It was the third Wines and Spirits Club-Philippines.com dinner with the trio of Rene Barbier Wines, Cidacos Specialty Spanish products, and Gallo Pasta as the sponsors of the event. This was the first time Rene Barbier wines showcased their complete Philippine line of wines in one specialty dinner.

To start off, with the Jamon Crudo and Bacalao Croquettas, we had a refreshing and easy to drink Rene Barbier Petillant White that was very lemony and citrusy on the palate. It certainly paved the way for a creamy whelk chowder that had light touches of sea aromas with the sweetness of a macedoine of vegetables. This we paired with the slightly higher Sparkling Rene Barbier Cava that was charmingly redolent of cologne, fresh, and with shades of custard.

We also tried this cava for our fish course, a Papilotte of Sea Bream or besugo in citrus butter made with orange, lime, and lemon. It worked wondrously with a large spear of Cidacos asparagus baked in a parcel of paper or en papilotte to keep all the freshness and flavor in. We also tried this with a Rene Barbier Chardonnay Seleccion 2003, mildly oaked with its pineapple and woody notes. This wine seems to signal immediate drinking. It also worked fairly, standing up to the huge juicy asparagus that normally is a wine killer. The citrus butter, though, balances off its propensity to artificially sweeten the palate unpleasantly.

The stuffed chicken wings with pork sausage in a roasted onion sauce came next. And especially with its accompaniment of creamy corn and pea purees, it went well with our first red that consequently worked with our pasta too.

For our pasta course, a Greek style baked macaroni redolently fragrant of wood spices was softened by the Classic 2006 Rene Barbier Tempranillo Merlot, which is an extremely friendly and inexpensive supermarket red wine that is quite light for quaffing. Its light red fruits and liquorice went well with the tomato, cheese, and spices and cut down the fatness of the ground beef in the pasta that used the healthy Gallo Fiber Up Pasta. (It was surprising that anything labeled “healthy” would have such a good texture.)

For the piece de resistance, our chef used the Cidacos white beans for the cassoulet and simmered it with ham hocks, duck confit, foie gras, and topped it with crisp flaked duck confit fried in its own fat. The beans in this dish melted in the mouth and had a buttery feel absorbing the flavors of the ham and duck fat. It was heavenly with the two cabernets a Rene Barbier Cabernet Crianza 2001 and a Rene Barbier Cabernet Seleccion Reserva 2003. The 2003 was softer than the 2001 that probably needed a little more aging, though both were ready to drink already. The typical Penedes liquorice nose with berry characters, which came out of the 2003, were a good foil to the cassoulet, since the wine had a little acidity and the cassoulet itself was not fat at all for such a rich dish.

Dessert was a creative torte made from Orion Pie (Chocolate Marshmallow Pie) layered with homemade ice cream and sauce with a ganache made from a mix of cream and 52 percent Droste dark chocolate with spiced Cabernet syrup. We had this dessert with a Rene Barbier Petillant Red, a sparkling red that blended well with the chocolate flavors of the dessert.

To end the dinner, our host Aaron Palileo brought out a special reserve Spanish brandy and served more Droste chocolates. The highlights of which were the milk chocolate and the half dark and half milk. I feel the 72 percent or super dark was a little too dry and earthy and I prefer the red label dark or 52 percent, which is more balanced and has more velvety or satiny mouthfeel. But with all these new chocolates to explore, I guess we need another tasting. This time, of Droste chocolates to inform our dedicated foodies out there…

You can email me at chefgenegonzalez@yahoo.com.