The Royal Cliff Beach Resort’s Wine Dinners are so popular that the Wine Club’s president, Ranjith Chandrasiri, sends two emails to the members, around one day apart - the first is to announce the next wine dinner and the second to announce that it is already fully booked. At B. 2,200 they are very difficult to beat in the value for money stakes, let alone the enjoyment of trying some different wines.

Tim Herrmann
This month, the wines came from the Australian Redbank Winery who showcased their “Long Paddock” label with seven wines to be experienced with another of Executive Chef Walter Thenisch’s wine dinners, with the five individual courses designed to match up with the characteristics of the various wines.
The name “Long Paddock” comes from the history of Australian drovers who would open their boundary gates and let their cattle graze along the roadsides, hoping they would find water and some food, during the hard, dry summers. The cattle “Paddocks” were within the cattle stations, but when the cattle were let out in search of food and water, they were described as “droving the Long Paddock”. However, today for the “long paddock” Redbank selects much of its fruit from the high altitude King and Ovens Valleys in Victoria’s North East. The colder temperature slows down the maturation of the grape and enhances flavor.
Representing the Redbank Vinetards was the regional sales manager Asia/Pacific of Negociants International, Tim Herrmann, whilst the wine sponsor of the evening was Vanichwathana Bangkok, with their director of wines, Georges Barbier in attendance.
Members and friends gathered in the cocktail bar and sipped the Redbank Sunday Morning Pinot Gris 2006, a wine that had been highly recommended by the international wine judge Robert Parker as being the finest Pinot Gris. Redbank was also voted in the world’s top 100 vineyards.
We began the dinner with a Jaffa orange macerated scallop carpaccio topped with smoked river trout salad and golden caviar, teamed with a Redbank The Long Paddock Sauvignon Blanc 2006. Now if that was not enough for your taste buds, the next course was even better with a maple syrup marinated cod medallion on Japanese cucumber strips and spiced tomato-papaya coulis washed down by a superb Redbank The Long Paddock Chardonnay 2006. Whilst the Sauvignon Blanc was very pleasant, the Chardonnay was much more full bodied, and for my palate at least, this was the best white of the evening.
It was time to explore the Redbank reds, with four more wines to go. These were paired with the next two courses to allow the Wine Club members direct comparisons. The first two being the Redbank The Long Paddock Merlot 2005 and the Redbank The Long Paddock Shiraz 2005 served with the slow roasted Barberry duck supreme with confit onion and spiced prune on Roselle-duck jus. The Merlot was pleasant, but the Shiraz had the body and the long finish, and the majority of the members agreed with me. Tim Herrmann also gave the Shiraz the nod.
The next course was a herb-mushroom crusted Victorian beef tenderloin on green and red pepper sauce with sun-dried tomato and arugula risotto. Mention must be made of this dish. The tenderness of the Australian beef was just remarkable. You could have cut it with a spoon! The two wines with it were Redbank The Fugitive Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 and Redbank Fighting Flat Shiraz 2006. Again it was the Shiraz grape that was the majority choice, though some tables were fairly evenly split between the two choices.
The final dish in what had been a spectacular evening was a dessert which was presented like a work of art, with spiral antennae made of chocolate with a mangosteen sorbet (the fruit having been grown in the Royal Cliff’s organic gardens) and a mango panna cotta tart.
Vacancies in the Wine Club are infrequent, but with the turnover of expats you may be lucky. To contact Ranjith, email wineclub@royalcliff. com and cross your fingers!
Of course, you also do not need to wait for a seat at the next wine dinner, the Royal Cliff’s Grill Room and Wine Cellar provides some of the highest quality wines and food in Pattaya. Always highly recommended!

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Pork with ginger

This is a mainland China recipe and though similar to the Thai Moo Pad Khing uses more ingredients and some different flavors with the use of rice wine, honey and sauces. Sherry can be used in place of the rice wine if difficult to procure. Use the lean pork fillets or you can even substitute chicken breast.

Cooking Method Cut the pork into thin strips and dry on paper. Heat the oil in the wok and add the onions, stir-frying until transparent. Add ginger root and garlic and stir. Now add the pork strips, rice wine, sugar, honey, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce. Bring to the boil and cook until the liquid has been reduced 50 percent. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with the chopped scallion and serve with steamed rice.

Ingredients                          Serves 4
Pork fillets                                500 gm
Sunflower oil                          2 tbspns
Large onion chopped fine               1
Fresh ginger root, grated        2 tbspns
Garlic, chopped                       1 clove
Chinese rice wine                    150 ml
Sugar                                     2 tspns
Honey                                    2 tbspns
Light soy sauce                      2 tbspns
Dark soy sauce                      1  tbspn
Scallion, chopped as garnish             1