Did a friend a favour and he bought me a meal at Prego at Westin KL during the Tenuta Dell Ornellaia wine dinner. Wohoo! Honestly, I'm looking forward to dining at Prego as I've heard that it serves good Italian and moreover, it's going to be Ornellaia that we're drinking. How bad could it be?
This is my 2nd Ornelllaia wine dinner and I was there early with the rest of the gang where we were served with an endless flow of Primo Fraco Valdobbiadene Prosecco which is an apertivo for us before dinner. A lovely bubbly to start the evening is always welcomed! This is a light straw coloured sparkling with a palate of crisp apple and refreshing bubblies that will definitely help to fizz up the dinner.
The obligatory hors-d’oeuvre was a simple Bruschetta with Micro leaves that is served with a dose of Ornellaia Extra Virgin Olive Oil that replaces the normal "butter". I was very greedy and I sipped the virgin before allowing the bruschetta to be lubricated. Ooh... did I used the wrong description for this?
It's almost impossible to buy this Olive Oil as it is grown upon the grounds of the Estate and of course the production is limited. The oil has a very nice golden colour with a tinge of green. You can even taste some grasiness in the oil with some sweet almonds and spicy notes. Hmm... a perfect olive oil for salads too!
Together with the Natural Mussel Bisque with Smoked Herring Roe, we were served a glass of the Le Volte 2009 which is the starter of the meal. For a start, the bisque was not warm enough and I wasn't impressed with Le Volte 2009 as expected. I've tried the 2008 before but this 2009 wasn't exactly what I expected. It lacked the finish and to me it's still a very young wine need to be cellared for a couple of years more.
Then, we moved on to Le Serre Nouve 2006, 2007 & 2008. These are the "second vin" of Ornellaia produced from the younger vineyards. I have written about the tasting notes here and to make it simple, I don't know why but this 2nd time around when I tasted these wines, I somehow felt something was lacking. I liked the 2006 more than the rest due to more matured tannins.
For this vertical tastings of Le Serre Nouve, we were served King Crab Legs, Toasted Pannetone with smoked butter - browned and caper sauce. The dish comes in bits and I didn't find it particularly outstanding. After that, we had the Diver Scallop and Squid, paired with Spinach puree, grain mustard and truffle aioli. This dish came a bit cold as I would like my pan seared scallop to be a little warm. They did overcooked the scallop a little too.
So the dinner did not go too well and we were all waiting for the highlights of the night - Ornellaia 2006 & 2007. The wines were paired with Salmon confit, creamed white asparagus, Vincotto and Blackbean, Seared belly with pepper spray. Again the dish wasn't dressed to impress as I felt that the sauce didn't jive well with the salmon. The other main dish was the angus beef short rib which is braised and grilled and served with mushroom risotto and that too was cold. I didn't finish my rib.
The Ornellaia 2006 as I've mentioned before was made in a year filled with unusual quirks that may spell disaster but then it managed to pass my palate. It is complex, intense and has a lively tannin as compared to 2007 which has a glossy and velvety smooth tannin. I like the 2007 when compared side by side.
However, the hype and excitement for this 2nd round of Ornellaia tasting did disappoint me a little. I found that the wines didn't tickle me the right way anymore. There were so much of high expectations on this italian producer of Super Tuscan wine in the DOC of Bolgheri in Toscana. But now this Italy's top Bordeaux-style wine pales in comparison to some of the lower priced Bordeaux wines in my humble opinion.
Perhaps the more interesting highlight of the night was the showcase of a large collection of Riedel decanters. I've never seen so many shapes and designs of decanters in one sitting and that night was definitely an eye opener. I really like the Riedel "Eve" decanter which has a design like a snake and the way the wine was poured is indeed a conversation piece! If yourub pour it the wrong way, the wine ain't gonna flow, baby! However, the problem with this decanter is the storage. Where the hell I'm going to have such a tall cabinet for it?!! Beautiful but not practical.
Like the Top Chefs said, it ain't complete if there's no ending to a meal. The dessert of the night is the Ornellaia Olive Oil and Botrytis Riesling Cake with Roast pears. The cake was a bit too sweet for my liking but the pears were ok. And with it, I downed a shot of Ornellaia Grappa which wasn't my cup of tea.
Well, I'm glad I've finally gave Prego a go and the wines a 2nd try. Overall, I am quite disappointed with the wine dinner as it didn't live up to the grand style of this Italian label. But having said all these, I learnt one thing - it's not all about the price!
This is my 2nd Ornelllaia wine dinner and I was there early with the rest of the gang where we were served with an endless flow of Primo Fraco Valdobbiadene Prosecco which is an apertivo for us before dinner. A lovely bubbly to start the evening is always welcomed! This is a light straw coloured sparkling with a palate of crisp apple and refreshing bubblies that will definitely help to fizz up the dinner.
The obligatory hors-d’oeuvre was a simple Bruschetta with Micro leaves that is served with a dose of Ornellaia Extra Virgin Olive Oil that replaces the normal "butter". I was very greedy and I sipped the virgin before allowing the bruschetta to be lubricated. Ooh... did I used the wrong description for this?
It's almost impossible to buy this Olive Oil as it is grown upon the grounds of the Estate and of course the production is limited. The oil has a very nice golden colour with a tinge of green. You can even taste some grasiness in the oil with some sweet almonds and spicy notes. Hmm... a perfect olive oil for salads too!
Together with the Natural Mussel Bisque with Smoked Herring Roe, we were served a glass of the Le Volte 2009 which is the starter of the meal. For a start, the bisque was not warm enough and I wasn't impressed with Le Volte 2009 as expected. I've tried the 2008 before but this 2009 wasn't exactly what I expected. It lacked the finish and to me it's still a very young wine need to be cellared for a couple of years more.
Then, we moved on to Le Serre Nouve 2006, 2007 & 2008. These are the "second vin" of Ornellaia produced from the younger vineyards. I have written about the tasting notes here and to make it simple, I don't know why but this 2nd time around when I tasted these wines, I somehow felt something was lacking. I liked the 2006 more than the rest due to more matured tannins.
For this vertical tastings of Le Serre Nouve, we were served King Crab Legs, Toasted Pannetone with smoked butter - browned and caper sauce. The dish comes in bits and I didn't find it particularly outstanding. After that, we had the Diver Scallop and Squid, paired with Spinach puree, grain mustard and truffle aioli. This dish came a bit cold as I would like my pan seared scallop to be a little warm. They did overcooked the scallop a little too.
So the dinner did not go too well and we were all waiting for the highlights of the night - Ornellaia 2006 & 2007. The wines were paired with Salmon confit, creamed white asparagus, Vincotto and Blackbean, Seared belly with pepper spray. Again the dish wasn't dressed to impress as I felt that the sauce didn't jive well with the salmon. The other main dish was the angus beef short rib which is braised and grilled and served with mushroom risotto and that too was cold. I didn't finish my rib.
The Ornellaia 2006 as I've mentioned before was made in a year filled with unusual quirks that may spell disaster but then it managed to pass my palate. It is complex, intense and has a lively tannin as compared to 2007 which has a glossy and velvety smooth tannin. I like the 2007 when compared side by side.
However, the hype and excitement for this 2nd round of Ornellaia tasting did disappoint me a little. I found that the wines didn't tickle me the right way anymore. There were so much of high expectations on this italian producer of Super Tuscan wine in the DOC of Bolgheri in Toscana. But now this Italy's top Bordeaux-style wine pales in comparison to some of the lower priced Bordeaux wines in my humble opinion.
Perhaps the more interesting highlight of the night was the showcase of a large collection of Riedel decanters. I've never seen so many shapes and designs of decanters in one sitting and that night was definitely an eye opener. I really like the Riedel "Eve" decanter which has a design like a snake and the way the wine was poured is indeed a conversation piece! If you
Like the Top Chefs said, it ain't complete if there's no ending to a meal. The dessert of the night is the Ornellaia Olive Oil and Botrytis Riesling Cake with Roast pears. The cake was a bit too sweet for my liking but the pears were ok. And with it, I downed a shot of Ornellaia Grappa which wasn't my cup of tea.
Well, I'm glad I've finally gave Prego a go and the wines a 2nd try. Overall, I am quite disappointed with the wine dinner as it didn't live up to the grand style of this Italian label. But having said all these, I learnt one thing - it's not all about the price!
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