Casa Vinivola Zonin, one of the biggest wineries in Italy, sent over their wine ambassador Lorenzo Zonin to Manila as Best World Beverage Brands invited gourmands, society figures and wine connoisseurs to a night of fine dining at the Paparazzi at Edsa Shangri La hotel.

Welcoming the guests was top honcho of Best World Edna Diaz who made sure that each guest was pampered according to her high standards of hospitality. Lesley Ann Tan of the Edsa Shangri La also made sure that food served by paparazzi’s newest chef is no less than stellar!

Zonin Prosecco Special Cuvee Brut was the opening salvo of the team that had an aromatic, fruity aroma. It was certainly well balanced with a delicate almond note that matched with the canapes being served.

The first course was a Hudson Valley Duck carpaccio, a dish served with marinated beets, apple, haricot verts,golden almond drizzled with honey citrus vinaigrette was paired with a fruity, yet full bodied Zonin Pinot grigio Friulli. The next dish, the Tasmanian salmon served with melted onion, sweet corn fricassee, with black truffle emulsion was a match with the yellow colored, slightly golden Principi di Butera Surya Insolia Chardonnay.

The next wine was Ripasso Valpolicella- a favorite of mine I must confess and when paired off with the braised pork with vanilla yum puree, sun dried cherry, toasted hazelnt and spiced jus, was clearly the winner pick of the night.

Or so i thought! But then the servers went on to serve the Castello d’ Albola Chianti Classico, a well balanced dry wine paired with roasted lamb loin with crispy polenta fritter, Italian peppernata, and garlic in eggplant puree with red wine lamb jus. By this time, I had gotten more confused. Clearly, when in a wine pairing dinner, one cannot play favorites. Best World’s Edna Diaz and the talented chefs at paparazzi seem to have perfected the art of wine pairing. It helped that Lorenzo Zonin, part of the Zonin family who owns the vineyards in Italy, was present at the dinner, explaining the intricacies of the bottles produced by their family’s wine company.

The warm apricot almond tart with caramelized honey and home made ginger ice cream paired with sweet Castello del Poggio Moscato d’ Asti was the perfect ending to this night.

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