Maryborough to celebrate Rhone Wine Week in style.

Maryborough to celebrate Rhone Wine Week in style.

Southern Rhone

The annual Rhone Wine Week kicked off on Saturday and I’m certainly looking forward to renewing acquaintance with two of the region’s gems during next Friday's Wine Dinner in the Maryborough Hotel. No doubt talented Chef Gemma Murphy's menu will prove a perfect match.

You'll be welcomed at 7.00pm with a Kir or a Kir Royale. After that relaxing start, you can looked forward to no less than six delicious courses from Gemma and her team in the kitchen. Your starter will be Torched Mackerel, cucumber, miso, yuzu and coconut, followed by a Quail consommé. A sorbet will delightfully cleanse the palate before the fish course (Sea bass).

Time to change over to the red wine now as the Venison Loin (with coffee and orange glazed salsify and Heritage beetroot) makes its appearance. And to finish it all off there's a Valrhona Chocolate and Praline Torte!

Simon Tyrrell
Les Deux Cols

The chosen white wine comes from Chateau Pesquie, based in Provence under the shadow of Mont Ventoux. It is the 2016 Le Paradou, a superb Viognier, apricot flavours, floral, fresh, and delicious. This was a grape that nearly died out in the 20th century and this excellent example showed just what we would have had missed.

Irishman Simon Tyrrell of Les Deux Cols is an unofficial ambassador of the Rhone where he makes a few wines, including ‘Cuvée D’Alize’, named after a local wind. Lots of winds around here, after all Ventoux is the windy mountain.

“My staple wine”,  he says, “a blend of Grenache 60%, Syrah 30 and Cinsault (the Pinot Noir of the South)." No oak here, just stainless steel. His idea was to make “a moreish wine”. Reckon he pulled it off!