A Degustation

On Friday Aussie Wine Guy and associates took lunch at Rubicon restaurant in Griffith, ACT.  We opted for a group agreed 4-course degustation which kindly evolved into a 5-course owing to dietary restrictions of one of our diners.

   

The menu at Rubicon was as delectable as one would expect in a top tier restaurant.  Choosing between the entree and main options was a delightful but tough chore, however we decided on the following selection (pared with house selected wines in the table below).

• Entree 1: North Atlantic Scallops, apple and lentil salad, bacon, shiso,
• Entree 2: Pork assiette – belly with chilli lime caramel; rolled shin and boudin noir, crispy ear and herb salad
• Main: Chargrilled beef fillet in bacon, charred asparagus, potato boulangere, horseradish cream, olive
• Dessert: Poached quince, chevre Bavarian cream, caramelised sauternes jelly, peach puree
• Cheese plate: selected cheese

Pizzini	Pinot Grigio	2014
Lightfoot & Son Myrtle Point	Chardonnay	2013
Domaine Joncier – L’o de Joncier	Grenache	2013
Carmes du Rieussec	Sauvignon Blanc, Semillion	2011
El Candado Pedro Ximenez	Sherry	NV

 

Entree 1 – Scallops

A solid start, and the pairing with the Pinot Grigio was a superb way to cleanse  the palate.  AWG remarked at the time, that the Pinot Grigio was a remarkably underrated wine.

Entree 2 – Pork

An outstanding second act paired this King Valley Chardonnay with an amazing pair of pork combinations – fatty and crisp and outstandingly prepared.  The Chardonnay bucked the trend of being overtly sugary, which made it refreshing and crisp a perfect combination to the savoury goodness of pork belly.

 

Main – Beef

 

Our main for the day was accompanied with a fairly obscure 100% Grenache from the southern Rhone.  The beef was served with an array of complementary flavours, from bacon to a fine horseradish cream.

AWG had to do some research on the Grenache, and came across this snippet:

The Domaine Joncier L’O 2013 is actually a de-classified Lirac making it all the more exciting. Made of 100% of Grenache grapes picked at the beginning of the harvest, in a parcel over 45 years from Lirac. The harvest is manual, the yields are low, the vinification is natural and gentle but all this develop the intensity and the elegance of this wine. The total destemming allows very round and fine tannins.

Source: https://francaboutwine.com/product/domaine-joncier-lo-2013/

Dessert – Poached quince

Dessert was a nice change of pace, stepping into the sweet, sweet world of after main dishes.  The quince was very nice and full of flavour, but the highlight could well have been the caramelized sauternes jelly coupled with the cream, topped off with a nice cold glass of Sauternes dessert wine direct from the Bordeaux region.

Finishing touch – Cheese

Finishing off our fine lunch was this cheese plate containing a variety of soft and hard cheeses.  This was paired against a glass of Spanish Sherry which the party remarked reminded everyone of Christmas.

Summary

Rubicon is an excellent venue and the food, service and ambiance are amongst the elite in Canberra.  The food is but a part of the dining experience, it’s a truly enjoyable experience which is best enjoyed with good company.