The Mantra restaurant featured Castello Banfi, one of Italy’s premier vineyards, at its September Wine Dinner. The Banfi Wine Dinner saw the diners receiving wines from the vineyards of Montalcino and Chianti, of Piedmont and the Tuscan coast.
The guests were taken through the wines by the eloquent Guillaume Blanchard, the Banfi regional manager, while the food was under the direction of the Amari’s very innovative Executive Chef Leonard Faust.
The guests were taken through the wines by the eloquent Guillaume Blanchard, Castello Banfi’s regional manager.
Italians can be passionate about many things, and the same goes for wine. The wines of Banfi are born of a passion and love for unique terroirs, from continuous research, and from the intimate knowledge of different territories and the ability to marry time tested and respected techniques with innovative solutions in both the vineyard and the winery. Their splendid vineyards are the ideal cradle for wines of great character and outstanding quality. Maturation is done in French oak barrels which are weathered for two years, then made into barrels and toasted.
The pre-dinner registration was a very convivial affair in the Mantra cocktail area with the Banfi Brut, a Metodo Classica (methode champenoise) NV sparkler certainly being enjoyed by the guests. Clean and crisp, the ideal pick-me-up for any palate, jaded or not.
(L to R) Matteo Clini, brand wine executive for Independent Wine & Spirit (Thailand) Co., Ltd.; Guillaume Blanchard, Castello Banfi’s regional manager; Amari Pattaya GM Brendan Daly; and Thanakiti Saivichittree, Food & Beverage manager for Mantra restaurant.
The first course showed the mastery of the kitchen by Chef Leonard – a Hiramasa king fish and fresh fig carpaccio, slow roasted balsamic vine tomatoes, artichoke heart with arugula salad and shaved Parmesan. Chef Leonard confided in me that the figs did not arrive until late in the afternoon! This dish was teamed with a Banfi Le Rime Pinot Grigio-Chardonnay Toscana IGT Tuscany, 2013. The combination of the Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay was inspired, this was a beautiful wine and retails well under B. 1,000, according to Guillaume.
The second (soup) course was universally popular. A hearty Rustic Tuscan soup from cannellini beans, pancetta, wilted baby spinach, tomato and extra virgin olive oil. The wine to go with this was a Banfi Chianti DOCG Tuscany, 2013. Great soup and great wine.
The main course had an option of lamb shank (my partner) or snow fish (me). The wine was the same for both, a Banfi Belnero Toscana IGT Tuscany, 2010 which benefitted with an extra 10 minutes breathing time. The lamb dish was a good match for the Belnero, but I felt it was a little too overpowering of the delicate taste of the snow fish. However, a very minor complaint.
The cheese plate was next with pecorino, taleggio and gorganzola. This demanded a heavy wine and the guests were not disappointed with a Banfi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Tuscany, 2008. This rather special wine (around B. 5,000 a bottle) was made from clones of Sangiovese vines after rigid viticulture protocols where the Sangiovese clones were narrowed down to a selection of 180. These were planted in a catalogue vineyard and then microvinified separately, leading to a final selection of 15 clones that represent the best characteristics of this exceptional grape.
Two of the great characteristics of Sangiovese are its complexity and its variability: for this reason, the goal of the research was not to identify one “super” clone, but a group of clones that together could best express this wealth.
As a result, starting in 1992 all of the new plantings of Sangiovese on the Banfi estate are characterized by the presence of at least three or four selected clones that are complementary to each other, chosen for the individual characteristics of the soils in each vineyard site. It was superb.
After such memorable dishes and wines, the question was to whether this could be carried through to the dessert, which was a chocolate ‘salami’ with pistachio, coffee bean, strawberry and frangelico compote. 5,000 calories on one plate.
The wine was a Banfi ‘Rosa Regale’ Brachetto d’Acqui DOCG, 2012. Described as “very pleasant and extremely elegant” this was a very, very enjoyable wine. So much so that after the dinner we adjourned to the cocktail area, and I requested another glass (or two). How quickly the gourmet can be seduced into becoming a gourmand!
It was another superb evening at Mantra, with their relaxed style of wine dinners suiting many wine aficionados.
