For our final dinner in Australia went to De’sendent, one of many few advantageous eating eating places within the Margaret River space that’s open for dinner, as a lot of the advantageous eating is at vineyard eating places and solely open for lunch. There isn’t a à la carte, solely a six course tasting menu (AU$ 180). We opted for the native wine pairing ($90); there’s additionally a ‘discovery’ wine pairing that additionally consists of wines from elsewhere ($110).
We began with a 2023 Semillon from Margaret River, a pure wine made with some pores and skin contact and fortuitously not the funky sort of pure wine.
This was a surprisingly good pairing for the primary set of snacks. The wine was fairly textural and I feared it may conflict with the extra creamy features of the snacks, however in actual fact they improved the feel and introduced out the aromas of the wine. The primary snack was a golden kelp crisp with carrot tartare and a hazelnut emulsion. The second a pumpkin tartlet with smoked yogurt, and the third a bread crisp with taramasalata (salted and cured salmon roe), crème fraîche, and contemporary herbs. The herbs had been known as gremolata, however as there was no lemon zest or garlic, it shouldn’t be known as that. A really elegant set of snacks.
The second and third set of snacks had been each paired with the identical glowing wine from Nice Southern, 47% Chardonnay, 43% Pinot Noir, and 10% Pinot Meunier, conventional technique with 30 months on the lees. A mineral type with hints of apple. A superb glowing wine like this pairs with nearly something, so it was good but in addition a bit lazy to pair it with two programs.
The second set of snacks consisted of an oyster with olive oil and apple, a deep fried scallop with black garlic foam, and a prawn salad on charcoal brioche with sweetcorn puree. I particularly favored the prawn salad.
The third and remaining set of snacks was sourdough bread with egg white garum butter (fairly salty), a Japanese custard (chawanmushi) with trout roe, and a dhufish ceviche with leaf oil and beetroot. I believed it was extra like a dhufish tartare than a ceviche, because the fish didn’t seem ‘cooked’ and I didn’t style any acid. The fish was additionally a bit chewy.
The subsequent wine was a 2021 Chardonnay from Margaret River, aged for 9 months in French oak with stirring of the lees. The oak was fairly distinguished on this wine, as was the acidity, as no malo had been used. I feel it’s unlucky that it’s a ‘development’ in Margaret River to skip the malo fully, as a lot of the wines may benefit from partial malo to get extra nice acidity.
This was a superb pairing for the dhufish with a butter sauce flavored with extremely concentred inventory of fish bones, with younger scallions, and a few caviar on high. The younger scallions from the restaurant’s backyard had been properly candy and a pleasant distinction with the caviar. The fish may have been cooked barely much less, however in any other case a really good dish.
The pink wine was a 100% Petit Verdot from Margaret River. In Bordeaux this grape selection is barely used as a small proportion in a mix and it doesn’t get ripe sufficient (or at the least it didn’t use to earlier than local weather change) to make a 100% PV. However right here it makes for a pleasant contemporary wine, though the alcohol is a bit excessive (15.2%).
It was a superb pairing for the Margaret Rivery wagyu beef with potato puree, corn, and spinach. The meat had been glazed with a tare (Japanese glaze) made by the restaurant from abalone. When consuming all the things collectively, the meat was drowned out a bit by the opposite stuff on the plate. However itself, the flavour of the meat with the glaze was very good and by alternating bites the dish ‘labored’ very properly. The wagyu was not as tender as different wagyu beef we’ve had on this space.
The palate cleanser was a peach and yuzu sorbet.
The dessert wine was a fortified Shiraz from Margaret River. Good and candy with cherry aromas.
It was a reasonably good pairing for the macadamia ice cream with crumbs, and peach. The dessert was very good, with good contrasts between the creamy ice cream, the crunchy crumbs, and the contemporary peach. I feel a white dessert wine may have labored higher (due to the peach) or a ‘tawny’ type pink dessert wine (due to the nuts), however the pairing did work.
We had a really good dinner at De’sendent. The meals was artistic and fantastically offered. The extent of the wines was barely under the extent of the meals, which might be advantageous for most individuals, however as a wine lover I might not have minded paying a bit extra for nicer wines. Put in one other manner, the meals was on the identical stage because the meals on the wineries we’ve been to, however on the wineries the wines had been higher. Which is smart, I suppose.
