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 Seldom has an Embassy organised wine events with such regularity as ProChile during the last 15 years to promote Chilean wines and food, thanks partly due to the continuous efforts by Nestor Riveros who has had two postings during this period, the second one being for the last 5 years. Therefore, when we learnt that he was returning to Chile, it was an instant decision to organise an evening to bid him farewell. It was also to formally welcome the Ambassador of Chile H.E. Andrés Barbé who has been in India for around 3 months. It was a given that we would invite several senior people of the embassy making it a diplomatic evening for the members who were treated to delicious French cuisine paired with Chilean wines from Anakena and Lapostolle. The presence of the Portuguese Ambassador H.E. Jorge Roza de Oliveira and his wife Maria made it truly an international evening.
The evening started with delicious snacks-Terrine on toast, chicken quiche in bite-size, goat cheese on toast and mini tomato and mozzarella skewers that were a perfect match with Lapostolle Sauvignon Blanc that had a light to medium body, pale greenish colour, lots of citrus aromas and a hint of peach gooseberry and citrus in the flavour with no overdose of pungency. Very well rounded with a medium length-helped by 8% of Semillon in the blend but still keeping it a varietal legally, members loved the wine served at around 12 degs. No wonder it evaporated fast and we had to start serving the Anakena Enco Rose Reserve.
 The French soup is a specialty of the restaurant and it didn’t disappoint. The Shiraz Rose doubled up as an aperitif wine and a fair match for the soup that was served quite hot and was delicious. There was an excellent match with the shrimp cocktail.
During the proceedings, Ambassador Barbe expressed his solidarity and appreciation for the work the Delhi Wine Club has been doing and promised as much support as Nestor had offered during all these years. He also assured us that the programmes initiated by Nestor would continue. Nestor was quite nostalgic about the co-operation extended by DWC to him, the embassy and Chilean wines and was touched by the gesture of the Club hosting the dinner for him, the Ambassador and the other diplomats who were guests of the club. I did mention that I had worked with him even before the DWC was formed and there was no looking back-every time his office organised a wine event, the Delhi Wine Club was always a part of the list of invitees.
The Menu of the evening signed by all those present and a Kashmir pure Pashmina shawl were presented to Nestor by the Club as a souvenir as the sorbet was being served.
The Schnapps Granité was a popular sorbet offered to the guests before the main course. This is where the cracks in the service and the kitchen size appeared as members had to wait for an unusually long period leaving a bit of an unpleasant taste. The problem actually was created jointly by the restaurant and the club.
 In order to showcase their several dishes, the mains had Coq au vin, Pan fried Tilapia fillet (Fish) beurre blanc, sautéed vegetables, Beef steak with Rara Avis sauce, Pumpkin ravioles, parmesan cappuccino and fresh tomato coulis, and Papillotte of stuffed eggplant. This required a far greater number of wait staff to co-ordinate. Chef Partner Jerome explained that he prepared each and every dish fresh and hence the time required. We at DWC had erred too-in fact we became greedy when the choice of 5 Mains was offered by Rajiv Aneja, partner of Rara Avis. We normally have 3 choices (most international sit down galas offer 2 since vegetarian choice is not posted on the Menu). The unprecedented delay could have been avoided if we had stuck to our usual 3 options.
The delay did give the guests a chance to interact more widely over the two red wines though. Merlot from Lapostolle was the darling of the evening. Rightly so, because it was so lush, elegant with silky and smooth tannins that one could relish it even without food. The second and final wine was an Anakona Cabernet Sauvignon-unfortunately it could not hold a candle to the Merlot even though it was quaffable with a few rough edges, higher tannins, short length but a fabulous match for the beef steak which is a specialty of the restaurant. Interestingly the Merlot also matched the steak very well.
 I loved my Coq- au- vin with Merlot which in fact is 85% Merlot according to the definition of a varietal in Chile. Cabernet Sauvignon (12%) and a touch of Carmenere has made the brilliant coloured ruby red wine well rounded and it played ball with my dish thanks to the intensive and clean nose with flavours of black cherries and plum. The flavour was persistent on the back palate though this well-structured and juicy wine had a medium length. It tasted even better when Arora reminded the members that Petrus was also a Merlot wine (though slight quantity of other grapes of Pomerol in the Right Bank in Bordeaux is also added to make it rounded.)
Those of us who chose to have a Tilapia fish dish, might not have had the best of pairing with the Cabernet Sauvignon. But it was a heavenly pairing for the beef steak which was followed by Crepes Suzette with vanilla ice cream and flambéed with Grand Marnier which was the preferred dessert though they were quite a few takers for the Lemon tart with lemon sorbet.
The serving staff of the restaurant was very polite and efficient as always. The ambience was excellent with a beautiful pre-winter freshness, with about a third enjoying the al fresco dining. Serving 40 discerning gourmets at a time with pre-plated dinner is not the easiest of jobs. But Rara Avis did a good job on the whole and deserves appreciation despite the glitch while serving the Mains.
So we say goodbye to Nestor Riveros and wish him luck as he gets ready to leave India later this month.
Cheers,
Subhash Arora
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