Rote Grutze is a beautiful grape dessert that reminds us of vintage and traditional events like the Barossa Vintage Festival. We are confessed dessert lovers and a bowl of these rich, flavourful little jewels is part of our German heritage.
It’s usually found only in Barossa homes during vintage using red grape varieties rich in colour like Mataro and Shiraz. You can use any grapes at hand or a blend of table grapes as we sometimes do later in the season. This food tradition was carried to Barossa settlements with its European settlers. Traditionally red berries were used in the dish, but the Barossa gave the dish it’s own regional stamp by using grapes. Think of this dish like a mulled wine jelly. Delicious!
Prep time 2 hours Cook time 15 mins
Ingredients
1kg bunches of late-picked shiraz grapes, washed
3 slices lemon, skin included
1 cinnamon stick
2 whole cloves
1/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons Sago or Tapioca pearls*
Method
1. Pull the berries from the grape bunches, place in a saucepan with the lemon slices, cinnamon and cloves. Boil for ten minutes, then allow to sit for 45 minutes for skins to infuse colour; the juice should be a rich dark colour, like red wine. Strain through a sieve, squeezing as much juice as possible. At this point you can freeze the juice, ready for future batches of Rote Grutze.
2. Return the juice to the saucepan with the sugar then sprinkle the sago/tapioca pearls over the top. Allow to soak for several hours in juice to save cooking time.
3. Bring to a gentle boil, stirring gently for 15 minutes, or until the mixture thickens and the sago is clear. Keep heating time minimal to preserve juice colour.
4. Pour the Rote Grutze into a bowl and allow to set in the fridge.
5. Serve warm or cold with lashings of runny local cream. It will keep for several days in the refrigerator and the consistency will thicken over time.
Tip: your supermarket may not have Sago. Tapioca pearls are a perfect substitute
This quick and versatile sauce is more like a savoury compote. Excellent condiment for using figs, especially when you have had enough of sweet fig-based desserts. Serve as a sauce with roast lamb, baked fish, on pizza bases or like a relish. It’s just as good made with a full-bodied red wine or Port style wine.
Prep 10 mins Cook 25 mins
Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
500g brown onions, sliced thinly
1 cup fresh figs or 1 cup dried figs
1/4 cup wine (Liebichwein red wine or Tawny Port)
1 cup stock (chicken or vegetable)
1 tbsp Liebichwein Muscat Vinegar (balsamic vinegar can be substituted)
1 tbsp chopped rosemary or thyme (fresh or dried)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Method
Prepare sliced onions and cut figs into quarters if using fresh figs.
Heat olive oil in large frying pan. Add onions and sprinkle some salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are golden, about 20 minutes.
Stir in figs, wine, stock, vinegar and herbs. Increase heat to high and simmer until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.
Add salt and pepper taste.
Store in a sealed container in the fridge for 2-3 weeks. Alternatively, freeze in small portions until ready to use.
Traditional German Streuselkuchen is a family favourite! This cake has a sweet yeast dough base and is topped with fresh or preserved fruit and a crunchy sweet crumble. It brings back so many good memories of Barossa afternoon teas and family gatherings. In summer we use mulberries, plums or apricots while in autumn we use pears, apples or grapes.
Prep 2 hours Bake 20 mins Makes one large cake 45 x 30cm
Yeast:
2 teaspoons yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup milk warmed
1 teaspoon plain flour
Cake:
700g (1 lb) plain flour
Pinch salt
70g (2 oz) butter
85g (3 oz) sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 cup sultanas or currants
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Milk for glazing
3 cups of thinly sliced fresh fruit or whole berries (optional)
Streusel Topping:
2 cups plain flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
Sprinkle ground cinnamon
Directions
Place yeast in a small bowl, add sugar and warm milk, plain flour, mix cover and stand in a warm place until the mixture turns frothy (takes around 15 minutes).
Start making cake dough by sifting flour into a bowl, add pinch of salt. Rub butter and sugar into flour (flavourings may be added here).
Add beaten egg to yeast mixture. Mix in the flour a cup at a time. Once the dough is too thick to mix, use hands to mix it and knead gently for a minute to a soft dough.
Spread dough approx. 2cm thick onto a large oven tray. Brush cake top with milk to help streusel stick.
Place seasonal sliced fruit or whole berries on top.
To make streusel, rub sugar and softened butter into flour and cinnamon. Press with your fingers to make crumb consistency.
Sprinkle streusel over the whole cake. Cover and keep in a warm place. Let the cake rise for an hour or until double in thickness.
Bake at 200C for 15-20 minutes or until edges of cake are golden brown.
We hosted some very special tastings at cellar door during the 2017 Barossa Vintage Festival in April.
Over our 25 years of business, Ron has been carefully stashing away a few cases of each vintage ever produced of our premium red wine range. What a treat it was for us to taste our museum stocks to see how they were travelling. Overall, they are all aging well and the following vintages were selected based on their greater intensity and developed varietal characters.
Winemaker Ron Liebich’s Comments:
The Darkie Shiraz
Vintage 1999 – A relatively cooler year produced a wine with everything you’d expect for Barossa Shiraz. This wine still show great depth of colour, fruit intensity and complexity. Developed fruitcake spice, smoky oak and lovely pepper hints carry through to smooth long palate.
Vintage 2001 – A great quality season helped the wines make themselves in the vineyard. A concentrated and full bodied Shiraz with magnificent mouth feel. Tight tannins still grip a little, but are nicely balanced with subtle woody notes and cherry jam sweetness. Beautiful development under cork. 2001 is holding up better than the 2000?s. Still has a few years to live.
The Lofty Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage 1998 – A superb quality season. This Cab still shows great depth of colour, fruit intensity and complexity. Palate is spot on with acidity and drying tannins contributing to a tightly structured, persistent palate. Drinking well now.
Vintage 2001 – A concentrated Cabernet with super fine tannins and a lack of any aggressive oak characters. The trademark style of Liebichwein Cabernet still comes through with ripe blackberries and intense floral violet notes. Palate is still fresh and amazingly long. Still has a few years to live.
We are proud to present our new release Apera in the style of Sweet Sherry as we continue to hone in on our reputation for fantastic fortifieds.
Ron has been making wine for 46 years in the Barossa region. He makes no secret of the fact that fortifieds, particularly so-called ?white ports? are what got him hooked on winemaking in the first place.
The favourable weather conditions during the 2015 harvest allowed the fruit to naturally become raisins on the vine, perfect for making this style of wine. Semillon grapes almost left forgotten in the vineyard were combined with 1/3 ripe Riesling grapes producing juice that had a rich raisin-like flavour which was lightly fortified with 100% grape spirit to retain 9.2?Baume sweetness.
Raisin Apera is reminiscent of a sticky Botrytis style with warm honey toffee characters. The burnished gold colour belies the youthfulness of the wine. An irresistible perfumed scent of candied citrus mixed with raisins and a luscious sweet finish. The Riesling component lifts the nose and lightens the palate.
This sweet sherry style wine compliments lighter wine drinking moments either before or after meals. Serve chilled on hot days or over crushed ice. Also a versatile ingredient in the kitchen in sauces, sorbets and cocktails.?Try preparing a sorbet or poach your favourite seasonal fruit in a little of the diluted wine.
Raisin Apera is a new addition to Liebich?s extensive range of fortified wines at Liebichwein cellar door in Rowland Flat. It comes packaged in 375mL bottles, a handy size for travelling.
Exclusive to Cellar Door and Mailing List customers.
