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!

Best of the summer wine

No, not Last of the Summer Wine – that’s a TV show. The summer has only just started, and we have at least two and a half months to enjoy wine in the sunshine. But what varieties are the best for the numerous sun-drenched events you may be attending? Here are a few ideas…



Best for a barbecue…

It’s always good to bring something along to one of these occasions. A bottle of wine will be much appreciated and will also bring some sophistication to proceedings. Although beer is the most popular drink for a barbecue, a nice full-bodied red wine would go perfectly with the carnivorous menu. You might want to choose the Lebanese and rather excellent Château Musar.

Best for a picnic…

Whether you’re meeting someone you just met on a black dating website or a group of close friends, it’s important that everything’s perfect for a picnic. Getting the drinks right is a big part of this. Have a couple of bottles of a light white wine tucked away and match with some delicate cuisine – salmon and cream cheese on Bath Oliver crackers, for example. Also, make sure you have a cold-bag and keep the bottles out of the sun, because these will taste best chilled. Try the Frascati Superiore Italian white wine.

Best for a party…

Wine is also a great thing to bring to a party. You need to make sure you go for a middling variety that will meet everyone’s tastes, as you don’t know how many people will be trying it. A fizzy wine is probably in order here, particularly if you’re at a celebration. A nice Prosecco will more than fit the bill, this Italian fizzy white being very palatable for everyone. Make sure you get the dry variety rather than the extra dry, though, as you don’t want to put anyone off.

Best for the beach…

For a trip to the seaside, why not try something fruity? A light rosé would be the perfect accompaniment for a summery snack of ice-cream and strawberries – an idyllic seaside scene… For this, go for the French Cuvée Fleur Pays d’Hérault and make sure to keep it chilled.



Best for a romantic evening…

Whether you met through an eHarmony review or on a train, romantic evenings are better with wine. A deep-red dessert wine always sets the right tone and goes well with chocolate cake and gentle jazz music playing in the background. Why not try the Italian Chianti Classico here, which has a unique chocolaty finish.

Enjoy wine this summer with these five top choices!

How to Enjoy a Tapas Party at Hermanos

Here's a quick social etiquette lesson: How to enjoy a Tapas Party.

Tapas mean appetizers in Spain, imagine our ancestors during the Spanish era gathering around a wide variety of tapas - full of style, flair, conversations, and wine.

I personally did not know how to enjoy "tapas" the right way until I experienced a Tapas party at Hermanos. Located along Julia Vargas, tucked inside rows of mini bars and hang out joints.

Inside you will be greeted by wooden cabinets of wine and brick walls that you will feel transported back to old Manila. Up the wooden staircase, are welcoming tables enough to accomodate groups of friends under hanging light insulations. Very classy and nostalgic indeed.

A good venue is necessary for an enjoyable tapas party. Afterall, tapas are not meant to make a person full but rather, to promote conversation. Based on my research, tapas also encourage people to stand up and move around the venue, make friends, and nurture a good glass of wine. This could be the reason behind Hermano's lady-like serving. Not too much but just enough to share.

What to Order:

Bola-bola Paella Dela Guerra - my favorite starter which you can deep in chili tomato sauce. These are deep fried breaded paella rice balls.

Karne de la Patria Adorada - my choice of meat which is not too dry and it has a flavorful pepper garlic sauce.

Tapang Usa de Katipunan - deer meat that is best with wine to compliment it's solid-dry yet flavorful texture. This is almost like a jerky if I may compare.

At Hermanos, wine seems overflowing and waiters know which wine goes well with what type of tapas. By now, we should know that tapas are not limited to beef but also cheese, mushrooms, calamares and other appetizers. Both red and white wines are available at Hermanos.

Personally, the best time to enjoy tapas is just before dinner when one's stomach is mid-empty. Take the time to taste the flavor of each tapas (appetizers) and how they interact with wine. Each tapas is an interesting conversation starter with friends already.

Hermanos is great place to have long and relaxed conversations with friends, even meet new ones. The place is very cozy and the atmosphere is soft with the perfect lighting and music. During the night I have won a handful of new friends over at Hermanos.

Hermanos is located at Unit 104, Bldg. C, Ortigas Home Depot Complex, Doña Julia Vargas Ave., Ortigas Center, Pasig City.