Italian Heritage pt2

Here was another article in the Area News.

Italian Heritage

When my Grandparents Frank and Caterina Miranda migrated to Australia they went to work in Griffith, NSW. Griffith, 700km west of Sydney and 500km north of Melbourne was a small country town founded on returned soliders from WWI being given small allotments for their service. The area became a rich fruit growing region because of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation System, this was a big draw card for the Italian migrants of the time because they were able to set up farms and supply the big cities with fresh fruit and vegetables.

The New South Wales government is putting together an exhibition in June, my grandparents are in the photo above which was published in the Area News (local Griffith newspaper) on 2nd April, 2008.

For more information about the exhibition please visit www.heritage.nsw.gov.au

Winter Menu 2008

Its a very exciting time at the winery, we are just finishing up vintage (which was fantastic). Now preparing the 2008 whites for bottling and we have just released our new winter menu.

Every six months we review our menu adjusting it according to the season. We keep the old favourites such as gorgonzola gnocchi, caesar pizza and salt & pepper squid, but we also add some new and exciting dishes to tantalise the taste buds. When people ask what are our favourites it's hard to choose! There is the pear and brie stack (pictured above), baked avocado, honey mustard chicken, lamb normandy pie and the classic grilled beef in shiraz glaze with yum mash potato and a baked field mushroom.

This winter we have also explored some traditional Italian pasta dishes with an Australian twist, you can't miss the sweet potato gnocchi, duck ragu or shredded veal salsa.

My mouth is watering as I write this (we are having lamb roast for dinner, lucky its a few minutes off being served). Check out the new menu here.

A glass of bubbles

As I mentioned in the last post we had enjoyed a bottle of the Franciacorta Brut prior to having dinner. It was a perfect accompaniment to the fatty salamis that were on offer because the sparkling breaks down the fat. It is like serving stewed apples with pork, the acids in the apple help the digestive system break down the pork fat - its good for you, some would even say healthy!

I’m a firm believer in starting a dinner party off on a sparkling – actually this is second by the girls at work, I’m sure if health and safety allowed them they would start a working day off with a glass of bubbles!

Dad must be enjoying the flavour of a Franciacorta at the moment because there has been a new bottle of the brut opened every night for the past few days. One evening we had a friend from Italy over. She said that when visiting a winery in Franciacorta the winemaker told her ‘Don’t ask for a Champagne when you want a sparkling ask for a Franciacorta’.

To give you a brief history on the wine industry, sparkling wine has for centuries been know as Champagne. The French believe that Champagne should only come from the Champagne region in southern France, so other countries who have the same style of wine have different names – an example is the Franciacorta region in Italy call their sparkling Franciacorta.

But I believe if it is in a Champagne bottle with a champagne stopper once that cork pops it doesn’t matter if it’s a sparkling, a champagne, a brut or a Franciacorta – they all taste good chilled.

Something that made me smile is Franciacorta rough translation from Italian to English is Little France.

What is your favorite sparkling wine?

Welcome to the table

Welcome to the first post for the Lou Miranda Estate blog ‘At the table’. Our family have always shared meals at the dinner table & wine has always been part of round table discussion. It is not unusual for the dinner table to grow from our immediate family of 5 to include extended family and friends. With our door always open Mum has made sure there is plenty of food to go around and that no conversation run dry.

The reason for starting this blog is to extend to our loyal customers the opportunity to have an insight into our family dinners & allow you to comment on your own family dinners. I also invite you to ask questions about wine or food & we will endeavor to answer.

I have been drinking wine for as long as my parents have allowed it – Pop used to give me wine with dinner when I was about 2 or 3 ‘Just to taste’ he would say. I enjoy wine, & I do love to listen to the way people describe the wines. Everybody has a different opinion and their likes and dislikes vary so much.

Today is the first day of VineTech in Adelaide & we have a full table of people tonight. Dad left early this morning for the conference & took the opportunity to invite some people over for dinner.

Guests: Sam & Rachael Miranda, Michael Stevens-Jones & Luis Simeon.

Food: Fresh salami & an assortment of cheese. Chunkey Pasta al ragu. Fennell & avocado salad. Apricot & prune butter cake served with port wine custard. Macaroons & Haighs chocolate truffles just to finish the night off.

Wine: Franciacorta Brut
Cloudy Bay 1991 Sauvignon Blanc
Miranda Rovalley Ridge 1994 Chardonnay
Rieussec 1983 Sauternes
Loredan Gasparini Venegazzu 1997
Chateau Segonnes Margaux 1985
Wynns John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon 1988

The wines this evening were absolutely beautiful. The Cloudy Bay 1991 Sauvignon Blanc had a matured palate and was slightly oxidized. The Miranda Rovalley Ridge 1994 Chardonnay didn’t give away much on the nose and had an acidic taste to the palate, but with its golden legs and buttery flavour on the tongue with the wood and wine well balance, it was still holding up for its age – again with age the wine has become slightly oxidized.

Over the years I have tasted a lot of wines and have grown accustomed to pigeon holing a wine because of certain characteristics. It was interesting to see that the first red to come out was picked to be a Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon but in fact was an Italian 1997 Loredan Gasparini Venegazzu. The second red a French Bordeaux – 1985 Chateau Segonnes Margaux had a stinky nose – age and oxidization with a broad flavour – but to drink was a joy. The final red was in fact a Coonawarra Cab Sauv from Wynns. A beautiful wine, lovely full earthy flavour of tobacco & mint with a full sweet finish – the wood had matured well with the wine.