Penfolds wine dinner unfolds at Azure

Samuel Goldwyn films photo
Dylnn Proctor, featured here in the documentary film “Somm,” is Penfolds Winemaking Ambassador, and offered a history of the company and its winemaking processes during a Penfolds dinner at Azure restaurant.

BY NADINE KAM

Azure restaurant at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel welcomed master sommelier Dlynn Proctor during a Penfolds dinner that took place Nov. 24 at Azure restaurant in the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

Proctor, named “Best New Sommelier in America” by Wine & Spirits Magazine in 2008, is Penfolds Winemaking Ambassador, Americas, and was featured in the 2012 documentary “Somm,” which followed four men through the labyrinth exams of the Court of Master Sommeliers and the grueling Master Sommelier Exam, a test with one of the lowest pass rates in the world. Since its inception in 1969, fewer than 200 candidates have been named Masters.

While guests enjoyed a luxurious meal prepared by RHC executive chef Colin Hazama and Azure chef de cuisine Shaymus Alwin, Proctor shared Penfolds unique history as an Australian winemaker that helped to shape the country’s industry. Its attempt to create world-class vintages and achieve luxury status, given regional quirks, occurred over a relatively short span of 172 years when compared to Europe’s centuries of winemaking tradition.

Royal Hawaiian executive chef Colin Hazama, left, and Azure chef de cuisine Shaymus Alwin, teamed up to present the extravagant meal.

One of the most extravagant wines poured over the course of the evening was Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, which Fujioka’s Wine recently offered at $341.99. The Grange wine is a result of the late Max Schubert’s experiments in the 1950s and ’60s to create a wine in the style of Bordeaux, using the shiraz or syrah abundant in Australia, and a small amount of cabernet. The Bin 707 was named after the Boeing 707 aircraft which linked Sydney to California, a sister in wine production.

It was an evening well spent, both delicious and educational. A lot of effort went into the meal and when told I enjoyed the saturated essence of duck captured in the duck prosciutto, chef Alwin shared that he had two more ducks maturing, part of the lengthy process. He shared that he’s not a patient person except when it comes to the kitchen arts.

Dinner started with a beautiful amuse bouche of citrus-cured hamachi with vodka creme fraiche, Meyere lemon and Oscietra caviar.

Apple pear gazpacho was poured over Wailea hearts of palm panna cotta, escargot caviar relish, compressed Ho Farms cucumber, kaffir croutons and morsels of Dungeness crab. I was two-thirds pau when I was distracted and a waiter took away my plate. Bummer. I really wanted to finish this. I loved the lightness, multi-layers and beautiful textures. Paired with Penfolds Bin 51 Riesling.

Wine Loft & Sake Collection move into Kaka'ako

Nadine Kam photos
Sukit Kanaprach and Rebecca Sinn Kanaprach, at far left, observe the Shinto ceremony that mark the opening of their Kaka’ako Wine Loft & Sake Collection.

Kaka’ako Wine Loft & Sake Collection celebrated its grand opening at 665 Halekauwila St. C-107 in Kaka’ako on Thursday with a Shinto blessing followed by wine and sake tasting.

Guests were greeted with flower lei from owner Sukit Kanaprach and wife Rebecca Sinn Kanaprach’s other business, The Orchid Lei Co. (And the joke was, no one knows what kind of host or hostess gift to bring them now that flowers, wine and sake are out!)

Well-wishers filled the small, but well-stocked shop, a welcome neighbor in Kaka’ako, which the couple calls home.

Congratulatory messages were welcome on a posterboard set up for the occasion.

The store is designed so you can zero in on your favorite style of wine easily.

Rebecca is a fan of rosés, and these are priced from about $13.29 to $14.69.

Apparently, the two are an odd couple when it comes to their tastes in wine. Her preference is for rosés and sauvignon blancs, whereas he likes a deep red, but between them they cover the gamut of whites to reds.

Sukit has been a student of wine for years, an oenophile since he was a teenager reading up on wines, and waiting for the day he could take his first legal sip.

Evergreen foliage is presented to Sukit as a symbol of abundance.

There are sections devoted to the Italians, the French and the Americans.

Among the Americans is Amy Hanaiali’i Gilliom’s Napa Valley merlot.

Sea Salts of Hawaii products are also being sold at the shop.

The Shinto ritual took place in front of the sake and shochu showcase.

Sake lovers looking for something different will find effervescent sparkling sake. In the spirit of discovery, the shop will be hosting its first sake tasting from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday. Drop by if interested.

They are also making delivery service available within a 3-mile radius of shop — which means if you’re in downtown Honolulu, you’re in luck. Call (808) 545-7756 or visit www.wineandsake.com. Shop hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
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Nadine Kam is Style Editor and staff restaurant critic at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser; her coverage is in print on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Contact her via email at nkam@staradvertiser.com and follow her on Twitter, Instagram and Rebel Mouse.

Sharing a glass with vintner John Kolasa

Nadine Kam photos
Rani Shigemitsu welcomes John Kolasa with a pour of his Château Canon Clos Canon 2007. One glass was mine.

About 150 oenophiles were treated to a very special event hosted at Mariposa May 24. William Gladstone Imports and R. Field Wine Co., were co-presenters in a wine tasting featuring special guest John Kolasa, former managing director of Château Latour, and now gérant of the House of Chanel-owned Château Canon and president directeur general of Château Rauzan-Ségla.

Guests were treated to reception samplings of Segla 2002 and 2006, and Clos Canon 2007, followed by a first flight of recent vintage Château Rauzan-Ségla (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux) 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2003 and 1998, and second flight of older vintage Château Rauzan-Ségla 2001, 2000, 1996, 1990 and 1983, and Château Canon (France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru) 2002, 2002 and 2000. Château Rauzan-Ségla only produces 10,000 cases a year, and Château Canon produces 4,000 cases.

The tasting was informal, with a buffet meal set up by chef Marc Anthony Freiburg and his staff in keeping with Kolasa's mission of sharing the wine experience in a friendly, non-snobby way. While the community of wine lovers can appear to revel in exclusivity, Kolasa said, "People think the chateau and vineyards are a snobby, closed place, but anyone can come up with a rucksack on their back. If you knock on the door, we will share our wine with you."