There's a new wine company in town: Antique Wine Company. They are developing their portfolio for wines for the Philippine market and they are starting with a lovely French affordable wine inspired by Chateau Haut Brion called Clarendelle.
I was tasked by an old friend to host a dinner to introduce them to fellow foodies. So I called Chef Jessie to create a Frenchified Pinoy menu. We had the dinner at Top of the Citi, which I hadn't been to in ages and was happy to find that it's still as gorgeous as it was years ago!
Dinner started with a gorgeous Robuchon-inspired salad of kesong puti (how very Pinoy!) in watermon coulis. So refreshing! A lovely, light way to start the meal. We paired this with Clarendelle Rose - my new go-to drink to serve pre-event/dinner!
Then I asked something with chanterelles, as I got a text that they're back in season and available in the Philippines. So Chef Jessie created arroz caldo (how very Pinoy!) with chanterelles. O di ba, sosyal na lugaw! We paired this with the Clarendelle Blanc.
Then we had something I tasted first at a dinner for Senator Alan Cayetano: balut surprise. Taguig/Pateros is known for balut and penoy so Chef Jessie highlighted the balut. The result is a very sosyal balut soup! When you crack the cover open, there's the very flavorful soup and the yellow part of the balut and the chick swimming in the soup, hehe!
For the mains, we started with apahap, aka Philippine sea bass. Although AWC's Levi Hensel suggested that a good pinot would better match this. (Next time!)
And the star of the night was the duck in adobo sauce. This was delish. And worked well with the 2006 Clarendelle Rouge.
This creation of this line Clarendelle was motivated by the need of Prince Robert of Luxembourg, who became president of Domaine Clarence Dillon in 2008 (the French company that owns the Bordeaux wine estates Chateau Haut-Brion, Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion and Chateau Quintus) to to bring a bottle of Haut-Brion to events he was invited to. The prudent prince decided that he could not keep bringing oh-so-expensive grand crus to parties. So, using their wine-making expertise and knowledge in blending, their company created Clarendelle: a less high brow yet equally presentable wine.
The result is a great everyday wine that is affordable yet appealing!
Then to "cool down" we ended the meal with mango ice cream dumplings! Love Chef Jessie!
Suffice it to say we went home buzzed and happy!
Clarendelle wines will be launched in November yet but bulk orders are now accepted. Call AWC at 817 1417 or email jvillareal@awc.ph. Clarendelle Rose P900; Clarendelle Blanc P1,060. Clarendelle Rouge P1,125. www.antique-wine.com.
