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Henschke Lenswood Croft Chardonnay takes to the seas - S. Pellegrino Cooking Cup in Venice, Italy

Adelaide girl Melanie Gowers (Lexus Young Chef of the Year ’07) has beaten some of the world’s leading chefs in the prestigious S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup held in Venice on 28 June 2008, with her dish of Poached Lobster with Capsicum Salsa and Saffron Rouille.

Excitingly for Henschke, Gower’s lobster dish was perfectly matched with one of their Adelaide Hills wines, Henschke Lenswood Croft Chardonnay.

Gowers was sent to Italy by S.Pellegrino as last year’s winner of the Lexus Young Chef of the Year competition. She was accompanied by Jai Leighton, the 2007 Lexus Young Waiter of the Year who selected Henschke Lenswood Croft Chardonnay as the perfect compliment for the winning lobster dish.

Gowers was in the top three placings in the S.Pellegrino Trophy alongside Arima Kuniaki of Japan, chef at Passo a Passo restaurant in Tokyo, and Jean-Yves Drevet of France, chef at Maison du Prussien in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

She competed against an intimidating international team of chefs from around the world; Italy, Switzerland, England, Europe, Dubai, Japan and Australia. Chefs included Jason Atherton, Executive Chef at Gordon Ramsay’s MAZE restaurant in London, Eric Hippolyte Executive Chef at the Milleninum Tower Dubai and Ilario Vinciguerra from Antica trattoria Monte Costone in Varese.

This year 41 yachts participated in the famous S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup, where chefs are part of an actual race crew and have to demonstrate their skill below decks to prepare their signature dish in the yacht’s galley kitchen.

According to S. Pellegrino, the President of the culinary jury, Paolo Marchi, journalist of the daily newspaper Il Giornale and founder of the culinary congress Identita Golose, was quoted as saying, “We tasted 41 dishes, four or five of which cried out for vengeance. There were about the same number of dishes for which I would pay regularly at restaurants. Many of the dishes were deemed out of place, that is, they were too complex or contrived, without taking into account the practicality of the service, which is fundamental when sailing.”

Henschke, a sixth generation family company is proud to support the Lexus Appetite for Excellence as part of an ongoing commitment to nurturing successive generations.

For more information
Fiona MacDonald, Fine Wine Partners
PH: 02 8335 8016
Fiona.macdonald@finewinepartners.com.au

- posted: 02/07/2008

Stephen's Snippet

Just when everyone thought that the screw cap was the latest and greatest closure for wine...wait for it...now another recent invention from Alcoa in Germany, a glass stopper called Vino-Lok, is causing a revolution in Europe. Henschke has conducted the first Australian trial with the new closure on red wine in conjunction with the Australian Wine Research Institute. Results after two years under Vino-Lok in comparison with screw cap confirmed our expectations - the analyses and organoleptic assessment were identical and blind triangular tastings conducted with highly respected wine writers from Australia and around the world showed they were unable to detect a difference.
So what does this all mean? Although more expensive than screw cap or cork, this fully imported, recyclable, environmentally friendly glass stopper is a perfect panacea for (the unreliable) cork and performs as if the wine was in a large-format bottle, eg, magnum. We just need our Australian glass manufacturers to get behind it and produce it here to bring the cost down and the Australian revolution will be well under way! The first Henschke Vino-Lok wine was the 2004 Henry’s Seven (on trial). The 2005 Hill of Roses featured in this newsletter has been sealed with Vino-Lok. The 2005 Tappa Pass Shiraz due for release in about August this year will have Vino-Lok - look out for it.

- posted: 02/06/2008

Assaggio Ristorante-Henschke Dinner

Assaggio Ristorante invites you to attend an intimate dinner with Stephen, Prue and Johann Henschke on Tuesday 27 May 2008. A four-course degustation menu created by chef Camillo Crugnale will be accompanied by Henschke wines. 7pm for 7.30 start. $140 per person - tickets to be pre-paid. Contact (08) 8272 4748 or service@assaggio.com.au Assaggio Ristorante: 92-94 King William Road, Hyde Park, South Australia.

- posted: 10/04/2008