“A Wine Lover’s Journey” at Villa Danieli

[Event]

I always enjoy visiting Villa Danieli in the Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur for their special events which are more often than not – sit down wine and food pairings. However Villa Danieli has mixed things up this time round with the introduction of their new month event called “A Wine Lover’s Journey”.

This new series of events will happen once a month, and you will get to mingle, buy a bottle of the prestige’s wines, win prizes, and experience the pairing of wine and food with the four (4) step journey ending with a sit down dessert pairing.

I headed over with Michelle for the first event in the series on 27 August 2015 for a night of wine and canapes featuring Gerard Bertrand and Warre’s Warrior wines.

Gérard Bertrand is passionate about the Mediterranean Art de Vivre and is a specialist producer of premium wines from the south of France. In his Réserve Spéciale range he reveals the elegant, generous array of fruity flavours produced by the very best terroirs in the region. The terroirs of the Languedoc enjoy optimum sunshine and low rainfall, bringing out all the complexity of the region’s grape varieties.

The grapes are harvested at night-time in order to preserve all their freshness, and are delicately crushed in a pneumatic press as soon as they reach the winery. After a static settling operation, low-temperature alcoholic fermentation begins in stainless steel vats. Part of the must is transferred to barrels to finish the fermentation. In order to conserve the wine’s lively character, malolactic fermentation is not performed. The wine is then bottled after a light fining operation, and is packed and shipped out for distribution around the world.

We were served the Aperol Spritz before the event got fully underway. The event started off cocktail style with various stations set up and a guided tour by David from Winetalk imparting some knowledge about the wines, as well as the chef explaining the reason for the pairing. This was pretty good as guests got to mingle and chat and share their views on the wines and canapes.

Cold canapés

Sous vide smoke flavored duck breast with chancaca glazed apple and orange fruit

Gerard Bertrand Reserve Speciale Viognier & Gerard Bertrand Reserve Speciale Pinot Noir

Bacon wrapped chicken terrine with guasacasa

Gerard Bertrand Reserve Speciale Viognier & Gerard Bertrand Reserve Speciale Pinot Noir

Chicken liver pate with sable and organic cinnamon orange jam

Gerard Bertrand Reserve Speciale Viognier

Liver is quite an acquired taste – you either love it or you don’t and fortunately I know how to eat liver so I enjoyed the earthy flavours of the liver which was balanced out by the tartness of the berries.

David from Winetalk explaining the wines in detail

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Vegetables gazpacchio in shutter (left)

Gerard Bertrand Reserve Speciale Viognier & Gerard Bertrand Reserve Speciale Chardonnay

Creamy chick pea soup with olive tapenade and sour cream (right)

I was especially delighted to see cheese platters! Oh how I love cheese with wine! — I was especially delighted to see cheese platters! Oh how I love cheese!

Pan seared US scallop with truffle hollandaise on toasted brioche

Gerard Bertrand Reserve Speciale Chardonnay & Gerard Bertrand Reserve Speciale Pinot Noir

This was just lovely! The scallops were perfectly cooked! Went well with the wine too!

Cuban lamb and potato vol au vent (not shown in pic)

Gerard Bertrand Reserve Speciale Merlot

Crispy fried oyster with Bolivian hot sauce

Gerard Bertrand Reserve Speciale Chardonnay & Gerard Bertrand Reserve Speciale Merlot

This was a delightful combination! The spiciness of the crispy oysters was extinguished by the crisp chardonnay!

Caponata with seared cheesy polenta (not shown in photos)

Gerard Bertrand Reserve Speciale Viognier & Gerard Bertrand Reserve Speciale Pinot Noir

Sweet revenge

Dried coconut coating caramelized plantain with sweet cream cheese and pecan crumble (right)

Warre Warrior Finest RSV

Arroz con leche (left)

Warre Warrior Finest RSV

Pistachio crusted chocolate ball (center)

Warre Warrior Finest RSV

I must say that this event was quite fun and Michelle and I made a couple of new friends. It’s really good for networking and is more interactive than normal sit down wine pairings. The selections of wines matched the canapes very well with the flavours complementing each other.

This event is priced at RM 220.00nett per person for the 4 step journey where you experience the ultimate pairing of wine and food. The Wine Lovers Journey take place every last Thursday of each month with limited number pax set at 30 per an event.

Villa Danieli is located at

Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur

Jalan Sultan Ismail,

50250 Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia.

Telephone: 03-27179900

Website: http://www.spgrestaurantsandbars.com/malaysia/kuala-lumpur/villa-danieli

Email: restaurants.imperial@sheraton.com

Opening Hours:

Lunch from 12.00 noon to 2.30pm from Mondays to Fridays

Dinner from 6.30pm to 10.30pm from Mondays to Saturdays.

The restaurant is closed on Sundays and Public Holidays.