Blackbilly Sangiovese 2009 & roast duck pasta

The Blackbilly name is truly linked to the Australian landscape as it is the Yacca tree which is unique to our heritage.   This wine is made by Nick Hazelgrove and he is based in McLaren Vale which happens to have some very good Sangiovese vines.  The 2009 vintage was plagued by heat suggesting that the wines may not age as well but will show well on release. On the bottle of this wine Nick recommends that a duck pasta would be the perfect match so I thought I should give it a go.

Roast Duck Pasta

400 gr best possible penna pasta you can find
3 cloves garlic
1/2  Cantonese Roast Duck, pulled apart
Duck fat as reqiured
salt and pepper for taste
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Place pasta in boiling water and cook until tender. While pasta is cooking heat a pan on a medium temperature.  Melt some duck fat in pan and add garlic, sauté until tender. When pasta is ready, drain and the add garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper, roasted duck and more duck fat to pasta.  Serve immediately. This recipe is dead easy as I cheat by buying the Duck at my local Chinese markets.

While this meal was divine it did not have enough stuffing to compete with the flavours of the wine.  A better match would be pepper steak or any full bodied dish.

Blackbilly Sangiovese 2009

This is a rather full bodied Sangiovese but I guess that was always going to be the case as it comes from a hot vintage. There is a little charry oak at play but it soon settles down to reveal pepper and spice with a side serve of cherry delight.  This is so easy to drink and it does have a funky earthy element that provides a nice counter point to the ripe fruit.  On the back of the palate there is a bit of alcohol heat but this would work well with a skewered steak on the end of your fork. What this wine has is typical for sangiovese and that is nice acidity, an easy feel and food friendliness.

Alcohol: 14.5%
Price: $22
Rated: 86
Drink: Now - 2016