Dariel Quiogue talks about the finest wine in the country

What is the perfect balance?

“A good wine has to have a balance of all the elements of what wine is – fruitiness, sweetness, and a bit of the sour and the bitter. There are grapes that should be  sweet, but not too sweet because then you’d lose all the other flavors. At Rene Barbier, that’s what we can proudly claim for all our wines – they’re perfectly balanced,” Palileo declares. “Even our Reserva wines, those that have been aged in oak barrels for two years or so, you’ll taste some woodiness, some creaminess, but it’s not overpowering.”

The Rene Barbier brand began with a French vintner who immigrated to Spain and there fused  two great wine-making traditions. Measured blends of French grapes like Cabernet and Merlot with Spanish grapes like Temprenillo allowed Rene Barbier to create exciting new wines. “Rene Barbier is now the number one wine-maker in the Penedes region, one of Spain’s premier wine-producing areas. Penedes is a Denominacion de Origen – you see that on a wine bottle, it’s a guarantee of the region’s quality,” he adds. For the Philippine market, the Rene Barbier selection offers a wide range of wines for  every occasion, and more importantly, for matching with different kinds of food. Wine as everyone knows divides into red and white. Further classification is by the type of grape or blend of different grapes used, and the process.

For the markets, Rene Barbier offers different levels of wine for different levels of appreciation. “Our entry-level wines are our Mediterranean line, they evoke a very laid-back atmosphere, and they’re very light so they match a variety of foods and flavors. On the other end of the scale, we have our Seleccion line. These are the Creanzas which have been aged at least a year in oak, and the older Reservas and Gran Reservas,” says Palileo. Rene Barbier also has a line of light sparkling wines, the Petillant wines – available in red, white and rosé – and Cavas, the Spanish equivalent of champagne.

What should every bride know about serving wine on her bridal feast? “The rule everyone knows is red for red meats, white for white meats and seafood, but that’s only part of the story,” Palileo grins. “You want to consider first whether the food will be served ala carte or as a buffet. If it’s a buffet, the typical buffet foods often clash with each other, so you want a very light, blended wine like our  Mediterranean line whose light and subtle flavors won’t clash with the variety of foods. “If you’re serving ala carte, then you can match the wine to the color and weight of the food,” he continues. “Dark  foods normally go with red wine, light-colored foods with white. Then you choose which kind based on the weight – for example if you’re serving tuna pasta with a light tomato-based sauce, you choose a light red. So between a Cabernet and Merlot you’d choose the lighter Merlot. If you have a steak, though, you go immediately for the Cabernet because a steak is very heavy and textured, and Cabernet  is similarly heavy and textured. For spicy foods, you can choose Shiraz, which also has a spicy, smoky taste. With Chinese or Japanese, you could go with a light white that won’t mess with the flavors.”

In Japan, Palileo reveals, Rene Barbier has even introduced a white wine tailored for drinking with sushi. Another and perhaps even more important thing to consider, adds Palileo, is the serving of the wine. Good planning, he reveals, can help you save money while making your wedding feast all the more enjoyable. “Plan your table allocation for the wines,” Palileo suggests. “You’ll always have guests that only have a basic appreciation for wine, so you only allocate a bottle or two to their tables, while guests that are more discriminating can be given more selections, you could give them a  different wine to go with each dish. You may also have to check how the waiters serve the wine – they’re not supposed to fill glasses to the brim, and the wine should be at the right temperature.”

Proper temperature, Palileo notes, is all about bringing up the best qualities of the wine. “White wines should be chilled, either in a refrigerator or in a bucket of ice water, because white wines are meant to be refreshing drinks and refreshing drinks are always served cold. Reds however should be at room temperature, because it’s warmth that releases the richness of their aroma and flavor.” But isn’t it  so hot here that you have to chill even reds? Not really, says Palileo. “You can chill a red briefly, just to normalize the temperature if it came from a hot place, like if you had it in your car and the sun was on it. But if you get it too cold, the flavors will be locked in and the wine will taste dank and flat.” It’s all a matter of – you guessed it – finding the perfect balance.