Dr. Iain Corness
Baron Edmond de Rothschild was represented in Pattaya’s
Mantra restaurant at a wine dinner featuring some of the many and varied
wines to come under the “Compagnie Vinicole Baron Edmond de Rothschild”
label.
(L to R) Richard Margo,
resident manager of Amari Orchid Pattaya; Brendan Daly, general manager of
Amari Orchid Pattaya; Florent Mougin, Asia-Pacific export manager for the
Compagnie Vinicole Baron Edmond de Rothschild and Tony Malhotra deputy MD of
Pattaya Mail Media Group, at the pre-dinner cocktail.
It was the French branch of the Rothschild family which
purchased the Chateau Lafite in 1868 resulting in some world famous wines.
The wine holdings were then increased with Baron Edmond’s purchase of two
‘Crus Bourgeois’, including the Chateau Clarke vineyards which were
completely restored to their former glory by the Rothschild family in the
1970’s.
Rothschild wines under the
“Compagnie Vinicole Baron Edmond de Rothschild” label are lined up and ready
for the evening guests.
The official representative was Florent Mougin, the
Asia-Pacific export manager for the Compagnie Vinicole Baron Edmond de
Rothschild, who in an exclusive interview on PMTV elaborated on some of the
varied areas the company was involved in (France, South Africa and
Argentina), and the private banking right through to boat races! A very
far-reaching conglomerate. Florent also put paid to the ‘room temperature’
debate for red wines, stating the temperature for reds should be 17-18
degrees Celsius, and whites at 12 degrees C. Now you know, set your fridges
accordingly!
Mantra Social Director
Supparatch ‘Amy’ Piyawatcharapun (center) welcomes Rungratree Thongsaai
(left) and Som Corness (right) to the fabulous evening at the magnificent
restaurant & bar.
However, we had come to sample some of the wines, with a menu designed by
the Amari’s Executive Chef Leonard Faust to complement the wines. The first
of five courses was a foie gras mousse terrine served with pickled beets,
tomato tartar and micro red bamboo radish. Now usually, the first course is
served with a white wine, but in this case it was a medium bodied red Les
Granges des Domaines Baron Edmond de Rothschild, Haut Medoc, 2009. This
course and the accompanying wine had everyone thirsting for the second
course.
Som
Corness readies herself to chose from the assortment of cheeses.
This offering from Chef Leonard was a Jerusalem artichoke and cauliflower
volute with prawn, dory mousseline and green oil. A superb soup, accompanied
by a Merle Blanc de Chateau Clarke, 2010. This was a superb wine, absolutely
correct for the volute.
The main course was a choice of roast lamb saddle with Parma ham, apricot
and strawberry balsamic risotto, taken with a Chateau de Malengin,
Puisseguin St. Emilion 2009, or sea bass roulade with saffron potato
fondant, salsa verde and baby red cabbage continuing with the Merle Blanc
2010.
One choice for the main course
was sea bass roulade with saffron potato fondant, salsa verde and baby red
cabbage continuing with the Merle Blanc 2010.
Madame chose the lamb, and I went with the sea bass. The
saddle cut does leave some fatty areas, but this was still a very pleasant
dish, and the St. Emilion was well received. For me, this was a wonderful
innovative way to serve sea bass, and the continuation of the Merle Blanc
was no hardship!
The next course was a cheese assortment, and here, the fourth cheese, a blue
(next time please give us the names of each cheese, Chef Leonard) and this
spicy, fizzy combination with the Chateau Clarke, Baron Edmond de
Rothschild, Listrac 2005 was a full-bodied red, but even Florent Mougin
admitted that any wine would be struggling against the onslaught of tastes
offered by the blue cheese.
And so to the final course of a bitter chocolate and white chocolate terrine
with cherry Chantilly, taken with a Ferreira Port Tawny, an interesting wine
with a long finish and not too sweet as to overpower the chocolate terrines.
A farewell drink at the Mantra’s cocktail bar and it was home after another
memorable evening. If you have not been to some of the Mantra’s special
events, then you should treat yourself to something that you will talk about
for weeks to come.
Mantra’s event is a special evening of jazz music with the Bangkok Symphony
Orchestra Foundation Jazz Quartet featuring guest singer Karista Yenpoonsuk
and lead keyboard player Bhudinant Deeswasmongkol. This will take place
beginning at 7.30 p.m. on Saturday May 18. To book seats email: email@
mantra-pattaya.com.
Mantra Restaurant and Bar, Pattaya Beach Road (just before the corner), open
seven days, secure valet parking, telephone 038 429 591.
