Whistling Kite Biodynamic Wines

Whistling Kite Late Picked Classic Petit Manseng NV

Award
Winner Gold Fortified Wines
Grape Varieties
Petit Manseng (100%) Riverland, SA, Australia
Country of Origin
France
Alcohol Content
18% Alcohol by Volume
Wine Type and Oak Treatment
Port, Tawny, Vintage, Ruby, To Fortified with Oak Treatment
Recommended Retail Price
RRP AU $50.00
Buy This Wine

“For Petit Manseng, this is rather dull and lifeless. The palate is cloyingly sweet and unbalanced. Some apricot notes emerge with the dish, giving a bit more life to the wine, but not enough to rescue it from banality.”

“Light mahogany hue. Fragrant fruit pure bouquet of baked mixed fruit and light Christmas cake. Very sweet and very fruit pure ? lots of caramel and baked fruit intensity, but slightly cloying on the finish. When paired with the chocolate brownie the wine appeared lighter, fresher and less sweet, making a very successful match.”

“Slightly dull. Lacking some freshness. Palate better with great concentration and complexity, plus length. An excellent match with the dish. Long and lingering flavours”

“Aromatic fruit youthful green undertones, dried figs and melon notes. Mouth-filling chewy concentrated, well-balanced, great acidity, line and length. Chiselled palate, refined tannins with a nervous acidity. A very well-matched dessert and wine ? the youthful aromas and crisp acidity of the wine contain the richness and bitter chocolate characters of the dessert. The nuttiness is highlighted and compliments the wines fruit forward characters.”

“Sweet palate, not too much acid on the middle, falls away, lacking the power. Lacks the acidity to cleanse the palate, cutting through the richness of the brownie”

“Mid tawny brown and golden rim. Dried apricots, peaches and nuts and dusty notes. Fresh dried peaches on the palate. The combination brings out the lovely dark chocolate notes.”

“Lighter colour and sharp iodine almost bilgey aroma. Not that well integrated and spirit comes across as clumsy and un-integrated. With food? ? no change. Awkward angular wine.”

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.