The late Robert
Mondavi.
The
Royal Cliff Wine Club had set up a most professional affair in one of their
spacious ballrooms to highlight some wines from the Robert Mondavi label with
co-sponsorship from Ambrose Wines. As facilitators for the evening, the Royal
Cliff Wine Club president Ranjith Chandrasiri had on hand Matthew Morrissey and
Fiona Darby from Constellation Wines, the owner of Robert Mondavi these days
following the merger of Constellation and Mondavi vineyards in 2004/5.
|
It was a busy (boozy?) week for the
Dining Out team recently. Two wine tastings in succession, one at the
Royal Cliff Beach Resort (through the Royal Cliff Wine Club) and one at
the new Amari Tower in their Ice Bar. |
In conjunction with the wine tasting the Wine Club also held a silent auction of
four bottles of the collectible Robert Mondavi wines to assist the Asian
Elephant Foundation of Thailand.
Much was made of the fact that Robert Mondavi died two months ago aged 94, and
the evening was being given almost the trappings of a requiem for him; however,
it should be remembered that whilst Mondavi put Napa Valley on the wine map, it
is some years since he was making the wines. Just as Rolls-Royce these days is
made by BMW, with no input from the Hon. C.S. Rolls or the engineer Henry Royce,
the wines we tasted were the fruits of the labors of Genevieve Janssens, the
Director of Winemaking at Robert Mondavi since 1997.
Six wines were offered for tasting. Two whites, a Sauvignon Blanc and a
Chardonnay, followed by four reds, all Cabernet Sauvignons from vintages 2003,
2001, 2000 and 1999.
Personally, I find the tasting of whites at the same time as reds rather
confusing to my taste buds, as they are so entirely different considering my
‘enthusiastic amateur’ status. Having said that, I found the Chardonnay Private
Selection 2005 eminently more drinkable than the Sauvignon Blanc.
The reds were presented with tasting notes from The Wine Advocate and The Wine
Spectator magazines, complete with scoring from wine expert Robert Parker.
Whilst he is the acknowledged professional, wine tasting is always personal and
my scoring for the four vintages is given in brackets after Parker’s. 2003, 94
(91); 2001, 94 (64); 2000, 92 (77) and 1999, 94 (85). The consensus that evening
also leaned towards the younger vintage.
It had been an interesting exercise, though I have to say, rather rushed.
(L to R) Matthew Morrissey,
Ranjith Chandrasiri and Fiona Darby presiding.
The following evening, it
was down to the Ice Bar in the Amari Tower to sample some
Chilean wines. Again Ambrose wines were involved, with Pattaya
Branch manager Pichit Intraramand bobbing up everywhere
exhorting the numerous guests to try his offerings from Chile.
Pichot
Intraramand from Ambrose wines shows his wares.
From the Amari, we had the GM Dominic Stamm, superchef Supachai (who was always
seen surrounded by young ladies - I want to be a chef in my next life), Makoo
Techasopon the deputy GM and Waipot Klinhom the EAM, plus a host of Amari young
lovelies.
In a complete contrast to the evening before, this wine tasting was very
informal and laid back and several wine labels were sampled, including the Mapu
vineyard, a cooperative with the famous Baron Philippe De Rothschild company.
Where we sampled four very expensive Cabernet Sauvignons from Robert Mondavi the
night before (around 14,000 baht per bottle) this time we sampled five very
inexpensive Cabernet Sauvignons ranging in price from B. 500 - B. 1,000, from
the Chilean vineyards of Mapu, TalaManca, 35 degrees South, Gato Negro and
Pacific Coast.
Some
of Chef Supachai’s canapes being delivered by his charming staff.
Once again, wine tasting is personal, but for both myself and Madame, the wine
of the evening was the Talamanca Cabernet Sauvignon, which had (just) enough
body and a good long finish, making it an eminently quaffable wine. Pichit also
assured me it retailed at B. 500 (which I find difficult to believe).
This was a very convivial evening of wine tasting and chatting, made even better
by the dulcet tones of local jazz diva Monika Rottmann, a singer who understands
how to perform in the background music role, a skill many artists do not
understand. Bravo Monika! And bravo Amari and Ambrose Wines!
Thai Potato Salad Recipe
Potato salad has probably been around since there were
cultivated potatoes, and that is supposedly from Peru several thousand years
ago. Over the centuries, home cooks have embellished the dish, and here is
one with a remarkable Thai flavor.
Cooking Method:
Bring a pot of water to boil. Add the potatoes (skins on). Simmer for 20
minutes. Remove from pot and let cool enough to handle, but still warm. Remove
skins and cut potatoes into 3 cm sized cubes.
Put potatoes in to a large bowl. Add the vinegar and then the finely chopped
pickles. Now add chopped coriander, bell pepper (capsicum), celery, scallions
and hard boiled eggs.
In a separate small bowl, mix mayonnaise with mustard. Add salt and pepper to
taste. Mix in the dressing with the potato mixture. Again, salt and pepper to
taste.
This is best refrigerated before serving.
Ingredients Serves
2-4
Potatoes, mid sized
4
White vinegar
4 tbspns
Dill pickles finely chopped 3
tbspns
Coriander chopped
¼ cup
Red bell pepper chopped
½ cup
Celery, chopped
2 stalks
Scallions chopped
2
Hard boiled eggs, chopped
2
Mayonnaise
½ cup
Dijon mustard
2 tspns
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
