Dear Wine Enthusiasts, you might want to pay more attention to this post as we have a new monthly wine event in town. That’s right, every last Thursday of the month, Villa Danieli will bring you on a wine lovers journey where you can expect to mingle, taste some fine wine, and of course pair the wine with a specially crafted menu. Indeed, this event is akin to blind dating, except with the wine, not your romantic interest (although you can also do that at the same time).
We were invited to the launch of the Wine Dating event last month, and our wineries of the night were Gerard Bertrand and Warre’s Warrior. There were 4 different stages of dining with the first 3 stations featuring the savoury canapés, and then we were to sit down for our dessert.
Not surprisingly, sommelier David Stephan (of wine talk, you might have seen my post here and here) was invited to talk about the different wine we were about to taste.
The first station was a spread of delectable cold canapés.
The duck breast was so tender, pairing fabulously with the tangy and sweet fruits.
The liver pate, hands down our favourite of the night, and this had Kevin convinced that jam and pate is a great combo. We might have helped ourselves to extra servings of these.
Chicken, Bacon, and Avocado, great combination! All the canapes above were paired with Gerard Bertrand Reserve Speciale Viognier (the duck and chicken terrine could also be paired with the Gerard Bertrand Reserve Speciale Pinor Noir).
Gérard Bertrand is a specialist producer of premium wines from the south of France, and in this Réserve Spéciale range reveals the elegant, generous array of fruity flavours produced by the very best terroirs in the region.The optimum sunshine and low rainfall at the terroirs of the Languedoc brings out all the complexity of the region’s emblematic grape varieties and thus producing top-quality wines.
The Viognier is pale yellow in colour, with intense aromas of white flowers. The palate is rich and lush with tropical fruits, dried apricots, hazelnuts and honey. To us, it was love at first sip. One of the nicest wine we’ve tasted lately. Needless to say, we tried to stick to the whites as much as possible, but the Pinot Noir was pretty alright too, with notes of ripe cherry, wild raspberry and spices, and a balanced finish.
Next, we moved on to the “Flying Liquid” station, where we were served 2 different types of soup.
The Gazpachio is perfect for Malaysian weather. I am sometimes weary of it if the wrong combination of vegetables are used (don’t like it if there’s too much cucumber in it) but here there’s a nice balance of piquancy, sweet and savoury notes. Absolutely refreshing. This also pairs really well with the Viognier, although by now we were introduced to the Gerard Bertrand Reserve Speciale Chardonnay, which is drier and offers fresh notes of citrus, ripe apple and white flowers.
I also liked the chick pea soup, especially because it’s paired with Villa Danieli’s famous olive tapenade. Very comforting and quite addictive.
Third station is called “Make it Hot”, as in hot canapés. The ones who drink white only can just stick to the Chardonnay, but some dishes pair (lamb, for example) better with the Gerard Bertrand Reserve Speciale Pinot Noir or Merlot.
Big and juicy oyster battered and fried, dressed with hot sauce; what’s not to love?
Perfectly cooked scallop, buttery brioche and creamy hollandaise with that distinctive truffle aroma, yum!
Eggplant always works well with cheesy things, and this one goes well with either the white or red.
The puff pastry is excellently done, and I love the depth of flavours of the lamb, this is the only dish I’d be willing to swap to the red for, and in this case, Merlot is the perfect choice.
The last station was of course the desserts, aptly named “Sweet Revenge”. We moved on to Warre Warrior Finest RSV’s Port, a classic full-bodied wine with wonderful richness and balance. Port is usually paired with desserts, especially chocolate, cheeses and nuts. During our dessert course, there was also a prize drawing session (which will happen at every event) and we won a couple of discount vouchers, which means we gotta return to Sheraton Imperial soon!
Experience the Wine Lovers Journey for yourself for RM 220nett per person, happening every last Thursday of each month with limited number pax set at 30 per an event. For further inquiries on their next event menu parring or on table reservations at Villa Danieli, call 0327179900 or email to restaurants.imperial@sheraton.com or visit http://www.sheratonimperialkualalumpur.com/villadanieli
Kelly Siew Cooks 