Saturdays in summer should be spent sipping on great wine and eating fresh, tasty food with friends. Our Riesling Ride proved this to be true. Following the popularity of our South African Wine Safari, we put together another wine and food tour – this time with Wines of Germany as part of their annual Riesling Weeks festival. What ensued was a day full of adventure as we journeyed from TST East to Wanchai, sampling everything from Thai to Spanish cuisine featuring dishes using white and green asparagus, one of Germany’s most beloved vegetables. Of course, the stars of the show were the German wines, led by Riesling (Germany’s most popular and well-known grape), but our guests were excited to try other German grape varieties too.
First stop: Namo Avant Thai
Namo Avant Thai boasts wonderful, warm hospitality and traditional yet unique Thai flavours. We started with crispy garlic prawns paired with Deinhard Green Label Riesling. We then moved on to a hearty seared salmon and white asparagus red curry served with lemongrass foam and fried rice. This delightful dish was paired with Weingut Philipp Kuhn Spätburgunder, a German Pinot Noir that impressed several of our guests who had never before tried any German reds. Our resident wine expert and Riesling Weeks representative, Tersina Shieh, guided our guests through each tasting.
Seared salmon and white asparagus red curry served with lemongrass foam and fried rice
Second stop: Brasserie on the Eighth
Our guests were a tad perplexed when we led them up the lifts of the five-star Conrad hotel. But they were then pleasantly surprised when they were taken into a private dining room, where we were given a detailed introduction to the food and wine thanks to the lovely chef and sommelier of Brasserie on the Eighth. We were served poached white asparagus with Ardennes ham and champagne vinaigrette and – what was widely regarded as the best dish of the event – pan-seared white asparagus with morel ragout and poached Taiyouran egg. These delectable French creations were paired with Kühling-Gillot Qvinterra Riesling 2016 and Weingut Philipp Kuhn Weissburgunder vom Kalksteinfels 2017.
Pan-seared white asparagus with morel ragout and poached Taiyouran egg
Third stop: Sueno
Next we hopped over to Sueno, a cosy tapas joint in Wanchai. As we walked past the open kitchen, our eyes immediately went towards the gorgeous leg of Ibérico ham. We were given a warm welcome and a detailed explanation of the wines: Watler J. Oster Riesling and Walter J. Oster Neefer Frauenberg Riesling Halbtrocken 2009. These wines were on the sweeter side, which some of our guests loved, but others preferred the drier wines at the previous venue. Both the delicious pan-fried Ibérico presa and grilled octopus were given a German twist with the addition of white asparagus.
Grilled octopus with white asparagus tapas
Final stop: Dynasty
We were rather sad to reach our final stop – we certainly didn’t want this day of fine food and wine to end! However, Dynasty at the Renaissance Hong Kong Harbour View Hotel provided us with a very satisfying finale. We were served steamed assorted asparagus in black truffle paste – our guests now got to try both green and white asparagus – paired with Sekthaus Raumland Prestige Riesling Brut 2013. Our final dish was sautéed white asparagus and assorted fungi with avocado paired with Weingut Philipp Kuhn Tradition Riesling 2017. We were also given a little something sweet – tapioca mango pudding – to round out the event.
Green and white asparagus in black truffle paste
We’d like to thank our amazing Foodie Club members for helping us to sell out this event in under 24 hours! Such a fabulous event would not have been possible without you. More big thank yous to our photographer, videographer, Riesling Weeks and all participating restaurants. You can try all these pairings and enjoy many more during the month of June. Have a look at all the Riesling Weeks special offers here. The annual Riesling Weeks Kick-off Celebration will take place on Friday, 31 May 2019.
Prost! Event photographer: Roman Olinchuk
For more fun moments from our Riesling Ride, have a look at our video:
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