Dr. Iain Corness
The de Vine Wine Club at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort
once again achieved the (almost) impossible, in bringing the ‘world’s best
Semillon’ to the McGuigan Winemaker’s dinner on Friday, March 16.
Australian beef.
At the beginning of the evening, president of the de Vine
Wine Club, Ranjith Chandrasiri, advised the members that since there were
eight wines available, this was the equivalent to more than one complete
bottle of wine per person, and caution was advised for those in charge of
motor vehicles. A very responsible attitude being shown by the president.
The Australian winemaker McGuigan’s was represented by
Nicholas Yap, the export manger for Asia Pacific, who advised that the
winery had been going since 1830 and then spoke on the Bin 9000 Semillon
2006, which at the International Wines and Spirits competition in London,
was voted ‘The best Semillon in the world’. This wine is in very short
supply and Nicholas Yap informed the members that there are only 100 cases
of this wine left in Australia, and none in Thailand. President Ranjith also
advised that the bottles of this wine for the wine dinner were hand-carried
in from Australia.
Siam Winery was the sponsor of the event, and although
not a wine, their Gerolstein sparkling mineral water deserves a mention. A
really refreshing mineral water and worth looking out for. With so many
wines that evening, the Gerolstein was a very welcome (and sobering)
addition.
Lobster.
The reception area was packed, as these wine dinners are
always fully subscribed, with the members meeting up again while enjoying
the McGuigan Private Bin Chardonnay 2010. A very pleasant drop which was
universally popular, a situation that is quite rare, with wine appreciation
being such a personal experience.
On being seated, the first course was a poached Boston
lobster tail with a lemongrass jelly and balsamic cream. Once again a
wonderful dish from the Royal Cliff’s executive chef, Walter Thenisch, a
chef who never ceases to amaze, with the range of dishes he produces, and
never repeats a dish. This was taken with a Tempus Two Chardonnay 2010, with
the grapes grown in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia. The motto of the
Tempus Two winery is “Beautiful wines for beautiful people!”
The next course of a pan-seared Pacific scallop topped
with pink peppercorns on a herbed risotto and coriander foam was served with
two wines, a McGuigan Shortlist Riesling 2009 and the award-winning McGuigan
Bin 9000 Semillon 2006. For me it was no contest - the Semillon beat the
Riesling hands down, and most of the wine club members agreed, some even
saying they would have preferred to stay with the reception wine, rather
than the Riesling.
The main course is served.
The next course was a boneless quail filled with foie
gras, cranberry and pistachio on grape stew. A brave choice by Chef Walter,
with quail not being a common dish these days. It was taken with the
McGuigan Private Bin Merlot 2010, a very pleasant drop indeed.
The main course (of five) was a coffee and pepper crusted
Australian prime beef tenderloin with a mushroom-potato gnocchi and shiitake
jus. To again allow direct comparisons, two reds were served together, a
Tempus Two Cabernet Merlot 2010 and a Tempus Two Pewter Cabernet Sauvignon
2010 which came in a magnificent bottle with an embossed pewter label. The
artistic bottle won that contest for the vast majority of diners.
The final (dessert) course featured a raspberry cream
cheese mousse, orange cake, Grand Marnier souffl้ and yoghurt praline ice
cream. Washed down with a McGuigan Black Label Sparkling Chardonnay NV this
was a very fitting end to a rather special de Vine Wine Club dinner. As
Nicholas Yap said in his address, the de Vine Wine Club wine dinners are now
famous throughout Asia, and he was just so grateful that he had been able to
experience one - and he could now see why they were so popular.
With some of the McGuigan wines available “cut price”
after the dinner, many members were buying as many as they could.
Unfortunately, the Bin 9000 Semillon 2006, the best Semillon in the world
was not available!
Chicken with Mango
Unlike most Thai dishes which use green mango, this
Chinese recipe calls for ripe (sweet) mango. The sweetness of the mango
offsets the marinated chicken and should be served with Jasmine rice on
the side.
|
Ingredients Serves 4
Chicken breast fillets 400 gm
Salt 1 tspn
Sesame oil Ľ tspn
White pepper a pinch
Cooking oil 1 tbspn
Water 3 tspns
Corn flour 1 tbspn
Garlic crushed 2 cloves
Mango (ripe) 2
Spring onions (chopped) 2
Sunflower oil 3 tbspns
Lemon juice drizzle |
Cooking Method
Take chicken breasts and cut into thin slices and
then into strips, and put aside in a large bowl.
Combine the salt, sesame oil, white pepper, cooking
oil, water and corn flour until smooth and pour over the chicken breast
strips. Turn the chicken strips so that all are in contact with the
marinade and leave there for 10 minutes.
While the chicken is absorbing the marinade, peel and
remove the stones from the mangoes and dice the flesh into 2.5 cm cubes.
In the wok, heat the oil and add the chicken strips,
stir-frying until the chicken is lightly colored. Now add the spring
onions and garlic and cook until the chicken is done. Add diced mangoes
and a splash of water, drizzle on the lemon juice and serve.
