Luxury Dining and Wining has always been an integral part of our blog and I recently headed onto the Leela Palace New Delhi for a winemaker dinner with Egon Muller, one of Germany’s most successful winemakers along with Chef Daniel Dal-Ben who runs a single Michelin Star restaurant, 1876 in Germany. Egon Muller’s premium wines have been brought to India by Rajiv Kehr Selections who also brought along Chef Dal-Ben for good measure this time.
We started off our dinner with a Champagne Delamotte Blanc de Blanc along with an amuse-bouche of Ravioli served with some Truffle on top. It was followed up with a King Crab with Caviar, Oyster, Cream and Turnip Cabbage served with the Chateau Bella Riesling ’18. One of the interesting points to note about this Reisling is it’s distinctive dry, mineral-driven taste which combined well with the sweetness of the King Crab. At a later masterclass organised at The Lodhi, Mr Muller reveals to us that this Slovak vineyard comes to him from his wife’s side. For the next course, we had two wines from his famed vineyards in Germany: the Scharzhof 2017 and the Scharzofberger Kabinett 2017, both of which were served with the Chilean Sea Bass made with Chorizo Butter and served alongside some Eggplant and Bell Pepper.
We then switch over to some Reds from the Piedmont region in Italy, again from the stables of Mr Rajiv Kehr. There was a Barbera D’Alba 2017 and Nebbiolo 2017 from the Rocche Costamagna served up with Baby Chicken a La Coq au Vin followed by a Riserva Barolo 2011 from the same winery served with the Rack of Lamb. These three wines are quite typical of Piedmont with their complex flavour profile of black fruits and tannins and combine like a dream with the chicken and the rack of lamb. We finished with a lovely tarte of Citrus with Raspberry and Macadamia Ice Cream.
