by Miss Terry Diner
One of the most successful promotions of the Royal
Cliff Wine Club has been their Winemaker’s Dinners. The concept is a
simple one - some notable winemakers are invited to present some of their
better wines to complement the menu for the dinner, while the Royal
Cliff’s culinary experts come up with some innovative items to go with
the wine.
Last week’s dinner was no exception, with Philippe
Dhalluin, the manager of the Chateau Branaire vineyard presenting four
Bordeaux wines, while the executive chef of the Royal Cliff, Walter
Thenisch presented a six course dinner to go with them.
Panga
Vathanakul MD of the Royal Cliff Beach Resort shows her appreciation to
Philippe Dhalluin for the presentation of his outstanding wines, equally
complemented by Chef Walter Thenisch’s innovative menu.
The dinner was a sell-out, with places closing over a
week before the event. And an “event” it really was, being held in the
Grand Ballroom, decked out with ice statues and foliage, while the white
be-suited (tails, of course) service people, complete with white gloves,
seemed to outnumber the diners. It was “service” with a capital
“S”. Even watching the simultaneous lifting of the silver
“cloches” (food covers) from the serving dishes was “performing
art” itself!
One of the problems with purchasing wine in this
country of 420% duty and excise is that often the wines have suffered in
transit. Ranjith Chandrasiri, the Wine Club captain and resident manager
of the Royal Cliff Grand, told the guests that by contrast, all the
bottles for the Winemaker’s Dinner had been hand carried to Thailand by
Philippe Dhalluin and Eric Hostein (the president of Louis Vialard and
Chateau Cissac in Bordeaux). The selected wines were truly pedigreed as
well as the transporters! In fact, Miss Terry was witness to Philippe and
Eric personally tasting each bottle that was to be drunk that evening to
ensure the quality had been maintained.
We began with a Chateau Branaire Grand Cru 1999, a wine
with a wonderful “honey” bouquet to be drunk with a home-made terrine,
flavoured with Armagnac and green peppercorns served on a bed of mesclun
salad with sherry vinaigrette. I had the good fortune to sit beside
Philippe Dhalluin and it is always a privilege to be in the company of
someone who is enthusiastic about their subject. French Philippe was
passionate about the Bordeaux wines and imparted much information to the
guests between courses.
While still with the first wine, we enjoyed a wild
mushroom cream soup, served in a cup of crusty bread. This was
particularly good, with the mushroom flavour being maintained.
The next wine was from the 1997 vintage Chateau
Branaire Grand Cru and was teamed with oven roasted lobster “Goujons”
on juliennes of saut้ed Napa Valley cabbage accompanied by a whole
grain mustard sauce. For me, this was the dish of the night. I must also
say that I think there was a touch of irony with this selection, the Napa
Valley being the home of American winemaking, and here it was merely
supplying cabbage!
Before the main course, Philippe Dhalluin explained
just how the production of their wines are purchased before they are even
bottled - a “futures” transaction taking place. He also described the
following two wines - both a 1995 vintage, with one being the “second”
wine - a Chateau Branaire Duluc-Ducru and the other being the Grand Cru.
These two wines were exceptionally interesting, the
“second wine” Duluc-Ducru being very smooth, with a wonderful bouquet.
On its own, you would have said “Excellent!” but when we tried the
absolutely superb Grand Cru which followed, it was impossible to go back
to the Duluc-Ducru. No wonder people like Philippe become so passionate!
These wines were taken with the main course of a herb
crusted prime rack of lamb on grilled Provencale vegetables with
garlic-rosemary reduction.
After a suitable break, within which the Royal
Cliff’s resident trio serenaded the tables, singing in French for the
vintners, English for the native British and in Thai for the local
residents, a cheese platter was brought out with an assortment of cheeses
that had also arrived that morning from Australia.
If that was not enough, a dessert of mango gratin with
yoghurt ice cream was served, for which Miss Terry could do no justice at
all, having made a small porker of herself on the Australian cheeses.
The next winemaker’s dinner will be in late March and
will feature some of the famous Tyrrell’s range of wines from Australia.
I must also thank Ranjith for inviting the Dining Out Team for such a
memorable evening. If you are into fine dining in the ‘grand’ manner,
then look out for this event. The highest recommendation possible.
The Winemaker’s Dinners, Royal Cliff Wine Club, the
Royal Cliff Beach Resort, 353 Phra Tumnak Road, Pattaya, telephone 038 250
421, email [email protected]
It
wasn’t just the wines that grabbed all the attention at the gala. Panga
Vathanakul (centre) and the bevy of lovely diners grabbed their share.
