Brae is situated on 30 acres at 4825 Cape Otway Road, Birregurra. Each day chef Dan Hunter and his team carefully source a selection of the highest quality ingredients from Brae’s own organic kitchen garden, local farms and ethical, sustainable producers from Victoria and beyond. With the greatest respect, these ingredients are transformed into the day’s menu. Dan has a great Degustation and matching wines menu for meat lovers and vegetarians.
Degustation and Matching Wines
For the 10 course menu there was an interesting array of local and overseas wines, plus a pink sake and a Danish beer. Really interesting combinations! A few examples:
2009 Blake’s Estate Pinot. Light pink colour. Strawberry sappy nose. Nice creamy mouthfeel. Sweet strawberry, cherry, lemon, sappy savouriness and bracing acid. Soft tannins. Finished dry. Excellent with the range of entrees that included prawn nasturtium & finger lime, flaxseed & rocket, red roach & almond with cured egg & broccoli, beef tendon & mountain pepper, and burnt pretzel treacle & pork.
2012 Garagiste Chardonnay. Pale straw. Fresh citrus grapefruit vanillin oak and minerals. Lemon grapefruit taut minerality. Went well with southern rock lobster cooked with carrot, white onion and sea butter.
2012 old hog Pinot. Vibrant red purple. Savoury mushroom sappy strawberry. Sour cherry earth sappy nice dusty tannins. Good marriage with the dry aged jumbuck, beans, and barbecued lettuce.
Pink sake. From Kyoto. Made with Red rice. Floral, sweet. Lighter style. Nice mouthfeel. Interesting match for charred radicchio and duck offal, quandong cooked with rhubarb
2012 Paradise IV Batesford Shiraz. Bright crimson with purple hue. Lovely spice cherry on nose. Spice pepper cherry red fruit medium body noce mouthfeel. Lovely juicy fruit driven and spicy style current drinking. Winemaker … Studied under Rock Kitzenbrunner of Giaconda fame. Excellent with grass fed wagyu, salted radish, rock samphire, Otway shiitake.
2011 Fritz Haag Spatlese Riesling. 8% alcohol. Lime Lemon spice nose. Green apple sweet honey candied fruit lychee palate.
2004 Botrytis Chenin Blanc from the Loire valley. High acid. Botrytis and late harvest. Pale straw. Honied apples nose. Spice cinnamon peach apricot molasses rich mouthfiling. Finishes clean. Great with the parsnip and apple dessert. DELICIOUS!!
Wine Drover 