The Royal Cliff organized another of their regular wine dinners at the end of July, with the Royal Cliff’s GM Antonello Passa welcoming everyone. This event was to let the deVine club members experience wines from Tyrrell’s Winery from Pokolbin on the East Coast of Australia.
The co-sponsor for the event was Vanichwathana (Bangkok) and was represented by their French sales manager Hugo Acket. Hugo had used the opportunity to invite some of Pattaya’s better known restaurateurs, including Blu from Café des Amis, to the event to expose them to some of the range of Tyrrell’s wines.
The co-sponsor for the event was Vanichwathana (Bangkok) and was represented by their French sales manager Hugo Acket.
Tyrrell’s has been a family winery since 1858, established by English immigrant Edward Tyrrell. Tyrrell’s Wines is one of Australia’s pre-eminent family owned wine companies with vineyards extending from their historic home in the Hunter Valley to the Limestone Coast (SA) and Heathcote (VIC).
Headed up by fourth generation family member Bruce Tyrrell, Tyrrell’s is home to some of Australia’s most awarded wines including the iconic Vat 1 Semillon. Since 1971, Tyrrell’s has been awarded over 5,000 trophies and medals and in 2010 was named “Winery of the Year” in James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion.
Tyrrell’s claim they will continue to remain family owned with the simple philosophy of producing high quality wine that people love to drink.
The food to go with the wines was selected by the Royal Cliff’s amazing Executive Chef Walter Thenisch who comes up with new dishes every wine dinner. The first course of this dinner being a salad of poached Canadian Lobster with young coconut and palm heart on lemon dressing. In retrospect, this was the dish of the night for me.
The wine with this was also my pick of the wines, being a Glenbawn Premium Brut. Just enough bubbles to tickle the palate and is designed for early drinking. It is a popular wine, displaying full, rich flavors and a rounded palate. What really set this sparkler apart from others is the addition of some aged wine in the blend of Chardonnay and Semillon grapes, which explains the extra degree of richness and weight.
The second course was slow cooked scallops with sweet corn, chanterelles and lemon grass. This was taken with a Moore’s Creek Chardonnay 2009, which was a good vintage year for Australian wines said Hugo. This was a fruity wine but not so memorable was the consensus around the wine club members.
The main course was heaven for the carnivores being a roasted rib eye with asparagus and Parmesan crust sauce Bordelaise.
The main course was heaven for the carnivores being a roasted rib eye with asparagus and Parmesan crust sauce Bordelaise. This dish was the subject of high praise, and the Old Winery Shiraz, 2009 was very smooth with a good long finish.
The next course was very interesting, with a spiced plum with Tasmania double cream brie, Tasmania being noted for its cheeses in the world marketplace. This was taken with the second red, a Brokenback Shiraz 2010. This was a stronger wine than the Old Winery shiraz and the members were about 50:50 split on preference.
The first course of this dinner turned out to be the dish of the night for me: salad of poached Canadian Lobster with young coconut and palm heart on lemon dressing.
The dessert course was another ‘meal’ in itself, with chocolate tart, banana soufflé, vanilla raspberry terrine and yoghurt ice cream. The wine for this was a Moore’s Creek Brut Cuvee, similar to the Glenbawn but sweeter. I still preferred the Glenbawn – so much so that I bought a bottle to take home!
This was another successful wine dinner, though we shall have to wait for another couple of months before the next one.
You can contact the wine club through Antonello Passa ([email protected])
(L to R) Antonello Passa (GM Royal Cliff), Peter Malhotra (MD Pattaya Mail Media Group), Panga Vathanakul (MD Royal Cliff Hotels Group), Peter Cummins (wine connoisseur extraordinaire), Kim Snyder (Casa Pascal), and Hugo Acket (Vanichwathana (Bangkok) sales manager).
