Guide to Wine Pairing at Spiral Sunday Champagne Brunch

The famous Sofitel's Spiral Sunday Brunch is now aptly called Sunday Champagne Brunch. It costs around P3,623 for adults and P1,842 for kids. The welcome upgrade to a "Champagne Brunch" happened early last year following a refurbishment of the Spiral.




In this post, I'm not going to pretend I'm a wine expert. I enjoy wine but have no idea how to pronounce most of their names or what food they go with. I let my tastebuds decide and I'm not sure if this is acceptable to wine elitists. So, I enjoy wine in places I'm comfortable in. Last year, I stayed in a club room with access to Sofitel's Club Millesime where they have wine appreciation and cocktails from 5pm onwards every night. From then on, I knew that Sofitel and wine appreciation in its rawest (and unpretentious) form are synonymous.

To enjoy this wine experience during the Spiral Champagne Brunch, here are my humble tips to get the most out of your P3,623+

1. Select your approach - do you want to focus on food with wine, or wine with food? I suggest try the unbeaten path of pairing wine with food.

2. Choose the atelier or cuisine you want to focus on - Asian, Western, and the Desserts. The order is up to you. You will discover the each cuisine will also go with a different wine group. This leads us to number 3.

3. Look for an in-house sommelier - a sommelier is simply put, a wine steward who will know best about the wines being offered in Spiral and what food they go best with. Do not hesitate to call/summon them to your table. They won't expect you to pronounce Gewürztraminer flawlessly or know what it is. This is why Spiral engages sommeliers to assist diners with pleasure.



You can also look for the French wine experts Tanguy (tang-gee) and Mathieu (matthew, photo above). The friendliest and most passionate about wine I've met in Sofitel. I knew I was in the right place when Mathieu said it's not the ability to pronounce wine and memorize their classifications, but the ability to enjoy the taste and discovering which wine you enjoy best.

4. If you know the kind of wine you like or a variation you want to try, you can also take the route of asking for its availability and for pairing recommendations.

Here's a wine appreciation cheat sheet for Spiral's Sunday Champagne Brunch:



Asian Ateliers

Brand: Craggy Range
Type: Sauvignon Blanc
Origin: New Zealand, 2012
Pairing: wanton soup, white fish, and seafood

Brand: AIX rosé
Type: Rosé
Origin; Coteaux d'Aix en Provence 2012
Pairing: garden vegetables. scallops, grilled meat

Brand: Madfish
Type: Shiraz
Origin: Australia, 2009
Pairing: Hokien Mee, grilled pork, any red meat

Western Ateliers



Brand: William Fevre
Type: Chablis
Origin: Burgundy, France, 2011
Pairing: seafood, pesto fusili, fishes, white meat, and foie gras

Brand: Bouchard Père & Fils
Type: Pinot Noir
Origin: France, 2011
Pairing: pizza, red meat, and light flavored cheeses

Brand: Dourthe No. 1
Type: Rouge
Origin: Bordeaux France, 2011
Pairing: any red meat, Spiral burger, full flavored cheeses, and cold cuts


Desert Ateliers




Brand: Hugel & Fils
Type: Gewürztraminer
Origin: France, 2011
Pairing: fruits based dessert, puto bumbong, bibingka

Brand: Henriot
Type: Champagne
Origin: France
Pairing: chocolate desserts

If you ask me, I like the wine that is typically liked by the ladies. These are mostly flat and white wines that don't have strong acidity or that "alcoholic" taste. My experience is that these wines relax and makes me happy the most :D

My Top 3 Picks from Spiral's Wine Selection




1. Champagne Henriot - perfect start to any meal, it is very refreshing and clean tasting.

2. Dragon Fruit wine - surprise! Spiral houses local wines too. If you are lucky, they have this variant (I heard they are thinking about making it a regular) but if not, ask for other local wines just for experience.

3. William Fevre, Chablis - I like to enjoy this after the champagne because it's a little more concentrated yet still light and fresh. Best also for my salmon sashimi and other sushi.

I hope this post offered you some insights that encourages you to comfortably experience wine appreciation at The Spiral in Sofitel Manila. I want to end this by emphasizing it's not about your knowledge of wine but discovering what taste you like and enjoy.

If you found this post helpful, please leave me a comment below or share it with your friends on Facebook or Twitter :)

merci beaucoup!

Summer at The Sofitel Hotel Manila - Club Room with a View

When you don't have the luxury to go outside Metro Manila but want to experience a five-star summer time, your best bet is The Sofitel.



It was my first time to stay in this luxury hotel so here I blog on how to make the most of it. Upon check-in, I was presented an offer to upgrade to a club room. The temptation was hard to resist after reading what's in store.

From my original booking of an Aqua View room, a standard room with a balcony and ocean view - I upgraded to a Sofitel Club Room at the 11th floor.



The club room gave us the privilege to check-in early at 12NN and a late check-out the next day at 4PM. From that alone, the upgrade as worth it. But there's more.




A club room comes with buffet breakfast for two at Spiral or Club Millesime (your choice), free refreshments whenever you please and how much you please at the club lounge including a magnificent spread of horderves for high tea and wine tasting from 5-7PM.


Waiting for his Apple Juice


Macs you can use at the Club Lounge (Millesime)

Club Millisime was always our fancy pitstop between meals and activities. You will love the feel of exclusivity and comfort here. Not to mention, the club staff were very welcoming and  attends to all of your needs.



Next attraction for us was the famous Sofitel lagoon. This was active with tourists, kids, and people toasting under the sun. My son loved the kiddie pool which was very shallow and not intimidating for kids his age. We enjoyed splashing and playing with other kids here.



The pool felt never-ending and has enough spots for families, kids, couples, etc. Trees afford visitors to swim anytime with a friendly shade. Plus, the natural sea breeze was just wonderful and lent a natural feel even when swimming in an artificial body of water.



Our stay also coincided with the Pyro Olympics and we had the best view from our balcony for the night. It was truly magical and I love the al fresco spot that I just keep the sliding doors open most of the time.



We celebrated and capped the night at Club Millesime, which turns into a very cozy place in the evening. Great spot to go for parents who want couple time sans the kids.



Next day was breakfast at Spiral. Make sure you get up early as the place gets pretty crowded. The choices were plenty but I expected more. One thing I like is how they had Korean choices like Kimchi early in the morning. Just my kind of treat to go with the traditional Tapa and Tocino.



Here, every spot has WiFi including our room which has complimentary internet access. Very easy to entertain yourself while digesting food or waiting for the next activity. Since we were given a lte checkout, we were unhurried on our 2nd day and afforded a relaxing morning along the bay. Just before we jumped into the pool again.



Manila bay never looked so exclusive. It was nice to have my son see it minus the crowd at Mall of Asia. It felt like the bay view belonged to us while we sat, walk, ran, and play around healthy patches of green grass.



There's also a mini playground in case your kids get bored of the view which I doubt. Ashton loved the driving fixture and dancing the Harlem Shake around the garden.

Exclusive check-out was a breeze from the 10th floor. I can get used to this "exclusive" treatment easily!



Overall, Sofitel is one expensive five-star hotel (at least for me and compared to others I've stayed in) but the memories created during our stay was worth every penny.

Highly recommended for: mini families. The absence of a nearby mall forces you to bond and enjoy nature which is a rarity these days :)