The Club has not had any wine tasting dinner with Chinese cuisine so far. So when we decided to organize one for the first time, the venue that came to mind immediately was Oberoi. This is where the Chinese food was introduced in Delhi 40 years ago, in 1964. Café Chinois went on to become the most popular restaurant and was a landmark for many years for ‘Chinese' and having a great time. Thanks to the F& B Manager of the Oberoi, Mr. Raj Rao, we made it happen in its current Avatar, Taipan on July1.

Matching Chinese food with wine is not the easiest tasks due to diverse sauces used to prepare different styles of food. One of the basic ‘rules' of matching food and wine is to match the cuisine with wines from the same region or the country, especially for Old World wines. Logic is simple. These places have been drinking wine with their food for centuries and have been tweaking their wines to go best with their food. If you order an Italian dish in a restaurant, you can never go wrong with Italian wine. It goes for French food too. Mediterranean food will go perfectly with French, Spanish, Italian or Greek wine. Chinese never had wine with their meals (remember, Chinese tea?). But Chinese food has become extremely popular globally during the last 40-50 years and the wine producers in the New World, especially Australian and the American producers have been making wines that go well with this food. So we decided to experiment with different varietals from different countries.

We also picked wines that one could order in a restaurant in Delhi and Mumbai without burning a hole in the pocket. Many times our members complain that the wines we taste at our Dinners are not available easily in restaurants. So we picked 3 whites and 1 red for the evening that is available in Oberoi, Maurya, Diva, Olive Kitchen and Bar etc. Again because of the crisp acidity of the white wine that would cut into the grease of the food, we believe that white wines would go better. Certainly, full body Cabernets and Shiraz would be out of place because of the tannins, unless we chose dishes prepared specially for the wines. Here is the Menu:

MENU

Vegetable or Chicken Wonton Soup
Spicy Crispy Lotus Root
Mount Pleasant Hunter Valley Semillon
Danzante Pinot Grigio Frescobaldi-Mondavi

Chicken Black Bean Sauce
Fish with Ginger, Spring Onion
Sweet & Sour Vegetables
Stir Fried Chinese Greens
Vegetable Noodles
Steamed Rice
Chablis Long Depaquit
Pater-Sangiovese Frescobaldi

Lychees with Ice Cream
Chinese Tea

Although the Pinot Grigio (Pee-noh Gree-joh) was selected for its crisp acidity and dry limy flavour to go with the lotus roots served as starters, many members thought this wine matched the main course perfectly. The Semillon- Sauvignon from Australia seemed to be the natural fit, as it was slightly less dry and more aromatic. Chablis was a perfect choice for me as its acidity attacked the fat in the mouth perfectly and its bone dryness appeals to me. It also added a lot of synergy to fish, which was absolutely delicious, and the best dish of the evening. Very few people cared for the Sangiovese (Sahn-joh-vayzay) from Tuscany, as expected, with the food. But, it was in most demand after the formality of finishing food was done. Lightly chilled and medium body dry wine with a balance of acidity, and mild tannins can be drunk without the food. It was quite fruity with flavour of berries and clean mouthfeel. So those who were in no hurry could savour it at leisure. Our Vice President, Sourish Bhattacharya felt that the best wine for this cuisine could be a Montana Marlborough New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc or even the newly released Grover's Sauvignon Blanc.

So next time you go to eat Chinese, try something other than the Chinese tea to go with the food. We have told you what our members liked. And, as always, form your own opinion and even share it with us. But if you get the service like we got from the staff of Taipan, you will be set in happy mode for the evening and most of the wines we have talked about will go for you too.

Subhash Arora
President