We at the moment are within the Margaret River space, within the south-west of Australia, south of Perth. This space is understood for having a Mediterranean local weather and its wines. Many wineries have an excellent restaurant that provides a tasting menu for lunch with a wine pairing of wines from the property. The primary one we’re visiting is Wills Area. The restaurant presents nice views of the vineyards, in addition to a signature menu (6 programs for AU$ 189, wine pairing $75), a tasting menu (4 programs for $119, wine $55), in addition to à la carte. We opted for the tasting menu.
The primary wine was a Blanc de Blanc (sic), 100% Chardonnay and solely 3 months of ageing of the lees. Subsequently a easy glowing wine, virtually like a prosecco however much less fruity.
It was accompanied by the chef’s every day snack, melon full of goat cheese.
There was additionally some good seed bread with butter served within the form of a honeycomb, with some precise honey inside, in addition to some seeds (appeared like caraway seed to me).
The second wine was the 2024 Eightfold Sauvignon Blanc, balanced and really grassy.
This was a superb pairing for an excellent dish: Shark Bay scallops, cured and flippantly steamed, with avocado cream, thinly shaved daikon, a little bit of wasabi, and a rice tosazu sauce. This dish was superb, worthy of a number of Michelin stars. Nice class, steadiness, and complexity. The scallops had nice texture, virtually uncooked however barely extra agency however very tender and juicy on the identical time. There was a smoky aspect as nicely. The daikon supplied some very light crunch. There was only a trace of wasabi. And the wine, which was good by itself, grew to become significantly better with the dish. Wow.
The subsequent wine was a 2016 single winery Semillon. Australian Semillon is understood for its ageing potential. This wine was great, with a pleasant creamy texture however nonetheless fairly recent.
It was pairing for the Margaret River heirloom tomatoes with stracciatella cheese, yellow chili, and frozen inexperienced tomato nectar. Due to the frozen nectar the tomatoes had been served fairly chilly, in order that they weren’t as flavorful. The chilli introduced some good spiciness that was enhanced a bit by the acidity of the wine. Altogether a really good dish and pairing.
The ultimate wine of the pairing was the flagship wine of the vineyard, the Paladin Hill Matrix, 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Petit Verdot on this classic. The mix modifications yearly. The wine was properly balanced and recent, with easy however current tannins, and a few good spiciness.
The wine was good by itself, however even higher with the farm home Arkaday lamb fillet (cooked sous vide at 55C/131F) with eggplant mousse, uncooked zucchini, and sheep yogurt. The lamb was topped with backyard herbs (together with oregano), which supplied a pleasant distinction in taste.
The property doesn’t produce dessert wine and we skipped the non-obligatory Espresso Martini. The dessert was a chocolate parfait with chocolate from the native chocolate store Bahen & Co, with backyard mint mousse, and wattle seed.
Our first advantageous eating expertise at a Margaret River vineyard units a excessive customary for the opposite lunches to observe! Meals and wine pairings had been glorious, the service very pleasant. As now we have observed earlier than, plenty of the serving employees in Australia is ‘imported’ from Italy or France, and this was no exception. The one criticism I might present is that the irregular tempo of the menu; the scallops and Sauvignon arrived too rapidly after the glowing, whereas in a while it slowed down an excessive amount of, and the espresso arrived nicely earlier than the dessert.
