When wine connoisseurs meet
(l-r) Christoph Voegeli GM Royal Cliff Hotels Group, Lt Somphon
Charumilinda, MD Ambrose Wine Limited, Chan Vathanakul, Panga Vathanakul, MD
Royal Cliff Hotels Group, Lt Chawalit Techapaibul, Chairman Ambrose Wine
Ltd, Travis Brown, Dr Iain Corness and Vathanai Vathanakul VP Royal Cliff
Hotels Group.
Dr. Iain Corness
Even though he was a young man with a vision, I am sure
that in 1853 Thomas Hardy never imagined that his wines would be the subject
of a dedicated wine dinner in Pattaya, Thailand. The world has become a
smaller place since Thomas Hardy spent months on board ship to come from
Devon in the UK to Australia, to seek his fortune.
Travis Brown, the Asian
regional director of Accolade Wines, spoke with knowledge and enthusiasm on
the wines which would be drunk that evening.
The Royal Cliff’s deVine Wine Club, in association with
Ambrose Wines, presented the Hardy’s Winemaker’s Dinner at the end of July,
a tribute to Thomas Hardy and as always with the deVine dinners, it was a
sell-out affair.
New GM, Christoph Voegeli welcomed the guests and
introduced the young Australian envoy Travis Brown, the Asian regional
director of Accolade Wines, who spoke with knowledge and enthusiasm on the
wines which would be drunk that evening. He brought to the attention of the
diners that when Thomas Hardy began his first vineyard, he was only 19 years
of age. Hardy’s Wines was also the first to export wine from Australia to
the UK, and these days in the world, two million glasses of Hardy’s wines
are drunk every day. We were to add to that total!
The secret of success with these dinners is in the skill
of the chef in marrying the food with the wines, and Executive Chef Walter
Thenisch is a master at this. Quite honestly I do not know how he does it,
time after time, and never repeats a dish. It would just be so easy to flip
back a few years and present something, but he never does. Bravo Walter!
Christoph Voegeli, GM Royal
Cliff Hotels Group and Acting President of the deVine Club welcomes guests
to the Hardy’s Winemaker’s Dinner.
We began with a poached lemongrass flavored king prawn on
a bamboo shoot carpaccio with white peach-pear salad. This was enjoyed with
the first wine of the evening, a Hardy’s Nottage Hill Riesling, 2010. An
Australian style Riesling, not sweet, but quite acidic and crisp with a
medium finish. I enjoyed both the king prawn and the Nottage Hill Riesling.
The second course was a pan-seared duck liver medallion
on a pineapple-raisin compote. The next Hardy’s wine was the popular Nottage
Hill Pinot Grigio, an interesting wine with a wonderful long finish. The
more powerful Pinot Grigio grape was needed to get past the sweetness of the
pineapple-raison duo, and it did this with ease. This wine is growing in
popularity, and one can appreciate why.
The next course was roasted barramundi fillet on an
aborigine confit and spiced tomato coulis. The wine was Hardy’s The Riddle
Chardonnay 2011. I questioned Travis Brown on the name given to this wine,
and he enigmatically suggested that the art in the blending of the grapes is
always a riddle. Whatever, this rather young chardonnay seemed to be
universally popular with the diners, as was the barramundi.
Vathanai Vathanakul (centre),
VP RCHG, and Vitanart Vathanakul (left), Executive Director of the RCHG
present tokens of appreciation to Travis Brown (2nd right) and Lt. Chawalit
Techapaibul (right), Chairman of Ambrose Wine Ltd as GM Christoph Voegeli
looks on.
A palate freshener in the Sour Cherry sorbet was next up,
and it was an opportunity for Travis Brown and Christoph Voegeli to mingle
and meet the members of the deVine wine club that evening.
The main course was a herb-mushroom crusted Victorian
(Australia) beef tenderloin on green and red pepper sauce with sun-dried
tomato and Arugula risotto. This was taken with the strangely named Oomoo
shiraz 2007. According to Travis Brown, “oomoo” is an Aboriginal word and
means “good”. It was also a label that had been used by Hardy’s in the
1880’s through to 1900. In 2003, for the 150th
anniversary, the decision was made to re-release the Oomoo label, which is
still being done today. The wine was full-bodied with a good structure and
acidity and was a perfect match for the very tender Victorian beef. I
enjoyed both the beef and the wine.
The desserts were amazing culinary expressions with a
chocolate trellis that looked like the launching pad at Cape Canaveral for
some multi-colored macaroons.
It had been a very pleasant evening, laid back in true
Aussie style, with a selection of eminently quaffable wines, in which the
Oomoo was a stand-out. To join the deVine Wine Club contact
[email protected].
The Royal Cliff Hotels Group, 353 Pratamnak Road,
Pattaya, tel 038 250 421, fax 038 250 511, www. royalcliff.com, secure
parking in the hotel grounds.
Executive Chef Walter
Thenisch (4th right) leads his team to take a bow at the end of a
sensational evening of fine dining.
The Grill Room came alive
again as wine lovers gathered for an evening of fine wining and dining.
