No apologies for featuring another wine from the excellent Howard Park stable; this is their old vine Cabernet Sauvignon from the Great Southern Region of Western Australia. It was an absolute star with this lamb dish although don’t go too heavy with mint sauce.
Wine Tasting Note: Howard Park Scotsdale Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005, Great Southern, Western Australia

New vintage available soon from Bibendum for £13
They make great play on the ‘old vines’ description on the rear label. The grapes for this bottle come are sourced from a single estate in Mount Barker (in the Great Southern region) in Western Australia. The vines were planted in 1974 and are therefore 34 years old. Old vines and extra attention in the vineyard results in a higher quality wine, in this case one brimming with wonderful blackberry and bramble flavours laced with a herbal, dark chocolate edge. It is also blessed with a long length and tannins that should see it though for several years. In fact the recommend 5-8 years cellaring. Alcohol 14.5%.
Scribblings Rating – 90/100 [3.75 out of 5]

It’s a touch young at the moment but still a joy to drink. Served with Lamb Baguettes with Fresh Mint Sauce (recipe below) it was a delight. Wareing’s sauce is rather sweet and, depending on how much mint you add, quite powerfully flavoured. The sweetness will swamp the wine so use sparingly.

Lamb Baguette with Fresh Mint Sauce
From One Perfect Ingredient by Marcus Wareing [Amazon.co.uk £10.19]
2 (middle neck) fillets of lamb
Large baguette halved lengthways
Salt and pepper
For the mint sauce
50g caster sugar
50ml white wine vinegar
1 large bunch fresh mint leaves
Make the sauce- dissolve the sugar in the vinegar, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Leave to cool for 10 minutes then add finely chopped mint leaves.
Slice the lamb into 1cm thick slices. Cook on a high heat for 5-8 minutes until seared on both sides. Leave to rest for 5 minutes but reserve the pan juices.
Toast the cut sides of the baguette under the grill. Place the lamb on top and drizzle with the pan juices and the mint sauce. Make a sandwich and enjoy.