Wining and dining the Australian way

To foster an appreciation for refined palates, Philippine Wine Merchants, led by chairman Bobby Joseph and his brother Raymond Joseph, hosted a dinner at the Salon de Madrid of the Casino Español de Cebu.

Australian vineyard winemaker Mark Conroy guided guests to a tasting of  some of Australia’s premier wine collections McLaren Vale.

For starters, there were chicken liver paté on melba toast, rolled cheese with ham, pepperoni in cucumber with black olives, roasted porkloin and chicken galantine. These were paired with Pirramimma Stock’s Hill Chardonnay 2013. The bouquets displayed peach and lime aromas with hints of subtle French oak and grapefruit. 

The appetizers were followed by three well-thought-out courses,  which consisted of shrimp thermidor in green capsicum and fish fillet rolled with zucchini in choron sauce, pork Florentine with gorgonzola sauce and beef medallion with rosemary sauce.  The wines served were Pirramimma white label MClvale French Oak Chardonnay 2012, white label Petit Verdot 2010 and Shiraz 2010.

The dinner was capped with a cheese platter served with Pirramimma War Horse Shiraz 2010, the best they have been able to make in 120 years of winemaking.

Pirramimma, one of the oldest wineries in Australia, continues to adhere to  its mission of producing wines from grapes grown in its own family estate vineyards, ensuring that the highest possible quality standards are met and that the wines showcase the exceptional regional characteristics of McLaren Vale.

Guests gave the amiable hosts generous and enthusiastic applause.

Here are simple recommendations to improve one’s ability to enjoy wine with a meal: Drink wines in the right sequence if you are lucky enough to accompany a meal with several wines; drink dry before sweet, white before red, young before old, simple before complex and light before heavy; if you like your regular wine, do not worry about trying to match the food you are eating with a particular wine. What matters most is that you like how your wine tastes.