WINE
Eye fillet, wine 3 ways
Wine has been linked with the human race for some 8000 years, with the first wine press being uncovered in a dig in Syria. Its traditions are thought to have evolved in ancient mesapotanea, being linked with early civilisations along the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. With commercial trade, wine and the grape varietals began appearing right throughout Europe.
In today’s modern world we traditionally associate wine with France, Spain and Italy. In the past 50 years a few other major producers have come onto the scene with North American, Australian and New Zealand varieties winning major competitions worldwide.
Within Australia, the wine industry is a constantly growing animal. We have simply hundreds of wineries right across our land. The unique soils, dry and wet climates create an amazing contrast in flavours and complexities. The unique climates have also created some amazing wine growing areas - The Hunter Valley, The Barossa, Margaret River, Tasmania, Heathcote, The Yarra Valley, the Mornington and Bellarine Peninsula to name but a few.
Our wine story took us to Bellarine Estate between Drysdale and Portarlington on the Bellarine Peninsula. It is a property with 30 acres of shiraz, voigner, chardonnay and cabernet veriatils and has a beautiful slope so the vines have a natural water irrigation. It just happens to be just down the hill from Victorian meat sheep, so the rolling meadows and amazing view across Corio bay is magnificent. In fact on top of this hill you are able to see from Geelong, Melbourne, and right down to the heads of Port Phillip bay. This amazing spot actually makes it ideal for growing grapes as this beautiful sea breeze, which is always blowing, sweeps away any disease that may infect the canes as they lay dormant throughout their winter hibernation.
When we arrived at the Bellarine Estate winery, we were greeted by winemaker Anthony Brain. We were so lucky to experience amazing experts throughout our filming and Anthony was no exception. His knowledge and love of his product was staggering. He could tell us the difference of the soil on one part of the property would dramatically alter the flavour from the same vines from the other part of the property. After our tour of the vineyard, he took us back to the barrels and let us taste the difference. It was quite amazing - in a distant of 150m the shiraz had completely different characters! It was something that I had never even thought about.
Our tour involved a bumpy ride around the vines and a demonstration of pruning - an art in itself. Then we shot back to the winemaking shed and were talked through every aspect of winemaking, both red and white varieties. The science of winemaking is astonishing and through Anthony's knowledge and unwavering passion for his product, you can see why his wine is some of the best in the greater Geelong region.
So, with our minds full of knowledge, we shot back to the food to eat kitchen to cook and get out our ideas. I invited chef James McGann back and he whipped up a lovely poached pear with brioche and vanilla ice-cream. Then I had a play and decided to use the one bottle of Bellarine estate red in three ways by making a red wine marinated eye fillet on potato mash, red wine infused olive tapenade and a red wine reduction. Splendid!
In today’s modern world we traditionally associate wine with France, Spain and Italy. In the past 50 years a few other major producers have come onto the scene with North American, Australian and New Zealand varieties winning major competitions worldwide.
Within Australia, the wine industry is a constantly growing animal. We have simply hundreds of wineries right across our land. The unique soils, dry and wet climates create an amazing contrast in flavours and complexities. The unique climates have also created some amazing wine growing areas - The Hunter Valley, The Barossa, Margaret River, Tasmania, Heathcote, The Yarra Valley, the Mornington and Bellarine Peninsula to name but a few.
Our wine story took us to Bellarine Estate between Drysdale and Portarlington on the Bellarine Peninsula. It is a property with 30 acres of shiraz, voigner, chardonnay and cabernet veriatils and has a beautiful slope so the vines have a natural water irrigation. It just happens to be just down the hill from Victorian meat sheep, so the rolling meadows and amazing view across Corio bay is magnificent. In fact on top of this hill you are able to see from Geelong, Melbourne, and right down to the heads of Port Phillip bay. This amazing spot actually makes it ideal for growing grapes as this beautiful sea breeze, which is always blowing, sweeps away any disease that may infect the canes as they lay dormant throughout their winter hibernation.
When we arrived at the Bellarine Estate winery, we were greeted by winemaker Anthony Brain. We were so lucky to experience amazing experts throughout our filming and Anthony was no exception. His knowledge and love of his product was staggering. He could tell us the difference of the soil on one part of the property would dramatically alter the flavour from the same vines from the other part of the property. After our tour of the vineyard, he took us back to the barrels and let us taste the difference. It was quite amazing - in a distant of 150m the shiraz had completely different characters! It was something that I had never even thought about.
Our tour involved a bumpy ride around the vines and a demonstration of pruning - an art in itself. Then we shot back to the winemaking shed and were talked through every aspect of winemaking, both red and white varieties. The science of winemaking is astonishing and through Anthony's knowledge and unwavering passion for his product, you can see why his wine is some of the best in the greater Geelong region.
So, with our minds full of knowledge, we shot back to the food to eat kitchen to cook and get out our ideas. I invited chef James McGann back and he whipped up a lovely poached pear with brioche and vanilla ice-cream. Then I had a play and decided to use the one bottle of Bellarine estate red in three ways by making a red wine marinated eye fillet on potato mash, red wine infused olive tapenade and a red wine reduction. Splendid!
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Poached red wine pear, brioche, vanilla ice cream
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episode sponsored by Bellarine Estate
