SAUVIGNON BLANC AND AVOCADO – SUMMER HEAVEN

SIMPLY delicious: match this chilled with fresh-sliced avocado, or avocado ice-cream.

Wc21Jan13

David Ellis

WE’RE not suggesting there’s a new national dish in the offing, but when winemaker Phil Spillman invited us to try his 2012 Deakin Estate Sauvignon Blanc chilled with nothing other than a cold avocado on a very warmish summer’s day – and vineyard manager Craig Thornton obliged with a couple of vineyard-grown fruit straight out of the fridge – we were blown away with the wonderful rewards of such simplicity.

And the more-so at home on a late afternoon some days later when the nation’s heatwaves were kicking-in, and we shared a bottle or two of Phil’s wine with friends over whole avocados both spooned off the plate, and spread on sourdough… and one of those friends later told us that they’d whipped avocado through some  vanilla ice-cream – the result, they said, with the Sauvignon Blanc was sheer summer heaven.

CHILL out on this one served lightly chilled or icy-cold with grilled fish and summer salads.

As well, at just $10 this Deakin Estate won’t break the bank, and being light-bodied, fresh, zesty and brimming with fruit flavour, is ideal in summer with those avocados as an appetizer – before finishing-off the bottle over a main course of grilled fish and salad.

ONE FOR LUNCH: ANOTHER wine we enjoy in the warmer months, and which doesn’t seem to get the recognition here it deserves, is Rosé – a drop you should best enjoy lightly chilled, but will find equally enjoyable from ice-cold to room temperature.

Terra Felix has a great La Vie en Rose 2011 Rosé from their Lake Marmal Vineyard in Central Victoria: with wonderful blackberry and raspberry fruit aromas and lively fruit flavours, its ideal lightly chilled with a summery Nicoise Salad, or again with grilled fish and salad. Available at Dan Murphy’s and independents at $17.50.

(NEED A FOOD/DRINK IDEA? Check out  http://www.vintnews.com )