A hearty plate for a hearty red. Put the fire on and be ready to put your feet up afterwards!

Ingredients

2 x 220g eye fillet 1 sheet of short crust pastry 4 brown onions ½ cup brown sugar 2 tbs Persian fetta 1 medium carrot 100ml red wine jus (any simple recipe)

Method

Vol au vont 1. Cut two large circles out of a sheet of short crust pastry using a small plate as a template. 2. Brush the top of one of the circles with simple egg wash (1 whisked egg), then place the other circle on top. Score a slightly smaller circle (1 cm smaller in diameter) into the top of the pastry circle, brush with egg wash and cook for 10 minutes at 180°C or until golden brown. 3. Meanwhile, finely slice the onions and sauté in butter. Add brown sugar and cook until the mixture has a jam like consistency. 4. To make the carrot curls, peel the carrot and then using

Curtis have been making wine in McLaren Vale since 1973. The family history in winemaking stretches back to Italy, where in 1499 Paolo Curtis was charged by the Cardinal de Medici with looking after the papal lands around Cervaro, including the establishment of vineyards and olive groves. The family still farms in the area today. Part of the family moved to Australia and began making wine in McLaren Vale in the 1970’s. They draw on some serious old vine resources, with Shiraz plantings 60 years of age and Grenache vines a century old in the mix and forming the backbone of the wines we stock from them. We’re definitely overdue a feature on Curtis Family Vineyards as we’ve been stocking their wines for the last 5 years and have been seeing quality improve year on year. We started with

You gotta love the classics - a true classic will be a true classic forever! It will ride the waves of trends and bide it’s time until the next generation discovers it in their Mum and Dad's record collection or cellar - who then go on to painfully tell their parents how they discovered it and how cool it is.

  Those who have been enjoying Spanish wines or Rhone blends for years will already know of the classic varietal I’m taking the long road around to. It, like so many classics, has been rediscovered over the last little while and is enjoying a resurgence in popularity that is seeing it bust out from cult hero status at the local pub open-mic night to front and centre in stadiums, thrusting and twerking on its own headline tour. The humble varietal Garnacha or Grenache as we know it.

Less than 40km south of Adelaide, McLaren Vale is another one of South Australia's renowned Shiraz producers, accounting for roughly 50% of grapes crushed annually. The climate is markedly different from the Barossa, being much more Mediterranean with four clear seasons and higher rainfalls. McLaren Vale reds reflect this, showing deep complexity and power along with the ability to cellar for decades. While Shiraz grabs the most attention, chocolate-rich Cabernet Sauvignons, Chardonnays and Viogniers are worth sampling.

The climate is influenced by ocean breezes coming in from the Gulf of St. Vincent to the west and the altitude of the Sellicks Hill Range to the south. Soil type is varied, ranging from red-brown loam and sand to dark clay and the often-mentioned terra rosa. A misspell of the Italian phrase "terra rossa" (meaning "red soil"), this ruddy-red stuff is left behind when limestone breaks down, and any viticulturist will tell you it's great stuff to grow vines in due