The Awards Long Lunch at the Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show is an occasion to celebrate the diversity of new Australian wines, accompanied by some fine regional food.

The 2008 Awards Long Lunch was held at Trentham Estate, a winery located on a superb site overlooking the Murray River.

As usual the wines presented at the lunch included were all Gold medalists from 2007. The food was provided by Trentham Estates restaurant and each course was carefully matched with the bracket of wines presented.

The menu is presented here to stimulate your interest and imagination

The Menu

Appetisers and Canapes

• Blackbilly Pinot Gris 2007
• Brown Brothers Vermentino 2007

First Course
Rabbit and chorizo terrine with chutney

• Robinvale Wines 2002 Kerner
• Matua 2006 Shingle Peak Reserve Pinot Gris

Second Course
Coulibac of Murray cod with sauteed leek and mushroom duxelle served with sauce creme and fish roe

• W Wines 2007 Viognier
• Yalumba 2006 The Virgilus Viognier
• Tahbilk 2005 Marsannne
• Tahbilk 2003 Marsanne

Third Course
Rosemary and Garlic marinated quail on spicy ratatouille with a drizzle of jus

• Cobaw Ridge 2006 Lagrein
• Mount Langi Ghiran 2006 Nut Tree Hill Sangiovese
• Freeman Vineyards 2003 Rondinella Corvina

Fourth Course
Duo of succulent Beef with truffle scented mash, vegetables and herb jus

• Tar and Roses 2006 Nebboilo
• Pizzini Wines 2002 Nebbiolo
• Tscharke 2006 Montepulciano

Fifth Course
Selection of cheese with garnishes and house pastes

• Casella Wines 2006 Yendah Vale Durif
• D’Arenberg 2005 The Sticks and Stones Tempranillo Grenache Souszao

A full list of the results for the 2007 AAWWS can be found here

I’ve been working on a little eCookbook “10 Dishes with Sangiovese” It contains some recipes for food pairing with that wonderful Italian red wine variety Sangiovese.

It will be released shortly to subscribers to Vinodiversity News.

Find out how you can get your copy of this Sangiovese Cookbook.

Osso Buco Italian Style Veal Shanks

Jamie Oliver’s Italy could be a great addition to your Italian cookery book collection.

Click the image to order it from Amazon.com

Much of classic Italian cuisine has its roots in traditional home cooking where the emphasis is on simple hearty fare. Osso buco is a favourite dish throughout Italy but it is especially popular in Milan.

Ingredients

4 veal shanks
Olive oil
2 carrots
3 sticks celery
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
flour seasoned with salt and pepper
2 tins canned tomatoes
100ml red wine
400 ml beef or vegetable stock
dried oregano
1 bay leaf
rind of half a lemon
chopped parsley

Method
Make a sofritto by finely dicing the carrots, celery onion and 2 of the cloves of garlic and sauteing in olive oil. Sofritto means ‘half cooked’, so you really need to just soften the vegetables. Remove them to a large ovenproof dish.

Dredge the veal shanks in the flour and brown them on both sides in oil. Arrange the osso buci on top of the vegetables. Deglase the saute pan with the wine and add the tomatoes. Break up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Add the stock and herbs and bring the sauce to a boil. Taste it and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables and cook, covered in a modeate oven for two hours.

Use the extra clove of garlic, the finely chopped parsley and the grated lemon rind to make a gremolata, just combine the crushed garlic with the other ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle it over the dish just before serving.

Serve the osso buco with risotto milanese.

Food pairing with Osso Buco

This rich Italian dish is ideally accompanied by a savoury Italian red wine - a Sangiovese would be most suitable.

Trippa Romana or Roman style tripe is a classic Italian dish, reminding us that in less affluent times nothing was wasted from meat animals.

Use Honeycomb beef tripe for this classic Italian dish. You should buy it cleaned and parboiled from the butcher. Simmering the tripe again will ensure that it is tender before you bake it slowly in the tomato sauce to integrate the flavours.

Ingredients for 4 people, 6 as an entree.

1 kg tripe
2 cloves
A few whole peppercorns
1 walnut sized piece of butter
2 tablespoons of oil
1 carrot
1 onion
1 stick of celery
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons of chopped herbs, parsley, basil or marjoram
600ml tomato passata
Salt and pepper
Half cup of grated parmesan cheese

Method

Cover the tripe in water and add the cloves and peppercorns.
Simmer for a hour or so until the tripe is tender. Drain.
Meanwhile in another saucepan saute the chopped vegetables and garlic in the butter and oil until the onion is translucent. Add the tomato passata and simmer for a few minutes. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
Cut the tripe into 2cm strips and put into oven-proof dish. Cover with the herbs and tomato sauce.
Cover and bake in a slow oven for an hour and a half.
Serve with noodles accompanied by the cheese in a separate bowl. For a main course you could add a garden salad and some rustic Italian bread.

This dish would be ideally paired with a Sangiovese red wine.

A free cookbook for food pairing with Sangiovese

More about Sangiovese

Some more tripe recipes

Sangiovese is the most popular red wine variety in Italy. The name translates as “Jupiter’s Blood.” It is best known for its role in Chianti and Tuscan wines, but it is used in many other Italian wine regions.

Sangiovese is becoming increasingly popular with Australian winemakers in all but the coolest regions. The wines can be lighter bodied and more acid than traditional Australian wines. The flavours to look for are bitter cherries and savouriness, rather than upfront ripe fruit.

Sangiovese wines are best consumed with food. This guide will give you plenty of ideas for food pairing with Sangiovese, but to start with, think Italian. Lighter styles can be enjoyed with antipasto or perhaps just a few slices of salami or prosciutto. More robust styles can be matched with meat and hearty dishes such as the Tuscan favourite bistecca alla fiorentina, a large grilled T-Bone steak.

Find out more about Sangiovese in Australia

Tuscan Table, Chianti Gregory Gorham Buy This Print from Art.com

‘Panzanella‘ is a traditional Italian Bread and Tomato Salad. It is an ideal accompaniment to Sangiovese which will marry well with the savouriness of the tomato, garlic and basil.

This recipe is by Manuela Darling-Gansser, Author of Under the Olive Tree.
Australian readers can buy Under the Olive Tree via this link

Other readers can order the book from Amazon by clicking the image at left.

Panzanella

Serves 4

Ingredients:

approx 500g ciabatta bread
600g very ripe tomatoes
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 chilli, chopped
10-15 chopped basil leaves
salt and pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

Method:

For this recipe you should use two day old ciabatta bread.

Cut bread into small cubes. Put tomatoes in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, drain and then peel. Chop finely.

Put all ingredients except oil in a bowl and mix well. Squash mixture with your hands so it becomes a paste. Then add some virgin olive oil - about 1/2 cup.

Leave in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Eat as antipasto.

Variation: you can add a few chopped olives and chopped anchovy fillets to the panzanella.

Food Pairing: You might like to try this Italian dish with a Sangiovese

Three Tomatoes Will Rafuse Buy From Art.com

Here is a simple idea for serving Chorizo, those lovely spicy Spanish sausages.

You can adjust the amount depending on how many people you wish to serve. The recipe is suitable as a tapa on its own or can be just one of many dishes for larger antipasto spread.

Green Tomato Chutney is a versatile addition to any pantry or fridge. You can buy it at supermarkets, but I like to buy these type of condiments in country farmers markets or at cellar doors; you get a wider variety of flavour and combinations and are often supporting some local microbusiness as well.

This recipe is suggested by Jamie Andrews of Hamiltons Bluff in the Cowra wine region. He suggests this food pairing for Hamiltons Bluff Sangiovese.

The recipe

Method

Thinly slice chorizo sausage and pan fry.

Place small amount of green tomato chutney on top.

Serve on platter as finger food.

Jamie says

The flavours are simple but perfectly matched to Sangiovese. Gamey, meaty, spice characters of the sausage, with acidic fruity tartness of the chutney, wrapped in oil from the sausage.

This combination is rustic, simple and devastatingly effective. We use it when we do tastings in the cellar door.

See how you can get a free cookbook “10 dishes for Sangiovese”

Quail have been enjoyed as game birds for centuries. The dark rich breast meat of quail can be paired with white or red wine. In this recipe a red wine is suggested.

Sangiovese and sangiovese dominant blends can be successfully paired with gamey meats. In this recipe from Hollick Wines the strong natural flavours of the bird are enhanced with sage and prosciutto. The pepperoni and polenta both remind us of the peasant origins of this cuisine.

Q is for Quail Buy From Art.com

The wine suggestion is to use Hollick “Hollaia” a blend of 60% Sangiovese with 40% Cabernet Sauvignon. The blend is inspired by the ‘Super Tuscan” use of these two varieties.

Ingredients

• 4 jumbo quail, halved and boned except drumstick
• 8 thin slices prosciutto
• 8 fresh sage leaves
• sunflower oil
• 1 x soft buckwheat recipe
• 1 x peperonata recipe
• Chopped flat leaf parsley
• 50g shaved parmesan

Method

• Wrap half a quail and sage leaf in a slice of proscuitto, then allow to chill for 30 mins.
• Preheat oven to 180ºC.
• Heat a heavy frying pan with a little oil and seal the quail for one minute on each side, then bake quail in the oven on a tray for 4-5 mins.
• Place a spoon of the hot polenta onto 4 soup plates.
• Rest 2 halves of quail on the polenta and top with peporanata, parsley and parmesan.

Peperonata for quail
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1 each red and yellow capsicum, de-seeded and sliced
3 lge ripe tomatoes, halved, pulp removed and sliced
2-3 teaspoons sherry vinegar
1 anchovy, chopped (optional)

Method

• Gently soften the onion in a large heavy bottom pan with the olive oil.
• Add the capsicum, garlic and anchovy and cook slowly until the capsicums are wilted.
• Add the tomato and sherry vinegar, simmer for 5 mins to melt the ingredients together.

Soft buckwheat polenta

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup milk
• ½ cup buckwheat polenta
• 50g butter
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt

Method

• Bring the milk and water to the boil and stir in the polenta on a low heat.
• Stir with a wooden spoon for 10 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and stir in butter and oil. Season to taste.

More about Sangiovese