Kitschy factor aside, EU wine still wins

Kenneth Yang ,  Contributor ,  Jakarta   |  Sun, 07/06/2008 11:37 AM  |  On the Town

When an august hotel such as the Gran Melia says it's going to feed and get members of the media drunk on French wine for free, it is not for us to question their motives.

Like all corporate behemoths flinging crumbs at struggling journalists, the good-hearted and sweet-faced people at the Gran Melia invited The Jakarta Post along to try the new wines to go with its set menu out of a sense of pure altruism.

So it is with no sense of obligation at all to these new, beloved and undoubtedly sexually potent patrons that I pass on the following advice: give the Gran Melia your money.

The upside is that even as you empty your pockets, you'll feel richer doing it. The Gran Melia's Columbus restaurant is all about fusty Old Money grandeur in this decidedly New Money town.

Officially spelled Colvmbvs to be either classy or Balkan, I'm not sure, the place is all about evoking early colonialism and the Inquisition, which are, I think, the first things that pop into any of our heads when we think fine dining.

And while the kitsch decor suggests smallpox and those giddy days when Europe discovered syphilis, the food and wine suggest gout. Nay, they insist on it. And we are glad.

The pan-fried goose liver with caramelized figs and ginger reduction served with a 2005 Virginie Cinsault Merlot ros* is a highlight of the new food and wine arrangement and reason enough to hand your house keys to the Gran Melia.

The wine expert brought in to choose the new list, Frenchman Damien D'Ovidio, explained that the ros*, which is tannin-free and redolent of fresh strawberries, was chosen to balance out the heavy goose liver.

This of course made sense as I felt the liver's component parts regenerate inside me one last time for a one-inch punch square to my internal organs.

White wines predominate in the new selection, with a heavy emphasis on not overpowering the food, which is conservatively French with some nods to Italian cuisine and our own tropical surroundings.

Both the first course, crispy scallops on tomato salsa with mango and passionfruit sauce, and the later brussels sprout soup with Norwegian salmon, came with fresh, dry whites.

With the scallops, which were so fresh they were sweet, the wine cuts in at just the right time to take the edge off the taste of frying, as well as any excess sugariness in the fruit.

With the creamy soup, the same acidity stops wholesomeness tipping over into fatty excess.

The only time reds did get a look in was with the main course, wagyu tenderloin with black truffle bordelaise sauce, which was heavy enough to demand wines with real kick.

Two very different French reds, one a Shiraz Grenache and the other a Bordeaux Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot blend, were offered up with the fatty and yielding beef.

The Shiraz, kept away from oak and low in tannin, was a sharp and spicy pickup for the wagyu, but not a crowd pleaser at the table.

But it was the second red, aged in oak and velvety, rich and full of body, that really worked with the beef. Despite efforts to steer us more decidedly toward the dessert wines, it remained a firm favorite.

As the night wound on, and pretensions of refinement gave way to joyous boozing, the German head chef leaned forward in his chair jiggling a bottle of Australian wine.

He explained to us that the key to the night's fun was in European Union standards that ensured preservatives stayed out of wine.

His mouth curling in disgust, he boomed: "This is bullshit. They add sugar, they add chemicals. In Australia this is legal, in Europe, this would be banned."

Under most circumstances, I don't enjoy being yelled at in German, unlike certain heads of certain racing federations. But at that moment, drunk and thoroughly bought off as I was, I could have hugged the man.

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