Berton Vineyards

Reserve Botrytis Semillon 2018

Award
Winner Top 100 Dessert (Unfortified) Wines
Grape Varieties
Semillon (100%) Riverina, NSW, Australia
Country of Origin
Australia
Alcohol Content
11.3% Alcohol by Volume
Wine Type and Oak Treatment
Still White with Oak Treatment
Recommended Retail Price
RRP AU $20.00

Slightly dull nose at first. Then some volatility appears through. Similar on the palate. This also comes through with the dessert. Lacking some balance.

Pale lemon gold. Concentrated lime cordial syrup with candied ginger spice and lemon rind. Sweet palate but very fresh acidity and purity of fruit although a little simple on the palate. The desert is too sweet for this dish and the wine is lacking the richness of botrytis all resulting in the wine becoming bitter and disjointed on the palate.

Rich and honeyed on the nose with apricot, yellow peach jam and papaya, the palate has moderate concentration and length and balancing phenolics. Just a bit simple and lacks some freshness. The food makes the wine look a little pinched on the finish.

Bright pale yellow. Complex waxy, lemon aromas. Botrytis and clean fruit in combination. Clean, bright fruit flavours, gentle acidity, good length. Brisk acid finish. With food: Very good combination – acidity and fruit flavours work well with the dish.

Golden yellow, orange marmalade and apricot jam nose, intensely sweet and clean botrytised fruit palate, long clean acidity, overpowers the dish somewhat.

Deep yellow gold. Attractive honey, floral and citrus notes on the nose and palate. Lovely balance between acid and sugar. The wine and food compliment each other quite nicely.

VA spike, lemon citrus with some marzipan, some almond notes, slightly stale. Almost barley sugar like, slight donut, ok balance. Food: adds more complexity to the barley sugar like flavours, moreish and long.

The Dessert (Unfortified) Wines were judged with

Banana, Miso and Coconut Buckwheat Pancakes

Presented by chef Marcell Kustos

Ingredients

Banana filling:

  • 40g coconut oil
  • 100g soft light brown sugar
  • ½ tsp ground star anise
  • 150g coconut cream
  • 1½ tbsp white miso
  • 4 semi-ripe medium bananas, peeled and halved lengthways
  • 1 lime – zest finely grated, to get 1 tsp, then juiced
Coconut whipped cream:
  • 1 can coconut cream, chilled overnight
  • 60g caster sugar
Topping:
  • 100g wild rice, puffed in coconut oil
Buckwheat pancakes:
  • 250g buckwheat flour (5.3 ounces; about 3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons)
  • 4g kosher salt (1/4 ounce; about 1 1/2 teaspoons)
  • 1 large egg
  • 600ml (1 1/4 cups) soy milk
  • 100ml (1 1/3 cups) water

Method

  1. Make the crepe mixture at least 2-3 hours ahead for the best result. Preferably, the night before.
  2. One can coconut cream should be chilled in the fridge overnight, so that the cream will solidify on top. After opening the can, carefully remove the cream and leave the water behind.
  3. Mix the cream with caster sugar until it becomes whipped cream consistency.
  4. In an oven-proof frying pan, meld coconut oil and fry bananas until they get colour. In a microwave-safe bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients for the filling and warm up the mixture in the microwave for 40-60s and mix them until everything dissolved. Alternatively use a pot over the stove. Add the filling to the bananas and bake them for 15-20 min at 180, until they are slightly caramelised.
  5. Fry the pancakes, they can be either thin (crepe-like) or thicker depending on how you want to serve the dish. Thinner is better for folded pancakes, thicker is better for stacked pancakes.
  6. In a small frying pan, add coconut oil and fry wild rice until it puffs. Transfer to a paper towel. The puffed wildrice can be served as part of the filling or as topping.