Bangkok’s dining scene has had an especially busy year and a half, with new trends and new restaurants popping up across the city. And we have been invited to the prestigious exclusive wine dinner hosting by one of the best, Quince Eatery and Bar, together with cream of the crop winery from the Tuscan coast: Montepeloso Winery.

The rather industrial interior of Quince

The restaurant occupies a newly purpose-built building just taken the locavore ethos to a new level, in a town where pretty much every fancy restaurant makes much ado about organic herbs.  Armed with a strong market-kitchen concept, the chef adheres to a personal philosophy of sustainable “farm to table” food production which taps into the pulse of a new trend in Bangkok dining. The cooking at Quince does full justice to the ingredients, mostly juxtaposing them rather than cooking the hell out of them.

The wines came from talented and old-school proprietor Fabio Chiarelotto who owns 15 acres of Montepeloso Estate in Tuscany and Chef Blair Mathieson prepared five courses including slow-cooked wagyu beef cheek with soft polenta and roasted roots and risoni with clams.

Started off with Lardo Crostini paired with Zardetto Prosecco Treviso. It is crystal clear, with an effervescent white frot and a fine perlage. The flavour is delicately soft and harmonic, it has a clean and pronounced character and it lingers on the palate for long time before entering the most pleasant memories.

Followed by Montepeloso A Quo 2010 along with Risoni with Clams, Tomato, Garlic, Chili, Basil and Smoked Olive Oil. The wine is insanely beautiful with mildly flavoured seafood starters. It was gorgeous, well-delineated aromatics and tons of energy. The vibrancy of the fruit is impossible not to admire. Red plums, raspberries, berries and graphite give the wine a cool intensity and minerality. And then we’ve enjoy the later served Chilled Olive Oil Poached Vine Ripened Tomatoes, Pickled Anchovies to prepare our palate for the following excitement yet to come.

As the beautiful dish of Baked Eggplant, Roast Peppers topped with Smoked scamorza cheese has been served together with 2009 Montepeloso Eneo that is as stunning as it is unique.The nose of the wine is remarkable.  Deep black cherry is accented with new leather, savory herbs, and sweet tobacco. The flavors follow the nose with the full bodied luxurious fruit center stage against the back drop of those juicy, savory wild herbs. The spicy smokiness of the Montepulciano comes through on the finish but overall, this wine behaves as a classic, monumental Sangiovese Super Tuscan.

Then along came the Wagyu – Slow cooked Wagyu beef cheek, soft polenta, roasted roots served with Montepeloso Gabbro 2008 and Nardo 2008. While the Nardo gives wonderful spice, berry and dark chocolate on the nose, the Gabbro sports ripe blackberry and cherry flavors. Impressive, offering balance and opulence, if just a touch over the top.

And the night finale was Semifreddo, pistachio, white chocolate, stone fruits that gave us the lingering feeling of the whole experience that we participated and just leave us asking for more.