Oct 11: Bella Cucina, the revamped version of the earlier Riviera Restaurant at the Hotel Le Méridien Gurgaon, organised a wine promotion program ‘Bottled Poetry’ from September 20-30 when several wines were priced close to the Retail Price (MRP) and sold by the glass as well when the Delhi Wine Club decided to organize a small wine dinner to help promote the program for future, writes Subhash Arora who was amazed at the food quality standards even bettered than the earlier version
Photos By:: Adil Arora
Imagine a wine flight of 4 old world wines, or new world wines or fresh and crisp white wines (90 mL each) for Rs. 950++ a glass, cheaper than perhaps a standard glass(150 mL) available here or any other 5-star restaurant!If you wanted you could have even a mixed flight of 4 red and white wines. Or order a full bottle of a Chilean wine for Rs. 1500. You could order a bottle of Nebbiolo DOC from Piedmont for Rs. 2650 or a Burgundy red for only Rs. 3000. And to top it all, there was a Domaine Zind Humbrecht Herrenweg 2009-an off dry Gewürztraminer from one of the top Alsace producers, priced at Rs. 3000 only.
The program that gave you a great opportunity for wine lovers to try a few wines on each visit and stay almost within the alcohol limit for safe driving (to be fair, the safe limit for driving would be 250 mL but you would be served 360 mL; so you would need to enjoy the flights slowly-and preferably with some food) and I hope you have a designated driver for such evenings.
Added to the program that lasted for 11 days from September 20-30 was the fact that the food at Bella Cucina is exceptionally delicious with a chic presentation. With the possibility of matching 5 wines with the different dishes, we decided to have an additional small dinner of the Delhi Wine Club in the Wine PDR set with one long table, on September 28th.
One-two-steady, go
Chicken Pizza, veg Pizza, Arancini and veg Bruschetta are almost staple Italian cuisine starter-at least in India, that go very well with the quaffable Le Contesse Pinot Grigio served. But the snacks were exceptionally delicious especially the Arancini which was ravishing with mushroom mix and cheese, adding to the flavours of hot Arancini balls which came with their own white sauce. Even Bruschetta was not just roasted bread with a thin layer of tomatoes but a mixture of apparently spiced vegetables, lightly fried in a shallow pan or grilled. The wine was not exceptional but delicious enough with snacks so it took a bit of convincing the members to take their 
seats.
Fresh Burrata was the first course with fig relish very well made- slightly hard from outside but with soft, creamy cheese on the inside, that pared perfectly with the slightly oaky Valdivieso Chardonnay. The second course of compressed Beetroot with goat cheese sprinkled on top, in the form of powder was different and more exciting than the normal version. A crunchy slice of golden beet-root made it a unique salad. Cheese helped pair better with Chardonnay.
Next up was Prawn Ravioli in tomato sauce. The creamy texture and the sauce made it a beautiful combo with the P Ferraud Burgundy Pinot Noir that handled the creamy prawn magnificently. Pumpkin and blue cheese Risotto is a born match with Pinot Noir-though mushroom risotto remains my favourite till today and would even 
be a better match.
After a nice Sorbet, the final course of Pan seared fish with creamy spinach was a bit of challenge-reduced considerably by the presence of Spinach in the dish and was well matched with Luca Bosio Nebbiolo. As far as the matching goes, it went well with Chicken Parmigiana made with wine and caper sauce and also Polenta with mushroom ragout, thanks to the mushroom. Parmesan air on top added to the appearance of the dish.
Another wine that rocked this evening was the 6th course of their signature chocolate cake which went fairly well with off-dry Alsace Gewürztraminer from Domaine Zind Humbrecht. This 2009 label was still playing very well but was a bit too weak for my cake, though some people who like a contrast in their dessert might have been happier. I would have been even happy only with 30-45 mL of the chilled white wine, still fresh on the mouth, as the dessert.
An evening that was certainly food heavy- since the cooking was outstanding and wines played a secondary role of matching with the food. But surely, it was an elegant evening even if the number of members was a bit too small. I hope we can repeat the evening with a full house and hope they will repeat the ‘Poetry offering’ again- perhaps making it a routine once or twice in a year. Gautam Khanna, the F & B Manager and Dhinender Kandpal, the Restaurant Manager and their team, deserve a big applause for the drive and zeal to make it a wine destination-the are already top of their food game.
Subhash Arora
Menu Video
If you Like this article please click on the Like button