Leconfield Coonawarra

Leconfield Coonawarra 'The Sydney' Reserve Cabernet Sauvigno 2016

Award
Winner Blue 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 $80.00

Some green notes. Cassis. Some greener notes come through on the palate as well with some aggressive tannins showing. The tannins are better resolved with the wagyu but there is still a lack of poise.

Deep inky purple hue. Dark powerful blackberry fruits, cassis with liquorice, mint and chocolate aromas. The palate is dry and full with warm alcohol and very high chewy tannins that tend to dominate the dark berry fruit on the palate at this point, a youthful wine. The mint and dark chocolate flavours dominate the palate and the drying tannins are softened a little by the meat.

Elegant, quite a textbook aromatic expression of cabernet, showing good freshness and balance on the palate with nice palate concentration and length. Fights a bit with the coconut gratin though works well with the beef and fennel.

Deep crimson. Woodsy, pine-needle and forest-floor. Rich, concentrated and very textured palate. Fresh acidity, firm ripe tannins. With food: Fruit flavours don’t go that well with the beef.

Deep red, earthy and chocolate nose, palate of bitter chocolate and tar, rich and full bodied, dry tannins.

Deep ruby, subtle dark berries and mint. Sweet cassis and find sandy tannin. A good match the combination brings out different flavours.

Ripe berries, toasty oak, slight savoury and rustic notes. SOP, big up front with some juicy berry fruit, donut, gritty tannins. Food: more apparent sweetness up front, but then acid/tannins kick in.

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.