Whenever a new chef joins, he prepares an introductory meal to showcase his talent. This time it was Chef Alessandro Sandrolini who came on board as executive sous chef of La Piazza, the iconic Italian restaurant of Hyatt New Delhi. You can read my previous experience of La Piazza here.
Hyatt Regency Delhi is also known for the place which has one of the most comprehensive wine list in this country. Chef Alessandro on his arrival curated a five course meal along with Sommelier Viraj Sawant who paired each course with finest wine.
Wine paired dinners are getting common in India but still have a long way to go. Before going for paired dinner we must understand the dishes and pair it accordingly.
Sugar, acid, fruit, tannin are some of the components of wine. Similarly fat, acid, salt, sweet bitter are the flavors of food. One can either go for similar or contrasting pairings. Based on the components, richness and textures – The most successful food and wine pairings are done.
Bertani valpolicella a medium bodied, fruity wine, with aroma of cherry and plum was the perfect red wine that I was looking for. I haven’t quiet developed my taste for red wine and I am always intrigued by wines. I discussed the same with Viraj and he presented this wine – fresh wine with balance and a long finish. The earthy flavour of mushroom stuffed tortellini went well with this medium bodied red wine with low tannin.
Oven roasted pork which was served with high tannin La Braccesca, not only complemented the pork, but made it more flavourful.
The flavour, taste, smell and dryness of a wine depends a lot on the climate, area and the region, Grapes in warm area ripe early and because of that, they are more sweet and contain more alcohol. In cooler areas grapes takes little more time to ripe that’s why they are little dry. Lower temperatures preserve the acidity and grapes take longer to ripen and hence we get tart fruit flavors and such wines have more acidity.
The conversation with Viraj Sawant while we were relishing the food prepared by Chef Alessandro was very informative as we learnt a lot about wines. I am going to remember this conversation for very long and this actually inspired me to know more on wines.
I would surely recommend La Piazza not only for scrumptious Italian, but also for excellent wines.
You can have a look on their Lunch Menu:
http://www.hyatt.com/hyatt/images/hotels/delrd/La_Piazza_Lunch.pdf
Disclaimer – This review was done on an invitation from the establishment. Views expressed in the review is entirely ours and without any bias. Pictures of the dishes are not the standard portions, they are sample portions.
