Food Pairing | 2024 Signature Series Shiraz with 12-Hour Beef Short Ribs

Signature Series Shiraz with 12-Hour Beef Short Ribs

Mark's own range, from the Borenore vineyard. A wine that spans a Tuesday and a celebration, matched to a dish that takes all day and asks almost nothing of you.

2024 Signature Series Shiraz

From our vineyard at Borenore, or 'North Bore', so named for the underground water found in this area.

12-Hour Slow-Cooked Beef Short Ribs with Star Anise, Soy and Ginger Glaze

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2kg beef short ribs, cut into individual bones
• 2 tablespoons neutral oil
• 4 star anise
• 6cm piece ginger, sliced
• 6 cloves garlic, bruised
• 150ml soy sauce
• 100ml Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
• 80g brown sugar
• 1 cinnamon quill
• 750ml beef stock
• 2 spring onions, sliced, to finish

Method

1. Heat the oven to 120C. Pat the ribs dry and season.
2. Brown the ribs in the oil in a heavy casserole, in batches, until dark on all sides. Take your time here; this is where the flavour is built. Set aside.
3. In the same pot, add the star anise, ginger and garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
4. Add the soy, Shaoxing, sugar, cinnamon and stock. Bring to a simmer and scrape the base of the pot.
5. Return the ribs, cover tightly, and cook in the oven for 10 to 12 hours. Overnight works well. The meat should give way completely.
6. Lift the ribs out carefully. Strain the liquid, skim the fat, then reduce in a wide pan over high heat for 15 to 20 minutes until glossy and thick enough to coat a spoon.
7. Return the ribs to the glaze and turn to coat. Finish with spring onion.

Why it works: the star anise and cinnamon pick up the wine's spice and vanilla oak, and the wine's cool-climate freshness stops a very rich dish from becoming heavy.

Not cooking tonight? Peking duck pancakes

Same flavour territory as the short ribs, none of the twelve hours. Sweet hoisin, rich duck, cool cucumber and spring onion in a thin pancake, and a wine full of blueberry, black plum and toasty vanilla oak sitting right alongside. This is a genuinely excellent match rather than a novelty one, and it turns a takeaway order into something that feels like an occasion.