Cape Mentelle Two Vineyards Margaret River Shiraz and a Taste of Cast Iron Steak

 I am so excited to talk about Australian wines this year in #WorldWineTravel.  Australia is a place that I would love to visit someday. So many interesting things to learn about this country, especially in the world of wine.

This month we are exploring wines from Western Australia. As I was doing research for this post, I found that I would be looking for wines from Perth Hills, Peel, Geographe, Margaret River, Blackwood Valley, Manjimup, Pemberton, Swan District, or Great Southern.  I had no trouble finding wines from Margaret River, but the other areas were more elusive to me.  So, Margaret River is the area that I will focus on for this post.

I read that the area became a wine-growing region when an Agronomist by the name of Dr. John Gladstone had a gut feeling that the area would be good for wine.  His data showed that Western Australia would have a strong growing season similar to Bordeaux.  Even better, the ripening period in Australia was drier, the risk of spring frost was lower, and the temperatures were moderate due to the sea breezes from the Indian and Southern Oceans.  His hunch proved correct, and the Margaret River wineries have a wonderful reputation for producing great wines with unique characteristics.

We chose a 2017 Cape Mentelle Shiraz Cabernet that was outstanding.  At a price point of $20, it is a steal.  The winemaker's notes describe a wine that is a deep garnet with dark purple edges. The fruit is black cherry, black currant, plum.  Some are finding flint, jasmine blossom, leather, and tobacco.  It is a rich wine with earthy notes. It is silky with great volume.  It is savory and delicious with our steak.

Bob made a butter-basted steak in a cast-iron skillet.  This is more technique than a recipe, but I will share with you what he did.

He had two beautiful cuts of ribeye steak plus five tablespoons of butter, a tablespoon of olive oil, 4 crushed garlic cloves, a few sprigs of thyme, rosemary salt, and cracked black pepper.  

He heated up the cast-iron skillet to medium-high. He seasoned the steaks with rosemary salt and cracked pepper.  He seared off the steaks, removed them from the pan, added the olive oil, and heated it to medium.  He added the garlic and swirled the pan around to cook the garlic in the oil.  He next added the butter and thyme, again swirling the pan.  He added the steaks back into the pan and basted them with the butter for about 4-5 minutes.  He removed the steaks from the pan and let them rest before slicing and serving.

The pairing was fantastic. The richness of the wine stood up beautifully to the rich buttery steak.  A bite of the steak required a sip of the wine to make a complete experience.  This is a bottle of wine we can see buying and keep on hand.

So check out these posts about Western Australian wine and learn along with the rest of us. 

• Cape Mentelle Two Vineyards Margaret River Shiraz and a Taste of Cast Iron Steak by Our Good Life
• Cool climate Happs Semillon from Margaret River by Avvinare
• Getting to Know Margaret River through Vasse Felix by Food Wine Click!
• Hooroo! Aussie Burgers with the Lot + Hope Estate 2015 The Ripper Shiraz by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Lamb and Lupin Kofte with Vasse Felix Filius Cabernet by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Margaret River Shiraz Kicks Off Virtual Trip Down Under by My Full Wine Glass
• Margaret River’s Vinaceous Voodoo Moon Malbec Makes You Howl for Blue Cheese BBQ by Wine Predator...Gwendolyn Alley
• Walsh & Sons - Next-Generation Wines from Margaret River by Crushed Grape Chronicles