Stalo Arapantzi's Asian cuisine Food & Wine pairings

Which varieties would you consider to be the perfect pairing for Chinese cuisine?

Sparkling chardonnay based wines from the Trento region such as a Ferrari Demi- Sec, Off Dry Rieslings such us Weingut Knebel’s Riesling Rottgen Kabinett or even Austrian reds such as St Laurent or Zweigelt

Which dish would be the trickiest to pair and which style and type of wine would you pick?

In general choosing one style of wine is tricky for Chinese cuisine due to the fact that all dishes/flavors are usually served at once, but If i had to suggest one wine would probably go with a Grenache Rosé that would be a more harmonious match between all the dishes. However I love to match the indigenous cyprus grape variety Yiannoudi  with a Peking duck.

What would be your perfect pairing for spicy dishes?

An exciting match would be a Sherry. An Amontillado Sherry such as Bodegas Hidalgo Amontillado Seco Napoleon matched with Sichuan Water Cooked Sea bass is amazing.

What about Dessert?

One of my favourite pairings would be Chocolate Tonka Cake with Caramelized banana Matched with a Sicilian Passito di Pantelleria

About Stalo Arapantzi:

Stalo Arapantzi is the Supervisor at Seasons Oriental Restaurant at Four Seasons Hotel in Limassol. She is also the Vice President of the Cyprus Sommeliers Association.

She is currently studying for the MS (Court of Masters Sommelier programme) and WSET ( Wine & Spirit Educational Trust) 

She was previously the supervisor at the Bars of Four Seasons Hotel Limassol for 17 years.