With
the weather having improved to being extremely pleasant
in the evenings, we decided to take advantage of this
and planned a totally outdoor event. The location offered
to us –the poolside Aqua- was indeed ideal for
such a gathering and the imaginative table setup and
lighting by the hotel made it even more memorable.
A word about the wines imported by Amfora Wines - as
usual our members were once again fortunate to sample
5 new wines. None of the big banner names present but
all the wines were produce of small high quality Italian
vineyards –evident from the fact the both the
reds and the whites served were rated high by Wine Spectator.
And representative of the age of equal opportunity we
live in, two of the wines of the evening were made by
lady winemakers
Despite it being a Monday, we had a full house and
most members were at the dinner well in time to try
the Pignoletto Frizzante from Bonfiglio – a fruity
sparkling wine, low on acidity and a soft mouth feel.
During our aperitifs, some of our members had the opportunity
to give sound bytes to the team from Inx News for a
soon to be aired feature on Wines in India.
A welcome appearance on this evening's wine list was
the Gewurztraminer 2005, St Michael Appiano –an
elegant intensely fruity wine which in my opinion should
always be on a white wine drinker's radar. The clean
taste of the melon salad with cucumber jelly balanced
the fruitiness of the wine excellently.
The second white of the evening-a Pinot Bianco 2005-
was produced by Elena Walch, a lady winemaker from Alto
Adige. Fruity with an apple nose, this wine had good
acidity and a compact finish – it was a better
companion to the smooth rich notes of the smoked salmon
and cream cheese than the Santa Anastasia 2004 from
Sicily which was also served with this course for red
wine lovers to experiment with the food paring.
Though
the braised chicken looked very well presented and appetizing,
the Milanese lamb was succulent, tender and just literally
fell of the bone. It really did justice to a great Sangiovese
offering from the Fattoria Le Pupille estate of Elisabetta
Geppetti –the Poggio Valente 2003 – an aromatically
complex wine with a persistent taste –well worth
its 89 points by the Wine Spectator.
If I were asked what the single factor that made for
a superb evening was, I would unhesitatingly mention
the attention to detail that was displayed by Rifaquat,
the ever dependable EAM at the Park hotel and his team
in both the planning and execution of the dinner.
The Park Hotel has long been a very strong supporter
of the DWC and their contribution to a superb evening
underscored the point.
Arun Batra is a management
consultant, foodie and a commentator on food and wine.
He has been a regular member of the Delhi Wine Club
for the last three years-editor
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