All about food & wine with Jacob’s Creek
We in India are not a winedrinking people; being situated in the tropical belt, we’ve hardly had the opportunity to develop such a culture. But Australian brand Jacob’s Creek and Brancott Estate have taken it upon themselves to change all that. Last week, they hosted their second wine and food pairing session in the city at Shiro, Samrat hotel.
The party was in honour of brand ambassador Steve Meckiff ’s second visit to India, where he’s also visiting hotels and restaurants in Kolkata, Mumbai and Bangalore, with a stopover in Kathmandu, Nepal. The idea behind holding a soiree of this sort is to illustrate the best ways to pair wines with food, so as to enhance the entire culinary experience.
At Shiro, the evening began with a pop quiz on different types of wines. As Jacob’s Creek Chardonnay Pinot Noir and hors d’oeuvres did the rounds, the guests took shots at tasting the wine, guessing its name and origin, and winning prizes. The party then moved to the live kitchen/ Teppanyaki section where the food — dim sum, sauted vegetables and meat, and grilled fish, chicken and mushrooms on sticks — came with a prescription for what wines to sip with them.
Meckiff presided over the event, taking his guests through the finer points of understanding different wines even as they stood blindfolded, with their noses scanning wine goblets for hints. “Yes, we know it isn’t a natural thing for South Asians to understand wine,” said Meckiff, “but it certainly is growing. We’ve even started some training sessions for people working in the hospitality industry in India.”