Southern Sun’s Baraza is a great destination for red meat lovers. This fillet is perfect with chips or creamy mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables. To pick a wine that will compliment a steak dish, Denzil believes that the most important thing to consider is the cut of the meat. If you prefer a leaner steak (like a fillet or sirloin), choose a wine with low tannin (the drying sensation you get in your mouth when tasting red wine). This is because the steak will not have enough fat to soften it. A cut with more fat, like a rib-eye or T-bone, can handle bold red wines that have high tannin.
Sauces make a difference. With pepper sauce you don’t want a wine that is too oaky or tannic in taste and high in alcohol as it will make each mouthful too spicy.
To match the decadent texture and flavour of the fillet, Denzil picked a softer medium-bodied Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon that is an elegant, easy-drinking wine. The suppleness of the wine enhances the fillet’s soft nature. The medium alcohol and black fruit flavours perfectly complement the pepper sauce.
The Wine: Undurraga Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, Chile (SCF rating 3½ Stars)
A ripe, elegant fruity wine with medium body and tannic structure. An easy-to-drink wine that has aromas typical of the Cabernet Sauvignon grape. Notes of black fruits predominate on the palate and carry into a clean, sustained lingering flavour. (Alcohol: 12.5%)
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