[Event]
Sylvia and I headed over to the The Press Room Bistro in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur on 21st February 2017 for the Kidia wine pairing dinner with the winemaker organised by The Press Room Bistro and Iconic Wines. It’s always nice to have some good wine paired with food among people from the food and beverage industry here in Kuala Lumpur. We got to share insights and experiences and build our network, with the mood definitely made lighter with the addition of the Kidia wines.
Iconic Wines Malaysia works exclusively with boutique and medium-sized producers, carefully winemakers with real passion for wine making, who have a success and special story behind their wines. Thus they import labels that are more niche and less commercialised which makes for an interesting journey of wine discovery for Malaysian wine lovers.
Amuse – Bouche
Herb marinated olives with batard bread
Cava Reso
Brut, Josep Masachs, Catalunya Spain
Straw yellow colour with green tones. Fine persistent bubbles. Bright appearance. Soft aging aroma with signs of flower, ripe fruit and citric. Extremely vivacious in mouth compensated with a pleasant elegance and equilibrium. The aftertaste remains to white fruits and some signs of citric. Fresh, pleasant, balanced and a fine bubbling structure.
We started off with some cava. I’m not much of a fan of bubbly but fortunately it was not too dry, and quite nice to drink on a warm evening.
Scallop Ceviche
with beetroot coulis, dry cranberry and dill foam
Paired with Kidia Sauvignon Blanc
Sauvignon Blanc, Loncomilla Valley, Chile 2015
Bright yellow colour with green reflection. Fresh clean and intense nose.
White currant, fresh herb and lime aromas are highlighted with asparagus and mineral notes.
Big balance and texture and a long elegant finish.
I find myself liking white wines which are not too dry more and more these days and this was certainly one of them. Light, refreshing and easy to drink, this went down easily (and quickly too I should add!).
Red Mullet
with saffron bouillabaisse, tapioca and shisho
Paired with Kidia Chardonnay
Chardonnay, Loncomilla Valley 2015
Bright yellow colour with fine green tints. Elegant and fresh aromas of ripe tropical fruits.
Pear, apricot and passion fruit fragrances are emphasised and merge with soft notes of vanilla.
Creamy and elegant texture with excellent balance between sweetness and acidity.
The first of three (3) mains (or you could say this was an entree before the two mains) was paired with an elegant and easy to drink Chardonnay which really complemented the flavours of the bouillabaisse.
Chicken Tikka Masala
with potato dumpling and minted yoghurt
Paired with Kidia Carmenere
Carmenere, Loncomilla Valley, Chile 2015
Bright red colour with bluish background. Great typicity and aromatic intensity with wild black fruit aromas accompanied by a slightly spicy touch. Silky, concentrated and creamy texture. Wild fruit merges with cinnamon flavors.
Good balance and mouth-filling finish.
Carmenere is a grape varietal that I rarely get to taste so this was a new discovery for me. Not bad and it held its own against the flavoursome chicken tikka.
Beef Tenderloin
with poached plum, sweet potato puree and blue cheese butter
Paired with Kidia Merlot
Merlot, Loncomilla Valley, Chile 2015
Crimson red colour, elegant expression of fresh red fruit such as raspberries, strawberries and plum jam aromas are mixed with soft notes of vanilla and caramel. Silky and full, soft tannins mix with coffee notes.
It is a well-balanced wine with pleasant finish.
One of my favourite pairings ever would be a well-prepared and juicy medium rare steak paired with a good red wine. This steak was slightly more done than I would have preferred but I am not that fussy of an eater (just don’t give me a steak cooked more than medium!) and I was surprised to find it paired with a Merlot which is typically one of the lighter bodied red wines. To my surprise, I quite enjoyed it with the steak, its flavours of red fruits complementing the gaminess of the beef.
Mango Tart
with mango sorbet with brandy snap
A sweet and piquant end to the meal paired with a modified pisco sour (the original pisco comes from Chile).


The photos above were shot with the Panasonic Lumix LX10. As the restaurant was pretty dark, I had to shoot all the food with additional lighting coming from the flashlight on my smartphone. I was quite satisfied with the photos as they were bright enough and didn’t require much editing, due to the fact that I set the lens to its maximum exposure of F1.4. In fact, I didn’t need to use my smartphone’s flashlight for the shots of the wine. I was also pretty satisfied with the white balance and this was just using the “Appetising Food” mode (didn’t need to set to manual to achieve these quality of photos which is very convenient).

To find out more about the camera, head over to http://www.panasonic.com/my/consumer/cameras-camcorders/lumix-digital-cameras/advanced-creative/dmc-lx10.html
For more info, head over to:
The Press Room Bistro: http://pressroom.gastrodome.com.my/
Iconic Wines Malaysia: https://www.facebook.com/iconicwinesmalaysia/

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