Best mates SAUSAGE ROLL:
PAIR THESE RIPPER AUSSIE DRINKS WITH CLASSIC TUCKER FOR A TRUE BLUE CELEBRATION
IT’S a bonza time to get stuck into Aussie wine, beer and spirits with inventiveness, quality and diversity at never before seen heights. Yes, a lot of Australian booze (and growing ranks of excellent non-alcoholic options) is world class, we know this, but it feels like we’re in an era never seen – an epoch where drinks are finding greater syncopation with our outdoor-living, sunshineloving, seafood-scoffing, barbecue-sizzling lifestyles.
The key points for sourcing better Aussie gear are pretty simple for me.
Hunt down the emerging sect of lighter reds that are destined for chilling in the fridge, drink the sour, thirstquenching beers, experiment with totally natural fizzy wines called
“pet nats”, explore your own mixed drinks using amazing, locally distilled spirits and why not get stuck into the adult seltzers that seem to be cropping up everywhere (with varying results …).
Better yet, once you’ve sorted your stash of things to refresh yourself with, pair them up with some of Australia’s most iconic dishes. No hard and fast rules, drink what you like with whatever’s on your plate, but here’s some suggestions to get you started.
FISH AND CHIPS:
Shobbrook Poolside 2020 (Barossa, South Australia, $37) The name is suggestive though this is a wine that feels like it moves at two speeds, slightly fancy, pure, refined, while also being one of the most wildly drinkable things on the planet. It may shock some people to see Barossa shiraz the colour of pale garnet, and one sniff, all floral, rose hip tea-like and fragrant of red cherries, it transcends the stereotype, muscular reds of the region. Being high in natural acid, bright and crunchy in texture, it’s the perfect foil for the saltiness and greasiness of fish and chips, resetting the palate with each sip. The wine comes from super happy, organic farmed grapes and there’s no additives at all in the wine.
Wildspirit
Distilling
Co, Pure
Passion
Alcoholic
Sparkling
Water
(NSW, $5)
A classic food and wine match for a sausage roll is a can of Passiona, so why not do the more grown-up thing of drinking something a bit more refined and boozy? The Wildspirit Distilling Co do some of the best Australian adult sodas on the market with a range that is delicately flavoured, low calorie, low carb and gluten free. This is vivaciously fizzy, crunchy-textured and generally just a delight. It smells and tastes (gently) like real passionfruit, but isn’t sickly sweet, instead, wonderfully dry and faintly bitter. It’s ideal with sausage rolls.
Brewed in collaboration with Bruce Pascoe, author of Aboriginal agriculture book Dark Emu, the beer has mamadyang ngalluk and burru ngalluk, native grass seeds of East Gippsland, as ingredients. The process to create this beer took over six months and lots of hard work. The resulting dark lager is complex, dry, malty and lifts with a light, nuttysavouriness. It is refreshing and incredibly good alongside heartier dishes like a classic meat pie.