Barolo and Satay

The buffet at the Pan Pacific Hotel offers an East meets West experience.  The vast amount of food on offer is mind boggling and the variety available is more than one can cover in one visit.  The type of food ranges from Japanese sushi, Thai tom yam, Hongkong tim sum to 'western' staples such as pasta dishes and grilled meats.  In my view, the most desirable dishes are those that hail from the South East Asian countries.

The wine for the meal was a 2007 Marcarini La Serra Barolo. From the Piedmont region of Italy and made from the nebbiolo grape, this was expected to be a medium bodied red wine which should go well with the Asian food available.  The wine had a fruity and floral bouquet which was a pleasant  introduction to the taste to come.  Not very complex in taste but it has a very smooth velvety finish that makes you reach for the glass more quickly than one should.  Opened just before the meal, the soft tannins of the wine smoothened out quite quickly and the wine was drink-friendly in 30 minutes.  The cherry - raisin fruitiness of the wine was a good complement to the Thai pandan chicken and fried rice.  It was an excellent pairing with the mutton satay, with the acidity of the wine providing a good balance with the strong sweet/spicy taste of the peanut sauce.