Posts Tagged ‘Viognier’

Red wine and steak

Monday, August 25th, 2008

For the reward given – cooking steak is probably one of the best things you can do to entertain guests. It’s so easy and there’s really no better accompaniment for steak than red wine.

I like to buy a whole Angus fillet and cook it first before cutting it into fillet steaks, this way you can keep the juices and really preserve a lot of the flavour. It also presents a perfect opportunity to do what any male wine millennial, or any male for that matter – likes most… marinade. Like making hot-sauce, there is perhaps no time more satisfying to a man than when given the chances to marinade something. There’s a certain feeling of alchemy in preparing the meat that really doesn’t come with other pre-preparation chores like peeling potatoes or rolling pastry flat.

The ingredients for getting a steak ready are quite simple: rock salt, English mustard, lemons, pepper, red wine, olive oil, chopped garlic and mixed spices. Adding lemon juice helps seal the steak and within minutes the pinkish colour will disappear and the fillet will start to gain a more cooked sort of colour. At this point I roll the fillet in a bed of rock-salt before smothering it in a healthy dose of English mustard mixed with spice and crushed garlic. Once done, leave it to soak in a pool of red wine on top of a bed of diced onions allowing the blood and fermented juice to comingle.

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Bellingham 2005, The Maverick Viognier

Tuesday, September 4th, 2007

bellingham.JPGRich straw colour with a bouquet of fresh cut nectarines, tinned peaches, dried fruit and perhaps even a touch of ginger spice, leave this wine in the back-line with plenty speed, lively character and yet a sharp and tough character. Both tropical and spicy with bright acidity, refreshing fruit and a full bodied palate, this is a perfectly integrated wine, which is greatly educational if, like me, you haven’t had much Viognier as a predominant varietal. A great ambassador, and a definite player on the South African side.

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Backsberg Elbar, 2005

Monday, September 3rd, 2007

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Anything associated with ‘Back’ be it Charles Back, Backsberg, Fairview, MAN Vintners or Senga Wines is tipped for greatness. I’m out of my league drinking such a wine, as it runs circles around my 5 year old palate being predominately Malbec, with lashings of Shiraz, a dollop of Mourvedre, essences of Sangiovese, a taste of Petit Verdot and smatterings of Zinfandel and Viognier. This wine is a melange of wine in one wine and thus is one to drink with intrigue and wonder, a wine of such integration is a symbol of the new South Africa and a pleasure to drink.

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