Dr Iain Corness
The Pullman Pattaya Hotel G has certainly elevated itself within the
collective consciousness of the folk in Pattaya. Their latest promotion
was a wine tasting event, held in the Beach Club, with wines supplied by
G Four Wines from Bangkok, and finger food from Chef Thierry’s kitchen.
Laurent Scire, director of F&B Pullman
Pattaya Hotel G.
The wine guru for the evening was Davide Contu Salis, a passionate
Italian (but aren’t they all)! The wines were mainly from Argentina and
Chile, though Davide had sneaked in a Follador Prosecco which was a
great palate freshener.
As enjoyable as the Follador was, he then produced what I irreverently
called a “Follador Fizz”. This was around 60 percent Follador with the
remainder of the glass filled with Fragoli wild strawberry liqueur. I
can’t speak for the strawberries, but I considered the Follador Fizz
pretty wild too!
Taking the Argentine wines first, these were both from the Tierra Buena
vineyards from the Mendoza region in Argentina. The first was a
Chardonnay 2012 (100 percent Chardonnay grapes, aged three months in the
bottle), and was pleasant, though a little too young. Give it another
six months in your home cellar.
The second Argentine wine was a Malbec 2012. Once again, a pleasant
wine, but this one needs at least another year laying down. Being a
budget priced wine, this should be no hardship in waiting. The maturing
in the vineyard is only three months in oak casks and another three
months in the bottle.
Pakin Chaisangkam, events manager of Pullman
Pattaya Hotel G.
The Chilean wines came from the Sanama vineyard (not to be confused with
the wines from Sanoma county in the USA). The first was the Sauvignon
Blanc 2011 with 100 percent Sauvignon Blanc grapes, another good wine
for the first course of any dinner. I enjoyed it and appreciated the
smooth finish.
The second Sanama offering was their Merlot Reserva 2011. 100 percent
Merlot grapes, good body and finish. This was the wine of the night, as
far as I was concerned. (Excepting the Follador Fizz!)
The final wine was the Sanama Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva 2011, again a
100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon grape with 12 months maturation between
French and American oak barrels and six months in the bottle.
Sophon Vongchatchainont (center) GM of
Pullman Pattaya Hotel G entertains guests at his hotel.
(L to R) Davide Contu Salis, G Four Fine
Wines; Tony Malhotra, Pattaya Mail; Nannadda Supakdhanasombat, director
of MarCom and Sophon Vongchatchainont GM of Pullman Pattaya Hotel G.
(L to R) Janjira Buanlee, PR Manager Pullman
Pattaya Hotel G, Marie Gonter events & marketing director, Pullman
Pattaya Hotel G; Juthamard Boonchinwudtikun, PR Executive Holiday Inn
Pattaya and Nannadda Supakdhanasombat, director of MarCom Pullman
Pattaya Hotel G.
Dr. Iain Corness chats wine with Davide
Contu Salis.
