Sheraton brings wine lovers together with a laidback but elegant affair

Sheraton Imperial’s Villa Danieli is hoping to reach out to casual wine lovers as well as the more discerning connoisseurs with its new monthly wine pairing event. – September 28, 2015. Wine-tasting events are usually stuffy and formal events, filled with decorum on do’s and don’ts of wine appreciation.

But a new wine-pairing event in Kuala Lumpur is hoping to break convention by making wine appreciation more accessible, while still appealing to true connoisseurs.

Held on the last Thursday of every month, the “Wine Lovers’ Journey” event held at Sheraton Imperial’s Villa Danieli restaurant hopes to provide opportunities for networking, friendship and, of course, wine appreciation.

Limited to 30 people at each session, guests are made to walk around from four different “food stations” set up in the restaurant, starting with appetisers to mains, where different wines are paired with different Italian offerings from the kitchen. The night ends with a sit-down dessert pairing.

The wine featured at the event is selected from the restaurant’s premium range of Italian wines.

All of the wines are also available for sale after the event, at a special discount.

“We wanted to create a feeling of adventure with the mini walk-about, because wine-pairings are usually sit-down events where guests don’t really get to socialise with each other,” said Ashley Ross Ropaie, Sheraton Imperials assistant marketing manager.

The event first kicked off in August, and each month bears a different theme.

For September’s session last Thursday, delicate appetisers such as torched goat cheese on poached nashi pear and seared US scallop were paired with Banfi Le Rime’s Sauvignon Blanc and Banfi Collepino’s Merlot & Sangiovese wines.

Live-cooked cartoccio prawn with capers, cherry tomato and Italian parsley was one of the highlights of the mains served at September’s session. – September 28, 2015.Robust flavours from a light tomato soup with wood oven smoked crab meat, and sweet roasted potato and caramelised onion soup were then paired with Banfi Fumaio’s Chardonnay & Sauvignon Blanc.

For mains, diners were treated to taco-style roasted Chilean seabass, cartoccio prawns, mini lamb lasagna, braised beef cheek Calzone and “Ferrari” gnocchi.

Sweet treats such as crepe roulade with berries and cream and white chocolate coated sweet orange potato cake ended the night on a high note.

The mood of the entire night was light-hearted and fun, as guests mingled with each other and with the chefs and wine sommelier.

At RM220 a person, organisers believe the event will appeal to both casual wine drinkers, and the more serious connoisseurs looking for a more fun, light session.

“We’ve had two very successful sessions so far, because we think it’s a great combination of good wines, great food, warm ambiance and reasonable pricing,” said Ropaie.

To make reservations for the next event, call 03-27179900 or email to [email protected]. – September 28, 2015.