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SYDNEY - Most people enjoy a glass of good red wine with a juicy steak - but Australian farmers have gone a step further. They have put their prized wagyu cattle on a diet laced with red wine, in the hope of creating even more succulent beef for consumers.
The lucky bovines live in Margaret River, in Western Australia, which produces some of the country's most celebrated reds. The area also has a big dairy industry and some farmers have been breeding the Japanese wagyu, which yield the world's most ex-pensive red meat.
The black cattle are pampered to bits; in Japan, they are fed beer to stimulate their appetites, massaged to relieve tired muscles and played classical music to soothe their nerves. Relaxed cattle are said to produce beef of an exquisite tenderness.
The Margaret River wagyus are being raised on a diet supplemented by a litre of red wine daily.
The idea of marrying the two originated with Jack Semini, whose company Margaret River Premium Meats supplies hotels and restaurants in Australia and Southeast Asia. He said he wanted to emulate Japanese methods and felt that wine "could enhance [the meat's] quality".
Farmer Peter Semini said the cattle received a twice daily tipple at the trough. "We just mix the wine in the tub in the morning and then at night, and they just get right into it."
When the cattle were first given feed mixed with wine, "they were sort of standoffish". Since then, though, they had acquired a taste for it - "probably a bit like us". Not only that, but they "seem to handle" hangovers better than humans.
The calves are bred on stations in the north of the state and moved to Margaret River at 4 months old, where they are fattened up with premium quality feed.
Mr Semini said: "We are looking at a slower growing animal, and sort of like a red wine ... [it] gets better with age."
Margaret River wagyu sells for several hundred dollars a kilo, with a steak likely to cost about A$100 ($113). Despite the price, demand is growing.
Marketing manager John McLeod said turnover had risen from A$1 million ($1.13 million) in its first year of operation to about A$9 million ($10.2 million) this year. A turnover of nearly double that figure is forecast for next year.
- INDEPENDENT
