The June Royal Cliff Wine Club dinner was another sell-out and provided much
discussion amongst the members. Against the background of fine food, the
wines came from Constellation Wines International.
Young
Aussie James, complete in mandatory Australian moleskin trousers, was a font
of information on the early days of Australian wine making.
For many, the name Constellation Wines International meant absolutely
nothing. It then came as a great revelation that Constellation was now the
largest wine company in the world!
It appeared that as a conglomerate, Constellation had systematically taken
over vineyards in the USA and Australia, picking up some of the very well
known and respected labels, such as Robert Mondavi in Napa Valley and the
Hardy Wine Company in Australia.
Being an Australian Wine Makers Dinner, Constellation had sent two
Australians to the Royal Cliff event, Matthew Morrissy the regional manager
SE Asia (currently resident in Singapore) and James Wilson, the Business
Development manager from Hardy Wine Company in South Australia.
The
Doc gives the wine a good test.
Young Aussie James, complete in mandatory Australian moleskin trousers, was
a font of information on the early days of Australian wine making.
Apparently, the original vines came out with the first fleet, though up till
the 1960’s the bulk of production was in fortified wines.
After that time, production moved towards table wines until today, where
Australia ranks as the fourth largest exporter of wines in the world, a
market worth 4 billion $A. One could see why the Constellation group wanted
to have a slice of that action!
The menu at a Wine Club dinner is also chosen to complement the wines being
tasted. It must be hell to be an executive chef under those trying
conditions. Imagine, there you are with a very chilled bottle of Moondah
Brook Verdelho 2006, and you think it might go well with Parma ham with
olives, grilled peppers and fresh tomato. So you prepare, sip and try, sip
and try, but no, that’s not the best meld of the two flavors, so you get
another chilled bottle of Moondah Brook Verdelho 2006, and start again. This
time with a seared Ahi tuna and Norwegian salmon with seaweed in Vietnamese
rice paper roll with tobbiko on wasabi mayonnaise. “Yes, that’s better!” and
that is exactly what executive chef Walter Thenisch served up for the Wine
Club patrons that evening. As I said, it must be hell!
The second bottle we tried was a Moondah Brook Chardonnay 2005. “Lightly
oaked,” said James Wilson, but for my taste it was too lightly oaked, to the
point where my palate could not appreciate any oak! However, it certainly
helped wash down the very enjoyable jumbo prawn, marinated with turmeric on
basmati rice, guava and macadamia nut coulis.
Many of the diners I spoke with that evening praised the duck rillette in
crispy fillo dough on cranberry flavored onion confit and duck reduction,
and I could only agree with them. Dish of the night from Madame and myself.
As the courses kept coming, the wines moved to the reds, with the Moondah
Brook Shiraz 2004 and the Brookland Valley Cabernet
Sauvignon/Merlot/Cabernet Franc 2001 both having found favor. For me, the
Brookland Valley was the clear winner, very smooth with plenty of nose and
stayed on the back palate for some time.
It was very pleasing to note that both Matthew Morrissy and James Wilson
independently expressed the opinion that they had never experienced such a
high quality wine dinner. I think we might have become a little blasé in
Pattaya, enjoying these events on a regular basis, and when looked at
compared to the price per head (B. 2,100), represents totally unbeatable
value. Of course, the wine sponsorship from Ambrose Wines certainly helped.
Another aspect of these dinners which should not be overlooked is the
efficiency of the service staff. No matter how many times I got up for a
stroll, there always seemed to be someone there to push in my chair when I
came to sit down.
However, no evening can be completely without problems, and I noted that by
three quarters through the dinner, my butter kangaroo sculpture had keeled
over. You will be pleased to note he was resurrected and kept his little
head up till desserts.
The next Wine Dinner will be July 6 and I believe will feature Wolf Blass
wines.
The June Royal Cliff Wine Club dinner was
another sell-out and provided much discussion amongst the members.
Chicken fillets with ginger
This is a mainland China recipe and though
similar to the Thai Gai 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 skinless chicken
fillets or you can even substitute lean pork.
Cooking Method
Cut the chicken breast 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 chicken 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
Chicken breast 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
