Toothfish & Burgundy - Two Ways

ARIA Sydney’s roasted Toothfish with octopus, grilled leeks & tomato butter sauce. With 2012 Macon-Fuissé ‘Le Haut Fuissé’ Domaine Vessigaud, Burgundy France (Chardonnay)

ARIA Sydney Toothfish Main Course

Ben Turner’s latest Toothfish main dish at ARIA Sydney requires a complex wine that has fresh acidity. So we have decided to serve the same wine 2 ways for this dish – one bottle being 3-4 degrees (very chilled) served in a riesling glass, the other bottle served at cellar temperature (16 degrees) in a larger burgundy glass.  For me the bigger burgundy glass sings the louder tune, with firmer flavours and textures so is more suited to the mouthfeel of the Toothfish whilst in the crisper format the more chilled Macon has fresher citrus notes and high-toned acidity, making it more suitable with the accompanying flavours of smoked eggplant, octopus, leek and tomato.

Background on the ARIA Sydney dish:

Toothfish is a deep water fish which is harvested from Antarctica. It is caught in the sub-atlantic waters between Western Australia and Argentina.  It is rich and buttery with a large flake and in this case it is roasted with the skin off. The fish lies on a spoon of smoked eggplant caviar, green shallots are lightly char-grilled.  The octopus is sourced from Fremantle in Western Australia and is cooked in a water bath at 85 degrees celsius for 3 hours. The octopus is then warmed in a pickling liquid. The dish is garnished with ice plant, a tomato and octopus ink sauce – a sauce blended with fresh cherry tomato, tomato paste, sherry vinegar, butter and then finished with the ink. 

Tell your friends:

• Toothfish flesh is high in oil due to cold waters and a rich diet of squid, crustaceans and fish. 
• Macon-Fuissé wines are produced under the Macon appellation within the commune of Fuissé in Southern Burgundy. This title covers white wine produced exclusively from Chardonnay grapes.

Background on the wine:

Nestled between the communes of Pouilly and Fuissé, the Vessigaud estate has been producing wines since the mid 19th century. Pierre Vessigaud took over the eleven hectare domaine from his father in 1998. Mostly planted over clay-limestone soils on mid-slopes, and with general south-easterly exposure, the vines of Domaine Vessigaud benefit perfectly from the natural conditions found in this corner of southern Burgundy. The vineyards are laboured manually, with no use of chemical 

herbicides or pesticides. Domaine Vessigaud achieved certified Organic status in 2013. This wine is from single vineyard called 'Le Haut de Fuissé' which is a 2 hectare, south-west facing site close to the boundary with Pouilly-Fuissé. In my opinion wines from here offer great value in contrast to their more famous Burgundian counterparts.


Tasting notes:
Pale yellow in the glass, bright aromatics (orange blossom, peach and gingerbread) with struck match and flint.  Good structure on the palate - beautiful lemony character, exotic stone fruit, saline freshness and impressive complexity. Dry, long and intense finish.

Chardonnay chilled at 4 degrees (right) versus cellar temperature (left) at 16 degrees



The glassware:
For classy glasses that look great, feel great and heighten the experience of drinking I'd recommend the brand Zalto from Austria (pictured above). They are mouth-blown (see picture below) plus they are lead oxide free which results in a lighter, more flexible glass. Zalto's aim is for the wine to reach its utmost potential in the glass... and they do!  Click here to purchase some.

The work of a highly skilled glass blower

Would also go well with:
Ok, so maybe you are not the biggest fan of fish or seafood? So another great match with this style of wine is whole roast chicken stuffed with lemon and herbs, with coriander pesto and a potato salad.

To finish:

Make up your own mind about which style of Chardonnay you prefer (ie chilled or cellar temperature) but our idea would be to try the dish and wine in the following format:
1. take a sip out of the chilled glass, then try the Toothfish.
2. take a sip out of the burgundy glass, then try the accompaniments.
3. take a sip out of chilled glass, then try the dish together (ie fish and other ingredients combined)

It is interesting to see how the wine shows up differently in alternate glassware and how temperature makes a massive difference when looking at food and wine combinations.

To buy:

The 2012 Macon-Fuissé ‘Le Haut Fuissé’ Domaine Vessigaud is imported by MorSul Wine Imports exclusively in Australia and can be tried at one of our venues.  Click here to browse at our MorSul venues.