Four Seasons Gourmet Diaries at ITC Gardenia

Last week, I was invited for the Four Seasons Gourmet Diaries with Swiss chef Peter Wyss from Gstaad Palace. The event was held at ITC Gardenia and it was a small gathering of people that included bloggers, journalists and other members from the media industry.

Four Seasons Wines are famous for chronicling gourmet food pairings with the award winning Four Seasons varietals and French oak cask matured Reserve range. Chef Peter Wyss has created culinary delights at the Gstaad Palace for the last forty years, balancing contemporary influences with the rich freshness of traditional ingredients and recipes. His food draws subtle inspirations from Swiss, German and French, amongst the most revered international gourmet capitals of the world.

Our evening kicked off with a round of delicious breads with Bouvet Brut Rose Excellence (which, by the end of the night, was deemed the best wine unanimously). The lightly salmon pink sparkling wine with a flavours of ripe strawberries and floral notes from the Loire region of France had everyone at the table giving it the nod of approval. It was light, fresh and perfect to kickstart the evening.

The delectable journey of the evening unfolded with our first course, thyme’s light fragrance adding a nostalgic aroma to Champignons Paris, the Cappuccino soup with local mushrooms. I'm usually not a big fan of mushrooms in soup as I think it's a waste of perfectly good mushrooms, but this soup made me change my mind. Firstly, the mushrooms weren't finely chopped, so it wasn't those floating bits that you get but slices of chunky mushrooms, which added double the flavour to the soup.  The foam also blended in quite well.

Champignon Paris Soup

Following this, we had a quick appetizer of Potato Timbale topped with Smoked Salmon. It was a cold appetizer, something that I relished, and the chef said it served as a small serving of a salad. The potato bits were nice and moist and the smoked salmon added a very refreshing touch.

Potato Timbale with Smoked Salmon

For our next course, we had the Simmered local Sea Bass medallion with asparagus crust and tomato marmalade paired with the zesty, fresh and herbaceous Four Seasons Sauvignon Blanc. While I found the sea bass  to be perfectly cooked, I felt it was a tad too bland for my taste and felt it needed more seasoning. The mashed potatoes were of a lovely, silky consistency, but again a bland pairing with the fish.The fruity acidity of the Sauvignon Blanc made up for my fish, so I wasn't complaining.

Sea Bass with Asparagus Crust & Tomato Marmalade

For the main course, we tried the Roasted Lamb rack with Espelette pepper jelly, Barolo sauce with shallots, Spätzli with wild garlic, served with Seasonal vegetables. The lamb was done a perfect pink, just the way I like it, and the pepper jelly added a whole new dimension of flavour. The Barolo sauce wasn't overpowering and the Spätzli was a little too dry for my liking. The lamb was served with French Oak Cask matured Four Seasons Barrique Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. The complex aromas of this wine with blackcurrant and spices heightened the senses with lamb, yet, not too spicy to dominate the flavour of the jelly and Barolo sauce.

Roasted Lamb Rack with Espelette Pepper Jelly

The pièce de résistance of the night was the dessert, that we couldn't wait to try. Chef Wyss
presented a magnificent dessert prepared with Lindt bitter chocolate sweet with lemon mousse and raspberries and raspberry ice-cream and natural yoghurt. While I was a bit skeptical about there being a bit too many flavour profiles, one bite of this dessert made me change my mind. The bitterness of the chocolate, sourness of the lemon mousse and sweetness from raspberries all worked well in harmony. The ice-cream had an intriguing, yet a pleasant taste. The dessert was paired with Four Seasons Blush that beautifully accentuated the contrasting flavours of the dessert. I ended up going for seconds for dessert and one (maybe two) more glass(es) of wine.

Lindt bitter chocolate sweet with lemon mousse and raspberries

Petit Fours

Post dessert, we concluded with a delightful batch of Petit Fours that we couldn't stay away from. 5 minutes down, all the plates were clean. Overall, we had an amazing night with good food and good wine. The food and wine pairings were excellent, and the chef and the management took exceptional care of us, especially to those of us who were firing questions by the minute. Also, The Four Seasons Bouvet Rose is now officially in my wine collection. I would love to experiment with it for different kinds of food pairings. Can't wait! :)

Launch of Moët Chandon Brut at Skyye

Last week, I was invited to the launch of Moet Hennessey - Chandon Brut at Skyye Bar, and having a crazy work week, I decided to drop by for a bubbly or two.

As I entered the bar, I was greeted by two gentlemen by the door who were pouring out glasses of chilled sparkling wine to the guests. I really liked this, as I've been to launches of beverages before where I've practically had to chase the bartender for getting a drink. 

Don't you just love being greeted with bottles of sparkling wine?

Skyye was at its beautiful best as always, and underwent a French makeover to suit the Chandon launch. The décor included elements of French whimsy, inspired by the idea of creating genuine connections. From custom created miniature topiaries to a giant screen depicting French windows opening out to floating parachutes, the ambience was a translation of the Chandon ethos.

The visuals were stunning! They brought a piece of France right to Bangalore!

Personally, I liked the wine. Light, heady and delivered a nice punch. I must admit, this was a first for me for a Moet sparkling wine, I've always been a red wine drinker and stick to my Merlots and Shiraz. The aroma was strong on notes of apples, pear and some citrus. I liked the texture and for me, there was a perfect balance of bittersweet (although some might think it's too sweet) flavours. The Chandon Brut was quite refreshing, and could be a possible favourite drink for me, particularly in the coming summer.

Some might ask, what's the difference between a sparkling wine and champagne? Aren't they both bubbly?
Well, yes they are. But to keep it simple, a sparkling wine can be called a champagne if and only if it comes from the region of Champagne in France. The French are pretty touchy about their wines and champagne, and sparkling wine produced anywhere else in the world doesn't earn itself the name of a champagne. Ergo, all champagnes are sparkling wines, all sparkling wines aren't champagne.

Fun fact: Sparkling wines like Champagne actually have the same health benefits as red wine, since bubbly is often made with both red and white grapes. In fact, Champagne was found to have as many of those beneficial polyphenols as a cup of hot chocolate. I found more reasons to drink a glass of this bubbly now. ;)

A bit about the history of Chandon: 
In the late 1950s, Moët & Chandon, the world’s leading Champagne House since 1743, began exploring the potential for producing world class sparkling wines outside of the Champagne region, under the ‘Chandon’ name. The first Chandon Estate was created in 1959 in Argentina.
Following in the pioneering steps of the founders and continuing its search for new winemaking territories, Moët Hennessy Estates & Wines determined that the Nashik region had the potential to produce world-class, premium quality sparkling wine. Chandon is the first offering from Moët Hennessy to be made in India. Combining the centuries-old sparkling wine-making practices of “methode traditionnelle” with the finest local grapes, Chandon will be available in two variants:  Chandon Brut and Chandon Brut Rosé.

While conversations flowed at the chic soirée as guests sipped their flutes of Chandon Brut, the appetizers did the rounds. With delicious bite sized portions that complemented the wine perfectly, I indulged myself quite extensively with the food. Here are a few pictures from the night:

Yes, that's wood, Parmesan crackling, red pepper and bread - all on one plate. Not only was this delicious, but scored very high on brownie points for presentation. :)

Cheesy Chicken Tarts that I loved. Perfectly sized so that you can wolf down a dozen of them.

Chicken and Mushroom Wontons topped with chilli paste and boy, were they delicious or what!

I LOVE oysters! And these were topped with Harissa paste and I added a squeeze of fresh lemon to create flavours that were beyond delicious. 

And we finally ended the night with an assorted cheese platter with nuts and blueberry preserve. I ensured that I guarded this long enough to get my hands on as much as cheese as I could.

All in all, it was a fun night with lots of conversations, refreshing wine and yummilicious food. Two thumbs up for the Chandon Brut, this will definitely make it into my collection for a ladies night in.

Pricing:
The Chandon Brut with its fruity flavour and taste is priced at Rs.1,200 and will be available in select stores in the city soon.