We’re serious about the Asian Academy Creative Awards being the pinnacle of excellence in the Asia-Pac Region, and we’re just as serious about our Grand Dinner.
We’ve appointed an international award winning Executive Chef to look after the food and our entire executive team has taken a personal interest in the selection of wines. After exhaustive testing and re-testing (and testing some more) we’ve come up with two top wines from Italy and another from New Zealand.
WHITE WINES
For the white wine we’ve gone for the Antiche Terre Venete Soave 2016 (so it’s a perfect time to be drinking this vintage). It’s a crisp, fruity wine with a slight mineral finish. Grapes come from the northwest area of Verona, Italy. We recommend it with the earlier courses, and especially the local barramundi. The winery itself dates back to the early 1900’s, and its vineyard covers some 50 hectares. The harvest is done entirely by hand.
Alternatively, you might prefer a Sauvignon Blanc and for that, I don’t think you can go past New Zealand. We’ve gone for the excellent Wairau River (pronounced “why-row”). Our trusty Vivino rates it a 4.1 and in the Top 1% of wines from the famous Marlborough region. It’s an elegant wine with intense tropical and stone fruit aromatics with delicate citrus and floral notes, full flavoured and textured.
RED WINE
To pair with the USA grain fed beef, we’ve gone for a truly exceptional Cinquanta Collezione 2012 from Cantine San Marzino. Vivino rates it an imporessive 4.3, and ranks it in the top 1% of all wines in the world.
Hailing from Apulia, Italy, it comes from the Primitivo and Negroamaro grapes, which combine to deliver a ruby-red wine of intense, multi faceted bouquet. Notes of plum, red jam and spicy nuances of vanilla and liquorice make this wine a true delight – most worthy of the Grand Dinner.
And, if you’re into beer you can always catch a Tiger.
Enjoy the evening
Michael McKay
PRESIDENT
ASIAN ACADEMY CREATIVE AWARDS
