Arzuaga Wine Dinner

It was only a couple of years ago that my interest in wines came about. Am not really a drinker, just a social drinker who is unfazed with Tequila. But of course, I can't have Tequila during dinner parties and so wine came to fore.

With wine tasting events here and there, I found out that I'm more of a white wine and rose wine person, which is good because I don't eat meat anymore and fish goes well with white wine. Also, white wine is cool to the body unlike the red counterpart which heats us up.

Vinos de Arzuaga at Makati Shangri-La's Red, was a night of delectable food and wine pairings with Spanish winemaker Ignacio Arzuaga. Featuring wines from Bodegas Arzuaga: Fan D’Oro White Chardonnay- La Planta RED Tempranillo, Pago Florentino RED Cencibel, Arzuaga Crianza RED Tempranillo- Cabernet- Merlot, Arzuaga Reserva Especial RED Tempranillo; and special menu prepared by Red's Chef Thomas Linke. I've avoided eating meat of any kind for the past two years but for this event, I had to just eat a slice of the meat dishes served to get a feel of the food and wine pairings.

First on the menu was ceviche of tuna with micro herbs (right) paired with Fan D'Oro, 2007; cocoa dusted seared foie gras with pomegranate and vanilla syrup, pata negra crisps (left) paired with La Planta, 2008. I could really taste the herbs and tuna chunks of the ceviche, perfect for Fan D'Oro's surprising burst of flavors - slightly salty that turns to sweetness before ending with a spicy kick. On the other hand, it was my first time to try foie gras and this one was so well cooked that it simply melted in the mouth. The La Planta's good mix of sweet and spicy brought out the exotic flavor of the foie gras.

Next was the star anise braised pork belly, chorizo tamales with thyme and oregano paired with Pago Florentino. The pork belly was lean, soft and tasty while the red Cencibel (with strong coffee-like aroma) is salty and dries out in the throat almost immediately, giving a feeling of absorbing the oil of the paired pork belly.

My favorite was the olive oil poached wild salmon fillet with blackberry reduction, warm sambuca jelly, shellfish veloute (the best salmon I've ever tasted -- melts in your mouth!) paired with Crianza, 2006. The salmon had soft buttery texture and has none of the lingering "fishy" taste of other salmon dishes I've tried. The blackberry reduction gives a nice twist to the salmon while the shellfish veloute gives it a good seafood flavor, much like eating soft-shell crab. The red Tempranillo- Cabernet- Merlot's strong bitter taste and smoky flavor was just right for this special dish of Chef Linke (too bad the salmon won't be in the regular RED menu).

The fourth pairing is the bone marrow crusted organic beef tenderloin, minted apple puree, truffle mashed potatoes in balsamic jus and bitter-then-spicy Reserva Especial. The flavorful crunchy crust was a contrast to the tender beef -- simply sinful! The smooth mashed potato was a good compliment to the dish and cleanses the palate for the next bite of beef. Of all the meat dishes I tasted for the evening, it was this one that I felt remorseful for not finishing as I had to stick with my lifestyle change.

For dessert, we were served warm flourless dark chocolate cake (super good!), berry jelly (not good, sorry!) and red port wine sabayon. It was a heavenly chocolate cake with sweetness just right. The berry jelly was a disaster however -- the red jelly tasted okay but the berries (except for the strawberry) inside tasted bitter if not sour.

That's me in the middle, seated beside Ignacio Arzuaga

Overall, the night was splendid. Thanks to Lia Bernardo of Wine Depot for the invitation.