Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Wyndham Estate Wine Pairing Dinner At Sage

Every now and again, you get an invitation which you know warrants cancelling all other events, and when Marian Eu invited me to Sage, I knew this was one occasion when regular Wednesday dinner with the in-laws had to be conveniently "postponed".

We are pleased to say that we are no stranger to Sage. In my humble opinion, it is one of the better fine dining restaurants in town. Food is consistent, service is excellent, largely due to the fantastic manager, Affendie, ambience is pleasing, (except my group, whoever they may be, always seem to be the loudest).

Tonight's event was a wine pairing with Wyndham Estate, again, no stranger to our shores. I believe this is one of the more popular wine makers to have hit our markets, mainly because of its affordable and drinkable wines. To the wine pleb (as opposed to Wine Snob) like me, if it's priced right, and doesn't taste like kerosene, I'm good to go.

We actually started off in the holding room, with platters of tempura seafood, and a lovely crisp George Wyndham Savignon Blanc, which actually, was my favourite, but alas, was no more to be seen after the horse divorces. (hors d'oeuvres).


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The International Travel and Food Blogger and the queen of the DSLR....actually, Aly of Red FM was there too, but she was right opposite me, and the fixed lens doesn't allow such close up shots...pity though, we all know how photogenic she is.

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Don't you just love seeing these food assembly lines. Actually ever since I started food blogging, and ventured to industrial kitchens, I have a profound respect for the Chefs and their minions. It is darn hard work.

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2. The lineup of wines for the night. The 2006 bin 222 Chardonnay, one of the most popular Chardonnays here, the 2003 George Wyndham Cabernet Merlot, the 2005 George Wyndham Shiraz.

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Breaking into Mulan Song (Reflection):
Who is that girl I see
Staring straight
Back at me?
Why is my reflection someone
I don't know?


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The Wyndham Estate chappie (I forget his name) explaining to us about W.E. and its popularity in Malaysia, and the different wines we were having that night.

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Tranche of Hamachi with Avruga Caviar and Japanese Herb, paired with the bin 222 chardonnay. I told my fellow diners the history of the 222...which was inspired when the owner saw three swans swimming in the pond as he was harvesting the chardonnay grapes, and they BELIEVED me. Muwahahahah.

The Hamachi was PERFECT, and so very fresh... the caviar popped in the mouth like little bubble wrapped bits of sheer ecstasy.

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Bin 222 - A rather light chardonnay, which complemented the Hamachi, though I personally would have preferred the Sav Blanc.

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Next up, Royale of Abalone with Sea Scallop and Yuzu Citrus. A delightful broth, clear and oozing with flavour, and the sweet succulent scallop, that is actually flavourful even on its own. The sliver of abalone added dimension to the texture, but was too thin a sliver to have any impact on the taste. Maybe it was meant to be subtle.

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Is there a more delightful scene, apart from the Iguazu falls, when liquid falls into another receptacle, as when wine is poured into a large goblet?

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Smoked Venison With Veloute of Mushroom, Foie Gras. What can I say? Foie Gras? And usually foie gras at sage is always done well. I was a happy camper. The venison was tender, and the foie gras complemented it the way Sandy goes with Danny in Grease. Paired with the 2003 GW Cabernet Merlot, a strong full bodied red. Together with the venison and foie gras, it seemed very "manly". Very primal. A man's dish. Like a feast for the hunter back from the hunt. You know what I mean?

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Palate Washer, Mango Sorbet. Creamy and smooth, it was more like ice cream than sorbet. They must have one helluva blender to puree the stuff that fine.

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Wagyu Beef With Truffle Mash, Natural Jus...With the 2005 GW Shiraz. A totally elegant dish. There were two cuts of wagyu, I think one was a ribeye, which was tender and fatty, and the other larger slab, must have been a sirloin, leaner and tougher, but of course, when I say tougher, I meant tougher compared to the ribeye. It wasn't tough. It was delicious. And that fat asparagus spear!!! I love fat asparagus. Truffle mash. Heaven! The Shiraz seemed lighter than the Cab Merlot, and paired well with the wagyu.

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For dessert, Roasted Fig Tartlet With Vanilla Ice Cream. The tartlet was a lovely almondy pastry, crispy, and soft at the same time. What the Fig! What a pity figs are so figging expensive here! I love figs. Such complexity... no wonder its referred to Biblically quite often. Alas, not everyone shares my love for this unique fruit. Ciki pushed hers away declaring she hates figs. One man's fig is another man's poison I guess.

A fabulous meal, KUDOS to the Sage Kitchens, and to the Wyndham Estate guys for whipping up such a feast. The only bummer was, Marian, the one who invited us, was away in Shanghai for the World Expo. Thanks so much anyway, Marian for the invite.

Highly recommended, when Sage has one of these Wine pairing thingies.

21 comments:

KY said...

i want that beefffffff

aly said...

Fab post as usual... thanks for not takin a pic of me :)Darn it, I'm so behind, have to write up mine to catch up with you peeps!

Ciki said...

that's like the HUGEST foto of us, u've put.. to date ahpa!! go on.. just FILL up the page LOL :P

great write up.. let's do it again .. (is Marian reading this?! :P )

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

Yar thanks Marian for the invite. It was a very good dinner indeed.

Btw, I'm glad I wasn't wearing anything revealing. Perhaps a part of me knew that you were going to shoot my reflection from the top. It's really dangerous to be around you, tangechi.

gfad said...

She's amazing, ain't she? Whips off her glasses even though you were shooting from the top and her face can't be seen. ^_^

So what is the history of bin 222? Any relation to the buku 555?

Ciki: Wanna go to the Shanghai Expo?

thule a.k.a leo said...

time to ransack my storeroom to see if there's any wine left inside!

Babe_KL said...

kekeke GFAD on the buku 555 :p

hmmm maybe can go for their set lunch next week, how many days ahead i need to book?

Kenny Mah said...

Love how you compared pairing venison to the foie gras to Sandy & Danny in Grease. Perfect. (Though I suspect the foie gras was far from greasy, hehe.)

J said...

Tsk tsk. You sidelines your in laws?
(Haha... Don't mind me - I'm just jealous. I definitely would have done the same, given to situation *grin*...)

WP said...

wow.. haven't eaten foie gras in a long time.. I WANT!!

iamthewitch said...

Those mango puree looked heavenly... and I love mangoes to bits! Of course, not to overlook the wagyu beef. *gasp* Look at the redness! I could almost taste it melting in my mouth now *imaginary*

Big Faced Ah Boy said...

Oh wow! Is that like the biggest picture of our faces ever? Actually come to think of it, it's the first time we see such a huge and not blurred out shot of you Ah Pa!

Julian Si said...

You are the real si-fu lar ... Great write up as always :-)

Wish I was there!

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

if marian is reading this, i want an invite too!! kidding.

wine plebs like us need to go for dis kind of tasting to find a good wine, if not where got so much moolah to do trial and error rite?

fatboybakes said...

nipples, well, the last time you did that with cheryl, you got an even better meal than me! you food hoe!!!! hahahah.

jules, you are too lavish in your praise bro. pity i will miss you completely in you next visit.

fatboybakes said...

BFAB, thats coz i am so proud to be next to you mah, so didnt blur it out.

iamthewitch, why, ms mcgonagal, how nice of you to drop by. yes, that wagyu is enchanting.

fatboybakes said...

tummy rumble, when i was your age, i hadnt even HEARD of foie gras.

J, sidelined is so harsh. i merely rearranged the schedule.

fatboybakes said...

LFB, i really need to brush up on my analogies and metaphors. i dunno what the heck i was thinking. meanwhile, i remain hopelessly devoted to you.

babekl, no need to book that far ahead la. set lunch is really good value. RM100 net. if got gardens or tan&tan card, further discount.

fatboybakes said...

thule, or just pop over tong woh for a fine selection...

gfad, actually, they do have a bin 555 which is a best seller in malaysia, and we were joking about probably because of its affinity to the 555 book. thamby of course claimed it was an indian invention. what cack!

fatboybakes said...

thamby, i would never take an ugly shot of you, would i? i mean, i would, but i would never post it on a blog, would i? hmmm.... evil sneer.

ciki, lets do it again? as in? the two of you look sooooo sweet together.

fatboybakes said...

aly, i dunno how or why i forgot to take your pic, considering how stunning you looked. maybe your radiance overexposed all my shots.

KY, yeah, so do i man. gimme that beef.