Chandon Summer Limited Edition 2015 - Climaxing in .... PHASE 2

In TV narrator's voice: Last week, on Chandon Mayhem, the media had finished a five course meal, plied with Chandon Brut, Chandon Rose, Domaine Chandon Pinot Noir 2013, Domain Chandon Chardonnay 2013, Domaine Chandon Shiraz 2012....

[Scene continues to present day]

We were ushered to a higher place, literally, in spirit, in physical location, ...as we continued phase two of the afternoon, with the lovely people from MHD and Geometry Global, who sadly had to stay stoically sober while watching the rest degenerate.  Actually, the main stream media were rather sedate too, I guess it's no fun to have to go back to work after an afternoon such as this.  (Rub salt into the wound).

Chandon Summer Limited Edition 2015 (Dan holds up a bottle with that attractive packaging) seeks to showcase the versatility of the bubbly, as a cocktail complementer.  Frankly, I think good bubby shouldn't be contaminated in any way, but what the hey, no harm trying right.  Each of us had our own workstation, I judiciously picked a corner spot, in case I had to run to the toilet.

The resident mixologists instructs us on what to do with the alchemy laid out before us, and the first cocktail was a Tequila royal, comprising 30ml tequila (that's 30ml too much tequila for me), 15ml fresh lime syrpu, and 8ml agave syrup.  I've always been fascinated by agave syrup, wondering what it is.  Well, it's a natural syrup from some American plant, nuff said.

Directions for mixing are easy peasy, just add the three ingredients with ice in the cocktail shaker, shake shake shake, strain and pour into a champagne flute, and top us with 90ml Chandon Brut.

Tah dah, a ultra refreshing tangy margarita like drink on a hot tropical afternoon.

The second cocktail, my favourite, as I vaguely recall, Apple Gin Fizz, comprising 10ml gin, 10ml lemon juice, 10ml fresh apple juice, dash of syrup, mixed and shaken, and 60ml of Chandon Brut.

Let the partay begin.

The sedate shakers VS ...

(Picture courtesy of CCFoodtravel)

 ....those who had clearly too much to drink at lunch...

I wonder if I will be blacklisted from MHD events

In goes the Bubbly....

Pop in your cherry....

There you have it, two lovely cocktails spawned by Chandon Summer Limited Edition 2015.

As the ice settles, some semblance of decorum

Dan Buckle, Senior Winemaker from Chandon Estates, the gorgeous Melissa Hon, (MH but not the MH in MHD), and me.

Chandon Chaos...


A big thanks to MHD and GG for a WONDERFUL afternoon of wine education, fun, food and laughter.

Chandon Wine Pairing At EGG (Eight Gourmet Gala)

It's always a pleasure to get an invitation from the MHD and Geometry Global people, and all the more so, when the event involves bubbly in the day time.  Drinking bubbly in daylight always gives me the illusion, and delusion, that I am on holiday somewhere.  So easy to make me happy.

The venue, Eight Gourmet Gala, sounded promising, although it was located in Sunway, (brrr, driving all the way there gives me jetlag... fortunately I managed to hitch a ride to and fro, and with the amount of booze imbibed, it turned out a wise choice).  Familiar faces greeted us, and scares me to realise I've known these people for at least 3-4 years now, in the blink of an eye.

The wines featured for the day were the Chandon Brut, Domaine Chandon Chardonnay, Domain Chandon Pinot Noir, Domaine Chandon Shiraz and Chandon Rose.  A nice corner of the restaurant, with plenty of sunlight, was cordoned off for the event, and Dan Buckle, Senior Winemaker from Chandon Estates, Victoria, was our "host" for the afternoon.

His meticulous approach to wine making has seen him rise to become one of Victoria and Australia's most prominent winemakers.  With a degree in Bachelor of Applied Science (Wine) and a family history of owning a vineyard, it's no surprise that he is an expert, with vast experiences ranging from Coldstream Hills, Yering Station and Mount Langhi Ghiran.  He looks quite young, actually, for someone with so many feathers under his cap, or vine leaves under his belt.

 Anyway, Dan's approach to the wine pairing was more relaxed, and did not pair any one wine with any particular dish, but more letting us have an adventure, and explore the different permutations, with different foods, as should be the way, for I myself am not a believer that what's good for the goose is good for the gander.  Especially if the goose is partial to say, a white.

 The happy faces of some of the people at the luncheon.

The first dish was a seafood platter... Well, that's exactly what it says on the menu.  Definitely a dearth of description there, but if I had to describe it, it comprised a plump oyster, which glided down the throat effortlessly with the Bubbly Chandon Brut.  There's something about oysters and sparkling, undoubtedly, and the crisp bouquet of citrus blossom etc in my opinion made that the best pairing for my oyster.  The Rose went particularly well with the raw prawn, as the fruitiness of the berries combatted the raw marine flavour of the prawn.  The sashimi fish, with the tinge of wasabi also seemed to pair better with the Rose, although to be honest, the fish itself wasn't particularly impressive, so fortunately the sterling wines masked whatever shortcomings.

To the usual mindset, red meat (as was this Smoked Duck) is paired with red wine.  But the whole idea put forward by Dan was to explore the different nuances and subtleties in the less traditional pairings.  So, five slices of meat for five different wines placed before us.  It takes a person of strong disposition not to exercise restraint and not gulp down a glass of each with each piece of duck.  Alas, I exercised no such restraint.  My verdict was the Duck paired well with the Domaine Chandon Pinot Noir 2013, but that's to be expected.  The aromas of cheery kernel and raspberry mix almost made the chef's job easier without having to prepare any elaborate sauces.  However, having said that, I am a firm believer that sparkling wine, The Chandon Brut, goes with everything, and I would gladly waste away an afternoon sipping the Brut whilst chewing on smoked duck.

Grilled Salmon With Mint Sauce, I guess was meant to be paired with the Chardonnay, or the Domaine Chandon Chardonnay 2013.  The overcooked salmon frankly spoiled the entire experience, as the meat was way dry, and even the best of wines could only marginally salvage the dish.  However, with some stretch of the imagination, I would pair this the Rose, with the same reasoning as I paired the raw prawn sashimi.  Also the fattiness of the salmon seemed diluted with the crisp sparkling rose.  The saving grace of this dish was the lovely salmon skin.

The Chardonnay has a pale straw appearance with green hues, and aromas of lemon, pear, citrus, not as oaky as your usual chardonnays, which is a plus point to me.

Happiness is seeing that stream of frothing white lava flow from the bottle into your flute.

The pop of the cork, the slow fizzle of the white and red, on a Friday afternoon, whilst I happily instagram with a hashtag #dunjealousme.

How could it not be a good afternoon being the company of these larverly ladies?

As an encore, not in the menu, a platter of smoked proscuitto, which was specifically meant to showcase the other wine , the Domaine Chandon Shiraz 2012, a bright purple full bodied wine.  Rather heavy for afternoon drinking if you ask me, as it is meant for heavier foods like roast lamb or a chunk of steak.  It is however a drinkable drop for sure, and did go well with the saltiness of the cured meat,  and seems more "luxurious" than the Pinot Noir or the Chardonnay.

Ah, the best dish of the day, the Raspberry Creme Brulee, silky smooth, not overly sweet, and to my relief, not served with any sickeningly sweet dessert wine.  Till today I still do not get dessert wines, so I was happy just to pair this with whatever was left of my Brut and Rose, and it did actually go very well together.

To end a lovely afternoon, we went even higher... literally.... to the upstairs of the restaurant, for another phase.  STAY TUNED for PHASE 2.

Moet & Chandon Gourming

It's always nice to receive invitations from G2 PR because their events always rock! So, when the lovely Mel called me, with very little notice, to attend a Moet function the following day, it didn't take much persuasion to drop everything in the day job, and come running to the Mandarin Oriental, for the Moët & Chandon Gourming.

Well, it was an educational afternoon to say the least.  For starters, I found out how to take the feeder bus from Bangsar to the the LRT, and a wise decision THAT turned out to be because the traffic going into town on a Friday afternoon, was diabolic, to say the least.

The next nugget of wisdom I gleaned, was the shocking realisation that all my life I've been pronouncing the name Moët & Chandon wrongly.  Oft mistaken as MO-YEA...afterall, isn't it french, and aren't all French Ts silent, at the end of the word, like Cliquot, Buffet, Fillet, Chalet ... But as it turns out, the "ë" before the T has two duttis, which means the T is pronounced, so it's actually Mo-wet.  And as someone pointed out, Hermes is Air Mess.  Not owning any of the bags, I wouldn't know how to say the word, obviously, but in the case of Moët, well, I do drink the stuff often enough to at least have to know how it's pronounced.  Well, there's a whole list of commonly mispronounced words HERE, so I am obviously in good company.

Next on life's lessons, the word GOURMING, which is the unholy spawn of gourmet and tasting.  Created specailly for this culinary workshop, its purpose was to
* revive the art of elegant snacking (as opposed to inelegant snacking of peanuts and beer?? I'm not sure what that means exactly)
* let the participants understand how different types of food and cuisine can pair well with Moet & Chandon champagne.

We start off milling around in the foyer, very ladidah way of spending a Friday afternoon, sipping champagne, and blowing air kisses to all and sundry, trying to appear refined.  Luckily for me, I had the company of the inimitable Fay Khoo, which automatically boosts one's standing in any event.  Needless to say, I stuck to her like a leech.

This photo, posted on Instagram, got me a reply, "Is that a Magnum, or are you messing with my mind".  Well, turns out the magnum bottle was empty actually, but the NORMAL bottle was definitely full and flowing.The Moet Imperial, a living legend, is the flagship of Moet & Chandon, and distinguishes itself by a bright fruitiness, a seductive palate and elegant maturity.  It is a balance of 30-40% pinot noir, 30-40% Pinot Meunier, and 20-30% Chardonnay.   The aromas reveal apple, pear, white peach, and citrus fruits with floral nuances and elegant blond notes of brioche and fresh nuts.

We are ushered into the ballroom, and introduced to the concept of the workshop, where by we are divided into sets of 2, (Fay Khoo being my companion), and we are given a selection of goodies and ingredients to mix and match and pair with champagne.

Presenting the culinary part of the workshop, was Chef Nicholas Isnard, who hails from the South of France, (isn't there something about the "South of France" that just yells refinement and culture), and was head chef of Auberge Du Vieux Puits when he was only 25.  He moved on to Le Chateau de Curzay, during which time he created his firstg revisited onion soup, and the Vichyssoise oyster.  In 2008, he bought the Auberge de la Charme a Prenois, near Dijon, and within a year, got their Michelin star.

With such a sterling resume, we were truly privileged to be able to sample some of his offerings.

To instruct on the champagne part of the workshop, the dashing Arnaud Mirey, who is no stranger to us, having been at quite a few Hennessy Appreciation Grows events.  He is the Regional Brand Ambassador of Moet Hennessy Asia Pacific, since 2008.

We don on these very classy aprons, which unfortunately made me look even fatter.

The three main dishes for the day were scallops, chicken and penne, to be paired respectively with the Moet Chandon Imperial and the Moet Grand Vintage 2004.   Grand Vintage 2004 embodies the three essential values of the Moet & Chandon Grand Vintage spirit, which are freedom of interpretation, selection of the year's most remarkable wines, respect for the individuality of each vintage for finely aged champagnes which stand out for their maturity, complexity and charisma.

The first dish, Scallop Carpaccio , cucumber tagliatelle, yuzu vinegar and coconut milkshake.  Each bite sent shivers of esctasy down the spine, and we washed it down with the champagne.  I actually thought it paired well with either or, but of course, the Grand Vintage 2004 was better in this case.

We were left to create our own concoctions using scallop as the main ingredient.  We (by we I mean Fay and I) tried scallops with some grapefruit zest, some lemon juice, all very safe and commonsensical pairings, that went quite well.

Next up was the Chicken Fillet, with Pototo Gnocchi and Eggplant.  Loved this even on its own.  Again, it paired better with the Grand Vintage 2004.

Umei of CC Food Travel always manages to get into all the glamour shots.  

The Penne Pasta with Olives, Basil, Parmesan, which actually for some reason, tasted better with the normal Imperial.  Maybe by this time  I had imbibed a bit too much, and was flushed like a boston lobster, so the lines are blurred.

A little bit on the additional aromatics we were given to play with.  For bitterness, we had aragula, and grapefruit zest, Sweetness, Coconut Milk and Figs (I Loved the figs, they went well with the chicken, and scallops), for saltiness, anchovy and sea salt, for sourness, Lemon juice and cucumber, and button mushrooms, vinegar, etc ...listed under "less desirable" were mustard, cut chilli and artichoke.  I'm not sure why, but I thought the lemon and chilli made a fairly nice dressing for the scallops.

A warm buzz of contentment accompanied me back all the way on the LRT to Bangsar.  Thanks MHD & G2 for yet another wonderful event.