Christmas Gala Dinner at the Phoenicia Hotel on the 6th of December 2022

Dear members,

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Just a few comments on the December Gala Dinner.

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The event started off very well with free-flowing Richomme Champagne and oysters.  I think the Phoenicia did us as proud as they had done last year during the Special Handover dinner.  In my opinion, Ta Betta’s Jean Parisot Chardonnay went very well with the quail and sweetbreads.

We were supposed to have the more select Gran Cruor of Casa Gran del Siuarana, fortunately, its younger brother the Cruor still held its own well and some diners considered it their favourite.  We ended with a sweet Oloroso sherry from Valdespino, not offered at the club since the special event organised by Antoine Schranz almost 2 decades ago at Palios at the Westin Dragonara.  The wines were chosen by all three Qatra team leaders in collaboration.

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In both this event and the November dinner at the Xara Lodge Ta Betta wines proved their worth by being the most popular.  It is great to see how Maltese wines are doing so well and not only standing up to imported wines of equal or even higher price points but also surpassing them.

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Cheers

Iro