Westholme – Nature-led Australian Wagyu
Wednesday, 17 July 2024Coming from the highest-credential Wagyu bloodlines to ever leave Japan, Westholme Wagyu is renowned for its impressive marbling and exceptional taste.
Their Full-Blood herd is derived from prized Japanese Black wagyu sires and cows. Westholme approach to Wagyu breeding and animal care is uniquely Australian, focusing on the careful calibration of open grazing and grain finishing, with continuous improvement of their herd of unrivalled provenance. This considered approach is reflected in a Wagyu of exquisite quality.
Westholme achieves a unique mix of marbling and lean by raising their cattle on grass, legumes and herbs, and finishing them on a proprietary grain blend grown on their land. The attention they give to their health and well-being, and the sweeping plains they occupy, is what maintains the integrity of the flavour.
Westholme signature flavour reflects the Northern Australian terroir – a taste both deep and round with delicate mouthfeel and a clean finish.
A NATURE-LED POSITION
Westholme cattle graze freely, moving at will across the 16 million acres of rangelands for the first three years of their lives. Calves are raised by their mothers and family groupings are allowed to roam freely together. The people— station hands, vets, land managers, farmers—intervene only as needed, checking on the health of the cattle, ensuring that they have easy access to water, and making sure the grass isn’t overgrazed.
Westholme is a Nature-Led agriculture company, driven by a duty to ensure the land they care for is fertile and productive far into the future. A duty that drives them to build a better, healthier, more functional world, with the goal to create a more stable climate, cleaner water, healthier soil, and more biodiversity – that goes hand in hand with the desire to raise the best beef possible, because better land makes better beef.
Elegant richness and savoury complexity. A dining experience like no other.
Westholme signature flavour reflects the Northern Australian terroir – a taste both deep and round with delicate mouthfeel and a clean finish.
Westholme, together with the University of Queensland worked to develop a world-first wagyu flavour wheel that catalogues tasting profiles for their wagyu. Using similar principles to wine tasting, researchers identified the aroma, flavour and textural components which form the sensory experience of Westholme wagyu. The dining experience is proof of the craft, the culmination of the genetics, provenance, environment, feed and the utmost care taken at every step.
Research showed the entire Westholme range is identified by its roasted and caramelised aromas, tender melt-in-the-mouth juiciness and elegant, complex flavour with buttery notes balanced by sweet and tart elements. The finely calibrated balance of meat and marbling allows every element to shine through.
The exceptional quality of Westholme wagyu was recognized by Australian Wagyu Association, which awarded them gold medals at beef competition. Westholme wagyu was described by judges as “Tender, very juicy, great flavour. Rich and rounded” and “Wonderful clean and caramel aroma, very tender beef with cereal flavour and very juicy.”
The ultimate Australian Wagyu
The exceptional quality of Westholme wagyu was recognized by Australian Wagyu Association, which awarded them gold medals at beef competition. Westholme wagyu was described by judges as “Tender, very juicy, great flavour. Rich and rounded” and “Wonderful clean and caramel aroma, very tender beef with cereal flavour and very juicy.”
The chefs appreciate Westholme, too:
“With the Australian Wagyu, there’s more meatiness to it, it’s more beefy, it eats a lot cleaner. It’s quite amazing how there’s so much marbling but also so much beef. It’s definitely very well balanced. The flavour is quite amazing, beefy but also sweet.” Mei Lin, Chef and restaurateur
"The grass and the grain come through. It has earthiness to it. It's a full-bodied piece of beef but the marbling is so good too." Chef Nina Compton, Compère Lapin, New Orleans, USA
"The colour of the meat is so rich and the colour of the fat and how it's distributed through the meat is beautiful. The thing I like about Westholme is it's still really beefy. Wagyu can be too fatty and decadent. Westholme has enough marbling that you're like, 'This is Wagyu' but it doesn't have so much that you lose that beefy essence." Chef Kris Yenbamroong, Night + Market, Los Angeles, USA
“I like flavour first and fat second. The flavour profiles coming through in Westholme are clean, true, it's not a fat bomb. Fat transmits flavour but it should be a symbiotic relationship: in Westholme, they accentuate each other.” Tim Hollingsworth
Past RARE Events
Satsuma Gyu - 4% Miracle Japanese Wagyu
Wednesday, 19 June 2024Nestled in the fertile lands of Kagoshima, Japan, lies a culinary treasure cherished by finest chefs and gourmands worldwide: Satsuma Gyu. Renowned for its exquisite marbling and tender texture, this Wagyu is no ordinary beef—it's a masterpiece of artisanal craftsmanship.
"4% Miracle Japanese Wagyu" - its rarity stems from the fact that only 4% of Wagyu achieves the pinnacle of marbling perfection, earning it the prestigious title.
Satsuma Gyu has won the past two Japanese Wagyu Olympics, an illustrious event held once every five years. This triumph has not only captured the essence of Wagyu excellence but also solidified its place as a Wagyu champion for the past seven years.
— Rump and Chuck Ribs served during RARE at Roberto's
What elevates Satsuma Gyu beyond is its commitment to integrated production—a holistic journey from feed to meat, curated with unwavering dedication. This artisanal approach ensures a symphony of flavors and textures, delivering a culinary experience that transcends the ordinary and captivates the senses with each tender bite.
Macka’s – marbled beef from the top 1% genetics in Black Angus breed
Wednesday, 22 May 2024
The story of Macka’s Australian Black Angus Beef started back in 1884 when Archie Mackenzie began running cattle in the Port Stephens area of New South Wales in Australia.
Today, Macka’s is a fully vertically integrated Angus breeder, using top 1% genetics in Angus breed, carefully curated over 5 generations. The bright red meat colour and highest quality of the product, with excellent marbling and melt in your mouth experience, is the result of stress-free cattle handling and aging of the cuts for at least 21 days.
Their herd is constantly upgraded, with recent record breaking purchases of the cattle, such as newly purchased cow, independently confirmed by DNA testing to be in the top 1% of the Angus breed in Australia for IMF (Marbling).
Genetics to plate
Macka’s Australian Black Angus Beef demonstrates their commitment to the protection and enhancement of the Angus breed through the Verified Angus program.
The Verified Angus program provides validity to Black Angus claims backed by Angus Australia and all Australian Angus producers. Angus Australia is the only independent verifier of Angus breed claims for beef products within Australia.
Along with the Angus Verified program, Macka’s is committed to going above and beyond within the Angus breed. They have taken a very specific journey of focusing on the best Angus genetics within their operation, which are specific to the customer needs.
Raising high-quality and high-marbled Verified Angus animals in a pristine environment ensures that their beef is enjoyed each and every time it's consumed around in the world.
The result is high quality Verified Black Angus Beef, with marble score range MB2-7+, highest consistency in carcass traits, and melt in your mouth experience every time.
Truly Carbon Neutral Beef Producer
Macka’s care and focus on sustainable farming and practices helped them achieve truly carbon neutral status.
Macka's Pastoral is proud to be an industry first in driving an on-farm carbon neutral outcomes. It's truly carbon neutral – from paddock to gate without buying offsets, credits or large-scale tree planting.
Macka's believes in planning for the future, not just the present. That's why they are dedicated to continually developing and implementing sustainable farming practices, while also maintaining carbon neutrality. As a family-owned business, they take pride in their heritage and see themselves as custodians for the next generation, striving to create a sustainable future that benefits all.
Dierendonck – Award-winning Artisanal Belgian Beef
Wednesday, 17 April 2024The story of Dierendonck started in 1970, when the first butcher shop opened its doors. Believing in craftsmanship, terroir and passion, they are always searching for the best products to offer their customers.
During the World Steak Challenge in Dublin, Dierendonck has been chosen as the best meat in the world, winning both Gold and Silver Medals.
The quality of the Dierendonck meat served at their own restaurant, Carcasse, has been recognized with the highest awards: 1 star Michelin Guide, Gault & Millau, as well as being ranked n° 4 on the World Best Steak Restaurants, and the best steak restaurant in continental Europe in 2023.
With the Oedslach brand, master butcher Hendrik Dierendonck not only pays tribute to his father, but also presents a quality of meat that is only very rarely available to taste in Europe. Oedslach, which means ‘old slaughtered’ in the local dialect, hails from an age when the butchers didn’t focus on animal breeds, but instead lovingly laid aside particular cuts of meat to hang up and age.
These cuts are selected for their colour, marbling, aroma, consistency and structure, then aged according to time-worn traditions and their own unique, contemporary ageing process. A special acclimatisation programme during which carefully adjusted temperature, humidity and ventilation, allows to recapture an all but forgotten moment in gastronomic history. Oedslach is a meat terroir at its best.
