Penfolds at your pleasure

AUSTRALIAN winemaker Penfolds is celebrating its 170th anniversary this year and one of the head bottlers, Stephanie Dutton, recently hosted a posh luncheon at the Siam Kempinski Hotel to show what a great match the brand’s favourite labels are for delectable dishes.
Penfolds is one of Australia’s oldest wineries – established by Dr Christopher Rawson Penfold in 1844 – with a history and heritage reflecting the country’s journey from colonial settlement to the modern era. In London last month the International Wine and Spirit Competition named it Producer of the Year and dubbed Penfolds Grandfather Rare Tawny the world’s best fortified wine.
The current winemaking team, led by Peter Gago, has combined experience of more than 150 years. Its members honour the traditional values of the craft as they serve as the custodians of the stable, but they’re always open to innovation. Dutton hired on in 2007 and is in charge of the reds.
She began the Bangkok “tour” with a 2011 Koonunga Hill Autumn Riesling, expressive and highly aromatic with mouth-watering acidity and floral notes. It went wonderfully with sweet, salty and crunchy appetisers of kaffir-lime-scented lotus root, soya meringue and squid and prawn chips.
Next up was 2005 Yattarna Chardonnay, made with Australia’s most renowned grape. Its complexity and finely balanced minerals, the result of maturing in new and then old French oak, found a perfect match with seared Hokkaido scallops served with sweet-and-sour tamarind sauce and lemongrass. The vibrant nose of melon, blossom and oyster shell uplifted the dull, strong scent of the scallop and counterbalanced the flavourful, lemongrass sauce.
The main course, a chunky pork belly braised in five spices and served with pork skin crackling and pumpkin puree, was paired with 2009 St Henri Shiraz.
Constructed with 97 per cent Shiraz and 3 per cent Cabernet, this cherry red wine is matured for 14 months in older oak vats, which give it a licorice, nutmeg and cinnamon nose. The medium-bodied wine is elegant, compact and textural, a suitable match for the heavily spiced meat. And the granular tannins and mild acidity rendered the pork less fatty.
St Henri was concocted in the 1950s but, since not every wine’s style follows the commercial trends, production was put on hold until the 1990s. By then consumers were better able to appreciate its quality and distinctions. St Henri is rich and plush when young, and gains softer, earthy and mocha-like character as it ages. A small portion of Cabernet is typically added to improve the structure.
The highlight of the event was the award-winning fortified wine Grandfather Rare Tawny, served with a dessert of banana cake and salted ice cream.
Composing of Mourvedre and Shiraz of multiple vintages, the wine sports nutty, vanilla and resins with a lush toffee palate. The rich yet delicate fruit character went well with cake, drawing out its fruitiness and dried-fruit aroma. Its pleasant sweetness, not syrupy like most fortified wines, rounded out the saltiness and creaminess of the ice cream, making it a very well-balanced, flavourful dish to cap off the meal.