Malaysia Best Sommelier Championship 2013

This is my first time attending the Malaysia Best Sommelier Championship 2013 and was uncertain what to expect from the championship but what was known that the semi finals was held at a closed door event and we are only able to view the Grand Finals. Organized by Sommelier Association of Malaysia (SOMLAY in short), has choosen Double Tree Hilton, KL as the battleground for the candidates. A quick check with Mr Zulikernain of Hilton KL who is also one of the participant of the Championship, mentioned that the first round consists of theory, tasting and face to face Q&A with the judges. From the result, the judges would then choose the top 3 to the finals.



Mr. Jean Luc Pouteau

 

This year judges line up consists of :-

 

Mr Jean Luc Pouteau-Chief Judge (France)

Head Sommelier and Wine Buyer/Purchaser for Pavillion de l' Elysee

Best Sommelier of France 1976

Best Sommelier of the World 1983 

 

Mr Edwin Soo (Singapore)

Wine Educator, Columnist for Appetite Magazine & Malaysian Star Newspaper, Restaurant Reviewer for Peak Selections and the Hospitality Asia Platinum Awards.

 

Mr Fernando Salas (Chile)

Second Secretary, Deputy Head of Mission and Commercial Director for the Embassy of Chile to Malaysia.

 

Mr Gregoire Debree (France)

Director of SOPEXA for South East Asia & Taiwan since 2009

Key involvement in South East Asia Best Sommelier Competition for 2009, 2010 and 2011.

 

Mr John Cheah (Malaysia)

Wine lecturer for SOPEXA from 1991 till 2006 in Hong Kong and Taiwan

Wine judge in Hong Kong, Melbourne and Tokyo Challenges

 





                     The 13 sommeliers

 

Based on the results, the top 3 was annouced and the candidates would have to go through a series of challenges in front of a a group of live audiences.

The top 3 announced was

 

Han Yew Kong, Head Sommelier, Osteria Mozza, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
Britt Ng Choong Yoon, Assistant Sommelier, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
Steven Lim Chin Hong, General Manager, Thirty Two @ The Mansion, Penang

 

Each candidate was given 5-10 minutes for each tasks and for this year there were 5 tasks. The tasks begins with serving of a glass of rose and prosecco to a lady and gentleman, followed by serving an agrd red wines to a table of six, to correct mistake on a wine list, to taste and describe 6 different liquids and finally to identify wine growing region and country from a series of wine labels showed on screen. For more detailed explaination on the tasks, please do not hessitate to visit LeVin et La Femme ( http://www.vinfemme.com/?p=2764)

 

After the intense and exhausting tasks and a short break, the winner was finally announced and it was none other than Mr. Han Yew Kong and runner up was Mr Brit Ng Choong Yoon.

It was indeed an eye opening event :) Both Han and Brit would be representing Malaysia in South East Asia Best Sommelier Championship 2013 scheduled to be held on 25th & 26th August 2013 in Singapore.

 



      In conjuction with the championship, a gala dinner was organized later that evening. Much     welcomed actually to celebrate the occassion, Thumb ups ! to the SOMLAY organizing committee  for the dinner.Ladies & Gentleman, presenting to you the MENU for the night!

                         Appetizer

                Prawns tossesd with lemon-herb vinaigrette served with mango thai style salad

                      2011 Montenovo Godello, Valdeorras, Spain

 

Entree

Creme of Butternut Squash

With house smoked duck breast and cinnamon grissini

2008 Mas Du Soleilla Reserve Blanc, Languedoc-La Clape, France

 

Main Course

Pan-Roasted Norwegian Salmon

Accompanied with sweet potato gratin, medley of vegetables and red pepper coulis

2008 Misha Vineyard's The High Note Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand

 



Dessert

Vanilla Panna Cotta

Served with strawberry moelleux and mango-passion fruit jelly

Coffee or Tea

 

Indeed it was a great way to spend a Sunday. A big Congratulations to Han and Brit! Makes us proud in August 2013.FYI, the previous 3 years champion for the South East Asia Best Sommelier Compettion has been won by the Malaysian candidates. Hence we would have high hope on both Han and Brit! Salud!

 

Sommelier Association of Malaysia

No:130, Jalan Kasah, Damansara Heights, 50490 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

e-mail: committee@somlay.org or somlayinfo@gmail.com

http://www.somlay.org/somlay/home.html

 

Victorian Government Wine Showcase 2013

 

Yes! This is where I'm going to taste the best of Melbourne :P

 

Set on Monday, 17th June 2013,   The State Government of Victoria, South East Asia  Business Office is proud to organise the Victorian Food & Wine Showcase in conjunction with Victorian Government Super Trade Mission to South East Asia. There are a total of 6 showcases ranging from IT, Finance, Health & Urbanisation but my focus for the day would of course be on the wines :)

 

 

Some of the handful of wines being showcased  

 

There were a total of 15 wineries all over Melbourne, a handful from Yarra Valley of course which has participate in this meaningful event. In the Melbourne region , the major red grapes produced includes Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Shiraz. As for the major white grapes, the variety which are dominant chardonnay, Muscat, Riesling and Topaque.

 



Mr John and Elizabeth Barnier of Goona Warra Vineyard

 

Sunbury has been a wine region since 1860 and Goona Warra has been producing wines since 1863.

When asked what does the name Goona Warra meant, I was informed that the name "Goona Warra" was translated from the local aboriginal dialect as "resting place of black swan".As expected, Goona Warra's wines are of Shiraz and Chardonnay grapes. The Shiraz produced from this region are known for their vibrant ripe black fruits, peppery spice, and soft and fine tannins, although alcohol levels never go too high, making them medium bodied. Chardonnay on the other hand produces wines with good natural acidity with an elegant fruit structure.

 

 

 Mr Peter & Lydia Snow of Outlook Hill Vineyard

 

Yarra Valley is the home of Outlook Hill and is owned and managed by the Snow family. For the wine tasting, they have brought along their star performer which is their Cabernet Merlot & Pinot Noir Blend. One of the criteria of producing 5-star rated wines according to Lydia is that the grapes must be selected stringently hence in Outlook Hill, the grapes are actually handpicked one by one!

http://www.goonawarra.com.au/

 

Hanpicked Supplier- Mrs Paolo Greblo of Sandhurst Ridge Winery

 

Speaking about handpicked, there is a new player in town whom call themself  "Handpicked". Known as a Boutique Wine Distributor, Handpicked based in Kajang concentrate solely on Australian Wines. for a list of retailers carrying Handpicked wines, please feel free to visit www.handpicked.com.my . For Sandhurst, they have started with shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and merlot grapes. Further extension on 1994 and 2004  has includes sauvignon blanc and nebbiolo in their grape varieties. Ahh Yes!.. the winemaker name don't sound Australian right? in fact it is actually Italian! Hence, Sandhurst wines are Australian wines with Italian heritage.



http://www.sandhurstridge.com.au/

 





Mr Dan Hudson of Rebello Wines

 

After booth and booth of wines, was really delighted to stumble upon Rebello Wines. What makes Rebello Wines stand out was their Cheeky Rascal Cider and Strawbellini!. Yes, Strawberies Wines! It is also one of its kind winery which operates from a strawberry farm. Strawbellini is composed of 25% fresh strawberries and 75%  best late harvest moscato making it a zestful elaboration of the classic champagne cocktail with refreshing charisma.

 

There are 9 types of cider from the Cheeky Rascal range but for the showcase, Dan has only brought in 7 types which consists of apple, strawberry & apple, rasperry & apple, pear, strawberry & pear, rasberry & pear and summerberry. For a cider though, the alcohol level is actually pretty high which is a whooping 8% but yet I was still able to taste the sweetness of the fruits. Maybe using 100% fruit juice for the blending really matters :)

  http://rebellowines.com.au/

I had a great day tasting the wines from 11.00 am to 3.30 pm although I wish there was more time..hahaha...as being Asian, we tends to drink the wines, by right we should only be tasting which in the end after swirling the wines on our palate, the wines should be spitted out! Guess, I have more to learn on that. The only regret was none of them brought in the topaque wines but never the less, it is a good experienced to be able to taste wines from 15 Victorian wineries in one day!

 

 

Victorian Government Business Office-Kuala Lumpur office

 Suite 23.1, Level 23 Menara IMC 8 Jalan Sultan Ismail 50250 Kuala Lumpur, 

 phone: fax:+60 3 2055 1502 +60 3 2055 1489

See more at: http://www.invest.vic.gov.au

Seafood Wine & Dine Exploration Launch!

 

 

Its a Thursday of mid June 2013  (13th June 2013 to be exact)  and it is an exciting evening as it is the launch of South Sea Seafood Restaurant very own wine cellar. An interview with Mr Sunny, the wine manager of South Sea, reveals that the cellar is known as the state of the art cellar  and one of its kind in Malaysia for a reason as the cellar is calibrated with the optimum temperature, lights and humidity which are stringently monitored.

 

 

Walking through the walkway leading to the main dining hall decorated with mouth watering images seems to be working on creating a great appetite for the restaurant patronage. Hey, it work on me:P I was drooling looking at those delicious images of SEA-FOOD!

Beware Its Alive! The Seafood of Course!

Sea Cellar is the name of the newly lauched state of the art cellar. The cellar house exquisite selection of wine handpicked by the restaurant wine experts to perfectly compliment all your favourite dishes from South Sea Seafood Restaurant.  

 

I'm especially fond of the white linen covered cocktail tables shedded by warm lighting in a kampung resort style setting ,accompanied by the roaring airplanes sound from the Subang airport runway just a stone throw away really sets the mood of the Thursday night.

Bread Sticks and Olives are the opening appetizer for the night, followed by various mouth watering tapas. P/S-Check out my pictures below. You would see what I meant :) and yes those are sparkling wines, excellent choice to kick start the evening.

 



Sorry about the blur picture but I'm really impressed! Those are Burgundy Glasses!

 

Why am I excited about Burgundy Glass you asked? Well.. it is because Burgundy glasses is different from the other wine glass as it actually has the largest bowl...this peculiar shape enable the  aromas of more delicate wines such as Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo to accumulate hence  it is able to directs wine toward the tip of the tongue which emphasized on the sweet taste. Yay! Sweet Wine of Mine

Superlicious Tapas!

 



It looks like abalone right? It is actually abalone mushroom but the sauce made it extra tasty!

 

Having a Great Time with Great Friends & Great Wines!

A big thank you to Mr Terence for the invitation, it really made my Thurs-Day! Hope to come back soon to taste more of the wines from the Sea Cellar and the excellent food again.

South Sea Seafood Restaurant
No. 299, Jalan Dua A, Kampung Baru Subang 40000 Selangor D. Ehsan, Selangor, Malaysia
Tel : +60 3-7846 5813

 

Porto Romano 8th Year Anniversary & The Reopening Party!

 

                                Ristorante Porto Romano @ The Intermark Mall

                                                                 

            The Specially "Home Made" Cake for the 8th Anniversary Celebration

On the 6th of June 2013, I was given the pleasure to be part of Porto Romano relaunched in The Intermark Mall. Previously located at LG of the building, Porto Romano has outgrown the current place and has relocated to the G floor, direct opposite Dome Cafe.

 

Mr Eddie Wong and I

 

                                              Mrs Sonila Hadjerasi Wong and I

 

During my one on one interview with Eddie and Sonila, they had started out Porto Romano out of  passion. Eddie is actually a lecturer by profession but had traded the lecture room with the kitchen and bar. As for Sonila, she has added zest to the restautant giving it current Mediterean touch.

P/S- you will be amazed by the collectable Sonila placed around the restaurant especially at their Mont Kiara branch. Currently, Porto Romano has 3 branches including another at TTDI. Asked on the location selection, Sonila mentioned that the Intermark or during those days known as City Square was a good place to start of its centralized location. As for Mont Kiara, it is just adjacent to the school that her children goes to and finally TTDI was just a walk from home.

 

 

                     An  inviting sofa set for the after dinner "unwind" session

 

                          The Mediterenean decorated dining hall next to the bar

 

A nook for those who just want to chill out

 

Of course how can we forget the wines that night! We had two different origins of wines for the night. It was sponsored by Dionysus Asia and another by of course.. Porto Romano.

Dionysus Asia presented the Italian, Sicilia Baglio del Sole Inzolia 2009 range while Porto Romano presented their "never found anywherein Malaysia but Porto Romano" wines , the Vicari Wines.

The meaning of Vicari is The Well in Italian and each and every bottles of Vicari Wines has an  groove of an inch wide at the bottom which actually symbolized the rope placement on the well. My personal favourite of the Vicari Wines would be Lacrima di Morro d'Alba DOC :)

 

Baglio del Sole Inzolia 2009

 

The Vicari Wines

 

Ristorante Porto Romano

Lot G-09, Ground Floor, The Intermark, 348 Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur

For reservation, call 03-2162 6799

Opening Hours : 11.00 am – 10.00 pm daily

K-1, Mont Kiara Banyan, 28 Jalan Kiara, Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur
For reservation, call 03-6207 8171
Opening Hours : 11.00 am – 12.00 midnight daily (later hours possible upon request

28, Persiaran Zaaba, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur
For reservation, call 03-7710 0509
Opening Hours : 11.00 am – 12.00 midnight daily