Sommelier Harald Wiesmann and His Junior Sommeliers on a Wine Exploration Journey to Australia
|
|
Sommelier Harald Wiesmann and His Junior Sommeliers on a Wine Exploration Journey to Australia
|
Category: Asia Pacific - Australia - Gourmet restaurants
- Gourmet restaurants
This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on 2011-12-21
The wine sommelier team of The St. Regis Bali Resort undertook an insightful and educational one-week wine trip, this time to Australia, together with two junior wine sommeliers from The Laguna, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa Nusa Dua, Bali. The resorts wine schooling programme that is in its second year, last years wine journey was to the great wine producing regions of France while this year’s trip was to Western Australia.
Continuing with the objective to impart knowledge to Indonesians to grow and develop them as full fledged sommeliers in the future, Sommelier Harald has continued with weekly training sessions over the past year with them. The direction of both resorts to train the junior sommeliers is in tandem with building the resort’s signature restaurants; Kayuputi at St. Regis Bali and Arwana at The Laguna Resort & Spa, both of which recently won the globally recognised Wine Spectator Awards (Award of Excellence was conferred on Arwana while Kayuputi was awarded Best of Award of Excellence – the only restaurant in Indonesia to win this award), to be a world class dining venues with knowledgeable and dedicated wine sommeliers to continue to offer inspiring experiences to guests.
The training by Harald covers a step by step education in wine beginning with the general history of wine, wine mise en place (preparation of fine dining wine service), understanding the wine process making of red, white, sparkling, rose, champagnes and sweet wines, wine etiquette and finally and more importantly, a lesson on assisting and guiding guests in enhancing their dining experience with that perfect wine pairing.
As a natural and necessary part of the programme, the trip to Australia had the aim of providing a visual education and clearer understanding for the junior sommeliers. Led by Harald, the team from both resorts visited two regions in western Australia, famous as their wineries. The first region was Margaret River which is well-known for its Chardonnay and Cabernet-Savignon. The team stayed in the Town of Margaret River for 5 days and drove around to visit more than 14 wineries including Voyager Estate, Cullen, Clairault, Xanadu, Wills Domain, Moos Wood, Woodlands, Pierro, Vasse Felix, Leeuwin Estate, Ashbrook, and Fraser Gallop. At these wineries, they not only got an insight from the owner or wine maker about the history of Margaret River including grape variations, soil, climate and wine making process, but also participated in wine tastings to complete the understanding. In the Margaret River region, they learned interesting facts, for example, that wines from this region make up only 2% of the entire wine production in Australia, but it counts for 20% of great wines in the country.
The educational trip ended at the second wine producing region, Pimberton, which is famous for their Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The wineries that they visited were Picardy and Salitage. The team returned with this essential information in order to be able to fluently explain to guests the Western Australian wines on the wine list of the two resorts, St. Regis Bali and The Laguna Bali.
About St. Regis Hotels & Resorts
Combining timeless sophistication with modern luxury, the St. Regis brand is uncompromising in its commitment to excellence. Founded by John Jacob Astor with the landmark St. Regis Hotel, New York over a century ago, St. Regis is known for delivering an unrivaled dimension of luxury, bespoke service and refined elegance at the best addresses in the world. The brand plans to further its legacy globally and will unveil highly anticipated St. Regis properties in Atlanta-Buckhead, Baha Mar, The Bahamas, Bahía Beach, Puerto Rico, Bal Harbour and Deer Crest in North America, and in Buenos Aires, Costa Rica, and Mexico City in Latin America. In Asia, St. Regis has announced plans to open properties in Bangkok, Jakarta, Lhasa, Kuala Lumpur, Macao, Osaka and Tianjin. In the Middle East, St. Regis will expand in Cairo, Doha, Dubai, and Bahrain. Personalized service and amenities, enviable locations and luxuriously localized design are recognized worldwide as hallmarks of the St. Regis experience.
About Luxury Collection
The Luxury Collection® is an ensemble of hotels and resorts offering unique, authentic experiences that evoke lasting, treasured memories. For the global explorer, The Luxury Collection offers a gateway to the world’s most exciting and desirable destinations. Each hotel and resort is a unique and cherished expression of its location; a portal to the destination’s indigenous charms and treasures. Magnificent décor, spectacular settings, impeccable service and the latest modern conveniences combine to provide a uniquely enriching experience. Originated in 1906 under the CIGA brand as a collection of Europe’s most celebrated and iconic properties, today The Luxury Collection brand is a glittering ensemble of more than 75 of the world’s finest hotels and resorts in more than 30 countries in bustling cities and spectacular destinations around the world. The Luxury Collection includes award-winning properties that continuously exceed guest expectations by offering unparalleled service, style and class while celebrating each hotel’s distinctive heritage and unique character. All of these hotels, many of them centuries old, are internationally recognized as being among the world’s finest.
About Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with approximately 890 properties in more than 100 countries and 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood® Hotels is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels and resorts with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis®, The Luxury Collection®, W®, Westin®, Le Méridien®, Sheraton®, Four Points® by Sheraton, Aloft(SM), and Element(SM). Starwood Hotels also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts.
|
|
