The Aristologist (2025)

21/07/2025

Duck breast, radish, tamarillo sauce.; Craggy range Te Muna Rd Pinot Noir 2023.
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The dinner was based around the wine - Craggy won the Decanter “best in world” for its Pinot. From .
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Duck breast seasoned and scored - left for a couple of hours. Pan fried - cold pan to start, fat rendered then turned over briefly - into air frier 10 mins at 160C. Rested.
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Radishes simmered in chicken stock with a big gob of .honey and reduced until radishes tender.
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Tamarillo sauce: a caramel made in a saucepan - added the tamarillo innards and a little Armagnac, followed by chicken stock and reduced over 10mins.
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Potato halved, Hasselbacked on the flat surface, parboiled, oiled and into air frier 30min @ 160C.
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Plated - super combination. Opted for radish because I couldn’t find turnip - B thought they were turnips. Roasted or braised radish is delicious! Tamarillo sauce lovely - avoided the yellow outside because of its bitterness, but would be interested to try it next time.
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Craggy Range Te Muna Rd, Martinborough Pinot Noir 2023. Sensationally good. Its only fault was the absence of a fault. To say it tasted like something - fruit, flowers, leather etc would be crass - it was more experiential - elegance, poise, delicious and .. well .. just lovely and a perfect partner to the duck.
Not a bad garage dinner - but can’t wait for natural light to return at dinnertime - image wise that is.

18/07/2025

Italian banquet hosted by the wonderful Richard Klein and Sam the magician .
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Kicked off with a complex Paltrinieri Radice Lambrusco, morganite pink, apples, lightly refreshing and a ton of character. Sourdough and brown butter, with Gnoccho fritto and mortadella to get the stomach in gear.
Then a Schnapper crudo and a sublime finger lime dressing with a gentle Jasci and Marchesani Pecorino (the grape, not cheese) with a little bitter almond finish that paired absolutely perfectly with the fish.
An artichoke risotto, mushrooms and artichoke chips (I thought the stand out dish of the night) coupled itself nicely to the Sangiovese - “Campo Di Mezzo” by Tre Monti.
Venison, shallots and Cavolo Nero found itself happily next to a Cabernet franc - Castelvecchio 2021.
A beautifully fork tender short rib with carrot puree followed, and lived up to its esteemed partner - Barolo by Fenocchio 2020. - lovely gentle tannins in a solid frame of complex fruit.
Finally a dark chocolate torte topped by mandarin curd and tangelo sorbet went up against the stand out wine of the evening - yes even the Barolo - a Maculan “Il Torcolato” 2021 - complex, apricots, hugely refreshing, less sweet than Sauternes and less acidic - just a perfect ending to a gratefully satiated appetite.
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A wonderful evening of gastronomic pleasure, in the best of company - and a birthday to boot. Another good day in New Zealand’s wine and food capital.

15/07/2025

Baked crossword potato with green vegetables.; Elephant Hill 2023 “Sea” Viognier; Pippin guards the new throw toy.
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I’ve been experimenting with hasselback potatoes cut both ways. So here one took centre stage.
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Two spuds hasselbacked vertically in both directions. Into air frier for 15mins at 130C - this opens up the cuts. Dusted with Parmesan powder and slathered in creme fraiche. Into frier at 180 c for about 20mins.
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Sautéed onion and garlic in olive oil. Walked to garden with kids and picked thyme, rosemary, parsley, kale, silver beet, Cavolo Nero, red stemmed dandelion and a calendula flower. All chopped and combined with a splash of Pernod, a glug of Viognier and stock. Simmered 30mins. Adjusted with salt pepper and a little honey.
Plated. Couldn’t go wrong - a lovely vaguely vegetarian dish that satisfied carnivore appetites. Pernod gave it a delicious complexity. Would definitely do again.
🍷(why are there no white wine emojis?) Elephant Hill “Sea” Viognier 2023. Attractively complex, lush and stone-fruity, nice balance. A classy and classically viognieresque medium bodied white - went well with the vegetarian concoction but really could extend its oeuvre far beyond.

14/07/2025

Salmon kedgeree; Koehler Ruprecht 2023 Kabinett Trocken Chardonnay. (Pfalz, Germany); evening dogs at Mangatahi; Recycling vineyard net piping
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Having made a khichri the day before, made a kedgeree yesterday.
Had some hot smoked salmon so removed the skin and tore the flesh apart roughly. 1 cup Rice washed and soaked 40mins. Sauteed a diced onion in butter, added a tbsp of mild curry powder, then the drained rice, the salmon and 1.5 cups of chicken stock - had no fish stock, hence the addition of the fish skin. Brought to boil, lid on, turned down heat, 15mins . Added the salmon, parsley and served with a chutney and lemon. Normally add a poached egg, but not tonight Josephine. Delicious - on par with macaroni cheese or shepherds pie.
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Koehler Ruprecht 2023 Kabinett Trocken Chardonnay from
An odd place for Chardonnay to come from but worth every damn milliliter of it. Minerally, lemon and pear. Lean, clean and dry, but complex and elegant - I thought unoaked but apparently it spends 8 months on lees in very large old oak barrels. Not particularly buttery, but malolactic is a come as you please. Nice fresh acidity and good balance. Pretty well hands off winemaking. A lovely, interesting chardonnay - far removed from rich, hot climate chards. Not cheap ($40s) but worth it.
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Playing ball-fetch with kids at sunset, none of them actually fetch the ball, once I’ve thrown it, they grab it and take it away and I have to fetch it from them before throwing it again. I decided early on that it was healthier for me to play their game rather than they mine. If given free rein they actually develop quite complex rules.
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Kind friends allowed me to pick up some pvc piping to recycle from a Gimblett gravels vineyard - and others from . These will find a use in my own - which I’ll post about at some stage. Originally they were the core around which bird netting was wound.

13/07/2025

Chicken leg stuffed with cumin lamb and prunes; coriander and honey glazed carrots; rice and wheat khichdi.
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Playing with concept of a chimera generated by middle eastern and Indian parentage.
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Lamb mince mixed with cumin, a little curry powder, salt, pepper, tomato paste, prunes and butter-sautéed garlic. Stuffed into the deboned leg of a chicken. Vacuum packed with a glug of Marsala. Sous vide 3hrs .
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Carrots boiled in chicken stock, coriander powder, black garlic honey, s and p, until cooked. The liquid reduced a little until sauce like.
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Chicken legs into air frier for 5-10mins at 180 to colour.
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Khichdi - soaked basmati and ebley wheat 30mins, drained, added to butter sautéed onion, coriander, garlic and ginger - water - brought to boil and then low heat for 17mins. Rested 10mins.
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Juices from chicken added to sauce. Plated. Loved it, the chicken / lamb combination is seamless - taste wise, and the complexity of the flavours and textures gave the chimera a reality of its own, despite disparate parentage.
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Playing with a double hasselback baked potato.

12/07/2025

Goat Ragu, Pappardelle; Frescobaldi Rèmole, Toscana. 2022.
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It was intended for curry, but got displaced because we went out to an Indian restaurant instead. So the goat had a different destiny.
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Pan seared the goat pieces (meat and bones) to brown, set aside. Made a sofritto of onion, garlic, celeriac stalks and carrot in olive oil. Deglazed with red wine, reduce by half, added meat, a can of tomato pulp, a tsp of honey, pepper, salt and covered in chicken stock and a little cream to use up. Simmer 5 hrs. Debone the meat, squished and simmered for another 30mins. Served with pappardelle - and totally gorgeous. B had no idea it was goat, and neither would you, so don’t get aversive.
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Rèmole 2022. Tuscan red, a cheap and cheerful that is both inoffensive and serviceable. Ruby, lean, a trickle of acid and a some drying tannins. If you were to write home about it, it would fall between the weather and how your accountant has shingles. Basically a weeknight red.
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Next door farmer lit a bonfire, that would go before the weather.

10/07/2025

Leftovers: last nights stew, which is similar to osso bucco, usually provides soup for the day following. Having come in from calculating row numbers, spacing, and marking out vine positions in the vineyard plot - which was unexpectedly complicated - I came in when it was half done, and with an armload of kale, Cavolo Nero and silverbeet from the wonderfully bug-free winter garden. Chopped, sautéed in butter and mixed with yesterday’s leftovers. A bit of salt, pepper, chilli and accompanied by toasted brioche and butter. Delicious.

09/07/2025

Shins - stew more than Osso Bucco: Nero Lamoresca Rosso. Sicily. 2021.
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The shins were labelled Osso Bucco, but I ignored that. Both dusted with flour, fried to golden. Set aside. Sautéed chopped onion, garlic and fennel. A bit of tomato paste. Deglaze with a Georgian red wine leftover. Returned the shins with four quartered mushrooms. Covered in chicken stock, half can of chopped tomatoes, chopped carrot, 2tbsp creme fraiche, a little fennel seed, sweet paprika, pepper, salt. Simmer 2.5hrs. Peas at end to avoid a dismal colour palette.
Potatoes roasted in air frier.
Plated - winter evening delicious.
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Nero lamoresca rosso. 2021. Sicilian Nero d’Avola grapes. Given long skin contact to moderate tannins. An unusual Italian red - and potentially divisive - I thought seriously elegant - B thought rough. Liquorice, chocolate, herby with a citrus acidity that carries through the entire sensory sequence - but doesn’t overwhelm. Gentle dusty tannins, a wine for food (as most Italian reds are), and, for me one that I’d like to have again. Not cheap, but worth a go. Lovely with the shins.

07/07/2025

“A cosy neighbourhood wine bar with shared plates” - the theme of our monthly wine and food society dinner, hosted by - Not many wine bars could have come up to the mark however, as we plunged into a gastronomically sybaritic feast of mammoth proportions. Cheeses, sardines and saucisson flown down from , prosciutto and crisps, bang bang cauliflower of insane moreishness, stunningly delicious venison meatballs with aunt’s smokey sauce, roast pork roasted to perfection with a chilli sauce of secret composition, other stuff my slowly glazing eyes forgot, and gingerbread and rum cups to finish.
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Wines too many to list in detail but their images are saved for posterity. The two death-bed standouts were: 2013 old vines Pouilly Fuissé from Domaine Corsin: stunningly rich apricots and butter with a final bit of zing to tell you the beautiful old lady still had immense elegance.
2017 Rare White from Mammoth Wines, Nelson. A Sauvignon Blanc unlike anything you’ve had before - a rich white of such complexity its formation must have been supernatural. Whole bunch extraction and cigar shaped barrels give it magisterial proportions - and yes we’re talking about a “Sav”!

None of the other wines stumbled - a refreshing fizz to begin, then a delicious Radburnd chardonnay, a candy pink Halcyon Days from just up the road, a lovely Italian Arneis from Giacomo Fenoccio, an excellent Grenache from McLaren vale (perfect with the pork), a similarly pork-friendly Hospice de Beaune red and a very complex and rare Georgian, Pheasants tears Shavkapito that was discussed at length. And if that needed anything to finish - an exquisitely fruity Cretan Raki made from the pomace of wine grapes.

Next dinner August 11th

06/07/2025

Pork, prunes, apple and Armagnac with Brussel sprouts and roast potatoes.: Phillipe Brisebarre Vouvray, Loire valley, 2022
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Raining and dreary. Playing fetch with sodden dogs - for sodding hours. Dinner was intended to make up for it. A riff on something I’d seen on last week (the most enjoyable cookery site on IG). His was basically caramelised pork fillet, sauteed onion, sauteed apple, brandy, stock and a little white wine reduced - all ingredients guaranteed to please.
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Pork fillet from trimmed and cut into two, placed in a plastic bag with Armagnac (glug) and halved prunes to marinate 6 hrs.
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Brussel sprouts parboiled ten mins, removed then replaced with sliced potato to parboil until softening. Drain, a little oil and into the air frier until getting close to dinner. Then 180c for 30 mins.
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Pork fillet browned in butter, chopped onion sauteed, added 2 chopped apples, then the prunes, Armagnac marinade, a glug of Vouvray and chicken stock. Returned the pork to the pan and reduced slowly. A big glug of cream then added sprouts with 5 mins to go. Pepper, salt. Plated - looks a bit messy but - as you will know from the ingredients - delicious!
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Phillipe Brisibarre Vouvray 2022. A classic chenin Blanc from the Loire. Apple, lemon and minerals with a hit of acidity to remind you that this stuff is built to last. Good body and length, and totally lacks any semblance of dreariness. Did it go with the pork ? - well it certainly chopped any richness off at the knees. Perhaps a Bordeaux or Bergerac red blend might have been better but honestly I was happy with the vouvray - odd really.

The Aristologist

21/07/2025

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15/07/2025

14/07/2025

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