Heirloom Vineyards

Coonawarra Cabernet 2017

Award
Winner Gold Fuller Bodied Dry Red Wines
Grape Varieties
Cabernet Sauvignon (100%) Coonawarra, 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 $40.00

Fresh, greener notes. Some eucalyptus notes. Very minty on the palate. Massive tannins. Dry and extracted. Some modification with wagyu and a general good match with flavour profile.

Deep inky purple in colour. The nose is ripe with blackcurrant candy, blackberry compote, mint and chocolate. The palate is dry with glycerol richness and warm alcohol heat over the concentrated ripe jammy fruit flavours, liquorice and mint and chewy cedary tannins. The richness of the meat brings the black fruit to the fore and diminishes the chewy tannins and alcohol heat, a good match!

Quite a shy nose, some classic cab perfume but not overt in any aspect, quite tight and dry on the palate, lacks a bit of fruit concentration. The food helps fill some gaps and they work quite well together.

Deep cherry-crimson. Toasty oak, smoky/meaty aromas. Tough and chunky palate. Hard tannin finish. With food: Ok combination with the beef.

Deep red, vanillin black fruit nose, intense chocolate and red plum palate, firm tannins and acidity, softens by the dish, acidity still pokes out.

Very deep garnet. Delicate dark berries some floral notes and mint. Plum skin and firm tannin. The fennel overpowers this wine.

Choc-mint, toast and dark chocolate, nutty oak. Cherry spice, nutty oak, very moreish with long flavours, gritty tannins. Food: doesn’t work – thins out the palate and makes the oak more drying.

The Fuller Bodied Dry Red Wines were judged with

Wagyu, Potato Gratin and Fennel Salad

Presented by chef Marcell Kustos

Ingredients

  • ~100 g Wagyu sirloin/person, sous-vide at 55C, pan fried
Potato gratin: 30 min at 180 C
  • 1 kg potato, 3mm mandolin
  • 1 can of coconut cream (whole)
  • 1 cup vegetable stock
  • 2 shallots, sliced not minced
  • 4 cloves of garlic, sliced not minced
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 20 g salt
  • Pepper to taste
Fennel salad:
  • ½ fennel, thinly sliced, mandolin (preferably very thin with Japanese mandolin)
  • Pickle fennel for 10 min in 100ml water, 100 ml apple cider vinegar, 30 g maple syrup, 10 g salt
  • In a bowl, mix fennel with 1 Tbsp pickling liquid and 1 Tbsp seeded mustard

Method

  1. In a frying pan, add 2 Tbsp oil and fry the garlic and shallots on low heat until golden brown. Add coconut cream, stock and salt.
  2. In a baking dish, layer the thinly sliced potatoes and pour the coconut stock onto them. Bake at 180C for 25-30 min, until cooked, golden brown and creamy. Set aside and let it rest for 20-30 min before serving. In that time, the potatoes will absorb the remaining broth and the gratin becomes even more creamy and easier to slice.
  3. In a bowl, mix fennel with 1 Tbsp pickling liquid and 1 Tbsp seeded mustard.
  4. Pan-fry the Wagyu just until nicely seared and the fat melted. DO NOT overcook as well done steak will not match the wine as well as medium.