Dr. Iain Corness
The Royal Cliff Hotels Group has much to be proud of, but perhaps the icing
on the cake has to be the prestigious Wine Spectator awards, with five of
the Royal Cliff’s restaurants receiving the Best of Award of Excellence
2011. This makes it the fifth consecutive year that the Royal Cliff has won
the Best of Award of Excellence - and yet another world record.
Ranjith
Chandrasiri, president of deVine Club entertains Charlotte Read, Asian
marketing manager of Villa Maria Estate in New Zealand.
At the deVine Club wine dinner, the president Ranjith Chandrasiri spoke
proudly of the achievement, informing the members that these awards made the
Royal Cliff the only hotel in the world to be given this accolade.
The celebratory wine dinner was co-sponsored by Vanichwattana, with its
principal Georges Barbier in attendance. The wines were, in the main, from
the Villa Maria Estate in New Zealand, with their Asian marketing manager
Ms. Charlotte Read present to pass on some interesting snippets from New
Zealand. Most of the members of the deVine Wine Club did not know that Villa
Maria Estate was New Zealand’s most awarded winery, or that the Private Bin
Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2010 had been selected to be in the Buckingham
Palace cellars. She also mentioned that there are 10 sheep for every one
person in New Zealand (true)!
The evening began with the Chilean Santa Carolina Brut, and this was
universally popular with the members and their guests. A great start to the
evening.
The dinner itself was held in the Royal Grill Room and Wine Cellar, one of
my favorite venues, all wood-paneled, warm and welcoming.
The first course was sensational, a poached tiger prawn on a panna cotta
mousse, tom yam jelly, pesto mayonnaise, caviar and garden greens. It tasted
even better than it reads, and this was taken with the Villa Maria Private
Bin Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2010, from bottles that Buckingham House had
not commandeered.
The second course was a pan-seared tuna loin on zucchini roll with crab cake
and herb oil dressing. This was taken with the much more full-bodied Villa
Maria Private Bin East Coast Chardonnay 2006. Great nose, great drinking.
The third course was a universally popular creation from Executive Chef
Walter Thenisch, a slow-cooked “magret de canard” (duck breast),
cranberry-onion confit and spiced honey drops. This was accompanied by the
Vila Maria Private Bin Marlborough Pinot Noir 2008, which had mixed reviews,
but as I always point out, wine appreciation is a personal thing. What’s
sauce for the goose is not necessarily sauce for the gander.
Fourth course was a braised veal cheeks on celery mash, Parmesan crisp and
root vegetables, washed down with the robust Villa Maria Private Bin Hawkes
Bay Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon. Again read the comment above on the gander!
The dinner ended with the botrytis dessert wine Sainte-Foy-Bordeaux Prestige
Moelleux Vieilles Vignes 1999 accompanying a wonderful dessert of a baked
snow egg filled with mango and coconut mousse on a lemon sabayon.
As a special promotion to celebrate the 2011 Wine Spectator awards, the
dinner was charged out at 2,011 baht. The culinary bargain of 2011 as well.
If you would like to enquire about membership of the deVine Wine Club, email
[email protected].
