Come visit Canberra’s urban winery, Contentious Character. Photo: Kazuri Photography.
I am not a wine person. The only bottle of wine in my house is a 200 ml bottle of Chardonnay bought solely to bring flavour to autumn casseroles.
So I’m grateful to have someone who really knows wine to journey with us through our wine pairing lunch today, explaining all the nuances. We have come to Contentious Character’s new Feed Me menu with wine pairings and co-founder Ben Jarrett’s knowledge is making the experience so memorable.
This urban winery is a nine-minute drive from the heart of Canberra. We walk through a meandering, sun-dappled outdoor dining area – pet and child friendly and surrounded by cheeky wine barrels – and into the elegant interior.
The char-grilled baby octopus, smokey and tender with lightly grilled capsicum and harissa aioli. Photo: Kazuri Photography.
Head chef Andy Park relished putting together this new menu, collaborating with Ben and other co-founder Jeremy Wilson (also chief winemaker) to pick the perfect wines to hero seasonal produce.
We get started with the entree on the set menu.
A plate of char-grilled baby octopus comes out, smokey and tender with lightly grilled capsicum and harissa aioli. Its wine pairing, one of Contentious’ statement chardonnays the Chardy Party, is clean crisp pear flavours that complement the dish’s simple deliciousness.
Next is the caramelised miso eggplant, melt-in-the-mouth umami, topped with tangy vegan sour cream and crispy chickpeas. Matching the richness of the glossy eggplant is a premium Pinot Gris, barrel-aged for 15 months; its mellow, ripe pear notes play so well with the creaminess of the eggplant.
The caramelised miso eggplant. Photo: Kazuri Photography.
Not on the Feed Me menu, but a side dish we love that is also accompanied by my favourite wine pairing, is the pan-fried king oyster mushroom. The mushroom’s meat-like flesh is grilled into tender submission and offset by fresh pops of corn, the zing of red onion, fresh coriander and toasted hazelnuts that make me feel like I have foraged in the forest. The wine pairing for this dish: the delightful Priscilla, another Pinot Gris, but sweeter than the last one, with light fruit flavours of citrus and pear.
Our main is dry-aged duck breast served with barley jus, witlof and pickled Shimeji mushrooms, paired with a Shiraz. As she pours it into our glasses, our server tells us to expect to taste cherry, chocolate and pepper notes. The duck is rich meat, tender with beautifully rendered fat.
Also paired with the Shiraz is a generous bowl of brussel sprouts, fried and tossed in kimchi vinaigrette. They taste perfect, nutty with a hint of sweet and sour tang.
We finish on dessert and mulled wine.
The dessert, a mandarin coconut panna cotta, is not overly sweet, rather it is smooth and refreshing with punchy hits of dehydrated mandarin.
It’s the best mulled wine I’ve tasted: sweet, deep and fragrant with spices – and I walk away with the recipe!
Just when we think life couldn’t be better, we preview the winery’s new cocktail, its latest collaboration with Underground Spirits created specially for the upcoming folk festival. Made with Underground Spirits Caramel Vodka and Contentious Character Chardonnay, the Folk and Oak is a chilled winter cocktail. The first hit is caramel with spiced orange and after notes of rosemary. It almost tastes creamy. And I love it!
The mandarin coconut panna cotta is smooth and refreshing with punchy hits of dehydrated mandarin. Photo: Kazuri Photography.
The food, wines and cocktail have been fabulous, the presentation beautiful. The crew creates wines to please all palates, from sommelier to a newbie. My tastebuds gravitated to the simpler, less aged wines and I loved how Ben has taken us on a real sip and savour adventure and made the wines come alive.
Contentious Character is located at Building 4/1 Dairy Rd, in Fyshwick. It’s open from 8:30 am until the evening from Thursday to Tuesday. Follow Contentious Character on Facebook and Instagram.
Original Article published by Michelle Taylor on Region Canberra.
