Snow Polo and Fine Claret

During the inaugural FIP Snow Polo World Cup held from 2 to 12 February in Tianjin, China, Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club Hotel hosted a series of seven dinners featuring wines from top estates, as well as spectacular entertainment throughout the evening.

‘The idea of these wine dinners, like the Metropolitan Polo Club itself, is about bringing a high-quality lifestyle to Tianjin,’ explained Harvey Lee, vice-chairman of the hotel’s parent company Goldin Group. ‘The Snow Polo World Cup provides chukka after chukka of thrilling action in the afternoon. After a day’s excitement, nothing comes better than good food and wine.’

Featured wine estates of the dinners included Goldin Group’s own Pan Estate in Napa Valley (previously Sloan Estate) and Bordeaux’s Château Latour, Château Angelus, Château Cheval Blanc, Château d’Yquem, Château Cos d’Estournel, Château Mouton Rothschild and Château Palmer. The menus were prepared by Edward Voon, the young executive chef of Le Pan at Metropolitan Polo Club Hotel, whose long list of accolades include ‘World Culinary Master’ and being named by Restaurant magazine as one of the top 10 most innovative chefs around the world.

The menus incorporated an ancient Oriental five-element concept (metal, wood, water, fire and earth). Chef Voon explained, ‘These five elements not only represent the basic elements of our life but they also signify holistic well-being. According to Chinese feng shui, the five elements must be balanced in order to achieve good health and good fortune.’ A typical five-element menu includes courses such as gold ingot-pressed foie gras with passion fruits (metal); roast venison loin with tubers (wood); line-caught striped bass à la plancha’ (water); charcoal-grilled master wagyu (fire); and chocolate in different preparations and served with winter truffles (earth).

Wines for the dinners were expertly paired by Francesco Lee, president of wine venture at Goldin, in consultation with the châteaux. ‘In order to link up and showcase the five courses, wine of the highest quality is imperative. Being a wine enthusiast myself, I am more than excited to meet this challenge of finding the most suitable châteaux as well as doing the wine pairing,’ said Lee. Indeed, Metropolitan Polo Club has such close relationships with Bordeaux châteaux that this was already the second time for Château Latour, Château Cos

Left and opposite Performances by the hearing-impaired dancers of the China Disabled People’s Performing Art Troupe. Below 1982 Grand Vin de Chateau Latour was just one of the spectacular wines served to guests

Q&A: FRANCESCO LEE, PRESIDENT OF WINE VENTURE AT GOLDIN GROUP

d’Estournel and Château Palmer to host wine dinners at the club.

On pairing the wines with the food, Lee continued, ‘Food and wine pairing is an amazing job. Edward and I worked together with all the châteaux in an attempt not only to present the best vintages but also to deliver the best marriage with the food. We are very proud that château directors and winemakers co-host the dinners and shared their philosophies with us.’

Food and wine aside, guests were also well entertained. At the Château Angelus dinner, for example, the entertainment programme included operatic recitals by the Buenos Aires Opera Company, a show by renowned magician Peter Marvey, and performances by the China Disabled People’s Performing Art Troupe. The latter’s ‘Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva’ was featured at the closing ceremony of the 2004 Athens Paralympics and is performed by 20 hearing-impaired dancers to imitate a Chinese goddess with a thousand hands.

With over 2,000 guests attending, the scale of the series of dinners, as with the Snow Polo World Cup, was unprecedented in China. Chef Voon said, ‘In my career as a chef I have never prepared so many dinners with so many guests in such a short period of time. Delivering quantity and quality at the same time is a most difficult job for any chef.’

Judging from the smiling faces of the guests, however, Chef Voon can rest assured there is no question that his job was well executed. What was the biggest challenge of organising these wine dinners? Sourcing was difficult as there were around 300 to 400 guests each night and all the fine wines chosen were mature and delicious, such as Château Cos d’Estournel 1982 and Château Angelus 1994. Timing and temperature management are crucial. Decanting according to the ages – which can be as wide apart as 20 years – and serving all guests within 10 minutes is not just a conscientious task but a precision art.

How popular is fine wine in China? The majority of middle-class and high-networth Chinese know what glorious vintages such as 1961 and 1982 are, and what the 1855 [Bordeaux] classification is. In five-star hotels in major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, over 50 per cent of the tables are being served with fine wines. Chinese people love to learn about fine wines through tasting. Most of them taste from the top of the pyramid such as Château Pétrus and I see people are moving to try second growths.

What are the goals of the Metropolitan Polo Club as far as wine is concerned? To have a seven-star cellar. We aim to be the best in terms of diversity, quality and depth. Our cellar will have rare and fine wines from around the world with excellent provenance and much sought-after drinking gems from the 19th and 20th centuries. Our objective is to let our members access the world’s finest wines easily from our cellar and enjoy them as they try them.

Can you list the best wines served at the wine dinners? We served six to eight wines from each château and all were the best of the world’s fine wines. They were excellent representatives of each château’s special character such as Palmer 1983, Mouton 1986, Latour 1982 and d’Yquem 1975.

Which was your favourite wine among those served at the wine dinners and why? My favourites were d’Yquem 1967, Mouton 1990 and Latour 1990. The latter is my favourite because of its perfect balance, width and deep fruit as well as its secondary aroma profile. D’Yquem 1967 met perfectly with crackling pork belly on the menu, with its elegant acidity breaking through the pork belly’s fat and enhancing its flavour. Mouton 1988 is just entering into the best drinking window because its fruit and floral content, including blackcurrent and violet, show good strength while the tannin is ripe but softened.