MANILA -- Your Local spreads the love for natural wines with a limited series of wine pairing dinners in collaboration with Some Love Wine Store.
Justin and Vanessa Apolonio are the couple behind this boutique wine retailer. The husband-and-wife engineers worked in Western Australia for about a decade. When they decided to come back to the Philippines, they wanted to do something wine-related. They wanted to put up a wine bar, but since the wines they liked were not available locally, they went into wine importation instead.
Justin and Vanessa Apolonio of Some Love WIne Store with chef Patrick Go. Jeeves de Veyra
The Some Love wine catalog highlights natural wine that’s made in relatively small batches. These are made and fermented as naturally as possible with no additives and minimal preservatives.
“Over time, we learned that the ones that we really liked were more natural wines. There's a lot of character and there's a lot of uniqueness and personality in the wines that we enjoy and love discovering. With natural wine, there’s nothing to hide behind because the winemakers can’t add sugar or anything else,” they said.
This wine pairing was a nice fit for Your Local because the restaurant does feature one-off collaborations and it also gives chef Patrick Go a chance to play with his menu.
The food will surprise frequent visitors to Your Local as Go leans a bit towards Korean fusion with the entrees in this dinner. The flavors are not as in your face as the restaurant’s Peranakan dishes. It’s a different side of Go that’s on the plate that lets the Some Love wines shine alongside balanced flavors and textures.
Brie. Jeeves de Veyra
The dinner started off with the 2022 Weeping Juan, a sparkling rosé from Delinquente Wine Co. of Australia. The wine’s brightness nicely cut through the brie and yuzu floss on sourdough, and then added some fruity acidity to the kimbap with cured tuna.
Yukhoe. Jeeves de Veyra
The Yukhoe could be thought of as Korean salmon tartare. No heat or spice at first bite but the heat from the ssamjang just creeps up as it hits the palate. A sip of the Weeping Juan does well to cool down the lingering heat.
Drunken Chicken. Jeeves de Veyra
Next was the 2020 Chablis from Burgundy winemaker La Souer Cadette. This was a favorite among the diners as the creamy, friendly chardonnay could be sipped by itself. The Drunken Chicken with poached chicken and ginger scallion beurre blanc matched the wine in terms of texture and richness.
Halibut. Jeeves de Veyra
The richness of Chablis was the opposite of Go’s Ochazuke. The wine really enriched the delicate dashi broth and ponzu foam with halibut. In my opinion, this surprising and sophisticated pairing was pretty clever.
Cantonese beef. Jeeves de Veyra
The last wine was the Hanami, a 2021 Cabernet Franc from French winery Calvez Bobinet. The wine was surprisingly light and young. When sipped after a bite of Go’s melt-in-your-mouth Cantonese beef with kale, black garlic, cauliflower, and finely grated Grana Padano, the wine was able to complement that strong savory notes of the dish.
Strawberry bingsu. Jeeves de Veyra
Who knew Honey Butter Nori Potato Chips with Strawberry Bingsu densely packed into a sorbet would make a nice dessert? It was a nice end with the strawberry enhancing the cherry notes of the Hanami.
For the price, the portions were generous and filling. It felt as if Go held back on Your Local’s punchy Asian flavors to really showcase the featured wines, and that’s a good thing as these dishes gave Your Local fans something different.
The Your Local and Some Love Wine Store special collaboration dinners will be held on April 27 and 28 with seatings at 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. for P3,640+ per pax. To book your slot, you can reserve through tasteless.ph.