We often entertain at home and I cook the meal. But I rarely provide the wine. Guests who come for the food often take care of bringing the wine. And in some cases, with serious enthusiasts, we get some phenomenal wines, even though I have to admit my taste buds for wine are not as developed as they should be. For a recent sit-down dinner, several of the guests, including the birthday celebrant, were major wine enthusiasts… so we had to take some extra effort to find some interesting wines to pair with the menu…
As soon as the celebrant arrived and was surprised to find a dozen friends over for dinner, champagne corks popped on several bottles of bubbly, including Moet and some Bisol, a proseco. A few toasts later and multiple bottles of champagne were quickly wiped out. Thank goodness dinner was about to be served…
With the tuna tartare course, we served a 2005 Antinori Cervaro della Sala, which was a nice white wine made up of predominantly chardonnay grapes. Rated a 93/100 by some, it was a pleasant match with the tuna. However, when I asked diners about the wine later, they had less to say about it than the tuna… so it couldn’t have been that memorable over all. For the second appetizer of Seared Foie Gras with Figs, we served a 2004 Carmes de Rieussec Sauternes that I personally thought was brilliant. It was sweet but not cloying and a nice match for the duck liver.
With the roast beef, there was a choice of two very good reds, first a 2001 Antinori Guado al Tasso a deep ruby red predominantly cabernet sauvignon wine from Italy. This was very very nice. But I couldn’t decide if it was nicer than the 1996 Les Ormes de Pez, which was also great with the beef. It was interesting that one guest had been to the vineyards of Antinori, while the other had been to the Chateau Les Ormes de Pez and there was a lively debate between them as to which wine was indeed more appealing… In the end, I had a glass of each with my prime rib.
Finally, we had an extremely intense 1986 Carpineto Farnito vin santo with the creme brulee, and a sweeter and more intense wine I have not had in ages… Superb in small doses and wonderful with the creme brulee, this is not something I plan to indulge in often… it was just a bit too over the top for me.
For this dinner, Mrs. MM asked friends at Bacchus to suggest some wines for the party and I must say I was a bit concerned in the beginning that what arrived seemed like an odd mixture of Italian and French wines, some of which I had never tried, but they seemed to work very well with the menu. For a guest list of 12, we managed to go through 11+ bottles of wine and champagne, and 3-4 guests didn’t drink much at all… :)
24 Responses
Gulp!!!!!!
hai.. Boring..hehe..
WINE,,,Thats always makes your day break sooo relaxing! In europe, its a custom to drink wine while dining, but i made my own rule out of it! i used to drink so gently while relaxing on the shallow end of my pool, close my eyes frequent and smoothly and sip wine in harmony…And one thing that will make your day complete,,choose the best glass and most crystalise one,the one that is comfortable while handling and fresh to your eyes!! dont ever use a coffee cup, its an awful way…
Looks goodMM, I really dont know much about wine, I just go by taste which of course is really not going to help me when I need to buy one. So the info I get from reading your blog goes a long way.
like most Pinoys, my knowledge of wine is almost non-existent. i just go with the rule of thumb—white wine for fish/seafood, red wine for red meat. although i’ve read that this isn’t true anymore. when i have to take foreign guests to dinner, i let them choose the wine, to be safe.:D somehow i have learned to look, smell and taste, and saturate my taste buds whenever i get the chance.:D
Wines paired with each course? That’s the difference between a special celebratory meal and an ultra special one! Good job. The Farnito looks like it came from an S&M party. Ha ha.
Having wine with a meal always makes me eat more. :)
Where did you get the vin santo? I’m having a hard time finding them here in Manila… or am I looking in the wrong shops?!?
proseco and vin santo! (hehe, yes, those are what stood out for me). great ways to start and end a meal. for that nice quickie dessert, always good to just dunk cookies in the vin santo.
like nel, i should get myself a bottle. i do remember seeing some locally and it wasn’t even in some hard-to-find shop – just can’t recall right now where…
Ah wine, where would civilisations be without it…. :-)
bubbly! kinda hard to buy good wine here as I need to get a special license to buy alcoholic drinks…(but managed to score a bottle of vodka from a friend of a friend :D)
but will take note for future reference :D
vin santo from Bacchus, shops at Shangrila Makati, Mandaluyong and Bacchus Epicerie at Rockwell.
A simple rule of a bottle for each guest is sufficient enough for a party at which wine is served.
No port?
Lovely choices, especially since m is such a stickler for wines that match the meal! Enjoyed sharing the birthday online, thanks for letting us take part in it!
Great wine choices! The sauterne is really perfect with the foie gras. The chardonnay, as should be the case, brought to the fore the flavor of your tuna tartare and not overshadowed it. In fact, chardonnay tends to be heavy and buttery and steal the thunder from the food it’s served with. So don’t feel bad. The Pez, the Farnito, the Moets! Bacchus went over the top here!
Port is a bit heavy a times for me. Vin Santo… mmmmmm! Thanks MM for the tip! Wasn’t getting any luck from Wine Depot. Ralph I do get some hits on occassion and the Filinvest Alabang branch provides good recommendations… Keep on drinking everyone!
MM, Have you tried the locally produced pineapple wine from Bicol? I heard that it’s rather good, and indeed very innovative.
Vin santo with creme brulee seems a bit cloyingly too sweet a combination for me,
since I would usually have the classic pairing of Vin Santo with the Florentine cantuccio dry sweet biscuits dipped into the wine to soften a bit before eating. The contrasting smooth, suave texture of the wine against the course, hard, nutty biscuit makes the affinity go down so well.
But then why not? I’ll try it!
BTW, what local biscuit could come close to cantuccini for dipping in vin santo?
Hi,
where can i buy a marsala wine within edsa, makati, mandaluyong, ortigas? i need it for chicken marsala. thanks! :D
t8mas, sorry, I haven’t purchased marsala lately.
I wonder if anyone can tell me where I can get some vintage wines, like 10 20 or 30 years old. The ones I see in the shops in Manila are all too young and I don’t have a space for storing wines properly in my home, except for maybe 20 bottles in my kitchen ref. I am sure there must be a place somewhere that I can pick up some bottles that are ready to drink.
Joey, Bacchus has a god selection of vintage wines. Shangrila hotels.
Hello,
I was hoping some of you can help me out, I am from Toronto, Canada and will be traveling to Manila on Aug. to export Canadian Ice Wines and VQA wines. ANy suggestions on who I should approach meaning the type of Wine resellers there. I am meeting with Ralphs any comment will be appreciated.
And by the way we will be holding an Ice Wine and VQA taste at one of the hotels to be determined the closer the date. let me know also your interest.
FYI most of the Ice Wines and VQA have won awards and are highly sought out internationaly.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Godzilla
do you know where to find the pineapple wine from bicol ?