by Miss Terry Diner
The Royal Cliff Wine Club held another of its winemaker’s
dinners, this time being host to an Australian winemaker, Tony Ingle, from
Angoves Wines in South Australia.
At
these dinners, which are held in the ballroom of the Royal Cliff Grand, the
concept is to introduce the Wine Club members to different wines selected by
the Wine Club president, Ranjith Chandrasiri, while dining on items prepared
by the Royal Cliff’s executive chef, Walter Thenisch, with each designed to
complement each other. After several years of wine dinners, chef Walter is a
master of this; however, he still does not know how to keep koala bears in
their trees. (Yes, yes, I know they aren’t really bears but are marsupials,
but you would look a bit silly saying “My koala marsupial fell out of its
tree,” so bear with me on this.)
Whilst wines from Australia are considered ‘New World’ wines, Dr. Angove
planted his first vines in 1886, or so Tony Ingle informed us, and this was
merely done so he could make wines for his ailing patients. If only I could
find a doctor today who would prescribe a nice bottle of red to be taken
with the evening meal!
But I digress. The first of the six courses arrived with marinated Tasmanian
salmon fillets with a pickled vegetable cocktail ceviche. This put the ‘wow’
factor into the first course, which was washed down with Angove’s Chalk Hill
Blue Semillon Chardonnay 2005.
We
stayed with the Chalk Hill Blue for the second course which was a Michihli
cabbage and Belgian Endive veloute soup garnished with a kangaroo noisette.
Great nourishing soup, able to absorb the flavour of the strong kangaroo
meat.
For the third course we ventured into a Long Row Chardonnay, 2004. This was
a full bodied chardonnay and for many this was the wine of the night. I can
heartily recommend this wine if you are a white drinker. We drank it with
the steamed kori fish medallion accompanied by a mascarpone terrine and
tomato-mustard jam. This was for me, the dish of the night. The contrast
between the smooth mascarpone and the tart tomato-mustard and the texture of
the fish was just superb.
Into the second half of the (long) evening, and my koala bear fell out of
its tree. Walter Thenisch and his staff had meticulously carved butter
koalas in butter trees, but koalas can’t last the distance. Drop bears were
evident at every table. Walter, you will have to do better than this! May I
suggest that ground dwelling animals such as bandicoots might be better for
the next Aussie dinner.
Returning to the wines, it was time for the reds with a Coonawarra Cabernet
Sauvignon 2004 next up. A most interesting wine with a real ‘fizz’ on the
palate. We had a pigeon spiced with star anise with this, but I must admit I
am not particularly fond of pigeons, which are best left to desecrating
statues or carrying messages, in my opinion.
However, the next course featured the most tender premium Australian beef
tenderloin. This you could have cut with a spoon, it just fell apart. Washed
down with a McLaren Vale Shiraz 2004, this was for me the runner up
combination of the evening (after the fish).
We finished with an amazing dessert creation with a lemon tart, toasted
marshmallows and raspberry sherbet, taken with a heady 1999 Premium Port.
And speaking of fortified wines, a 25,000 baht 30 year old bottle of the
award winning “Best Brandy in the World” was won by Pat Burbridge, who has
recouped her Wine Club membership many times over.
These wine dinners represent possibly the best high end value for money in
Pattaya. At B. 2000, this barely (bearly?) covers the cost of the food, let
alone the wines and the drop bears. That they are a sell-out each time is no
surprise. Even gourmets and wine connoisseurs are not averse to a bargain
when they see one. If you would like to know more, then contact the Wine
Club by email [email protected]. The Dining Out team suggests that you
do. The small subscription is definitely worth it.
