Photos by Star Sabroso
Still one of the most favorite interactive gourmet dining buffets in Manila, Spiral at Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila is also one of the best destinations for fine wine dinner pairings.
Spiral restaurant, with its 21 dining ateliers, is often host to wine dinners and wine tasting, including private wine and cheese classes that attract discerning connoisseurs and food gourmands. With over 350 multisensory international dishes under its offering, the luxury dining buffet restaurant is the perfect venue for gustatory wine pairing explorations.
Cheese and wine is a marriage made in heaven and Spiral offers one of the best cheese rooms in the metro. Sipping premium wines and exploring the vast array of cheeses from Cheddar, Epoisses, Roquefort, Stilton, Feta, and many more fine aged cheeses is a multisensory delight for food gourmands.
Monthly, Spiral hosts delectable wine dinners with prepared menus designed to bring out the best in both the premium wine and the food. In a recently held wine dinner, Spiral’s culinary creations were paired with wines from one of the great wine houses in Bordeaux – Ginestet. Food and wine pairing is not really rocket science, usually similar food and wine flavor notes would complement each other – light wines with light foods while deeply colored wines pair well with rich foods.
The menu boasts of seven Ginestet best batches of wine – Ginestet Bordeaux Blanc 2012, Mascaron Par Ginestet Bordeaux Blanc 2010, Ginestet Medaille Bordeaux Rouge 2011, Ginestet Reserve Bordeaux Rouge 2010, Ginestet Prestige Bordeaux Rouge 2010, Mascaron Par Ginestet Bordeaux Rouge 2009, and Mascaron Par Ginestet Sauturnes 2010. The wine dinner presents a selection of food best paired with the wine menu and you can see the wine marker on each of the food items when you navigate the buffet. However, the wine dinner is not limited to the suggested pairings; it is a buffet after all, and it is up to the guests to discover which pairings would satiate their fancy.
Surprising pairing of Filipino cuisine like Ginataang Tilapia complements the dry white Bordeaux Blanc 2012 with its floral and exotic fruit notes. The cheese room was also one of the best parts of Spiral where you can partake of premium slices of cheese and explore flavor pairings with award winning bottles of Ginestet. Another favorite bottle for the night was the Mascaron Par Ginestet Bordeaux Blanc 2010. The nose has woody hints and grapefruit scents, served well chilled and perfectly complementing light fish dishes and seafood selections. As the bottles are gradually poured into glass after glass, the flavor notes also become heavier and deeper. Reserve Bordeaux Rouge 2010 and Prestige Bordeaux Rouge 2010 sit well with meat selections. Rich and sweet desserts call for bottles that are also sweet, and Mascaron Par Ginestet Bordeaux Rouge 2009 and Mascaron Par Ginestet Sauturnes 2010 didn’t disappoint.
To get updated on the next wine dinner and special wine tasting events at Spiral, visit www.sofitelmanila.com or follow SofitelManila on Facebook.
