Sam Miranda Cellar Door Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2011

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Sam Miranda 2011 SB

Disclaimer: I was sent this wine by Wine Selectors as part of the first case in their Regional Series. Wine Selectors’ price is $16 a bottle.

I am not a big Sauvignon Blanc drinker and, in particular, I am not big on New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Not that I think there is anything wrong with a NZ Savvy but there’s rather too much of it, too much of it that is average, and too many people who won’t drink anything else.

If you do like a Sauvignon Blanc, please make the tiny effort required to seek out a home grown one.

This Sam Miranda Sauvignon Blanc comes from King Valley in north eastern Victoria – which is a good change for a South Australian. The Sam Miranda range is the premium range of the winery. Unfortunately, this Sauvignon Blanc doesn’t appear on the website, which is a shame because it’s not your typical SB when it comes to winemaking.

For the wine geeks, the wine has been subject to wild barrel fermentation (Sauvignon Blanc is usually made in stainless steel tanks), and has the unusual addition of 10% Savagnin and 5% Petit Manseng.

Savagnin is increasingly seen in Australia, because what everyone thought was Albariño turned out to be Savagnin instead. For most the world, it’s a little known grape – aside from us, it’s really only seen in its homeland of the Jura in France.

Petit Manseng is an even less familiar grape. It is originally from south west France and is now being grown a little in both California and Australia. I’ve only seen one straight Petit Manseng – the 919 from the Riverland.

So there are a lot of interesting things about this wine but this doesn’t mean that diehard Sauvignon Blanc drinkers will be disappointed. On the nose there is the gooseberry, passionfruit, pineapple and even a hint of banana that people expect, or even demand, of a Sav Blanc. It’s not the aggressively herbaceous cat’s pee kind of nose that you sometimes get – it’s very approachable.

On the palate it’s all about the passionfruit and pineapple. There’s acidity there and a bit more weight than the typical Sauvignon Blanc (I suspect that’s thanks to the barrel ferment). This makes this wine incredibly approachable and it would work just as well with food as it would as an apéritif.

This is great – because I can recommend this wine to you on two fronts. Yes, it does indeed have some curiosity value but it’s also good to drink.

Sausage Casserole Recipe

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Hairy Bikers' Sausage and bean casserole

Another hearty dinner for you – one that’s perfect to make on the weekend and have stored up for a mid week dinner.

This recipe comes from the Hairy Bikers’ Mums Still Know Best – a book that’s choc full of very tasty looking, very British recipes.

This is a great recipe because you don’t need to worry too much about quantities. You’ll know if you love beans – and if you don’t, well then you should leave them out and, if you can be bothered, substitute with something else.

Begin by heating some oil in your favourite casserole dish. Chop the sausages into large chunks and fry until browned. Remove from the pan, and fry up some chopped bacon. When that begins to crisp up, remove that and set aside with the sausages.

In the pan (which by now should have a lovely fatty, meaty bottom), fry some finely sliced onion. As the onion softens, add garlic to taste and fry for a couple of minutes more. Now add in chilli powder (or smoked paprika) and cook for a few seconds longer to cook out the spice.

Now add in a tin of crushed tomatoes (note – try to buy Australian!), some chicken stock, tomato purée, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar and some dried oregano or thyme. If you’re cooking for two people, let’s say you’re using 6 sausages (you want to have leftovers, trust me), so use 300mL chicken stock, 2 tbsp tomato purée, 1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce and sugar to taste (I always use far less than specified in recipes so let’s say 1 tsp).

Bring this mix to a simmer and add the sausages and bacon back into the pan. Add enough water (or a 50-50 water/white wine mix) to cover everything.

Partially cover the pan and simmer for at least 20 minutes. When you’re ready to eat, drain and rinse a can of butter beans or cannellini beans and add the beans to the stew. Cook for a further 10 minutes (minimum) and serve with plenty of piping hot, buttery mash.

The picture of this casserole in the book shows a very dry looking dish. Personally, I’m a big fan of plenty of sauce – if things are looking too dry for your tastes you can add passata or stock or more wine. However, if you want less sauce, then hold back on adding all the stock and only add as much liquid as you feel necessary.

This is one of those dishes that keeps and reheats well – there’ll be no problem making it on a Sunday and having it for Tuesday supper (not to mention left overs for lunch the next day).

As a bonus, it’s almost a one pot dish and it’s super easy. Well done, Dave and Si!

Fennel and Vegetable Soup Recipe

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I’m not really sorry to be posting another soup recipe:  it is cold and this one is incredibly easy and quick.

There’s no blitzing and I reckon it was ready for the table in under half an hour. Plus, it makes use of a very seasonal (and that means CHEAP!) ingredient: fennel.

The original recipe is a fennel minestrone, by Arthur Potts Dawson, an eco friendly British chef.

I tweaked quantities quite a bit and also thought that it would be far easier to chop the vegetables, rather than grate them (grating creates washing up!). I was also concerned that if the vegetables were grated the finished product could look a bit … mushy.

To begin – heat some olive oil in your favourite soup making pan and gently sauté 1 finely chopped leek.

I had one giant fennel (bought for the princely sum of 98 cents!) so I cut that in half – which worked out at about 400g of fennel (yes, it was huge) – and roughly chopped it, and then added to the leek.

I then added two handfuls of risoni pasta (I have small hands). I happened to have risoni but you could use any shape or break up spaghetti or fettucine. Really – put in as much as you want but remember that it does expand when it cooks and it will thicken up the soup.

Finally, add stock (I used some chicken stock we had leftover!) and cook. You only need to cook until the pasta is done which is what makes this soup so quick.

Add a coarsely chopped courgette/zucchini about 5 minutes before you’re ready to serve – you don’t want that to turn to mush.

Dawson’s recipe uses a pangritata to finish the dish but I really couldn’t be bothered going outside. However, I did have a jar of pesto open in the fridge, so I stirred a generous teaspoon of that through my bowl.

Finally, a sprinkle of pepper and salt and you have a super healthy, super cheap and super tasty meal in under 30 minutes. No excuses for takeaway!