An Evening with the Joy of White

An outdoor lounge.

Quite a hot temperature night.

Some wines.

Some good old and new friends.

What is the best about them? A great time!

I am invited to An Evening with Penfolds Wine event at the Jimbaran Outdoor Lounge of Intercontinental Hotel in Jakarta. I am so glad to receive the invitation as Penfolds is one of the first high end wine that I know when I try to learn about wine sometimes ago. The Australian made Penfolds never fail my taste. At the right time and at the right condition, Penfolds has won a part of my thirst.

In this event, they serve Penfolds Koonunga Hill Chardonnay, Penfolds Koonunga Hill Autumn Riesling, Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet and Penfolds Koonunga Hill Seventy Six Shiraz Cabernet.  

When I smell the Penfolds Koonunga Hill Chardonnay, the white wine is like a lime. Somehow I wonder if the white wine is mixed with a lime juice. The color of the wine is so clear. So clear that I want to jump into the glass and swim there. When I drink it, the white wine tastes so fresh, not too sweet and not too sour. So easy to drink it, just a perfect taste for the night. As it is served chilled, it is like showering my dry throat.

As I try the Penfolds Koonunga Hill Autumn Riesling, all of the smell, the taste and the appearance are even better than the Chardonnay one. The Riesling is great! It is fresh like a lime (again) and is a bit sweet, between fruity and flowery. This is my favorite one! It is served chilled, so it is another refreshment to my throat at that hot night.

I try to pair both of the white wines with chicken and fish. I find that the chicken is a great companion for the white wines. Chewing the chicken with a sip of the white wines, I can feel that the taste of the chicken is upgraded to a new level. How can the white wines do all this magic? I can only look at the wine glass and smile.

On the other side, the red wines that night could not cooperate with the heat around my body. The Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet and the Penfolds Koonunga Hill Seventy Six Shiraz Cabernet taste so bold in my mouth, which is quite good, but I feel that they are too hot for the hot temperature night. Maybe because the red wines are not served chilled. From this, I can learn that eventhough red wine should be served at room temperature, but maybe I can chill it first if I want to drink it in a dry season. Sometimes, breaking the rules can give more joy, right?

At the event, I meet old friends and new friends. We come from different backgrounds, but we agree about one thing that the white wines are the winners at the event. It is a surprise for me, as I always take myself as an ordinary new person in the wine tasting. I do not know much about wine and how to taste it in a correct way. To know that my opinion about the wine is accepted by some wine experts in the event is totally an achievement for me. This encourages me to learn more about the beauty of wine.  

I also learn that, for myself, wine is good to be consumed when I eat some food. As soon as I finish eating my food, I do not find the joy to drink the wine alone. Could this be a sign that wine is the spices for the food I eat? Well, maybe yes.

I am happy to know that I learn about so many things from the great people I meet and from the joy of white I taste. Such a great night!