De Bortoli Wines

Eight Year Old Fine Tawny NV

Award
Winner Top 100 Fortified Wines
Grape Varieties
Blend (100%) Australia
Country of Origin
Australia
Alcohol Content
18.5% Alcohol by Volume
Wine Type and Oak Treatment
Port, Tawny, Vintage, Ruby, To Fortified with Oak Treatment
Recommended Retail Price
RRP AU $25.00
Buy This Wine

“Fig, raisin, coffee notes. Plush black fruit and smoky spice, with a worrying sauvage aroma. Some freshness, despite abundant sweetness. Fruit notes meld with coffee and treacle flavours on the finish. With the dish, the bitter coffee notes are emphasised but more creamy flavours emerge”

“Deep mahogany hue. Attractive bouquet of caramel , stewed sultana and Christmas cake spice. Sweet, rich and luscious with excellent intensity, layers of burnt toffee leading to a long lingering finish. The wine brought out the rich fruity stewed sultana notes but did not pair as well as expected.”

“Dense colour. Fresh and vibrant nose. Attractive with an excellent palate, well balanced and with a very long persistence. A nice match with the dish. Good synergy with nothing dominating”

“Lifted complex dried fruits savoury alluring dried figs and plums, red fruits red earth aromas. Concentrated rounded rich robust style, solid nutty savoury undertones. Good balance caramel, sweetness. Nutty rancio age characters. The wine highlights the Hazelnut in the dish ? delicious. The chocolate brownies underpinning the wine extremely well. The wine appears much better with the food.”

“Burnt toffee, raisin, dried figs. savoury undertones ,Lovely viscosity ,slight salty finish. Toasted hazelnuts in the brownie really bring out the savoury notes in the wine.”

“Deep tawny brown. Attractive Christmas cake aromas. Warming and viscous mouthfeel. Lovely length of flavours and a little warmth. Dessert brings out the nuttiness and makes the overall dish moister.”

“Rich attractive colour ? brown gold. Xmas cake fruit lift with forward rancio walnut aroma. Still retains and element of fresh fruit. Highlighting VA acid lift works. Great Length. With food ? acid works well here, cuts through Choc nicely.”

The Fortified Wines were judged with

Chocolate Brownie with apricot and toasted hazelnut

Presented by chef Marcell Kustos

Ingredients

Brownie

  • 185g unsalted butter
  • 185g dark chocolate
  • 85g plain flour
  • 40g cocoa powder
  • 50g milk chocolate
  • 3 large eggs
  • 200g caster sugar
Hazelnuts
  • 100g toasted, halved
Apricot sauce
  • 100g dried apricot
  • 150g sugar
  • 500ml water
Crème fraiche to serve

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.
  2. Cut unsalted butter into small cubes and tip into a medium bowl.
  3. Break dark chocolate into small pieces and drop into the bowl.
  4. Fill a small saucepan about a quarter full with hot water, then sit the bowl on top so it rests on the rim of the pan, not touching the water. Put over a low heat until the butter and chocolate have melted, stirring occasionally to mix them.
  5. Remove the bowl from the pan.
  6. Using a shallow 20cm square tin, cut out a square of non-stick baking parchment to line the base.
  7. Tip plain flour and cocoa powder into a sieve held over a medium bowl.
  8. Tap and shake the sieve so they run through together and you get rid of any lumps.
  9. Chop milk chocolate into chunks on a board.
  10. Break eggs into a large bowl and tip in golden caster sugar and whisk until double in volume.
  11. Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the eggy mousse, then gently fold together with a rubber spatula.
  12. Hold the sieve over the bowl of eggy chocolate mixture and resift the cocoa and flour mixture, shaking the sieve from side to side, to cover the top evenly.
  13. Gently fold in this powder. The mixture will look dry and dusty at first, and a bit unpromising, but if you keep going very gently and patiently, it will end up looking gungy and fudgy. You don’t want to overdo this mixing.
  14. Finally, stir in the white and milk chocolate chunks until they’re dotted throughout.
  15. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, scraping every bit out of the bowl with the spatula. Gently ease the mixture into the corners of the tin and paddle the spatula from side to side across the top to level it.
  16. Put in the oven and set your timer for 25 minutes.
  17. In a medium pot, cook apricots, in water and sugar for 10 minutes. Then place it in a blender and blend until smooth.
  18. Serve brownies with apricot puree and toasted hazelnuts.