Brand & Sons

Brand & Sons Icon Cabernets 2016

Award
Winner Blue Gold Fuller Bodied Dry Red Wines
Grape Varieties
Cabernet Sauvignon (75%) Coonawarra, SA, Australia
Cabernet Franc (18%) Coonawarra, SA, Australia
Merlot (8%) Coonawarra, SA, Australia
Country of Origin
Australia
Alcohol Content
15.0% Alcohol by Volume
Wine Type and Oak Treatment
Still Red with Oak Treatment
Recommended Retail Price
RRP AU $96.00
  • Brand & Sons
    55/239 Magill Road
    Maylands, SA
    Australia 5069
  • Sam Brand, Director
  • Phone (+65) 0 488771046

“Some colour advancement. Very lifted with some cassis and mint on the nose. Excellent palate. Lighter on its feet than most. A good match with the dish. Some sweetness arrives on the palate.”

“Dark purple hue. Aromas of cassis liquor and mint. The palate is dry with cassis and tomato leaf characters and drying pouch tobacco. The dish brings the cassis sweetness forward and diminishes the tomato leaf note while still showing the note of mint and tobacco. The tannins are softened by the meat and the fresh acidity in the wine cleanses the palate. ”

“Spearmint, blackberries, plenty of oak, moderate fruit concentration but tannins tend to overrun the finish. The food helps to offset the tannins and the flavours work well but it’s still a bit drying and tight.”

“Deep cherry-plum colour. Woodsy, soy and nut-oil characters. Restrained fruit, sour acid, firm tannins. With food: Oily flavours in the wine were ok with the beef.”

“Deep red, liquorice and blackberry nose, black fruits with sweet milk chocolate oak, the dish added richness to the wine.”

“Deep ruby red. Bright berry fruits and plum, hints of flowers, vanilla and spice. Rich dark fruits chocolate dipped with fine grain sandy tannin and some good fruit to finish. These have complimented eachother.”

“Slightly brown edge. Graphite and cherry spice, nutty oak, some toastiness, savoury. Savoury, sweet oak, slight donut with chalky yet full flavoured tannins, moreish. Food: has enhanced the oakiness and given more flavour.”

The Fuller Bodied Dry Red Wines were judged with

Wagyu, Potato Gratin and Fennel Salad

Presented by chef Marcell Kustos

Ingredients

  • ~100 g Wagyu sirloin/person, sous-vide at 55C, pan fried
Potato gratin: 30 min at 180 C
  • 1 kg potato, 3mm mandolin
  • 1 can of coconut cream (whole)
  • 1 cup vegetable stock
  • 2 shallots, sliced not minced
  • 4 cloves of garlic, sliced not minced
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 20 g salt
  • Pepper to taste
Fennel salad:
  • ½ fennel, thinly sliced, mandolin (preferably very thin with Japanese mandolin)
  • Pickle fennel for 10 min in 100ml water, 100 ml apple cider vinegar, 30 g maple syrup, 10 g salt
  • In a bowl, mix fennel with 1 Tbsp pickling liquid and 1 Tbsp seeded mustard

Method

  1. In a frying pan, add 2 Tbsp oil and fry the garlic and shallots on low heat until golden brown. Add coconut cream, stock and salt.
  2. In a baking dish, layer the thinly sliced potatoes and pour the coconut stock onto them. Bake at 180C for 25-30 min, until cooked, golden brown and creamy. Set aside and let it rest for 20-30 min before serving. In that time, the potatoes will absorb the remaining broth and the gratin becomes even more creamy and easier to slice.
  3. In a bowl, mix fennel with 1 Tbsp pickling liquid and 1 Tbsp seeded mustard.
  4. Pan-fry the Wagyu just until nicely seared and the fat melted. DO NOT overcook as well done steak will not match the wine as well as medium.