Zonte's Footstep

Chocolate Factory 2018

Award
Winner Gold Medium Bodied Dry Red Wines
Grape Varieties
Shiraz (100%) McLaren Vale, SA, Australia
Country of Origin
Australia
Alcohol Content
14.5% Alcohol by Volume
Wine Type and Oak Treatment
Still Red with Oak Treatment
Recommended Retail Price
RRP AU $27.50
Buy This Wine
  • Zonte's Footstep
    PO Box 353
    McLaren Vale, South Australia
    Australia 5171
  • Lauren, Accounts & Logistics
  • Phone (61) 0437 065075

“Slightly reductive nose with some lift. Quite a hard, reductive feel in the mouth. Lacking some poise. Slightly hard still with the duck. ”

“Dark smoky reduction notes dominate the nose. The palate shows glycerol sweetness and blackcurrant leaf overlaid with dark smoky notes that dominate the fruit sweetness. The meaty rich duck removes some of the bitter reduction in the wine but the wine comes across as disjointed rather than just youthful with the dish.”

“Dark berry fruit, quite a closed nose initially, leading to a sweet core of fruit and tight tannins on the medium-bodied palate. Worked well with the food match, which lifted the wine nicely.”

“Deep cherry-plum colour. Cedary, leather and earth aromas. Cherry-plum fruit flavours, some liquorice and plum jam. Medium acidity, moderately firm tannins. With food: Tannins aren’t resolved by the food.”

“Deep red, blackberry and liquorice fruit, dark chocolate and earthy palate, softened by the dish.”

“Deep ruby red. Prunes, raisin and dried fruit and vanilla. Very suedey tannin with lots of plum and dark berry fruit to balance them. Good length of flavour. Dish makes the wine slightly bitter.”

“Lacks vibrancy, brooding dark berries and toasty oak. Savoury, pronounced donut with extracted tannins, stalky. Food: stalkiness has been enhanced, taking away from the flavours.”

The Medium Bodied Dry Red Wines were judged with

Duck breast, Parsnip Puree and Radicchio

Presented by chef Marcell Kustos

Ingredients

  • 1 Duck breast/person, sous-vide at 57C
  • 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1 Tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 bag English breakfast tea
Parsnip puree, serves 4:
  • 500 g parsnip, roasted at 180C for 15 min and cooked in 300 mL soy milk (reserve 200 mL cooking soy milk)
  • 50 g peanut butter
  • Salt
  • ½ tsp garam masala
Radicchio, serves 4:
  • 1 radicchio, quartered, white (bitter) part removed, thinly sliced
  • 300 mL pomegranate juice + sous-vide duck broth, reduced to half
  • Add 1 Tbsp oyster sauce, ½ tsp Xanthan gum and mix with stick mixer
  • Cook radicchio in reduced pomegranate syrup until the radicchio is wilted
Served with chive oil:
  • 1 bunch of chive, thinly cut
  • 50 ml olive oil, warm in microwave 10 s

Method

  1. Score duck breast and render fat in a pan with skin-side down on low fire. Bag up the breast with maple syrup, oyster sauce and tea and sous-vide.
  2. Cut the parsnip into 2-3cm pieces and roast until golden brown. Transfer the parsnips into a pot and cook them soy in soy milk. In a food processor, mix all ingredients for the puree. The result should be creamy, slightly nutty, slightly spicy and slightly salty.
  3. Reduce the pomegranate juice with the cooking juices of the duck. Add xanthan and oyster sauce and blend it smooth (velvety) with a stick mixer. The result should be liquid, but thick enough to cover the back of a spoon. Add sliced radicchio and warm them until cooked/wilted.