatures, is a low-fi amalgam of plucked harp, meandering piano and sweeping acoustic guitar. The lyrics are almost whispered. It’s delicate as a lacy veil yet conjures up emotive power of the “whimsical. wistful and wanting”. Like threads of dreams chased upon awakening.

Operating out of Melbourne, his album contains ten tracks. It’s spartan and pensive. The track list are simple single words. Simplicity doesn’t belie any loss of power.

I first heard ‘Needles’ on Triple J whilst driving home from work. I couldn’t think straight after paying attention to the lyrics. And they’re not convoluted bamboozling lyrics.

They’re simple. Like the thoughts we have yet never think to express. “The curtains behave like the soul of a wave – the texta explodes so deliciously slow” for example. A touch of gold if you ask me – but then again I am a closet hippy.

Stand out tracks: Needles, Father, Brother and Sea

(You can listen to a few tracks by clicking here)

To cut a long story short; Prestigious Champagne House ‘Louis Roederer’ of Reimes eyes off north-east corner of Tasmania as perfect climate/soil for the first Australian Sparkling. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are planted in roughly the same proportions in Champagne, vines reach maturity, sparkling wine is made. And it becomes one of Australia’s finest. The name JANSZ has become synonymous with Tasmanian Sparkling.

With a tongue-in-cheek marketing campaign as Méthode Tasmanoise, JANSZ is one of the few Tasmanian producers specialising only in the bubbly stuff. Vintage Cuvée, Late Disgorged Vintage Cuvée and Non-Vintage Cuvée comprise of mostly Chardonnay dominant strain of sparklings where as the Non-Vintage Rosé and Vintage Rosé are Pinot dominant. Needless to say the technical brilliance of the wines shine forth, I was taken back by the immensity of the structure this wine had to offer; Vintage Cuvée 2002 is outstanding. Poise and finesse are impressive, value for money-wise cannot be beat when comparing to the real French bubbly.

Jansz Vintage Cuvée 2002 [Tasmania] 13%

‘A whole punnet tray of ripe granny smith apples, nice and tart with lip smacking zest. Good wafts of shimmering baked goods glazed in the much sought after honeyed character (not too dissimilar to Baklava). Autyolysis character (akin to agar plate) present in the middle palate, and the fine mousse lifted and finished everything off in balance. Poise that would ruffle a few feathers in the Champagne houses back home; and a certain heaviness experienced with other Australian sparklings was mostly absent. Supple, fresh and lingering.  In a seemless package which will seriously give the French ivory towers’ something to think about over a glass or two.’