THE last couple of weeks saw wine industry professionals visiting Manila to do business with importers and meet consumers via tasting sessions over lunch or dinner. More than occasions to taste new wines, these were rare opportunities to learn from those directly connected to the wine—and winemaking.
LUNCH WITH A WINEMAKER
LUNCH would begin with bubbly. But is one bottle of the Trivento Brut enough for 10 people? Only two bottles of the Argentine sparkling wine had made it to Manila—the other was committed to be presented later that day at a cocktail reception. “It’s the newest addition to our portfolio and the stock has yet to arrive,” explained Edna Diaz, president of Best World Beverages, the importer of Trivento wines. Diaz had organized a meet-the-winemaker session over lunch at Chateau 1771, Greenbelt 5, for bloggers and lifestyle writers. Bodega Trivento winemaker Maximiliano Ortiz led the group through the nuances of the Trivento Reserve Torrontés, Chardonnay, Malbec and Syrah, paired with lunch. That Syrah, aged six months in American oak, can go well with grilled chicken breast (napped with an eggplant-garlic purée), was an eye-opener. Maxi, the winemaker, was bowled over by the mango jubilee—warm, chunky mango sauce poured over vanilla ice cream—taken with a sip of the subtly oaked Trivento Reserve Chardonnay 2016. The Trivento Brut Nature, a Pinot Noir-Chardonnay blend from a single vineyard in the Uco Valley, was a surprise with its peach-pink hue. Bright, fresh with apple-y, toasty notes. And, yes, poured prudently, there was just about enough for the 10 of us—and just right for the fresh Aklan oysters, warmed just so in the oven, lightly dabbed with melted butter and dusted with bacon bits.
T IS FOR TAITTINGER
IT was good seeing Nicolas Delion again, back in Asia after his stint in New York as Taittinger export director for North America. Now based in Vietnam as export director for Asia Pacific, he was renewing ties with importers in Asia, like Werdenberg International in Manila, owner of the famous Säntis Deli stores. Together with Mimi Reyes, wine sales and marketing director for Werdenberg, he had brought bottles of Champagne Taittinger for a surprise tasting. But first, he showed me the new look of the Taittinger Nocturne Sec Edition City Lights. The tiny gray and red dots that adorned the purple bottle glowed under the black light of his mobile phone. But that wasn’t the surprise. It was the Taittinger Brut Réserve NV—the current release and the older bottling for the 2014 Fifa World Cup. The high proportion of Chardonnay is the signature of Champagne Taittinger, imbuing the wines with singular elegance and finesse. Tasted side-by-side, the two wines gave an insight into the constancy and harmony of the Taittinger Brut Réserve. The older bottling had the same vibrant freshness of its more youthful counterpart, though displaying deeper notes of their shared aromas and flavors of honey, toasted brioche and fresh peach. We finished the two bottles over shop talk and oysters, French onion soup, raclette, beef braciole and a huge green salad. We would have ended with the Taittinger Nocturne Sec with dessert, but Mimi and I thought we already had too much. F. Scott Fitzgerald would have demurred: “Too much of anything is bad, but too much Champagne is just right.”
WHEN CHARDONNAY MEETS SUSHI
THE Pirramimma White Label French Oak Chardonnay 2015 went amazingly well with the assortment of sashimi. With the chawanmushi and its uni sauce, the wine absolutely sang with its toasted cashew, lemon curd and buttered toast notes. Before that the Pirramimma Stock’s Hill Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon 2016 was a winner with the appetizer—soya milk panna cotta with salmon roe and kinome, a minty-citrusy Japanese herb. Mark Conroy, Pirramimma winemaker, was pleased with the wine pairing and the exquisite menu unfolding before us at Umu, Dusit Hotel’s celebrated Japanese restaurant. Perhaps, Philippine Wine Merchants, the exclusive importer and distributor of Pirramimma, had chosen Umu’s delicate cuisine to highlight the softer side of Pirramimma? Instead of the War Horse Shiraz and the ACJ McLaren Vale Cabernet-Shiraz-Petit Verdot, there were the White Label Shiraz 2014 and the White Label Petit Verdot 2013 with the grilled wagyu, unadorned, except with a dash of steak sauce. A Late Harvest Riesling was slated for dessert—green tea ice cream with sweet azuki beans and little mochi balls.
But Mark brought out the Pirramimma Digby Rare Old Fortified. Did you know that Pirramimma has been producing tawny ports for generations? Old Digby is made from well-aged Shiraz and Grenache wines, fortified with brandy and aged in small oak barrels for years.
The port’s rich, luscious intensity was in sharp contrast with the delicate creaminess of the smoky-sweet ice cream. Oaked Chardonnay with sushi and wasabi. McLaren Vale Port with green tea ice cream and mochi balls. There is no perfect pairing; only endless possibilities.