Duck Sauce 'The Don' Pinot Noir 2015
- Medium bodied
- Yarra Valley
Sometimes it takes not a hero, but a foul-mouthed, rage against the machine, king pin mother ducker of dubious character and rebel heart to liberate a dirty pond. Enter The Don, Duck Sauce’s mafioso pinot uncle.
Profile
He’s the one with the tatts; the one who taught you how to throw a punch, drive a manual and respect your grandma. Because while he may swear like a sailor and look like a scoundrel, he’s a duck of principle and he knows how to treat a lady. Ie; buy her a bottle of top notch juice and say nice things. But not about her hair, or her eyes, though. Say nice things about her as a person. Because women are bad ass mother duckers too.
Not a duck to take the injustices of the world laying down, he’s the first to get his feathers wet and the last to leave the fray. I want to call him the Robin Hood of Poultry, but he’s got too many bad habits.
What is the Collaboration Series?
This range is all about celebrating and collaborating with the folk who get their hands dirty. The brightest and most passionate wine lovers out there - the winemakers. These are the people who are on site, vintage in and vintage out, turning grapes into magic.
And in working with Australia’s most talented winemakers, we are humbled to help see a wine come to life, from seedling to screwcap and everything in between. We’re talking honest and epic vino, from the best in the business. Which in The Don’s case is Upper Yarra legend, Andrew Santarossa..
Made by Andrew Santarossa
Andrew Santarossa has the biggest smile in the vino business. And his laugh is infectious. And his wine is impeccable. So lovely, it’s almost ironic that he’s the guy behind our brutish anti-hero. But I guess it just goes to show, ol’ Santarossa is a man of many talents. Complex, interesting, delicious pinot being at the top of the list.
Working his Langbrook Vineyard like a vinous prodigy, Andrew is renowned for bringing the Upper Yarra to life in the glass. Head wine judge, pinot perfectionist and all-round good guy, we’re stoked to have had him on board for The Don. Like, really bloody stoked.
The Process
When we set out to make this premium pinot, the Upper Yarra was always our dream site. It’s a region known for producing parcels of on-point pinot that are consistently flavoursome and seriously elegant. And the 2015 vintage was no exception.
The winter was cold. Like, real cold. And wet. But that just meant the vineyard soils were super moist (soz, ‘moist’ is the worst, hey). The cool spring delivered a stellar growing season and the warm summer days brought with them rad vine health and some serious flava-flav development.
From these conditions, The Don was then born out of traditional winemaking techniques, which included cold-soaking (for maximum colour extraction), a 17-day fermentation (for deliciousness) and maturation in fine-grained French oak (for complexity). We even took the ‘Fo team out to the vineyard and got involved in a little foot-stomping ourselves. In fact, we were involved in much of the process. Under the guidance of Andrew, our wine buyers helped pick, stomp, blend and taste this baby to perfection.
The Wine
Did someone say single vineyard pinot? Hell yeah, we did. 100% sourced from Santarossa’s Langbrook Vineyard, The Don will smack you in the face with aromas of intense raspberry, dark cherry and black spice before bringing you under his wing with a long, slinky palate.
Super complex (is he a hero? Is he a villain?) with fine tannins, The Don is going to stick around the hood for the next 8-12 years. This boss is not here to mess around, mofos.
The Inspiration
The Don holds a tugboat-ful of meaning for us. And for our Art Director, Adsy, most especially. If you look at the details, the label tells the Vinomofo story; our journey from a disruptive little punk ass retailer to a tribe that’s genuinely holding its own. We know we act the kid, but deep down (not even that deep down, we pretty much wear it on our sleeve) we give a shit.
We’re proud of poking the bear, and the sleeping giant, and the elephant in the room. We wanna poke everything that’s archaic or unjust or downright boring, and bring about a little change in this industry. Good wine and good vibes for everyone. Cheers to that.
It’s cool, we get it, you want to know absolutely everything about this wine. Well here you go, go nuts.
Specs
- Region
- Yarra Valley
- Vintage
- 2015
- Cellaring
- 2022
- Preservatives
- Sulphites
- Alcohol by Vol.
- 13.1%
- Closure
- Screwcap
- Bottle Vol
- 750mL
- Blend Info
- 100% Pinot Noir
- Serving Temp.
- 18.0°C
Region
Yarra Valley
With a history spanning over 175 years, there's no doubt that Yarra Valley is one of Australia's most celebrated cool climate wine regions. Victoria's first wine growing district and today home to over 80 wineries specialising in Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Shiraz and some of our country's best sparkling wines. With stunning hillside, lush greenery, vast space and an enviable climate - it's no wonder that medals, trophies and coveted points are plentiful here.
The rules are there ain’t no rules, but here are some foods we think will work pretty well with this wine...
Goes with
Fillet of venison with red wine and wild mushrooms
Ingredients
- 600ml red wine (such as shiraz)
- 1/3 cup (80ml) Madeira or dry sherry
- 1/3 cup (80ml) balsamic vinegar
- 6 eschalots, sliced
- 1 fresh bay leaf*
- 1 thyme sprig
- 2 cups (500ml) cranberry jus or good-quality beef stock**
- 10g dried chanterelle or porcini mushrooms***
- 1kg venison fillet****
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 30g unsalted butter
- 1 tbs plain flour
- Redcurrant jelly, to serve
Directions
- To make the sauce, combine the red wine, Madeira, balsamic vinegar, eschalots, bay leaf and thyme in a bowl and set aside for 2-3 hours. Place in a saucepan with jus or stock and bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until reduced by three-quarters (this will take about 20 minutes). Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Place the dried mushrooms in a small bowl, pour over a little boiling water and set aside to soak for 10 minutes.
- If the venison fillet is long, cut it in half. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Heat the oil in a large frypan over high heat and sear the venison on all sides. Transfer to a baking tray and roast for 10-12 minutes for medium-rare. Remove from oven, cover loosely with foil and set aside to rest for 10 minutes.
- Drain mushrooms, reserving the liquid. Heat the butter in a frypan over medium heat. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes. Add flour to the pan and cook, stirring, for a further minute. Add red-wine sauce and reserved mushroom liquid, and simmer for 5-6 minutes until well-reduced. Season to taste.
- Slice the venison and serve with sauce and redcurrant jelly, accompanied by the salad and tartiflette.