Indulgence on the isle

Tucked away on the |remote island of Koh Kood, Soneva Kiri already offers the most laid back luxury Thailand has to offer. The resort’s general manager Frank Grassman recently upped the ante even further by inviting leading names from Italy’s Barolo region to create a weekend featuring the very best of Italian food and wine.
The Elvio Cogno winery is world renowned for its award-winning Barolo, a wine often referred to as the “wine of kings and the king of wines” and unique to the Piedmontese region. The Cogno family has been making wine in the Langhe area for four generations and under the guidance of its current owners, Nadia Cogno and Valter Fissore, continues to produce wines that honour past traditions, styles and flavours.
Joining Cogno and Fissore was chef Massimo Camia of the Michelin starred restaurant Locanda nel Borgo Antico in neighbouring Boschetti. In his restaurant, Camia works closely with nearby farmhouses using local ingredients that respect the environment and the unique flavours of the region. One of his favourite ingredients is the white truffle.
Five wines were introduced during the Saturday tasting sessions: 2010 Barbera d’Alba DOC, 2009 Barbaresco Bordini DOCG, 2007 Barolo Casina Nouvo DOCG, 2007 Barolo Ravera DOCG and 2007 Borolo Bricco Pernice DOCG, all of then paired with light snacks prepared by Camia to raise awareness of the next day’s wine dinner.
Among those joining the wine dinner were wine writer James Suckling and his family. Suckling has divided his time between Hong Kong and Italy for the last 16 years and knows Congo and Fissore, as well as Camia.
The dinner started with marinated yellow fin tuna with citrus and spices, slightly smoked and served with crispy vegetables, black ink and a robust bearnaise sauce paired with 2011 Langhe Anas-Cetta DOC, the only white of the night. The grape varietal was Nascetta, a native of Novello. The white refreshed and made the yellow fin tuna sweeter. This match was perfect.
The 2010 Barbera d’Alba Bricco dei Merli DOC was served with poached egg with mushroom mousse, crispy brioche and manchego cheese. Cogno and Fissore offered shavings of white truffle, which they hand-carried with them all the way from Piedmont, to all the guests. Sucking commented that Barbera was his favourite wine for summer and said we should appreciate the orange peel and chocolate notes of the wine.
The third course was traditional home-made pasta pockets filled with a fondue of fontina from the Aosta Valley served with 2007 Barolo Ravera DOCG. This Borolo was made from lampia and michet sub-varieties of nebbiolo and again the couple offered the white truffle shavings. While 2007 seemed young, this Barolo was fruit forward, not very tannic and clean.
“We are trying to make Barolo more approachable by respecting the grape, the terroir and not modifying the wine in the cellar,” Fissore explained. “We offer history and tradition in our wine making. Modern technology helps us to make wine the right way but it doesn’t mean we make modern wine.”
The fourth course was yellow pumpkin tortello served with sweet gorgonzola paired with 2007 Barolo Brico Pernice DOCG. This is the latest wine from Cogno, made from lampia, sub-varieties of nebbiolo. Suckling guided the tasting, saying that to him Barolo was as delicate as a Pinot Noir from Burgundy but with a structure of tannin. “Think of Pinot Noir in a motorbike leather jacket” he added. “And 2007 was a warm year, prettier than 2006. It was as good a year as 2000 and 1997.”
The fifth course featured two plates: cappeletti of chicken served in a double consomme and braised octopus served with traditional soft polenta. They were paired with 2006 Barolo Vigna Elena DOCG.
The main meat course was stewed cheek of veal on a soft potato mash served with 2000 Barolo Ravera DOCG, the top wine of the night. It showed its terroir, the soil, the sunshine.
A cake of Piedmontese hazel nuts served with an English cream scented with Moscato wine paired with 2011 Moscato d’Asti DOC was a perfect end to the dinner.

    CELEBRATIONS IN PARADISE
Visiting Koh Kood over the holidays? Soneva Kiri is offering a special festive programme, with a Christmas Eve dinner on Monday, a sunset cruise and barefoot festive feast on Tuesday and a coconut countdown on New Year’s Eve. |Call (039) 619 800.