If you are familiar with the area, this is Manila's touristy place as it is just near Intramuros, Fort Santiago and Rizal Park. At night, the area is filled with light and music.
These are the wines that will be paired with our dinner. There's red, white and cognac.
So many wine glass! Its quite daunting at first but simply get the one that the waiter just filled with wine and your all set. ;)
Monsieur Bernard Flour of Le Cellier explaining the wine pairing.
Salade Gourmande. Seared Foie Gras and Preserved Squab on Selected Beans Salad, Port Wine Vinaigrette. Pouilly-Fume, Les Deux Cailloux, 2011. The foie gras tasted divine! Creamy and rich. The salad complements the foie gras. The wine, though is a bit dry compared to the first one but once you pair it with the salad, you won't notice that its "dry." Dry wine lacks the sweet fruity taste.
Pompano Sur Epices. Seared Pomfret Fillet in Saffron Broth, Baby Fennel, Fiddle Head Fern, Red Raddish, Marble Potato, Garlic Chips. Pouilly-Fuisse, Domain Du Chalet Pouilly, 2009. The fish was perfectly cooked- skin is crunchy but soft and juicy meat inside. I also love the wine. Yes, you guessed it right- fruitty. The marble potatoes was a welcome sight since I stopped eating rice a few months back. The broth was also delish.
Lemon Grass and Ginger Sorbet Grey Goose on tap! Sorbet is usually included during meals where there's fish and meat. This is to cleanse one's palate so as not to confuse the flavors of the food and wine. This is a very refreshing sorbet- sweet and gingery.
Me Boeuf et L'agneu ... A New Tale. Boeuf Braise on Spicy Cabernet Reduction. Lamb in Phyllodough on Herb Goat Cheese Sauce, Celeriac and Pommes Mousseline, Grilled Portabello. Chateau Deyrem Valentin, Margaux, 2007. The beef was very tender but I have to agree with my stablemates that the sauce was salty. On the other hand, the lamb was perfectly executed that we all forgot the beef. The wine was full-bodied but it goes well with the beef (I removed some of the sauce).
Fromages Fins. Goat Cheese on Toast, Brie de Meaux en Millefeuille, Roquefort end Habit Very. Chateauneuf Du Pape, P. Ferraud Pere & Fils, 2010. I love cheese so I will wax poetry over this pairing. And wine really goes well with cheese.
Charisma. Dark Chocolate Cake, Baileys Mousse au Grand Marnier, Creme Brulee with Caramel Kahlua Sauce. Cognac Maxime Trijol, Napoleon. Amazing dessert- sugar rush! I started with the creme brulee which was really creamy but I can't seem to identify the Kahlua sauce. But that doesn't matter since it's so good. My next fave is the red one- Bailey's mousse. I like the fact that its not that sweet. The cognac has a mean punch that goes well with the chocolate cake.
The Pan Pacific Manila Team. Merci Beacoup for making our dinner memorable.
And maraming salamat to the chefs for presenting to us perfectly executed dishes.
Special thanks to Le Cellier, Monsieur Bernard and Madame Jorinda Flour for inviting me to this special wine pairing dinner.
*** Kata M2 was used to create this blog post and for the photos