Autumn had just started to bite here in Melbourne, and it seemed like the perfect time to settle in and learn a lot more about cider, and eat some delicious food at Libertine in North Melbourne.

Our hosts, Zoe and Nick, packed their restaurant with cider makers, cider lovers and food-folk; offered us 12 ciders over four courses with plenty of cider making and tasting chat.

What’s not to love?

We would be tasting ciders from Henry of Harcourt, Napoleon & Co (Punt Road Wines), and those imported by Gabriel and Valerie from Cerbaco.

We started with a glass of Henry of Harcourt Original Cider – served as an aperitif like a champagne. This is made from Pink lady eating apples, a practice that is quite common in Australia, but very unlikely in France or the UK where cider apples are grown especially for cider and brandy making. I found the Cider to be very dry, short and quite acidic.

Then we settled in for:
Course one

Fromage du Tete, crackling and radish salad

Served with:-

Henry of Harcourt Perry – made from eating pears – tasted thin and very acidic.

Napoleon & Co Pear Cider – Sweet and inoffensive

Le Père Jules Poire Pay D’Auge – Complex, full and aromatic. Also organic.

Course two

Seared trotter (with truffles), gribiche & beans

Served with:-

Henry of Harcourt 2010 Yarlington Mill – this is made from a single variety of cider apple.  I found it terribly dry, tannic, bitter and pretty much undrinkable.

Napoleon & Co Apple Cider – Apple blossom fragrance and pleasant drinking.

Cidre d’Anneville Cidre Traditionnel, Pays de Caux – a typical pasteurised cider – sweet smelling, but a dry finish little bit tannic behind your front teeth…

Course three

Confit pork belly, bourdin noir and Calvados Jus

Served with:-

Henry of Harcourt Duck & Bull draft cider – this had a distinct smell of pineapple lollies and was quite astringent.

Henry of Harcourt Kingston Black ’10 – another single apple cider and again I found it bitter.  The apple variety hails from Sommerset, and it was hoppy and almost “beer-like”.

Cidre de Cornouailles Manoir du Kinkiz, Brittany – AOC cider, slightly sweeter than the previous two, orange in colour and effervescent.  Had aroma notes of .. wait for it … manure, urine and asphalt.

Course four

Cheese

Served with:-

Henry of Harcourt Last Apple 2008 – made from some Pink Lady apples that they forgot to harvest.

Cider Doux Binet Rouge, Pays de Caux – made from a single apple variety – the Binet Rouge.

Overall on the evening the attendees voted Napolean & Co Apple Cider their favourite, followed by a tie for second between Henry of Harcourt Kingston Black and Cider Doux Binet Rouge, with Cidre Cournouailles coming 4th.

I didn’t agree with them :-)  I put all the French ones before the local ones.

I learnt that Cider in Brittany is made with indigenous yeast, can be pasteurised or unpastrieurised, and comes from hundreds of years of tradition, often from small producers who think that no-one else will like their cider as it’s “rustic”.

Our local “artisinal” ciders are made with champagne yeast and most often table apples.  Only very special makers have access to cider apples, Henry of Harcourt being one, and Bress Wine and Cider being the other that I know of.  There may well be more.

Cider apples are juicy, and very tannic and astringent.

Making Perry is a difficult proposition as the natural process produces naturally occurring sorbitol, also used as a sugar substitute.

Industrial ciders are made from apple concentrate and spring water and are nasty!

I also learned that 13 tasting glasses makes you a wee bit squiffy!

The old corner pub looks a bit like a unassuming from the outside, and you wouldn’t be surprised to find a few oldtimers leaning against the front bar, but the side entrance to the restaurant shows a restrained deco/modern style, with dark wood, good linen and heavy cutlery.

We restricted ourselves to mains and dessert, but to give you a feel for the entrees:-
* scallops, bone marrow, goats curd, beetroot and bacon $23
* Venison Bresaola with persimmons, EVO, shallots and blood plums $18

Tasty starters are tempting, alongside terrine, a vegetarian option and a fish dish as well.

Main meals (there’s no mucking around with small plates, bigger plates and share plates here, traditional entrees, mains and desserts thanks!) move from traditional steak of the day, offal, a couple of fish dishes, Otway Pork Belly and seem quite reasonable at $27 to $35.

We ordered the twice cooked Macleay Valley Rabbit served with brussel sprouts, chestnuts and a thyme jus. Delicate rabbit rolled and roasted was moist and juicy and only very lightly ‘gamey”.

…and Duck Breast with pumpkin walnuts and hazelnuts, which was rich and a little bit on the tough side, but served with thoughtful (if not surprising) garnishes.

We had a chat to our waiter and he suggested a bottle of the Sorrenberg 2008 Gamay from Beechworth. This wine edged toward the a lighter style, but was terrifically savoury and with neither too much acid or fruit. It drank very well with both our mains.

I am a sucker for suet puddings, so I couldn’t go past the Steamed Quince and Suet Pudding – custard, brandied prunes and Earl Grey Ice Cream. The pudding was flavourful and had the texture you only get from suet. The quince was delightful and full of vanilla scent, but the Earl grey icecream wasn’t quite right. Not enough Earl Grey, and perhaps Ice cream wasn’t quite right for a winter meal? Clotted cream maybe?

The service did seem to struggle a little bit the night we were there, one waiter was on his first night, and at least one other was covering from their sister establishment, so the service didn’t hum the way it has done in the past. But the bones are still there, it’s a lovely room, a terrifically interesting wine list and decent food. May not be in line for the next chef’s hat, but it’s real and grounded and not too complicated, and sometimes that’s just what I’m in the mood for.

The Court House
86 – 90 Errol Street (cnr Queensberry)
North Melbourne
Ph (03) 9329 5394