covered the Riedel glass tasting on wednesday. got a one-on-one interview with mr. georg riedel, a very imposing character. well-spoken and commands a lot of respect, and respect well deserved considering how far he has brought the company.
Riedel (pronounced "reedle," rhymes with needle) is a family owned Austrian crystal wine glass manufacturer, headed by 10th generation glassmaker Mr. Georg Riedel. Claus Riedel, Georg's father, was the first in history "who thought about wine friendly stemware," believing that the shape, size and rim diameter of a wine glass can significantly affect the enjoyment of wines.
after attending the glass tasting at hilton kl, i have to agree that using the right glass for the right wine could significantly enhance the taste and especially the smell of the wines. as for the material of the stemware, that was an area that we did not delve into, although my online research seems to suggest that there is little or no difference between using glass or plastic stemware of the same shape, size and rim diameter, except for the aesthetics.
which brings to mind a very good quote from mr riedel during the tasting: "if you truly want to insult me, call my glass pretty." they are pretty, but they are functionally pretty. riedel emphasises on grape varietal specific stemware, and to date there are 12 riedel collections, beginning with sommeliers by claus riedel, 10 more by georg riedel (including the Vinum XL collection which the tasting highlights), and the O collection by maximilian riedel.
haha, ok, getting a little academic there, sorry. i guess i'm sorta plotting out how i'm going to write the story.
so after the wine tasting, riedel's distributor in malaysia, muihua sdn bhd treated the media to a wine dinner at senses. and i gotta say, chef michael elfwing is a genius when it comes to food (and a very amicable guy).
his signature "smoking allowed..." first course is fantastical and will rock your pants off. "table smoked tasmanian ocean trout & sugar salted salmon, nordic deep sea shrimp with sour cream & chives." yes, table smoked. they brought out a jar with smoke still trapped in it, and out of the jar comes our smoked ocean trout, which is seasoned just right with a good dill flavour and oh-so-tasty. hmm, the shrimp was a tad chewy though. but, the dish still rox. (paired with clifford bay marlborough sauvignon blanc).
then there was the "wild caught itoyuri & alaskan king crab." seriously, king crab souffle? genius. another very satisfying course served with the yalumba eden valley wild ferment chardonnay. next up, a glass of louis jadot gevrey-chambertin served with elfwing's "french quail & butternut tart." the quail was stuffed with foie gras and their homemade wagyu bacon. sounds quite heavenly but i found the foie gras's flavour a tad liver-ish. maybe not fatty enough?
then the "tomahawk steak baked with hay" made quite a strong impression with the diners as elfwing wheeled it out still in the clay shell and cracked it open to reveal the huge slab of steak beautifully cooked to medium rare (or was it rare? er, was kinda tired at that point so my memory's a lil hazy. haha, didnt take that much note at that point since i'm not required to write abt the dinner.) the steak was yummy, and the hay flavour quite subtle. it was paired with don melchor cabernet sauvignon, which works fine with the steak but i made the mistake of taking a sip of it after a bite of the "senses black forrest" and the acidity of the wine hit me like a huge slap on the face. big mistake lol. would have graciously accepted the coffee if it wasn't already 11pm and i have to get up for work the next morn.
all in all, a nice event from a PR perspective. mr riedel had issues with one of the wines that was provided for the tasting but i guess i see his point. after all, his guide for picking wine glasses was this: spend as much on a glass as you would on a bottle of wine. good advice, but might present a problem though. in malaysia, wines dont come cheap and most of the wines that are consumed don't come close to the price tag of a riedel. there is a market for his wares in this country, but it's not that huge. perhaps that would change in time...
yawn. still have to cover the malaysia barista championship finals tmrw. night night.
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