Freeman Secco Rondinella Corvina 2011 and some Venison
Sitting in a rather quite Double bay cafe when I opened the SMH Good Living only to see that my new favorite wine, the Freeman Secco 2011 was staring back at me. Photo and sparkling recommendation. Horrified, as now everyone in Sydney would want this fantastic wine from the Hilltops region of NSW, I headed straight to Moncur Cellars in Woollahra to pick up a few bottles. Moncur Cellars is one of my favorite wine shops in Sydney, a truly great selection of some interesting and obscure wines. Walking though the "blend" section I found the Freeman Nebbiolo as well as the Secco. The Secco is a blend of the two northern Italian grapes Rondinella and Corvina, a portion of the grapes are dried and added to the fermentation creating a wine that is savoury and rich which a touch of dryness. Tasting this wine to match my menu I was really struck with the intense flavour and nose and surprised that the wine was from the Hilltops of NSW. It wasn't bone dry but had a richness and fullness, an almost dried fruit sweetness intermingled though the dryness that I wasn't expecting at all. It was now the red that I recommend to guests as it works well with food. At a recent chefs table I pared it with a sensational piece of Mandagery Creek Venison with an intense and sticky truffle jus. The venison had been slow cooked for an hour at sixty degree celsius. Seared in a hot pan and basted in butter, then rested. A super creamy potato puree and our veal jus with a big spoon of chopped truffle off cuts (preserved from last year) warmed though it. The two worked off each other the gamey meaty richness of the venison was complimented with the rich prune like sweetness of the wine. A Cabernet or Shiraz may have worked just as well with there matching size and richness. But I just love interesting and food friendly wines, particularly of Italian origin, and this is one.
Venison with truffle