Recipe #2: Smoked Salmon Quiche

Last night we had a bottle of riesling with dinner and this easy recipe was the perfect match. With it's delightful subtle lemon flavour it was a very refreshing meal.

I used ready-rolled pastry but it would be even more delicious with home-made pastry. Also, the recipe below is for mini-quiches; I made just one large quiche and cooked it at 170 degrees celcius (fan-forced oven) for 35 minutes. I recommend our 2007 Eden Valley Riesling with this dish.

Smoked Salmon Mini-Quiches

Ingredients:
2 sheets ready-rolled puff pastry
125gram smoked salmon, chopped
1 cup thickened cream
2 tablespoons sour cream
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons chopped dill
freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon lemon pepper
1 teaspoon chopped chives

Makes about 24 mini-quiches or one large quiche.

Method:
Cut circles from pastry using a 6cm cutter, press into shallow patty pans or muffin trays.

Divide smoked salmon between pastry cases. Combine creams, eggs, lemon rind, nutmeg, dill, chives, lemon pepper and black pepper, spoon over salmon (pastry cases should only be 2/3 full).

Bake in a moderately hot oven (190 degrees celcius or 170 degrees celcius fan-forced) for 10 minutes or until puffed and golden brown.

The Barossa goes to Brisbane, and so does Karra Yerta

Last weekend representatives from twenty-five different Barossa and Eden Valley wineries attended three events in Brisbane organised by Purple Palate to celebrate the opening of their new wine store, Bar Barossa.

We sent our resident red wine maker (oh, and my husband:), James. He travelled up with Steven Kurtz of Kurtz Family Vineyards and from the sounds of things they had a great weekend. A few Coopers Ales may have made our tribe feel at home I think. They also met up with the third Collective counterpart, Wayne Ahrens of Smallfry.

The events were incredibly successful and the wineries ended up showcasing their wines to almost one thousand people over the two tastings and dinner which is a remarkable feat. Many thanks to Darren Davis for his magnificent organisational skills and to the entire Purple Palate gang for making our winery people feel welcome.

Feedback from James was that our rieslings were received fantastically and everyone loved the style of it. No doubt that the Queensland lifestyle plays a part in that, and what better to have with a lovely seafood meal?

We look forward to working with Purple Palate in the future and increasing our sales to that part of the country. With the Queensland sector now covered, our wines are available all along the East Coast of Australia including Tasmania so we are absolutely over the moon with the opportunites that have come up over the past few years. Sincere thanks to all who have supported us in the current economic climate.

Special thanks to Darren for allowing me to use the accompanying photograph on this blog entry.

Tasting Notes: 2006 Shiraz Cabernet

KARRA YERTA WINES 2006 SHIRAZ CABERNET

PRODUCT: Karra Yerta Wines 2006 Shiraz Cabernet
VINTAGE: 2006
APPELLATION: Eden Valley & Barossa
VARIETY: Shiraz Cabernet
BOTTLED: October 4th, 2008
ALCOHOL: 14.5%
TA: 7.69g/l
PH: 3.44
PRODUCTION: 170 cases/dozen
CELLARING: drink now to 2015
RRP AU$25

COMMENTS:
This Shiraz Cabernet is a blend of Barossa and Eden Valley Shiraz and 13% Eden Valley Cabernet. Made by James Linke of Karra Yerta Wines at Biscay Road Vintners. Aged 24 months in French Oak. With flavours of blackberry, blackcurrant, lavender and violets this wine is ready to drink now but will also benefit from cellaring. Screwcap.

REVIEWS & RATINGS:
94+++/100 points Philip White - "Drinkster", Adelaide
The stony, barren ridge at the top of Flaxman's, where the ancient rocks poke through high above the Barossa, is the home of some of the world's most expensive and elusive shiraz wines. (Think Ringland, next door. McLean's Farm at the northern end; Mountadam at the southern.) This vineyard is windswept and wild, freezing in the winter, and even cool at night in the midst of the most vicious heatwaves. So this rare tincture has quite a lot to live up to. It has the most intense and complex bouquet, riddled with twists of beauty that seem so blacksmithed into compression they unwind in a dreadfully gradual and teasing manner. Musk, lavendar, violets, licorice, mint, cedar, sandalwood, vetiver, blackcurrant, blackberry, beetroot, morel, porcini, ancient soy, salt, schist, podsol, guano, gunpowder, swarf, burlap ... I dunno. I could go on, and I've only had my hooter in the glass for thirty minutes. I know now that this wine is gonna be a king hell striptease viper with a voice like Barry White and Grace Jones for a Mum. The palate's disarming and confronting from the first sip: just mildly viscous, especially compared to the intensity of its flavours, with, yep, the lithe form of the black whipsnake slithering around your mouth like some professional girls apparently dance on poles. It's strangely compact and intense, as I've said too many times, but still seems ethereal in its saucy habit of letting little shots of its myriad components just go: they're there for a flash as they evaporate, and suddenly they're replaced by something else. And on and on it goes. The dance of the hundred and summit veils. Sometime a long way off all these bits and pieces will assimilate and homogenise and the damned thing will be mature and formal and very, very famous, and those astonishing components will let go at the same time in equal proportions and really, really gradually, but shit, that'll kill people, and by Bacchus I love it now. I doubt that I can stay alive long enough to drink it at its peak, and if I did, it'd kill me anyway. Karra Yerta has never hit the top ten in the glambam gobstopper any price you like stakes, but it will, and it will outshine most of those wannabeez and cooderbeenz. This is a stunning, secret wine. Gimme! JAN 09

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Please find the two glowing reviews from August 2009 below; one from Julian Coldrey (www.fullpour.com) and Gary Walsh (www.winefront.com).

Karra Yerta 2006 Shiraz Cabernet

This wine (and winery) defines boutique in many respects. A limited run production of 170 cases, made by James Linke from Eden Valley and Barossa fruit, then blended by Pete Schell to create this quite outstanding little number. When I asked the engaging Marie Linke the intent behind this wine, her answer was "a good home brew, for ourselves, but plans change." And how.

I tasted this over two days, and recommend a good decant at the very least if drinking now. The nose is almost provocatively complex, with notes of gunpowder, barbecued meats, five-spice, lavender, mulberries and cocoa powder. It sounds cacophonous but it's more like a plaid wool blankie: textured and comforting. The aroma profile softened overnight, not becoming less complex but simply settling into its groove, less puffed out, more sophisticated. If there's a hint of volatility, it works well to lift into and penetrate the nostrils.

The palate has shown an even greater transformation with time. At first, unexpectedly bright red fruit shoots down the mouth, accompanied by the same savouriness as in the aroma, falling away a bit on the after palate. A couple of hours later, it fills out significantly, gaining weight and elegance at the same time, and losing the slightly disjointed construction I saw at first. The next day, now, it has melted into a thing of beauty, a limpid pool of dark richness that seems to dissolve onto the tongue with an impossible sense of control. The fruit flavour has gone to dark cherries, with a range of other flavours (including sappy oak) that resist being teased apart from one another. The slinky mouthfeel is a highlight here; tannins are almost excessively fine and ripe.

This is a "fall in love" sort of wine; distinctive, beautiful. I'm not going to resist.

Karra Yerta Wines
Price: $A25
Closure: Stelvin

Posted by Julian on Saturday, August 22, 2009 at 9:30 PM

Filed in Australia, Red and tagged 2006, Cabernet Sauvignon, Eden Valley, Shiraz/Syrah

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Karra Yerta 2006 Shiraz Cabernet

Tuesday, Aug 25 2009 · Posted in Barossa Valley, Eden Valley, shiraz et al

By Gary Walsh

Good old Shiraz Cabernet - the classic Australian blend that goes against the current prevailing train of thought that mono-varietal makes for superior wine. I’ve no idea why this should be the case, and I’m always surprised, and non wine bore people even more so, when I tell them that blends are ‘really good and it’s OK to drink them…really!’ There’s 170 dozen of this particular blend made.

Lots going on here - plump blueberry/dark cherry fruit, wool wash, nutty nougat oak - floral and meaty too. It’s medium to full bodied with plenty of juicy cherry jam flavour (not sweet though) mingling with a coal-like savouriness and regional eucalypt. Perfectly pitched tannin - ripe but firm - the flow through the palate and length all excellent. Bargain. Should cellar well.

Rated : 93 Points
Tasted : Aug09
Alcohol : 14.5%
Price : $25
Closure : Screwcap
Drink : 2010 - 2016+

Tasting Notes: 2005 Bullfrog Flat Shiraz

KARRA YERTA WINES 2005 EDEN VALLEY SHIRAZ

PRODUCT: Karra Yerta Wines 2005 Bullfrog Flat Shiraz
VINTAGE: 2005
APPELLATION: Eden Valley
VARIETY: Shiraz
HARVESTED: April 19, 2005
BOTTLED: March 18, 2007
ALCOHOL: 14.5%
TA: 8.4g/ltr
PH: 3.4
PRODUCTION: 62 cases/dozen
CELLARING: drink now to 2017
RRP AU$25

COMMENTS:
This vibrant, deep garnet coloured shiraz was made by James Linke from 45-50 year old dry-grown, hand-picked grapes which are situated a mere few hundred metres to the west of the famous Ringland "Three Rivers" vineyard in the premium area of the Barossa Ranges. A lifted and perfumed nose of satsuma plum, sweet black cherry, black tea and wood smoke overlain with subtle cardamon and fennel spice derived from almost 24 months in French Oak hogsheads. Medium bodied with fine tannins the palate displays a range of red and black fruits, currants, plum and blackberry and a fine balance of acidity. An aromatic and alluring shiraz from one of the highest vineyards in the Barossa Ranges and the renowned 2005 Eden Valley vintage. Screwcap.

REVIEWS/RATINGS:
94++/100 points Philip White - "The Independent Weekly"

Tasting Notes: 2005 Barossa Shiraz

KARRA YERTA WINES 2005 BAROSSA SHIRAZ

PRODUCT: Karra Yerta Wines 2005 Barossa Shiraz
VINTAGE: 2005
APPELLATION: Barossa
VARIETY: Shiraz
HARVESTED: March 28, 2005
BOTTLED: October 9, 2007
ALCOHOL: 14.6%
TA: 7.58g/ltr
PH: 3.53
PRODUCTION: 64 cases
CELLARING: drink now to 2017
RRP AU$25 *THIS WINE IS NOW SOLD OUT ASIDE FROM A SMALL AMOUNT OF MUSEUM STOCK*

COMMENTS:
This vibrant, deep cherry red coloured shiraz was made by James Linke and finished by Pete Schell (Spinifex) from grapes in the premium area of the Barossa floor (Moppa/Kalimna). A perfumed nose of dark berries and chocolate. Nice rounded tannins and good length on the palate. This is a fine example of a Barossa Shiraz and although drinking quite nicely now, will certainly benefit from cellaring. Screwcap.

REVIEWS/RATINGS:
94/100 points Gary Walsh - "Winorama" (March 2008)
Silver Medal at the 2008 San Francisco International Wine Show