Wine Dinner with Rolland Collection

I had the privilege to dine at The Club Saujana Resort couple of weeks back to experience their special wine pairing dinner hosted by Michel Rolland of the Rolland Collection of fine wines.


Looking plenty sober prior dinner


It was a seven course meal and six difference wines, with a middle course as a palate refresher.




It was obviously going to be a happy night. :D

Dinner started wtih a Home-Dried Rock Melon with Smoked Mozzarella drizzled with 24 years Aged Balsamic, paired with Ayala Zero Dosage NV (sort of a champagne, or sparkling wine technically).

I was looking forward to the said Balsamic. I've tasted many balsamic before, from caramelized to aged and during my travels I have come across some pretty high quality balsamic. It's the same with good quality olive oil. I once heard a friend of mine who had the opportunity to taste a 120 euro per bottle olive oil in France and according to him, the taste was divine. *gulp*

Though oppose to olive oil, I'm a major fan of cameralized balsamic vineger.




Intially I couldn't really see the rock melon and was wondering what the ball of yellow-ish goop on top of my appertizer was, it turned out to be mozzarella; and to my very pleasant surprise, I could smell the aroma of the balsamic. It was really good.

One bite and I immediately asked for a second portion which the host kindly asked specially for me. ^^ I haven't tasted good balsamic for two years ago and I have to say this stood up to par.


The second course quickly followed with Expressions of Salmon with Beetroot and Horseradish, paired with Chateau La Grande Clotte Blanc, France 2007.




The name didn't serve it justice as the dish deserve more credit for its preparation. Salmon (both slices and tartare) was fresh but I adore the bite-size beetroots which was refreshing as a condiment to the fish.




Didn't really enjoyed the crispy roll though so I gave it to someone else who enjoyed it better.
Whereas the white wine was a tad dry for my liking but that's just my personal preferance.

Next came the Pan-Seared Duck Breast with Pot Roasted White Cabbage & Confit Duck Leg.




Kudos to the Chef, this dish threw me off guard despite all the ingredient that I disliked or found unimpressive. If there's a dish that would make meat-lover turn vegetarian, it would be this. The white cabbage was surpringly a sweet soft savoury delight; sauce was fabulous with the tender juicy duck breast; unfortunately the duck confit puff was a disappointment to this dish. Increase the cabbage and omit the puff and this would have been a perfect dish.

By now we have moved to Mariflor Pinot Noir, Argentina 2007. Urgh... red. nuff said.
But then again it is pinot noir and it's really not too bad nor heavy, again, just my preference.

Refreshing our palates with Blueberry Granita.




I loved this sorbet so much I had TWO! Its sweetish sourish flavour certainly woke me up from my slightly drunken state.

Now came the main courses.

Main Course 1: Olive and Herb Poached Saddle of Lamb with Creamy Polenta and Sauteed Peppers.




I have high expectation for this dish as I favor lamb over any red meat.
The chef's creation met my ridiculosuly high expectation and provided more.

Polenta is a sort of hummus-like dish made of boiled cornmeal. I've never had the actual thing before but this was really soft, creamy and slightly on the tamer side of flavour, my friend loved it he swore to return to the restaurant just to specially order this. I enjoyed it, but I didn't think it was worth driving all the way down here just for this. The sauteed peppers were brilliant though, friend never liked peppers but he finished every single slice (not that there were many to begin with, all the portions were of tasting size, a.k.a. tiny).

Oh, the little ball made of lamb mince behind the lamb, forgettable.

This was paired wtih Campo Alegre, Toro, Spain 2008. By now I was too drunk to remember if this was good or bad; though apparently my ignorance to taste only applied to red wines at this stage.

Main Course 2:
Red Wine Braised Beef Cheek (Milk Fed Beef) with Truffle Potato Blini and Moussline, paired with Chateau Fontenil, Fronsac, France 2006. (This wine was too heavy too dry for me to even 'try' to enjoy)




Another highly expected dish, I never had milk fed beef was delighted at the sight of truffle; but this dish came short in delivering 'omph'.

Beef cheek was tough and dry. It didn't look over-cooked so I assumed it must be frozen instead of chilled, a process that destroyed a meat's freshness. Truffle Potato Blini was way better than the beef.
The Moussline (mash potato) was magnifique. Soft as baby food, and if not mistaken, I'm pretty sure it's truffle scented too. *love*


Finally the last course, dessert: Extension of Chocolate - Chocolate Passion Fruit Cake, Dark Chocolate Mousse and White Chocoalte Ice Cream.




This dish was a disapointment (not utter, but almost).

The whole dish obviously came out from a freezer. The cake was too hard to cut, the passion fruit topping was too sourish and the chocolate ball at the side was too hard to bite. The saving grace of this dish was the chocolate mousse and the home-made white chocolate ice cream, which melted a bit too fast.

Served with a glass of Domaine Crazes Muscat de Riversaltes 2005, the dish was poorly paired either, as admitted by the chef, there wasn't much of a dessert wine choice from the Rolland's Collection so they had to make use of what they have. Which I excused at this point.


Overall, The Club Saujana Resort came up with an impressive dinner with their young Austrian chef. First four dishes have been exceptional save for the last two; which was a pity.

At RM260++ for a seven-course dinner. It was well worth the price considering you're paying similar price in restaurant like Cilantro for less courses minus the wines. If I have to compare, I'd say food quality par with Sage for their dinners (not lunches).

You may call to reserve for this wine dinner at the club.


*hic*



look, free fan ^^


The Club Saujana Resort
Jalan Lapangan Terbang SAAS 40150 Shah Alam
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Malaysia
Contact: (603) 7843 1234