[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/