I am not exaggerating when I say that a wine and cheese pairing just changed my life. I will never be the same again.
Red bleu cheese- I kid not. Picked up in Tai Hang today, and I believe to be of English origin.
Stinky French cow's cheese from Monsieur Chatte.
Petite Chablis 2009.
When their powers combine, the Chablis goes from nice and acidic to amaze-balls and almost sweet. The transformation is incredible! Incredible!!
I always knew food and wine pairings were important (but generally ignore them because I drink wine a) among friends and it doesn't matter about pairing, more about talking b) at home after dinner before bed), but have never found one that totally transformed the wine like this! I've had ones that don't work; Chateauneuf du Pape 2003 with Indian curry; those that do; Cava and Samosas; but this honestly blew my socks off. It was a totally different wine after that cheese.
This, I believe, is attributable to several factors. One, the wine is high on the acid. Sans food this may seem a bit biting. Two, the cheese is heavy on the salt and may seem...salty. If ever you want to create a good pairing, match acid and salt. On top of this the cheese wasn't ultra creamy or delicate, but instead poweful, musty, and just totally rockin with Chablis.
This was entirely too much on cheese and wine...what else have Lauren and Paul been up to. Well, I can tell you nothing as spectacular as the last 15 minutes with Chablis and cheese.
Friday night I hosted a wine tasting for 25+ recruiters and their clients at Randstad. Not spending much time thinking or preparing for it as I had my dip test to worry about, I found that the night went suprisingly well. I got nervous 3 minutes before when I realized I had to talk for the next 2 hours about wine, all of which I know through and through, but in front of 25 or so guillos in their 20s-50s.
I think it started off a bit tense with some 'uhhs' and 'umms' but the audience was fantastic, full of questions and answers when I asked, and tons and tons of enthusiasm, so after the first round I was more into it and much more confident.
We hosted a tasting for Randstad about a year ago, but at the time we had JC to host. Now it was me!! We asked Thibaut, a rep of our Burgundy wines, to come and speak a bit too. He was great and the highlight for me was that a women ching-chinged her glass with a fork at the end of the evening to say in more or less words 'Thank you Lauren for an informative and fun night. We all learned a lot!' It was so sweet and I am feeling more and more confident in my presentation skills. And more importantly, I LOVE sharing my wine knowledge. I know I know my shit. And it's so much fun to shed some light on wine things for others.
It's strange for me to think that my entire life revolves around a beverage. But I know it's much much more than that. It's a tradition. A history. A passion. Culture. Family. Friends. Community. Life. Wine. Is. Awesome. I. Love. My. Job.
Anyway, test on viticulture and vinification followed in the morning. There are 40 or so people doing the dip with me, and I am definitely the only blondey in there. A French guy, an Italian guy, a gingery guy, and me and 45 Asians.
The test was harder than I thought, with a lot more questions about stuff that wasn't in the book. But it's how they weed out the non-wine-lifers I suppose. I was the first kid done, thank you. On the way out I chat with another early finisher who concurred it was more difficult and off book than expected. But what was strange to me is that this guy was a banker! Just doing this for fun...for now. Man, everyone in HK thinks they can have a wine company. Nuts!
Saturday post test was Beertopia!! More on that later....
Red bleu cheese- I kid not. Picked up in Tai Hang today, and I believe to be of English origin.
Stinky French cow's cheese from Monsieur Chatte.
Petite Chablis 2009.
When their powers combine, the Chablis goes from nice and acidic to amaze-balls and almost sweet. The transformation is incredible! Incredible!!
 |
| AMAZING. |
I always knew food and wine pairings were important (but generally ignore them because I drink wine a) among friends and it doesn't matter about pairing, more about talking b) at home after dinner before bed), but have never found one that totally transformed the wine like this! I've had ones that don't work; Chateauneuf du Pape 2003 with Indian curry; those that do; Cava and Samosas; but this honestly blew my socks off. It was a totally different wine after that cheese.
 |
| Also got some amazing nitrogen frozen ice cream in Tai Hang. Greek yogurt with granola and blueberries. |
This, I believe, is attributable to several factors. One, the wine is high on the acid. Sans food this may seem a bit biting. Two, the cheese is heavy on the salt and may seem...salty. If ever you want to create a good pairing, match acid and salt. On top of this the cheese wasn't ultra creamy or delicate, but instead poweful, musty, and just totally rockin with Chablis.
This was entirely too much on cheese and wine...what else have Lauren and Paul been up to. Well, I can tell you nothing as spectacular as the last 15 minutes with Chablis and cheese.
Friday night I hosted a wine tasting for 25+ recruiters and their clients at Randstad. Not spending much time thinking or preparing for it as I had my dip test to worry about, I found that the night went suprisingly well. I got nervous 3 minutes before when I realized I had to talk for the next 2 hours about wine, all of which I know through and through, but in front of 25 or so guillos in their 20s-50s.
 |
| Calm before the storm |
 |
| Custom placemats |
It's strange for me to think that my entire life revolves around a beverage. But I know it's much much more than that. It's a tradition. A history. A passion. Culture. Family. Friends. Community. Life. Wine. Is. Awesome. I. Love. My. Job.
 |
| The crowd |
The test was harder than I thought, with a lot more questions about stuff that wasn't in the book. But it's how they weed out the non-wine-lifers I suppose. I was the first kid done, thank you. On the way out I chat with another early finisher who concurred it was more difficult and off book than expected. But what was strange to me is that this guy was a banker! Just doing this for fun...for now. Man, everyone in HK thinks they can have a wine company. Nuts!
Saturday post test was Beertopia!! More on that later....
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