Qantas Spirit of Australia, September 2016

Haldane Mar tin
+ Restaurants that are the business
+ Malbec flies the flag for Argentina
↑
Steampunk café
Truth Coffee Roasting
in Cape Town
Cape of good food
Neil Perry’s favourite Cape Town eats.
Quisine.
Quisine.
Neil Perry
Talk of the Town
Come for the cricket and stay for the food and wine,
says chef Neil Perry, who’s enamoured of Cape Town’s
vibrant dining scene, local delicacies and historic vineyards.
WHENEVER I visit South Africa, it feels like
I’m there for the first time; there are always
new experiences to be had. The country is
full of wonderful people, stunning cities, the
most breathtaking game lodges, incredible
wildlife and exquisite flora. Everyone should
visit at least once.
Maybe you’re heading there for the cricket
(the Qantas One Day International Tour of
South Africa is on this month) but if not,
put the country on your bucket list now.
And while you’re there, eat, eat, eat! Here’s
where I like to wine and dine in Cape Town.
CH E FS WARE H OUS E
& CANTEEN
This terrific restaurant is the work of Irish
chef Liam Tomlin, who was part owner of
the great Sydney establishment Banc until it
closed in the early 2000s. Chefs Warehouse
& Canteen (92 Bree Street, Cape Town;
chefswarehouse.co.za) is on the city’s food
street. The tapas-style meals, which change
daily, consist of eight dishes and incorporate
only the best produce, such as the perfectly
cooked piece of Cape salmon served with
corn and basil that I devoured. They don’t
take bookings so if you miss out on a table,
put your name on the list and grab a drink
at Tomlin’s bar, No Reservations, directly
underneath the restaurant.
ELLERMAN HOUSE
Chefs Warehouse
& Canteen (above);
the popular eatery’s
beetroot-cured
salmon (opposite)
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A great spot to base yourself, Ellerman House
(180 Kloof Road, Bantry Bay; ellerman.co.za)
is a small hotel with 13 rooms and two villas.
Just 15 minutes’ drive from the heart of
Cape Town, it has sweeping views of the
Atlantic Ocean. Chef Veronica Canha-Hibbert
presides over the dining room, where the
menu is updated every day, and helps with
the guest pantry, dubbed a “guilty pleasure”
for the luscious cakes and treats that
guests can help themselves to. I enjoyed
Canha-Hibbert’s tuna tataki with avocado,
snow peas and chilli-and-sweet-soy dressing.
It was so lovely and fresh, with beautifully
balanced flavours. I decided to leave the
grilled ostrich for another time and try
the kingklip, a local fish, which was cooked
Mick y Hoyle
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Quisine.
Neil Perry
Garden service at
Ellerman House (right);
Truth Coffee Roasting
(below); the café’s
scrambled eggs on
sourdough (opposite)
JASON BAKERY
in a laksa sauce and served with
spicy sambal – complemented by
Kevin Arnold Shiraz, an absolutely
cracking drop from Waterford Estate
in Stellenbosch, South Africa’s most
famous wine region.
Situated in the City Bowl area, Jason Bakery
(185 Bree Street, Cape Town; jasonbakery.
com) serves good coffee and phenomenal
breakfasts. The owners, siblings Jason and
Brigitte Lilley, also run Bardough by Jason
(33 Loop Street, Cape Town) and a cool crowd
hangs out at both. Their premises
are small and usually packed
– but rest assured, the bacon
croissants are worth the wait.
TRUTH COFFEE
ROASTING
This place takes its coffee seriously:
double shots are standard and it
even has a barista school. Truth
Coffee Roasting (36 Buitenkant
Street, Cape Town; truthcoffee.
com) is almost more Sydney’s
Newtown or Melbourne’s Fitzroy
than it is Cape Town – it leans a
little to the hipster side, somehow
reminding me of the voodoo
scene in the James Bond film
Live and Let Die. The coffee
is great, as are the eggs and
pastries, and the lunch burger
isn’t half-bad either.
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Flight path
CPT
Qantas flies to
Johannesburg
from Sydney, with
connections to
Cape Town via
partner airlines.
qantas.com
travelinsider.qantas.com.au
THE TEST KITCHEN
Luke Dale-Roberts’ The Test
Kitchen (375 Albert Road,
Woodstock; thetestkitchen.co.za)
is a must. Housed in The Old
Biscuit Mill in the formerly
industrial area of Woodstock,
the cutting-edge establishment
is widely considered the best in
the country, making a regular
appearance on S. Pellegrino’s
World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.
Mick y Hoyle/Haldane Mar tin, Crookes & Jackson
(From top) The Test Kitchen’s
Luke Dale-Roberts; his linefish
with potato and snoek medley,
ham and fish jus, potato-skin
purée and red-onion foam
Dale-Roberts likes to incorporate South
African ingredients into his dishes. I loved
the lamb teriyaki with rosemary glaze and
soft polenta, sage and amasi velouté (amasi,
a local delicacy, is fermented milk). It was
perfectly matched with Sterhuis Merlot.
Note that the place has been undergoing
a refurbishment and is expected to reopen
in early October. Be sure to book ahead,
as the restaurant is very small.
CARNE SA
This is a very good steakhouse. I visited the
original Carne SA (70 Keerom Street, Cape
Town; carne-sa.com), which became so
popular that there are now three restaurants
in the city. Expect to find any number of
steaks, from the massive fiorentina to fillets
and sirloin. I opted for the hanger, one of my
favourite cuts, and it was tender and juicy
and had a deep beef flavour. It required only
a lick of hot English mustard – not that choice
was lacking, as there’s a long list of delicious
sauces, condiments and sides on offer.
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167
Quisine.
Neil Perry
(From top) Kleine
Zalze vineyard;
tortellini of braised
lamb neck at Terroir;
on the wine safari
at Waterford Estate;
Indochine’s cured
linefish with prawns
A taste of the terroir
For a safari of the vinous kind,
visit the cellar doors of the
nearby Cape Winelands district.
IF YOU’RE visiting Cape Town, you have
to make it to Stellenbosch and its wineries,
just 50 kilometres away. These “wine
farms”, as South Africans call them, are
awe-inspiring. The country has a great
tradition of winemaking dating back to
the 1650s yet, for some reason, I’m always
surprised by how much I love its wines.
I dropped into Tokara (tokara.co.za),
a beautiful vineyard and olive farm that
has an amazing art gallery, a deli with
simple food and a really good restaurant.
Richard Carstens cooks up a storm with
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his Franco-Japanese dish of
oyster, calamari, mussel and
linefish. They come together
to create a flawless assembly
of little tastes of seafood. The
bobotie-spiced springbok was
another triumph. What to drink
with such brilliant food? The
2013 Tokara Director’s Reserve
White, a wooded blend of
sauvignon blanc and semillon,
was the ideal companion.
While you’re in Stellenbosch,
check out Terroir, at Kleine
Zalze vineyard (kleinezalze.
co.za), often named one of the
country’s top 10 restaurants.
Indochine at Delaire Graff
Estate (delaire.co.za) is also
worth a visit, its Asian-inspired fare offering
a change of pace from the region’s Europeaninfluenced restaurants.
I also enjoyed touring Waterford Estate
(waterfordestate.co.za) in the property’s
safari truck. The team offered me delicious
snacks (I’m a biltong convert) and, more
importantly, I tasted some great wines.
There’s the signature Kevin Arnold Shiraz
and the chardonnay is such a well-balanced
wine. I was very impressed with The Jem,
a fusion of Mediterranean and Bordeaux
varieties made from about eight different
grapes, depending on the season. It has
spicy, rich fruit flavours but isn’t too intense
so it goes well with food. There’s also the
small matter of the view from the vineyard
– it’s really quite spectacular.
chefneilperry
Riehan Bakkes, Delaire Graff Estate
Read about Neil Perry’s
adventures at a private
nature reserve and
Kruger National Park.
Visit travelinsider.
qantas.com.au.
Quisine.
Reviews
Sweeten the deal
Often sophisticated but never stuffy, these restaurants take the work out of business dining.
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REVIEWS BY
TA S
Jo Cook
NSW
Anthony Huckstep
ACT
Lucy Barbour
WA
Max Veenhuyzen
NT
Sam McCue
VIC
Larissa Dubecki
THE GLASS HOUSE
Main Deck, Brooke Street Pier, Hobart;
0437 245 540
theglass.house
Open seven days for lunch and dinner
FRANKLIN
30 Argyle Street, Hobart; (03) 6234 3375
franklinhobart.com.au
Open Tuesday-Saturday for breakfast,
lunch and dinner
Franklin, voted by chefs as Tasmania’s top
restaurant, is a lesson in understatement.
Co-owner Ben Lindell and co-founder and
executive chef David Moyle have opted for
a simple and natural Scandinavian feel with
polished concrete, animal skins, beautiful
timbers and an open kitchen that centres
on a Scotch oven. Talented chef Jess Muir
helps guide the team to turn out everything
from wood-roasted abalone with kelp and
dried oyster to cider-poached and woodroasted pork neck. The wine list features
a mix of Australian, European and natural
wines and the desserts are unforgettable.
The steamed almond cake with apple miso
will help to seal the deal.
Morag Kobez
OTTO
Area 8, 6 Cowper Wharf Road,
Woolloomooloo; (02) 9368 7488
ottoristorante.com.au
Open seven days for lunch and dinner
There are few more blissful dining
experiences than a long, languid lunch
overlooking the glistening ripples that kiss
Woolloomooloo wharf. All you have to do
is sit back and let one of the country’s most
reliable Italian restaurants take care of
business. A swell of white bucket seats sidles
up to rows of white tablecloths, giving diners
glimpses of the bobbing boats and a unique
perspective of the city’s skyline. The menu
of classic combinations is given a deft touch
and contemporary spin without losing the
umami essence. There’s John Dory crudo
with blood orange; gnocchi with braised
oxtail and green olives; strozzapreti with
king prawns and chilli; Berkshire pork cutlet
with pumpkin; and a charred slab of Wagyu
chuck with smoked potato. Timeless,
consistent and arguably Sydney’s best
alfresco offering.
4 Ash Street, Sydney; (02) 9221 6444
mercadorestaurant.com.au
Open Monday-Friday for lunch and
Monday-Saturday for dinner
Nikki To
QLD
NSW
MERCADO
Dine in simple Scandi
style at Franklin (left)
Nigel Hopkins
Mercado’s intimate
subterranean space
(left); orecchiette
with braised rabbit
at Otto
TAS
This bar at the end of the floating Brooke
Street Pier is out to impress with an
expansive view of the Derwent River and
Sullivans Cove, small share plates inspired
by Tasmanian produce and an architectural
display of bottles behind the stunning
copper-topped bar. Kiwi chef Sam Gasson is
serving up the likes of Pacific oysters from
Pitt Water in the Coal River Valley (natural,
kimchi or housemade ponzu and seaweed
butter), crisp onigiri with zucchini, pickled
mushroom and white miso aïoli, and confit
ocean trout with nori, apple, fennel and
oyster emulsion. Sweet tooths will love the
apple brioche cake with caramel, almond
dacquoise and apple sorbet.
SA
One of the new wave of refined casual
restaurants in the belly of Sydney’s CBD,
this subterranean ode to Spain and the
Mediterranean is already a business-lunch
hub. And for good reason. Beyond the brassrail bar are two dining rooms: one with
views into the open kitchen, the other
beneath a marble staircase. Think leather
banquettes, polished concrete floors and
dark-brown furniture. It’s smart and
sophisticated but it’s okay to loosen the
tie, too. Chef and co-owner Nathan Sasi
(ex-Nomad) is making everything from
scratch, including bread, cheese and cured
meats, for the ultimate share plate menu.
Pickled guindilla peppers add punch to
housemade mortadella. Chickory, silverbeet
and fetta squeeze between layers of crisp
brik pastry. Slow-roasted lamb shoulder
leans on pumpkin and chickpeas.
ELEVEN BRIDGE
11 Bridge Street, Sydney; (02) 9252 1888
rockpool.com
Open Monday-Friday for lunch and
Monday-Saturday for dinner
Neil Perry’s influences on our culinary
landscape are almost immeasurable. News of
the original Rockpool Est. 1989 changing its
make-up and donning the moniker Eleven
Bridge raised a few eyebrows but the result
has Rockpool and Perry class stamped all
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Quisine.
Quisine.
Reviews
Reviews
over it. It’s dark and sultry and a serious
international restaurant in every sense,
from the polished panache of front of
house to the extraordinary wine list
and food that’s as breathtaking as it is
respectful of provenance. Importantly,
too, it’s just downright delicious.
Crustacean butter lays a platform for
Moreton Bay bug and strozzapreti.
Hand-picked mud crab arrives lathered
in duck-egg mayonnaise. Partridge
steamed in bread partners with turnips.
And the date dart (circa 1984) reminds
us why the classics survive any trend.
Eleven Bridge is the business.
Neil Perry’s elegant
new Eleven Bridge
Complexity triumphs in vine leaves wrapped
around a delicate combination of Atlantic
salmon and shiitake mushrooms with red
wine sauce, while sticky, sweet baklava is
the perfect excuse to linger longer. Wind
down with a refreshing Turkish beer as the
afternoon sun streams through the windows.
PA R LO U R
Perth Airport Transfer Ð Ph. 08 9370 1592
Bayswater –
381 Guildford Rd
Ph. 08 9370 3888
Fremantle –
13 Queen Victoria St
Ph. 08 9430 5300
Subiaco –
260 Hay St
Ph. 08 9388 3222
Perth City –
160 Adelaide Tce
Ph. 08 9325 1000
New South Wales
Sydney Airport Transfer Ð Ph. 02 9360 3622
Sydney City – 180 William St Kings Cross
Ph. 02 9360 3622
Artarmon –
285 Pacific Hwy
Ph. 02 9360 3622
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ACT
OTTOMAN CUISINE
9 Broughton Street, Barton; (02) 6273 6111
ottomancuisine.com.au
Open Tuesday-Friday for lunch and
Tuesday-Saturday for dinner
For years, Ottoman has been a magnet for
deal-striking suits, powerful politicians
and journalists hungry for stories and
succulent lamb shish kebab. Ambient
blue, white and timber décor gives this
Canberra institution a formal feel, while
lush green gardens and outdoor water
features exude tranquillity and calm.
There’s a strong commitment to honest,
traditional cuisine and simple pleasures
such as silky baba ganoush with fresh,
fluffy bread are irresistibly good.
16 Kendall Lane, NewActon; (02) 6257 7325
parlour.net.au
Open Tuesday-Sunday for lunch and
seven days for dinner
Swoon while you savour a Sicilian limoncello
cocktail with rosemary, vanilla and pineapple
at Parlour. This stylish drink is just a taste
of the offerings prepared behind a square
bar in the centre of this classy lounge-style
space. Patrons perch on vintage cushioned
chairs at antique round tables, engrossed
in conversation while grazing on tender
fried squid and robust lamb ragù. In spring,
spill out onto the sunlit deck and sample
tapas such as fried anchovies or bocadillos
(Spanish sandwiches) filled with Wagyu
beef and Manchego cheese. Then sip a
local botrytis pinot gris and treat yourself
to fresh ricotta doughnuts with decadent
chocolate sauce and toasted almonds.
John Fotiadis
Western Australia
Quisine.
Reviews
WA
B A LT H A Z A R
6 The Esplanade, Perth; (08) 9421 1206
balthazar.com.au
Open Monday-Friday for lunch and
Monday-Saturday for dinner
Balthazar’s clubby Art Deco dining room has
a long history of entertaining Perth’s business
set and new part-owners Dan Morris and
Emma Ferguson have zero intention of
changing the script. That doesn’t mean the
couple haven’t introduced a little of themselves
to the Balthazar experience, of course. Quirky
lo-fi wines from small producers bring new
energy to the drinks side of things, while
youthful new chef Skye Faithfull has injected
similar brio to the menu. Raw lamb plus duck
egg, harissa and housemade sour cream make
for one of the city’s more exciting tartare riffs,
just as marron and unctuous pork belly is
a fun take on surf and turf. The bottle-lined
private room is perfect for entertaining VIPs.
LALLA ROOKH
Lower Ground, 77 St Georges Terrace,
Perth; (08) 9325 7077
lallarookh.com.au
Open Monday-Friday for lunch and
Monday-Saturday for dinner
This bar-slash-eating-house is a popular
destination for the white-collar crowd and
not just on account of its address on the
Terrace. While the booming bar and cosy
enoteca attract their share of worker bees,
an equal number of guests descend Lalla
Rookh’s staircase to revel in the city’s best
Italian food. Creamy stracciatella cheese
and quick-pickled butter beans accented
with horseradish is typically inventive,
while the straighter likes of hearty bistecca
and benchmark pasta deliver big-time on
the comfort front. Hosting a large party?
The recently introduced banquet option is
perfect for larger groups. Need to impress
some gourmands? The chef’s tasting menu
(Il Capo) and daily seasonal specials are
the answer; match with something from the
celebrated cellar to really make an impression.
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Share Cutler & Co.’s
1.1-kilogram dry-aged
Angus rib eye, served
with shaved cabbage
and fennel salad and
house condiments
NT
RORKES BEER WINE FOOD
22 Smith Street, Darwin; (08) 8942 1000
rorkes.com.au
Open seven days for lunch and dinner
Surely nothing says “important business”
as loudly as a restaurant in a former bank.
Well, Rorkes is a pub now but if you ignore
the pokies tucked into one corner, it’s all
class with its Art Deco fit-out in soft gold and
pale teal. There’s also a moody private dining
room in what used to be the vault, comfy
booths with individual pay-as-you-go beer
taps and outdoor tables, too. The brief menu
plays it relatively safe with salads, steak and
fish, including barramundi in the form of
carpaccio or croquettes. The sirloin and the
seafood spaghetti are also good choices. And
when business has been dealt with, repair to
the rooftop terrace for a cocktail and maybe
a snack from the bar menu. Win-win.
VIC
CECCONI’S
Kristoffer Paulsen
61 Flinders Lane, Melbourne; (03) 8663 0500
cecconis.com
Open Monday-Friday for lunch and
Monday-Saturday for dinner
If Isabella Rossellini owned a restaurant, it
would look a lot like Cecconi’s: aesthetically
well-mannered without having to shout about
it. A reliable city stager that sings from the
posh-Italian songbook, Cecconi’s is the kind
of place that makes you feel good – and we’re
not just talking about the wine list (a sexy,
sinuous Italian thing), the service (ditto) or the
comfortable spacing between the linen-clad
tables. Run by the legendary Bortolotto family
using produce from their Victorian farm, it
nails the business-crowd brief with a confident
menu of value-added Italian-ness: pancettawrapped quail with vincotto, excellent
calamari fritti that arrives with salsa verde
and aïoli or slow-cooked Wagyu brisket with
puréed white beans and red wine jus.
GROSSI FLORENTINO GRILL
80 Bourke Street, Melbourne; (03) 9662 1811
grossiflorentino.com
Open Monday-Saturday for lunch and dinner
Anchoring the ground floor of the Grossi
family’s chic Italian empire, the Grill is a
boisterous business hangout where bonhomie
and bistecca rule the day. A recently installed
Josper wood-burning oven and grill has taken
the restaurant, which is about 60 years old,
in a more resolutely Tuscan direction, with
meaty good times to be had. There’s a host
of steaks with punchy add-ons, naturally, but
also a pinkly perfect White Rocks veal chop
with grilled witlof and a squeeze of charred
lemon; and wild barramundi cooked in the
oven with Tasmanian mussels, farro and
tomatoes to richly smoky effect. Nor should
the suit brigade ignore the pasta for which
Guy Grossi is justifiably renowned, including
silken ribbons of pappardelle tangling with a
duck and porcini ragù (although, in this case,
it’s probably best to rethink the white shirt).
CUTLER & CO.
55-57 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy; (03) 9419 4888
cutlerandco.com.au
Open Sunday for lunch and Tuesday-Sunday
for dinner
Andrew McConnell subtitles his flagship
“a Fitzroy dining room and bar”, which
seems to undersell the situation somewhat,
considering it has the sleekest good looks
and most consistently winning charm of
all the city’s dining hotspots. Fine dining
without the pretension, Cutler & Co. hits
the mark on many fronts, including an epic
wine list and staff who sashay with warm
professionalism. The menu sparkles, whether
it’s going for honest, rustic grunt (an Ortiz
anchovy on toast) or on-trend originality
(spanner crab and soft polenta in chicken
broth). You can get down to brass tacks with
a mighty 1.1-kilogram dry-aged Angus rib
eye with shaved cabbage and fennel salad.
Pop into McConnell’s next-door wine bar,
Marion, for a deal-closing nightcap.
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Quisine.
Reviews
Sweet success: The
Euro’s chocolate and
beetroot brownie
with raspberry
ganache and dirty
chai ice-cream
SA
CHIANTI
160 Hutt Street, Adelaide; (08) 8232 7955
chianti.net.au
Open seven days for breakfast,
lunch and dinner
JASMIN
31 Hindmarsh Square, Adelaide; (08) 8223 7837
jasmin.com.au
Open Thursday and Friday for lunch
and Tuesday-Saturday for dinner
Jasmin is known for its extraordinary cricket
bat collection and its exemplary North Indian
dishes. Its splendid dining room of glossy
mahogany tables and low lights – and its
discreet basement location – has helped
make it a favourite of captains of industry
and politicians. Matriarch Mrs Singh keeps
an eagle eye on details such as the spicing, as
evidenced by her outstanding beef vindaloo
and even fierier chicken tindaloo. Watch
for daily specials such as pan-fried garfish
dusted with masala spices. Side dishes and
breads are unfailingly good and the wine
list is the best of any Indian restaurant in
town. Less well-known is that Jasmin has
an even more tucked-away private dining
room behind the main restaurant.
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QLD
THE EURO
LES BUBBLES
181 Mary Street, Brisbane; (07) 3229 3686
theeuro.com.au
Open Monday-Friday for lunch and
Monday-Saturday for dinner
144 Wickham Street, Fortitude Valley;
(07) 3251 6500
lesbubbles.com.au
Open Wednesday-Sunday for lunch
and seven days for dinner
When it comes to closing that all-important
deal, The Euro has your back. Its classy,
contemporary interior lends an air of
formality to proceedings without being
stuffy. Service is attentive yet unobtrusive
and the unpretentious menu has something
to keep everyone happy. Bond over shared
starters, including impeccable housemade
chorizo with freshly baked bread or crunchy
little flash-fried Gold Coast prawns with
chipotle sauce. Follow that up with classic
combinations such as lamb rump with potato
fondant, watercress purée and fennel;
pan-roasted barramundi; or gnocchi with
Parmesan and rosemary sauce. Desserts
will put everyone in an agreeable frame of
mind, whether it’s the vanilla cheesecake
with peppered shortbread, olive oil sponge
and fresh raspberries or the chocolate and
beetroot brownie with raspberry ganache
and dirty chai ice-cream.
If it’s a celebration or you want to keep
things lighthearted, this convivial Parisianstyle steakhouse ensures the conversation
flows. The former illegal casino/brothel at
the centre of the 1980s Fitzgerald Inquiry
has been tastefully tarted up to include
generous red-leather booths that will
accommodate a team lunch. There are
no painful deliberations over the menu;
it’s steak frites all round so just choose
a sauce (café de Paris, béarnaise or green
peppercorn and cognac) and you’re done.
French bread comes out first then a delicious
green salad, followed by a generous serve
of seared grass-fed steak and French fries.
Vegetarians and pescetarians are also
catered for. The grime may be gone but
the political and underworld luminaries
of the day are immortalised in framed
portraits along the length of one wall.
Rachael Basker ville
Chianti has the experienced demeanour of
a favourite trattoria but with a sophisticated
edge. It ticks all the boxes: great service, a
wine list of breadth and depth and traditional
Northern Italian dishes given a contemporary
touch by longstanding chef Toby Gush. Start
with tonno crudo (a tartare of cured bluefin
tuna) or a salad of smoked free-range goose
breast with candied walnuts before tucking
into the signature slow-cooked Adelaide Hills
rabbit with pancetta, port and sage. Steaks
are top quality – try the 600-gram grass-fed
T-bone, sourced direct from an Adelaide Hills
farm. Chianti also has two very private dining
rooms upstairs, accessed by a side entrance.
Quisine.
Wine
Cult hero
Malbec is leading the charge of red-hot
Argentinian wine. To that we say salud!
↑
2010 Mi Terruño
Reserva Cabernet
Sauvignon
Mendoza, $37
An enticing bouquet
of blackcurrants and
cedar wood leads to
an intensely flavoured
palate. Finely honed
tannins frame this
graceful red, which
would be perfect with
steak-and-kidney pie.
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MALBEC is Argentina’s hero grape, flying
the flag for the country’s wines in the same
way that tempranillo does for Spain and
shiraz does for Australia. Malbec’s home is
France, where it is a minor blending variety
in Bordeaux but stands proudly alone in the
nearby Cahors appellation.
Argentina has been producing wines
since its Spanish conquerors brought vines
to South America in the middle of the 16th
century. But it wasn’t until 1853 that malbec
found its way from France to Argentina,
about 20 years after its arrival in Australia.
More than a century later, in the 1980s,
malbec emerged as the country’s flag-bearer
when Argentinian winegrowers moved from
rustic, high-quantity wines to internationalsales-focused, high-quality mode.
Malbec parallels shiraz with its diversity,
ranging from a robust, easy-drinking
red through to a sophisticated icon that’s
perfect for cellaring. It smells of ripe plums
and mulberries and its flavours are like a
brimful basket of black fruits: black cherries,
blackberries and blackcurrants. However,
bold, earthy tannins add real grunt to the
finish, which makes it best suited to red
meat. The Argentinians produce some of the
best beef in the world so this is truly a match
made in heaven.
Altitude is the key to Argentina’s wine
quality, along with its dry continental
climate. The three winegrowing areas are
on the eastern side of the Andes, the grapes
sustained by pure, melted snow. The lowest
vines are on the Patagonian plains, with
southerly latitude making up for modest
elevation. Patagonian malbec is quite subtle
yet concentrated, with good depth and length.
Patagonia’s Río Negro region is also famed
for pinot noir.
In the country’s central west, the Luján de
Cuyo area produces more than 80 per cent
of Argentina’s wine from a mix of European
varieties. Again,
malbec is the star,
with plantings above
1000 metres in
Mendoza delivering
reds of great density
Buy these wines and
and intensity.
more at qantasepiqure.
com.au/magazine.
In the Argentine
Northwest region,
vines soar even higher to 3000 metres at
Salta. It’s the home of torrontés, a native
white variety with floral musk and lychee
aromas, generous mouth-filling flavours and
a gentle acidity.
Winemaking in Argentina is supported
by an abundance of history, resources and
expertise, all carefully aimed at a burgeoning
international market. Malbec is the country’s
spearhead, backed by compelling cabernets,
polished pinots and homegrown torrontés.
Try one soon.
S TO R Y B Y
PETER BOURNE
P H O TO G R A P H Y B Y
E D WA R D U R R U T I A
Wine snob
David Wood
Head sommelier,
Mr Wong, Sydney
↑
2014 Bodega
Noemia J. Alberto
Malbec
Patagonia, $104
↓
2015 El Porvenir
Laborum Single
Vineyard Torrontés
Salta, $43
This is a serious and
sophisticated malbec
of structure and
finesse. Plums and
loganberries mingle
with licorice and
warm earth, creating
a powerful and
persistent wine with
great ageing potential.
Pair it with roast beef
and all the trimmings.
The vineyard is 1650
metres above sea level
and has 55-year-old
vines. Musk and lemonpith flavours define this
white that has a rich
texture and a gentle
acid-led finale. Try it
with crisp empanadas.
↑
2014 Achaval Ferrer
Malbec
Mendoza, $64
↓
2014 Bodega Chacra
Barda Pinot Noir
Patagonia, $56
This benchmark
malbec, from a
top-flight producer,
has abundant aromas
of ripe plums and
mulberries, lifted
by sweet spices.
It’s rich, round and
fleshy with mouthcoating tannins that
plead for a mixed grill.
Full of bright-red
cherry and boysenberry
perfumes, with a
hint of dried herbs,
this compact drop
is completed with
underlying savoury
flavours. It will cut
through duck confit
very nicely.
You’ve got $20 to spend.
What wine would you buy?
Clare Valley or Eden Valley
riesling. I’ll always be able to
find a quality riesling at a good
price from those regions.
And if you had $50? Again,
riesling. For $50, you’re going
to get something pretty
special. Rieslings are just
great value for money.
What hot new variety of
grape should we be trying?
Spätburgunder (pinot noir
from Germany). It’s awesome
– very modern and very pure.
What wine would you
drink with Chinese? Dry
German riesling. They
have a marvellous texture,
bucketloads of stone fruit
and subtle hints of spice.
They’re also versatile – great
with most seafood and pork.
And with Indian? Voluptuous
marsanne roussanne or
viognier from the northern
Rhône; or spice-driven
grenache or mourvèdre blends
from the southern Rhône.
What’s the best bottle in
Australia right now? Cullen
Kevin John Chardonnay –
I simply adore this wine.
Which country is producing
the best wines? Germany, for
quality, consistency and value.
Which is the best Champagne
in the world? I’d say Jacques
Selosse Substance.
What’s your cellaring
philosophy? If you have a
bottle you want to retain,
send it as far away from
yourself as possible. My cellar
is 300 kilometres away so
I won’t disappoint myself
with my lack of self-discipline.
travelinsider.qantas.com.au
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