Paul Jaboulet Meets Eastern & Oriental

Dimatique Fine Wines brings back Paul Jaboulet Aine to Indonesia due to popular demand of Rhone wines and Paul Jaboulet as one of the most highly regarded producer from Rhône valley, one of the major wine-producing valleys in Europe. This March, Paul Jaboulet comes to Indonesia to present wine pairing dinners in Jakarta's Cork & Screw and Bali's Kayuputi at St. Regis.

Maison Paul Jaboulet Aîné was created through the magical conjunction of a fertile land on a hillside by the Rhone and a family with a passion for winemaking. In 1834, when Antoine Jaboulet set up his business in Tain l’Hermitage with the aim of producing great wines, he saw his future profession as limited to cultivating the vineyards and maintaining the quality of the land. It was with this mindset that he quickly acquired his first vineyards on the Hermitage slopes and the Crozes Hermitage plains.

The jewel in the Jaboulet collection has always been the legendary ‘La Chapelle’ Hermitage, a great red wine made purely from Syrah, which owes its name to the famous little Sainte Christophe chapel, which overlooks the Hermitage vineyards. ‘La Chapelle’, which has been solely owned by Paul Jaboulet Aîné since 1919, is made by blending grapes from the best terroirs in the appellation (Méal, les Bessards, les Rocoules etc.).

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Since I was not able to join neither the dinner at Cork & Screw, nor at Kayuputi, I've been fortunate to dine with Paul Jaboulet's Regional Director in Asia, Gwenaële Chesnais, before the scheduled events. The impeccably dressed lady caught up with us for a leisurely dinner at E&O, straight from the airport, after her half day journey from Shanghai to Jakarta. 

E&O Jakarta, one of the most thriving ventures of Union group and partnership with Will Meyrick, the Street Food Chef and owner of Sarong and Mama San in Bali, has always impressed me with its bold and unique fusion flavours. As the menu at E&O are mainly, eastern & oriental, I expected the dinner to be nothing short of interesting, especially when paired with fine French wine such as Paul Jaboulet.

Pairing Cotes Du Rhone Parallèle 45 with seafood for starters
Right: Salt & Pepper Squid IDR 70,000

Crispy School Prawns IDR 75,000

Pork & Prawn Siewmai IDR 60,000

We started with the Cotes Du Rhone Parallèle 45, a blend of Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Viognier and Bourboulenc grapes, with a few starters, the Salt & Pepper Squid and Crispy School Prawns (really hot!) and Pork & Prawn Siewmai. The first two seafood-based starters were quite lovely, but unfortunately, the siewmai lacked in texture. Nonetheless, it was a rather interesting experience, enjoying white wine with such boldly spicy food.

And then our sommelier popped the two fine Paul Jaboulet red wines, La Chapelle Hermitage (Syrah, 14.0%, 2004) and Crozes Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert (Syrah, 13.5%, 2010), at the same time. It was quite mesmerizing to watch his skilled hand gently swirling the dark ruby liquid inside the glass decanter...At a glance, the la Chapelle has slightly lighter maroon tone that the Crozes Hermitage, wonder how different the two would taste, considering one is much older (11 years and 5 years respectively).

Decanting prior to serving the red wines

Twice Cooked Beef Short Ribs IDR 185,000

To enjoy the two glasses of liquid rubies, our host served us with the Massaman Lamb Curry with cardamom, shallots, pumpkin & tamarind (not pictured here) and the Twice Cooked Beef Short Ribs with fish sauce, cucumber & nahm pla prik. I have to concede that both the lamb curry and the beef short ribs were so delectable, we even helped ourselves to second helping. I tried pairing the meat with each of the red wines and found that La Chapelle agreed with my palate better than the Crozes Hermitage. While the Crozes Hermitage, tasted delectable with the meat, somehow, the la Chapelle made the meat more tasty, tender and savoury in the mouth, probably owing to its silky tannins and the very long finish palate. The La Chapelle, according to Gwen, once even scored a perfect score on Robert Parker's wine scale. It was truly impressive indeed...and price never lies!

Coconut Brulee IDR 65,000

Durian Pannacotta IDR 55,000

For a sweet ending, we shared the Coconut Brulee with Rum, Raisin, young coconut & roasted almonds that very much resembles Klappertaart. Also, to welcome our special guest of the evening, Mademoiselle Gwen, we had the Durian Pannacotta with durian sticky rice. The first dessert was easily a delight for everyone, but it looked like the durian still requires longer 'aging' to be palatable. LOL!

Wine Prices:

- Cotes Du Rhone Parallèle 45 (2013) IDR 425,000 *)

- Crozes Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert (2010) IDR 925,000*)

- La Chapelle Hermitage 2004 IDR 3,200,000*)

*) Prices are subject to 10% PPN and delivery within Jakarta is free of charge

Prices of other wine vintages and types are available on request. Kindly email ellyna@culinarybonanza.com for details.

Open Hours: 11AM - 2 AM

**) Prices are subject to 21% Service Charge & Government Tax

Dimatique Fine Wines

dimatique.com

Paul Jaboulet Aîné

www.jaboulet.com

E&O Jakarta

Menara Rajawali, 1st Floor

Jl. Dr. Ide Anak Agung Gde Agung Lot #5.1

Kawasan Mega Kuningan

South Jakarta - 12950

www.eandojakarta.com

Ph: +6221 5761645

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