Ballandean Estate Saperavi 2018

About once a fortnight I crave a spicy red duck curry. There is something special about eating duck. I’ve discovered that it ‘melts’ pleasantly in a spicy curry, even though the flesh is actually quite firm. As a spicy dish, I wanted to counterbalance the heat. I tried a nebbiolo first and it didn’t work. It made the wine feel super thin and acidic. This inspired me to go the opposite direction, with a big, bold, fruit-forward, 15.6% saperavi – certainly not for the faint hearted.

Ballandean Estate produces this single vineyard saperavi with great success. Long-time owners, the Puglisi family, expanded their horizons with this Georgian red variety — demonstrating their wine-growing excellence in Queensland’s Granite Belt with aplomb. The sleek packaging and the use of a cork seal offer a premium impression from the outset. 

In the glass, this wine has an intense bouquet, with hints of liquorice and black berries. Full-bodied, It has a bold, dry palate. The more it breathes, the more it releases cherry and plummy notes. I really enjoyed the texture and how beautifully the French oak synced with the core of fruit, giving a lingering smoothness with a long finish on the palate.

This saperavi is dense, ripe and giving. The Thai red curry is in many ways the same. The duck, coconut milk and curry paste blend nicely. Amazingly hot, yet so delicious. The alcohol of the wine enhanced this effect even further. I found myself particularly enjoying the combination with the baby tomatoes in the dish — their burst of texture and juices was refreshing, despite the heat. The snow peas also tone things down and allowed the wine to show another layer of fruit, making the plummy touch more pronounced. This saperavi is quite generous, and the core dominant blueberry fruit melted amazingly well with the pineapple. The sweet spectrum of the matching was nothing short of mind blowing as the intensity of the wine elevated the intensity of the dish.

Who knew that a hot duck red Thai curry could successfully match with saperavi? This pairing will be appreciated by those who enjoy ripeness and richness of flavour. I truly enjoyed how the wine played up the heat of the Thai curry and duck. The blueberry concentration and the fleshy mid palate textures accomplished delicious things. The duck felt meaty and juicy as it interacted with the wine, curry, tomatoes and pineapple and, despite the heat, the finish was sweet after all. This was certainly an alternative food and wine matching experience worth repeating for sure. Be open minded and enjoy the ride.