The Sheraton Resort presented its first wine appreciation evening at the Infiniti restaurant with five wines from Chile. Knowing the spectacular sunsets that can be seen from the Infiniti, the wine appreciation event began at 6 p.m., with the sunset on time at five minutes past the top of the hour.
In a novel approach, the Chilean evening had the wines presented buffet style along the entrance to the restaurant area. Food to be teamed with the different wines were also available at the buffet stations.
The musical trio was pleasing to the eyes and ears.
Chilean wines are definitely on the way up at present, though as I always say, wine appreciation is an individual choice. Representing the vineyards was Pongsak Tiamsuttikarn, the Marketing and Sales Director of the World Class Wines Company (pongsak @wclasswines.com).
To make the evening even more relaxing, the Sheraton had a musical trio supplying melodic background music as the guests watched the sun go down.
The Sheraton Pattaya Resort management were there in force to ensure that guests had a wonderful time. (l-r) Supanat Noykong, F&B Guest Relations Executive, Pichit Plaibua, Executive Chef, Pongsak Tiamsuttikarn, Director of Sales & Marketing, World Class Wines Co., Ltd., Phinyo Thanbunphairach, Director of F&B, Thansita Sirapastuwanon, Director of Sales & Marketing, Treethipnipha Hongsombud, Asst. PR & Marketing Communications Manager.
The first wine came from the Carta Vieja vineyards situated in the Loncomilla Valley, and was a Clasico Sauvignon Blanc 2014, made from 100 percent sauvignon blanc grapes. This wine was a gentle sauvignon blanc and was teamed with asparagus, mushroom and mozzarella and lemon honey from the Sheraton kitchen, and was a good pairing. However, with five more wines to taste, I moved on to the second wine, again from the Carta Vieja and was a Clasico Chardonnay 2013, and again this Carta Vieja wine was made from 100 percent chardonnay grapes. The chef had teamed this with small tartlets with lobster and prawn bisque, onion and capsicum. Shamefully I backed up for a second tart! Lovely!
A viñador stands ready to serve his precious Chilean wines.
For the third wine, we moved across to the very well known Maule Valley and the Trewa winery. This was another Sauvignon Blanc 2013, and another made from 100 percent sauvignon blanc grapes. This was a great wine and was teamed with a cod fillet in a spicy citrus reduction with caramelized onion and cherry tomatoes.
After the three whites, it was into the reds with the first being the Carta Vieja Clasico Cabernet Sauvignon 2014. 100 percent Cab Sav grapes taken with Australian beef, roasted carrot puree and truffle salt. This one read better than it should, but it was the next Carta Vieja was the wine of the night for me. This was a limited release Syrah 2010 from 100 percent Shiraz grapes. Limited release perhaps, but there was still enough for me to back up a second time for this wine. Taken with a warm lamb curry with béchamel, thyme and croissant, this was a great pairing.
So to the final wine of the evening, El Principal’s icon wine, elegant with high aging potential called Calicanto 2013. This was the first not 100 percent, but was 61 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 21 percent Carmenere, 14 percent Cabernet Franc and 4 percent Syrah. A very complex wine but very smooth to the palate and we sipped it with venison, pumpkin puree, caramelized beetroot with chocolate flakes.
Mention has to be made of the very high standard of food from the Sheraton kitchen, both from cooking and imagination. Well done!
A novel wine tasting, which actually worked very well. There is no doubt these days of Chile’s place in the new world order of viticulture, and I thank Sheraton Pattaya Resort for the opportunity to experience some of the results.
Guests arrived to watch the beautiful sunset turn into a romantic evening.
