Wine Pairing Ideas from Akyra Manor and Athenee Hotel

To celebrate food, a carefully selected wine can make the food dance on your tongue. At Akyra Manor in Chiang Mai and Athenee Hotel in Bangkok the food and wine pairings are a feature of their hospitality offering.

Akyra Manor – Chiang Mai

The Italian tradition of Apertivo – a light meal at the end of the day to whet the appetite for dinner-is given a freshened exotic character here. 

 They serve boards of grilled meat satay skewers served alongside well-known rustic specialities. Executive Chef Phu Base Chuprakong has tweaked this tempting spread at Rabes restaurant to perfection, with choices of Zucchini Sticks, Tomato Bruschetta and Pizza Bread with Parma Ham complementing the meat skewers. The skewers are prepared with red curry paste, turmeric powder and coconut milk among other ingredients, for a unique east-meets-west culinary experience.

Chef Phu Base Chuprakong, Akyra Manor Chiang Mai

Wine Pairing

MARELLINO DI SCANSANO  – LE PUPILLE, Italy

This medium bodied wine with fruity, balanced tannins and adequate acidity balances any curry flavors.

Vineyard Location

La Carla vineyard (Magliano in Toscano), Maiano and Bozzino vineyards (Istia d’Ombrone) San Vittorio, Vignacci Alta, Vecchie Pupille vineyard, altitude 50-250 meters above sea level.

Varietal Composition – 85% Sangiovese, 10% Alicante, 5% Cillegiolo

Cooperage – 8 months. 95% in steel and 5% in barrique of second passage

Alcohol – 13.5%

The Athenee Hotel – Bangkok

We skip further down the menu and down the temperature scale to the desserts.

Chef de Cuisine Roxanne Lange of the hotel’s Reflexion’s restaurant has surpassed even her high standards of culinary ingenuity with this delicate creation that’s all sweetness and light, created with ice instead of heat. Her Cranberry & Milk Parfait on a Stick is an exquisite combination of separately-prepared cranberry juice. jam and parfait, with another parfait of milk and vanilla. It’s all frozen in layers and playfully presented in a style reminiscent of those long-forgotten treasures of sweet childhood delights.

 

Chef de Cuisine Roxanne Lange, The Athenee Hotel Bangkok

Wine Pairing

TROCKENBEEREN AUSLESE – KRACHER, Austria

I can’t think of a better wine to pair this with than the Trockenbeeren Auslese from Kracher. This Austrian beauty is delightful and is very well balanced between sweetness and acidity, with a long-lasting finish. Sheer pleasure.

 

Bart has been a hotelier and restauranteur all his life. With extensive wine experience and a level 2 qualification in the WSET his experience qualifies him uniquely to judge food and wine pairings.