The Meat and Wine Co. Unit 1026, Westfield Shopping Centre, Ariel Way, London W12 7GA

On a typical summer’s evening of intermittent rain, thunder and sunny spells, the Meat & Wine Co. at the Westfield shopping centre recently held their Australian Barbeque. The aim of the evening was to pair Australian wines with typically Australian barbeque fare. This event was held in their covered seating area, immediately outside the bar, which occupies much of the ground floor of this huge establishment. So, atypically for a barbeque, we stood outside quaffing and munching while we chatted and watched the exodus from the enormous Westfield complex.

Skewered prawns and peppers, delicately flavoured with pepper, a pinch of salt and olive oil marinade before barbequing, were excellent and very well matched by a Yarrabank Cuvee Brut. This Champagnoise wine had good, soft effervescence, nice acidity and fruitiness, which kicked the evening off well. A lovely Billi Billi pinot grigio, with good fruit flavours filling your mouth was the second wine we tasted, and was another great match for some meaty red snapper. The fish had been seasoned, with olive oil, cajun seasoning, five spice and a little salt, adding to the bite that the barbeque caramelisation gave the fish.

Boerewors sausage, made specially for the Meat and Wine Co., had good textured coarsely minced beef with a spicy sweetness from its seasoning, and were nicely suited to barbeque cooking. These were well supported by a very palatable Yering Station chardonnay. This would not have been our choice of grape variety, but this was a far better than any other we have tasted, and we were happy to have our glasses topped up! Kangaroo, marinated overnight in red wine star anise and cinnamon, and cooked medium rare, was our fourth taster. This was served with a Dragon Cab merlot, which had good, spicy and blackcurranty flavours, and a fresh crispness to it that was very pleasant. Finally, springbok, again served medium rare having been marinated overnight in olive oil, red wine nutmeg and herbs, which was served with a more full bodied Yering Station shiraz viognier, which complemented the meat well.

The Meat and Wine Co. have other events coming up and if you are interested in sampling wines or produce, have a look at their website at www.themeatandwineco.com for details about what’s coming up. If you’d like to know more about the wines, these were provided through the the Rathbone Wine Group, who specialise in Australian wines, and you can check them out on www.rathbonewinegroup.com. We enjoyed what we tasted and they are certainly worth trying.