Queensland Wine Guild Dinner
Konrad Hengstler and Sara Jackman presented us with a delightful and educational dinner on Tuesday the 5th of March at Parc Restaurant in Roma Street Parklands.
It was a balmy evening and the roll out of delicate White Wines plus a Pinot Noir suited the evening and the menu. The dry Riesling on arrival with Thai Costini was appreciated by all. A hand picked wine from Marlborough’s Waihopai Valley showed intense lemon, lime & apple blossom aromatics with a delightful mineral character on the palate.
With entrées of Cumin Salt fried Calamari with chili lime sauce and rocket or Thai Fish cakes with cashew & capsicum salad, the Konrad Sauvignon Blanc and Gewurztraminer were perfect foils. The Gewurztraminer probably suited the fish cakes the best and the Sauvignon tasted magnificent with the calamari. The Gewurztraminer with 11.3 grams per liter of sugar was perfect with the heat of the fish cakes and the unmistakable aroma of this wine filled the room with everyone wanting more. This is another hand made wine that enjoyed wild fermentation in old French oak barrels. The Sauvignon Blanc also enjoys a touch of new French oak and time on lees, providing great intensity of bouquet and palate with a wonderful, lingering finish.
Main course provide us with the most talked about wines of the evening. Crispy Skinned Atlantic Salmon and Chicken Breast Prosciutto with Boccocini and basil pesto. Both dishes were well matched with the ‘Gruvee’ Gruner Veltliner and the Pinot Noir. ‘Gruvee’ is the name given to Gruner Veltliner in many Los Angeles bistro’s, coined by a L.A. Chef. It has quite a following and there are several Gruner Veltliner wines now being produced in New Zealand. Konrad was one of two to start production. The wine is amazingly complex, with sweet, acid, savory and herbaceous characters. It is a most versatile, food friendly wine and has been described as ‘Riesling on Steroids.’ The Pinot Noir is also a generous and flavorsome wine. Konrad has great faith in New Zealand Pinot Noir and believes that in years to come New Zealand, including Marlborough, will produce Pinot Noir to challenge Burgundy.
To add a truly Germanic touch to the dinner, the dessert was lemon curd, puff pastry, millefeuille stack with seasonal berries and passion fruit sorbet, served with the Auslese styled, Konrad Sigrum Noble Two, a blend of botrytis Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc. This was a majestic finish to an amazing presentation of aromatic wines.
Konrad Wines have a cellar door in Renwick, Waihopai Valley Road in Marlborough and they are available in many restaurants around Brisbane for online sales at www.accesscellars.com or contact sara@konrad.co.nz. Sara Jackman is the brand manager for Australia.
It was a balmy evening and the roll out of delicate White Wines plus a Pinot Noir suited the evening and the menu. The dry Riesling on arrival with Thai Costini was appreciated by all. A hand picked wine from Marlborough’s Waihopai Valley showed intense lemon, lime & apple blossom aromatics with a delightful mineral character on the palate.
With entrées of Cumin Salt fried Calamari with chili lime sauce and rocket or Thai Fish cakes with cashew & capsicum salad, the Konrad Sauvignon Blanc and Gewurztraminer were perfect foils. The Gewurztraminer probably suited the fish cakes the best and the Sauvignon tasted magnificent with the calamari. The Gewurztraminer with 11.3 grams per liter of sugar was perfect with the heat of the fish cakes and the unmistakable aroma of this wine filled the room with everyone wanting more. This is another hand made wine that enjoyed wild fermentation in old French oak barrels. The Sauvignon Blanc also enjoys a touch of new French oak and time on lees, providing great intensity of bouquet and palate with a wonderful, lingering finish.
Main course provide us with the most talked about wines of the evening. Crispy Skinned Atlantic Salmon and Chicken Breast Prosciutto with Boccocini and basil pesto. Both dishes were well matched with the ‘Gruvee’ Gruner Veltliner and the Pinot Noir. ‘Gruvee’ is the name given to Gruner Veltliner in many Los Angeles bistro’s, coined by a L.A. Chef. It has quite a following and there are several Gruner Veltliner wines now being produced in New Zealand. Konrad was one of two to start production. The wine is amazingly complex, with sweet, acid, savory and herbaceous characters. It is a most versatile, food friendly wine and has been described as ‘Riesling on Steroids.’ The Pinot Noir is also a generous and flavorsome wine. Konrad has great faith in New Zealand Pinot Noir and believes that in years to come New Zealand, including Marlborough, will produce Pinot Noir to challenge Burgundy.
To add a truly Germanic touch to the dinner, the dessert was lemon curd, puff pastry, millefeuille stack with seasonal berries and passion fruit sorbet, served with the Auslese styled, Konrad Sigrum Noble Two, a blend of botrytis Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc. This was a majestic finish to an amazing presentation of aromatic wines.
Konrad Wines have a cellar door in Renwick, Waihopai Valley Road in Marlborough and they are available in many restaurants around Brisbane for online sales at www.accesscellars.com or contact sara@konrad.co.nz. Sara Jackman is the brand manager for Australia.