WISS final Salami competition

Wow. Some great sausage happening here. Very, very good entries. A touch of gut throb and a little instantaneous gout, but a complex bracket to judge. We went through the lot in two brackets with the following results:

Class comments -

Again a very great level of respect for the traditional nature of smallgoods making. Few imposed their ego on the making process - many have made salami to match their wine. The caveat is These Smallgoods Scream Out For Wine. Fermenting smallgoods is a dark art that involves billions of microbes to creare rhe lactic ferment required to reduce the ph to make stable products. many entries didn't have their head around this entirely, the results, had we swallowed them could have killed us. However, the top smallgoods showed true artisan craftsmanship. RC

Overall a very good class though some skanky units that needed cleaning up. Again I think some stuff needed more hangtime and curing, but ones came to the top were complex and balanced with intensity of flavour and aroma, as you would expect from a good wine. DB

This class is my smallgoods sweet spot; some really lovely pig sweet, complex, deliciously long and rounded salami styles. I reiterate comments on hangtime, a couple of them would be more interesting in a month or two but not right now. As far as a sausage fest goes, that was a good one. NR

Firstly, pay heed - a meat spit bucket is fuckin' wrong. Luckily the stuff on the plates was so right. An amazing array of very finely made meat goods; incredible range of spice driven, pig driven, oinking good times. I appreciated the more intense styles of sausage; some extremists have left a heady imprint on some of their wares. Across the board great quality and an excitement in interpreting various 'terroirs'. MB

Bracket One Winners - 

New Generation Wog Council 'Hot' Salami - Nicely textured, complete and composed. Bit of kick here, not blowing heads off but a mid palate burn nonetheless.

Casella Yellowtail Sausage - Sweet perfume, neat pepper, very intense flavour, enjoying the handcut shape here, soft texture, lovely spice throughout, finishes with great length and spice. Super stuff.

First Drop Salami - meaty, leathery, savoury spice and sweet animal meat, touch of capsicum or paprika, herbal notes, bergamot, pine needles, very fresh and peppery.

David Franz 'Fat Boy Sausage Calabrese' - very intense aromatics, minty almost, lifted fennel characters, peppery, menthol, lean and hot spice. Amazing intensity. Cornish says 'first sausage to make me really want to drink wine with it'. Hyper style.

Cirillo 'Calabrese Sausage' - Layers of intense aromatics and the same to taste, loads of flavour, rustic texture, sweet smoke, chilli, meaty, savoury. Superb.


Bracket Two Winners - 

DeBortoli 'Harry's Hot Stick' - Great appearance, almost cheesy aromatics, awesome layers of flavour, richness, great spice intensity, slightly umami finish, amazing length, lingering spice, incredibly finish.

Syrahmi Salami - Very meaty with spice, winey characters and a lifted sweetness, great intensity of flavour, very long residual flavour, sweet flavour and well polished entry here.


Torzi Matthews Salami - Sweet peppers, chilli, capsicum and paprika in the bouquet. Palate has lots of layered flavour, sinewy texture, easy eating style that keeps you reaching back for the simple but attractive flavours.

and the winner came down to...

DeBortoli and Casella and Cirillo salamis...

But we only have one winner - the Salami Of The WISS goes to....

DeBortoli Harry's Hot Stick - a supreme entry that was eventually stolen by Judge Cornish to take back to his lair in Victoria.

DeBortoli sausage centre, empty Cirillo plate to left (eaten for posterity) and Casella sausage to right