3rd Annual France Wine Festival: Je Suis Gourmand.

This past Wednesday, 8th October 2008, was the first of 8 dinners of Jérome Philippon's 3rd annual France Wine Festivals: 2 in Je Suis Gourmand, 2 in Sala, 2 in Ciçou and 2 in La Régalade. I can't attend all of them, but made sure to attend the opening night at Je Suis Gourmand, and booked myself and several friends at Ciçou as well.

We were a table of 17 persons for the evening, some of whom met each other just that night, but kindred spirits, united in the pursuit and appreciation of good food, wine and wine pairing.

The Menu and Wines were:

Domaine Drappier Champagne NV "Carte d'Or Brut"

Trio of Duck Foie Gras Terrine, Pan-Fried Duck Foie Gras Wrapped in Bacon and Smoked Duck Magret with Micro Arugula and Truffle Cream

2005 Les Tours des Verdots Bergerac Sec

Pot-au-Feu of Fresh Chantrelles and Bone Marrow

2005 Château Falfas (Côtes de Bourg)

Slow Roasted Venison Rack with Red Wine Glacé and Confit of Shallots,

Potato and Celeriac Galette

2001 Domaine Chèze Saint Joseph "Cuvée des Anges"

Hot Crottin de Chavignol in Pastry with Balsamic Glaze

2002 Domaine Redde Pouilly-Fumé "Cuvée Majorum"

Fresh Mango and Mangosteen Mille-Feuilles with Fresh Rhubarb Ice Cream

Domaine Drappier Champagne NV Rosé Brut "Val des Demoiselles"

Coffee or Tea with Frandises

We started off with well-chilled glasses of crisp, fresh Domaine Drappier Champagne NV "Carte d'Or Brut" for our apéritifs. I first tried this champagne in June of 2007 at a dinner in Château Léoville Poyferré and found it too tight, linear and citrusy then. Last Wednesday, however, it was clean, fresh, exuberant, generously frothy with nice heft, a pronounced creamy mid-palate (predominantly pinot noir with just a little chardonnay and pinot meunier thrown in) that picks up slight brioche notes towards the back. Very nice, I liked it so much as an apéritif that I bought some for the pre-birthday dinner that my brother and I hosted for our dad last night. Reasonably priced champagne at P3275 per bottle.

With the excellent, decadent trio of foie gras terrine, pan-fried foie gras wrapped in bacon and smoked magret with micro-arugula and truffle cream:

2005 Les Tours des Verdots Bergerac Sec - This, to me, tasted like a slightly off-dry blanc from Sauternes (yes, aside from the botrytised sweet whites it is famous for, Sauternes also produces good dry whites - in select vintages Yquem itself produces an excellent dry blanc called "Y", pronounced "ygrec" - which is what the French call the letter "y"). I'd guess this is similarly made up of semillon and sauvignon blanc.

Nicely minerally, mainly dry and a bit crisp, there was just the merest hint of sweetness at the top. White fruit, mild, ripe grapefruit tinged with a nuance of orange rind. Firm, tense/nervy attack, turning slightly softer, nicely rounded and slightly tropical in the middle, hint of a waxy feel mid-mouth (from the semillon?). Finish was decent - medium I'd call it.

A pleasant, approachable, food-friendly wine which could also serve well as an apéritif. It went nicely enough with the trio of foie and smoked magret, a particularly good match with the terrine in my opinion. In all, it cut and refreshed nicely enough, keeping the palate from being overwhelmed by the foie's richness. Very affordably priced at P715 per bottle.

2005 Château Falfas (Côtes de Bourg) - Until I tried the Falfas, I was only vaguely familiar with the Côtes de Bourg and its wines. I knew it was a merlot-dominated area on the right bank of the Gironde River in Bordeaux, geographically located almost across the Margaux appellation, south of Blaye and west by northwest of St-Emilion and Pomerol (also merlot dominated).

Apparently, Château Falfas is one of the most well-respected, if not the most well-respected (depending on who you are reading), producer of the appellation, the wines of which are generally known for high standards at great value for money. This particular wine, from the much touted 2005 vintage, was an impressive introduction to Côtes de Bourg and Falfas.

Rich, robust and ripe, a bit "international" with low acidity, dominant dark cherry/kirsh and raspberry over dark plum, cedar, spice, hints of ripe fig and chocolate. Nicely warm feel with soft, velvety tannins. Good harmony. At under P1500 per bottle (Jérome told me the exact price, but I forgot it), it is great value for money for those who want to have a good Bordeaux to drink anytime without having to pay for more famous names or labels.

2001 Domaine Chèze Saint Joseph "Cuvée des Anges" - Regular readers of my wine blog may recall that I paired this wine also with roasted venison rack at the MGC Rhône Night Friday before last. I though it well worth its price of P2960 per bottle for a mature, red Rhône from a good vintage. My tasting notes, consistent for last Wednesday's bottles and pairing, are below quoted for convenience:

This one was nicely gamey, meaty, truffled (magnétisme animal!), peppery,
earthy with lots of dried herbs (thyme and oregano in there) and, yes, garrigue.
Not as full or ripe in fruit as the Gigondas (a vintage thing surely), this was
more refined texturally but more rustic in flavor. Not as long, but easily
better focused, structured and defined.A bit stern and rustic, this was an
"eating wine" - it needed food to fully display its pleasures - and that it did
with the meltingly tender medium-rare venison rack. A hand-in-hand match of
earthy, animal goodness. The others were notably vocal with their praises for
this wine and the pairing - not in the least from Richard - high praise from him
who loves his Aussie shiraz.

Everyone appeared to enjoy the reds and pairings, as the noise level increased noticably and multiple toasts began. Johnson mentioned that his wife, Candy, particularly enjoyed the venison. We had a similar dish last night with my family and my dad, brother, wife, brother-in-law and second son greatly enjoyed it as well. My wife and second son found the red wine glacé de viand particularly noteworthy.

2002 Domaine Redde Pouilly-Fumé "Cuvée Majorum" - I know I've mentioned this wine quite a few times and have always sung high praises to it. I've compared it to other favored locally available whites from the Loire (e.g., Sancerre) and it has, to this day, come out on top (admittedly, however, this wine is materially more expensive than the locally available ones I've compared it to). The picture on the right was taken at home last May, as I forgot to take a picture of the wine and food on site.

Michel Redde is widely recognized as one of the best makers in Pouilly-Fumé (100% sauvignon blanc), 2002 is a good Loire vintage and the Cuvée Majorum is Redde's top bottling (to my knowledge). It clearly ages better than most pouilly-fumés (actually, I think it's really meant to age a few years longer than its less pedigreed kin before drinking). With goat cheese, the traditional pairing of the region, it is sublime, but also goes beautifully with simply sauced seafood dishes and Chinese cuisine. A bit pricey at P3460 per bottle, but, one has to pay more for this level of Pouilly-Fumé.

I must stress, however, the importance of serving all wine at the proper temperature. This is not just me being obsessive or "maarte", the temperature has a huge effect on wines' performance. That is why I bring my own wine already properly chilled to restaurants 99.9% of the time. I actually keep them in a cooler of ice water in my car en route to restaurants and call ahead to have a bucket of ice water ready for when I arrive. I also take care to pour only half a glass at any given point so that the wine doesn't have the time to warm up in the glass.

This night, I brought no white and the Majorum, unfortunately, was not served chilled enough for my and some others' tastes. Rene, Margarita and Willy, aside from myself, noticed this. Such a pity, it is a wonderful wine and certainly deserves to be accorded proper care in serving. The hot crottin de chauvignol in pastry (crottin de chavignol is generally considered the best goat cheese of France, it has its own appellation d'origine controlée located between the Loire and Berry) was excellent, though. Johnson U, Mike W, Rene F and I particularly enjoyed this dish.

For dessert, the fresh mango and mangosteen mille-feuilles (i.e., "a thousand sheets/leaves" - referring to the dessert's multiple layers) with fresh rhubarb ice cream (the rhubarb flown in by Marc and made by him into ice cream for this event) paired with Drappier Champagne NV Rosé Brut "Val des Demoiselles". This complex, sweet-tart, refreshing dessert was excellent, drawing raves from Boozze, myself and Johnson. The champagne in itself (100% pinot noir) was also very good: bright, yeasty, fresh strawberry dominated over red fruit and mere touches of raspberry, good creaminess to its fine mousse. Good weight to this. P3570 per bottle.

Unfortunately, the marriage between the dessert and bubbly was not a happy one. The champagne's strawberry-dominated flavors seemed to fight with the mangosteen's tartness. Each alone was fine indeed, but together, they were not. Undaunted, I simply finished my dessert, rinsed my mouth with water, then enjoyed the bubbly after.

We all had a lot of fun eating, drinking, toasting, laughing, discussing the wines and pairings; most enjoyable indeed. I can't wait for the next dinner....

The Stockbroker's Birthday Lunch 2008.

The day after the 3rd Annual France Wine Festival's kick-off dinner at Je Suis Gourmand (the write-up of which I am yet to complete due to problems uploading my photos), it was the Stockbroker's birthday, so he hosted a lunch for the Doc, Miguel A and I (the Vigneron is still very busy in Bordeaux but will be back soon). These were his bottles:


We met around 12:45 at Pepato except for the Doc who was still stuck in the hospital (he sent an SMS that he would arrive in a few minutes). The three of us started off with appetizers of Squash Flowers Tempura, Squid Ink Crostoni, followed by a Seafood Salad and Seafood and Capers Spaghettini, all with:

2003 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet "Les Combettes" - Not to be confused with the wines of negoçiant cousin Olivier Leflaive. 2003 was a very hot, ripe vintage for France in general, Burgundy, from which this wine hails, included. Even the makers I spoke with from usually micro-climated Alsace said extra special care had to be taken to make a balanced wine that year. Anne Gros, whose domaine is located in Vosne Romanée, Côte des Nuits, Burgundy, told me the same thing.

The small, quiet, village of Puligny-Montrachet is located in the Côte de Beaune, an easy few minutes' drive southwest of the old city of Beaune, around 10-12 kms. away as I recall. The streets are a bit narrow, the buildings low and unassuming. The surrounding vineyards, ruled by chardonnay, are tranquil and serene. One can easily forget that this area produces some of the very best white wine in the world. Domaine Leflaive is recognized by most all as one of the best makers of the area.

The bouquet is redolent of refined, spicy-toasty oak and leesiness, white flowers, ripe pear, butter-baked apple, mere hints of lemon/lemon custard, minerals and a very discreet touch of vanilla. There is a ripe sweetness to the deeply-veined fruit (older vines?), to be sure, but the wine was well in balance, especially considering the vintage. There is a hint of tropicality though to this generously fleshed wine, but this is hardly surprising considering the heatwave they experienced.

They must have picked early to keep the wine in balance. The toasty-spicy vanilla/oak was not over-the-top at all. This suggests to me that the ratio of new oak must have been low, though I could be mistaken.

Having been cutting back on my drinking due to hypertension, I couldn't help but accept a second pour of this lovely, friendly and very approachable wine. I would have asked for a third, but, of course, made sure to leave a good pour for the Doc - who caught up by the time we were halfway through the pasta course.

~ oOo ~

With perfectly tender, medium-rare rib-eye steaks, potato wedges, etc...two red wines "marginally-blind" - i.e., we knew what they were, but not which was which. Both were 2001 Tuscan wines from Montalcino, made up of the brunello di Montalcino which is what they call their local sangiovese there (nb: 2001 was an excellent Tuscan vintage). The Stockbroker did mention that the Casanova di Neri was Wine Spectator's "wine of the year".

2001 Casanova di Neri Brunello Montalcino - Generous, wide-open, sweetly ripe-roasted, cherry, raspberry, strawberry, fig, dark fruit compote, licorice, kirsch, chocolate, vanilla. Rich, lush mouthfeel, low acid, considerable but soft/velvety tannins. This, I opined to Miguel, was obviously more modern/international than the other red.

Surely, it would have been appreciated more by "California palates", and, thus, I surmised, more likely to be chosen by Wine Spectator as a "wine of the year". I pegged it as such, as did the Doc and Miguel. We were right. Very enjoyable to drink alone and a fair match with the steak.

2001 Antinori Pian delle Vigne Brunello di Montalcino - Off the bat, from the aromas, I opined that this one was closer to the classic/traditional style: More of sweet cedar, touch of camphor, ripe strawberry, raspberry, cherry, cassis, underlying espresso, light touch of licorice, tobacco, minerals, violets, a whisper of leather. The fruit was not as sweet, but well-ripened as well, and earthier in character.

Clearly more earth-driven (rather than fruit-driven) compared to the other wine - less polished, rounded and sleek as well; but firmer in structure, much better focus and definition. Much more properly reserved. I liked them both, but much preferred this wine as a match for the steak. This is more of an eating wine, it needs food to show its beauty, where the other wine I enjoyed more alone. I accepted a second pour of this one and drained every drop. Excellent match. Loved it with the steak.

Happy birthday, buddy. All my best wishes, and many thanks for the wonderful wine lunch.

Manila Gentlemen's Club (Mostly) Rhône Dinner at Je Suis Gourmand.

Last night, Friday, 3rd October 2008, was at Je Suis Gourmand for a typical Rhône dinner. Having so enjoyed the past 23 April Gourmand Night of Rhône Cuisine and Wines, I asked Chef Marc Aubry to please re-execute the same menu for the Manila Gentlemen's Club (MGC), and so he did with his usual personal touch and effortless skill. As incumbent MGC Wine Master, I made the wine pairings to match Marc's dishes. All the wines, except for dessert, were from Jérome Philippon's Sommelier Selection.

~ Menu ~

Fried Marinated Frog Legs with Salad & Garlic Cream

2007 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé
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Steamed Rainbow Trout Fillets with Vegetable & White Wine Sauce

2006 Domaine Colombier Crôzes Hermitage Blanc
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Mushroom & Bone Marrow Pot-au-feu

2005 Domaine La Roubine Gigondas
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Red Wine & Red Currant Sherbet
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Roasted Venison Rack with Galette Lyonnaise, Roasted Onion & Red Wine Sauce

2001 Domaine Chèze St-Joseph Cuvée des Anges
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Bleu de Bresse Salad
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Blackberry Clafoutis with Sauce

2002 Oremus Tokaji Late Harvest
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Coffee or Tea with Friandises

L-R: John, Me, Aled, Marc, Mike, Robert, Richard

2007 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé - From Bandol, Provençe - not from the Rhône, but I just couldn't resist sneaking it in the dinner. I have recently posted notes on this wine and lavished great praise upon it. Last night, with the lightly and crisply crusted, moist and tender fleshed marinated frog's legs with salad and garlic cream, I, again, found it superb. My previous notes still ring true:

An exquisitely pure and clear light pinkish salmon in color, it is a hell
of a pretty wine, one could drink it in with one's eyes. In the nose - and I've
never really bothered to pay much attention to any rosé's aroma before - was
alluring - like a light, cooling summer cologne.

In the mouth, it is light and delicately infused with a fine melange of
fresh canteloupe, strawberry, bit of melon, orange rind and the faintest whisper
of lavender. Perfectly balanced. Ethereal. Astounding. My poor descriptions fail
to do it justice. It is, without any shred of doubt, the best rosé I have ever
had.

The juicy flesh and garlic cream married well with the bright, gently textured fruit notes, and the wine's balancing acid and salad greens refreshed the palate. Both relatively light on the belly but very flavorful and satisfying in the mouth. Loved it. P2050 per bottle at Sommelier Selection.


2006 Domaine Colombier Crozes Hermitage Blanc - 100% marsanne from northern Rhône, on the right bank of the Rhône river. I've written before that whites made of marsanne tend to exhibit notes of acacia flowers, hazelnut, butter and lanolin to its fruit, have a slight “oily” mouthfeel, and, with a few years bottle-age, present a slight honeyed nuance.

I had the bottle opened at the outset, but not decanted, served with the steamed rainbow trout fillets in white wine approximately 1-½ hours later. Typically marsanne, it was already open for business when poured with scents of the mentioned flowers, softly-baked pear and stone fruit, touches of marzipan, sweet butter and spice. Richard noted a slight nuance of butterscotch. Nice heft and softly rounded on the palate.

Very easy to like this wine, attractive nose, pretty flavors, low acid and nicely rounded, it is very approachable, user-friendly and good value for money on retail at a mere P1400 per bottle from Sommelier Selection.

As to the pairing, I liked it and heard the others compliment the match. With its heft and soft fruit and buttery/butterscotch nuances, I think it would possibly pair just as well, or even better, with something richer and less delicate, like, say, a pan-seared foie gras appetizer if one doesn't want something too sweet or heavy like a Sauternes or Tokaji Aszu. Lately, I've found it increasingly difficult to switch to reds after having heavily botrytised wine.

2005 Domaine La Roubine Gigondas - From southern Rhône, made up, as I understand, of grenache (70%), syrah (20%), with the 10% balance a mixture of mourvedre and cinsault. I had the 2004 version of this before and had this to say about it:

An evidently riper, bigger-boned, more extracted wine (compared to the 2001
Guigal Côte Rôtie Brune et Blonde) with a well-rounded middle and lusher
over-all feel to it - more immediately pleasing, seemingly designed to entertain
- the type meant to stand out in blind tastings. This had comparatively more
dark fruit/cassis underlying the cherry and raspberry, with a permeating slight
gaminess and attendant notes of cacao, black coffee and oak/vanilla.

The 2005 seemed just slightly riper, much more dark berry dominated, with an earthier character, touch of licorice, less apparent gaminess (probably due to the riper vintage and because it is a year younger) and cacao. It (ironically - due to the vintage) also seemed more typical in that I noted some roasted herbs and a whisper of the Rhône garrigue. Still, it is noticeably modern in style, and generally more approachable for it, in my opinion.

It went fairly well with the pot-au-feu, but, personally, I don't really drink much wine with any soup course. I saved most of my glass of this for the venison so I could have it side by side the next red. The others liked the pairing well enough. These bottles went fast. Again, I consider this good value for money at P1725 retail from Sommelier Selection.

2001 Domaine Chèze Saint Joseph "Cuvée des Anges" - 100% syrah. St-Joseph is a syrah-dominated appellation in northern Rhône that has steadily been gaining popularity. Domaine Louis Chéze, founded in 1978, holds 22 hectares in the area and produces, aside from a viognier and a roussanne/marsanne blend, three red bottlings.

The top bottling, called Cuvée des Anges (“blend of the Angels”, so named in memory of Louis Chèze's late daughter) was first produced in 1995 and comes from the oldest vines (40-50 years old) of the domaine’s best granite based plots. Chéze’s reds are a bit modern in that they are aged oak where, traditionally, little to none is used.

The Cuvée des Anges sees 18 months in new oak. 2001 was a generally exceptional year for the Rhône. Per John Livingstone-Learmonth, this wine is meant to be consumed after 6-7 years from vintage date to allow for integration of the oak. Thus, according to him, anyway, it was already time to drink this wine.

The first bottle was noted to have a strange, somewhat plasticine and volatile smell so we set it aside for a while and tested the second bottle. This one was nicely gamey, meaty, truffled (magnétisme animal!), peppery, earthy with lots of dried herbs (thyme and oregano in there) and, yes, garrigue. Not as full or ripe in fruit as the Gigondas (a vintage thing surely), this was more refined texturally but more rustic in flavor. Not as long, but easily better focused, structured and defined.

A bit stern and rustic, this was an "eating wine" - it needed food to fully display its pleasures - and that it did with the meltingly tender medium-rare venison rack. A hand-in-hand match of earthy, animal goodness. The others were notably vocal with their praises for this wine and the pairing - not in the least from Richard - high praise from him who loves his Aussie shiraz.

Thankfully, by the time the second bottle was drained, the first bottle's worrying off-scents had completely blown away and it smelled and tasted right and proper. That bottle was made short work of as well. I recall clearly John asking if there was any more of it. I really should've bought 3 bottles instead of 2.

Not an everyday wine at just under P3000 per bottle on retail (P2960 to be exact) from Sommelier Selection, but, that said, the praises and fast-emptied bottles told me they were well worth the price. It certainly gladdens the heart.

2002 Oremus Tokaji Late Harvest - A half bottle, from Hungary, a big investment of Ribera del Duero's ruling Vega Sicilia. Sorry, no picture.

Due to the berries used in the clafoutis' sauce, at the last minute, I switched to this late harvest, furmint-based wine instead of the 2006 Bott-Geyl Gewürztraminer Les Elements (much as I love it) I had earlier planned. I anticipated the tartness of the berry sauce would need something sweeter and touched with botrytis - and I think I made a good call. The dark berry sauce would have been a little too tart for the gewürz.

At the risk of over-simplification, a "lighter version" of Tokaji Aszu, nicely viscous, but nowhere near as dense, thick or heavy. Nicely balanced candied apricot (dominant), a bit of ripe peach, hints of candied orange rind, marmalade, botrytis and tangy spice. Bright enough acidity so as not to further weary the palate.

An excellent value for a dessert wine, one can purchase it for approximately P1800 for a half-bottle (375 ml) at Terry's.


Dinner done, we all kicked back and enjoyed each other's company with Montecristo No. 2s and complimentary digestifs. A fine dinner indeed. Most enjoyable.

Wine at Miguel's Dinner.

Last night, 27th September, we attended Miguel and Barbara's dinner at La Régalade in belated celebration of Miguel's birthday. The Doc and the Stockbroker were also there, with wives, naturally. The Vigneron, currently in Bordeaux to oversee Siran's harvest, was ably represented by his better half. Together with other well wishing family members (Melissa and Cristina) and friends (Kim and Felicia), we occupied a long table in the fully-packed restaurant.

After an initial Taittinger champagne toast to the celebrant, assorted appetizers of foie gras, Manila clams with chorizo, escargots, parmesan tarts, pork rillettes, etc. were served. I stuck to the escargots and had a bit of the Manila clams with chorizo (the latter the best of the appetizers to my mind) washed down with well-chilled glasses of:

2005 Domaine Henri Bourgeois Pouilly-fumé "La Demoiselle de Bourgeois" - My bottle, several of which I purchased from Bacchus after having it at last year's IWFS 25th Anniversary dinner. I've mentioned before that Pouilly-fumé is an appellation in the Loire that, together with Sancerre (across the river), is famous for crisp, clean, minerally sauvignon blanc-based wines. My old notes state: "clean citrus, mild gooseberry/guava tang and inherent white minerality...faint celery nuance...."

Still fairly accurate, except that now, it appears to have put on a little bit of weight and roundness in the middle, it seemed less linear, and the fruit seems a touch riper (more typical of the vintage), but still brightly dry. Nice purity, lift and balance.

Unfortunately, this was my last bottle and, as far as I know, I picked up the last of the 2005s in Bacchus. I believe, though, they have the 2006 version currently available which should be more sharply focused and defined, judging from the 2006 Sancerres and Pouilly-fumés I've tried over the past year.

La Régalade's main course servings are pretty generous, so several dishes were ordered and placed in the middle for sharing "family style". At our side of the table, there were dishes of rib-eye steak, duck in fruits, boeuf bourguignonne and apricot lamb stew. I wasn't aware of what the other dishes were on the far side; neither did I know what bottles of red they had opened over there.

I do know that, on our side, we had 1996 Château de Fieuzal (Pessac-Léognan) from me, 1996 Argiano Solengo (a Super Tuscan from Montalcino) from the Doc, and, three Napas: 2004 Pahlmeyer and 1998 Château Montelena from the Stockbroker, and 1999 Duckhorn Howell Mountain Merlot from Miguel.


Engrossed in the food and conversation, I was a bit remiss in documenting this evening's wines and didn't get to taste the Argiano Solengo and Duckhorn. It didn't help that said bottles were swiftly "commandeered" by the ladies. Well, too bad for me; I would have liked to. But, really, though, I already had more than enough as it was. I could have all too easily (not to mention eagerly) over-indulged myself yet again if not for the influence of...*uhurm*...influence.

In any event, as to the wines I did have...

1998 Château Montelena - The Stockbroker's bottle. One of the better wines from Napa, in my opinion; certainly one of the very best from California wineries not French-owned, controlled or similarly or historically influenced (until, of course, mid this year when Montelena was purchased by Michel Reybier, the owner of St-Estèphe 2nd Growth, Château Cos d'Estournel).

I've always considered Montelena's reds as made with considerably more finesse (i.e., easy on the sweet over-ripe berry syrup, vanilla shake, coconut cream and chocolate bars) and proper restraint than most of its bretheren (two other exceptions are Dominus and Araujo, among a few others).

This wine was true to form. Though 1998 is not considered an exceptional year for Napa, the few I remember having tried (notably the 1998 Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve) suited my tastes well - not syrupy, "goopy", over-ripe, over-alcoholic or over-done.

Cedar-laced, comfortingly warm, masculine, earthy-toned cassis, dark fruit, undertones of black coffee, slight nuances of mushrooms and well-worn leather. Small red berries surface just past mid-mouth. The faintest whisper of toffee/spiced oak on the finish tell you it's from California. Again, a testament to the quality of an under-appreciated Napa vintage.

1996 Château de Fieuzal - My bottle. I've long enjoyed the wines from this low-profile château from Pessac-Léognan and have gone through several bottles of the 1996. As mentioned before, I find it superior to the more famous and higher Parker-rated 1995 version. Pessac-Léognan, where hails first growth Château Haut Brion, is a relatively recent appellation, previously lumped into Graves before being granted its own separate classification/status in 1987.

My notes from December 2007, I feel, are still accurate and I find no need to alter or add to them:

Already a lot of bottle-age sweetness to this medium-bordering-on-full-bodied,
ripe, red currant-and-kirsch-laced, cassis/tar/earth dominant wine with finely
knit, with a vaguely smoky, sweetish roasted herbs and cedar surfacing mid-mouth
and following through on the finish.

As earlier stated, this is not a particularly well-known, much less famous, maker, and I, for selfish reasons, am thankful for it. Its relative anonymity, especially in light of the international fame of riper/oakier/more modern-styled, Parker-anointed "stars" Smith-Haut-Lafitte and Pape-Clément, helps keep their wines under-valued and comparatively more affordable.

I recall the first time I made the Vigneron taste this, he enjoyed it greatly, and, after I told him how much it cost, he had only three words to say: "Buy them all."

Mrs. Vigneron came back for seconds of this wine and the Doc told me he liked this the most among the other reds that evening. I believe my wife felt the same way. I know I did.

Säntis still sells this for around P3300 per bottle where I bought several until a year and a half ago when I got a badly corked one. Thereafter, I started ordering them from selected US shops where they are materially cheaper and in better condition.

2004 Pahlmeyer - The Stockbroker's bottle. Pahlmeyer is a high-end Napa producer with Helen Turley at the helm. I have tasted their wines barely a handful of times. I recall a couple of their chardonnays had in the early days of Mezzaluna (Serendra), they were typically big, rich, buttery, vanilla-oaky yet somehow acceptably balanced wines which my wife likes (she also likes the chards of Newton, Darioush, Saintsbury's Brown Ranch bottling and Beringer's Sbragia Limited release).

I also recall having one of their reds with a rib-eye steak a couple of years ago, the vintage of which escapes me, but I remember it was a big, hugely curved wine with super-ripe/extracted flavors and hefty doses of chocolate and oak/vanilla.

The 2004 was cut from the same cloth. In contrast to the calm and collected '98 Montelena, this was a thick, dense, over-stuffed, no-holds-barred Napa red that has its way with you using bodacious sex-bomb curves, sweetly super-ripe (virtually candied) viscous dark fruit/cassis, kirsch, black coffee and dark chocolate undertones, with a heavy dose of vanilla/oak. There is also some sweet toffee in the finish. Whew! For some reason, I had an irresistible urge for a cigarette after drinking it.

The ladies then ordered desserts, I saw plates of tart tatin with ice cream and tart citron. I only noticed the Doc, however, partaking of them. The rest of the fellows stuck to espressos. Lots of fun. Thanks, Miguel!

Memorable Wines.

People sometimes ask what my favorite wine is, or what wine I consider the best I've had. I can never really answer these questions because, in my experience, the surrounding circumstances of each bottle (company, place, food, conversation, occasion, etc. - you get the picture) are all factors that I simply am incapable of totally divorcing from each bottle. Properly trained and experienced professional tasters, the real ones, surely can, but I am not one them and do not aspire to be. For me, wine is for sheer pleasure - not investment or inventory, neither status symbol nor shameful secret. Wine is for drinking with good friends and good food.

That said, below are some wines that, for different reasons, are particularly memorable:

1986 Château Montrose - I've gone through very many bottles of this. The first one, though, was the most memorable. It was at home, after dinner one summer night around 1998 or 1999. I pretty much halved the bottle with Tonji, we've known each other since high school, since our wives didn't really feel like drinking. Leathery, cedary, powerful, yet pure, layered and complex - we recalled our carefree highschool days - the crazy things we'd do and the trouble we'd get into back then. Tonji generally favors the wines of St-Estèphe, particularly Montrose and Calon Ségur and we've shared several bottles '86 Montrose together, but I need only mention "1986 Montrose" and he, like I, also immediately recalls that one particular bottle we shared that night of reminiscing.

1983 Château Latour - My siblings all studied and lived abroad at certain points in their lives, one still does. Thus, there was a spell of around 6 years that we weren't all together in one place. That ended when we all met in New Orleans, together with our dad, kids and spouses, in spring of 2001. We made the rounds of the restaurants (Drago's in Metairie was fantastic), but, wine-wise, it was the dinner at the New Orleans branch of Smith & Wollensky (a short walk from the French Quarter) that sticks to mind. With the gargantuan steaks, I ordered a 1983 Latour and a 1992 Opus One, both of which I liked. My wife, however, without knowing what wines I had served, opined that the second red (i.e., the '92 Opus) tasted "crappy" beside the first (the '83 Latour).

Though I've had the more famous 1982, 1990, 1996 (as well as many others not as famous like the 1993), and they were easily superior to the 1983, because of that reunion, when I think "Latour", the '83 comes to mind first.

1999 Château Cheval Blanc - I've had this vintage of Cheval Blanc at least 4 times and several other vintages as well, including the "100 Parker point" 1990. When I think "Cheval Blanc", however, what immediately comes to mind is the '99 - particularly the one I opened at a small dinner at Tonji and Sylvia's. I brought the bottle as it was their nth wedding anniversary - the bouquet was just so perfumed and exquisite, I remember it clearly to this day - no other '99 Cheval I've had was as superb. Even the 1990 I brought to their 20th anniversary dinner wasn't as memorable.

1978 Château Pichon Lalande - We had this, among others, with dinner under the stars at the Miailhe's Château Siran our first night there in July 2006. Sevrine, my wife and I made dinner: seared fresh scallop salad and seared-then-roasted duck breast atop baked apples, I recall vividly. Assorted cheeses, bread and dried sausages too. It was a meal beautiful in its simplicity.

I've had the '78 Pichon Lalande at least thrice more since then, but none of them ever tasted as wonderful as the one that night.

1953 Château Siran - At a dinner in Siran, the same trip as the one immediately mentioned, but on our penultimate night there. I had always thought the Miailhes' usually leathery and masculine wines were over-performing and more age-worthy than many realize, but was absolutely stunned at how elegantly feminine, pure, perfumed and silky this 50+ year-old wine was. Truly an eye-opener and testament to the heights this château is capable of reaching.

1994 Vieux Château Certan - Opened during a quiet dinner with my wife at Melo's (Greenbelt 1 at the time) in early July 2002. It was merely OK over dinner and I took the unfinished half home to drink while reading in bed. My old notes state that after a couple of hours:

(i)ts initial closed aromas turned to a complex, heady perfume of
pure, sweet dark cherry enveloped with nuances of candied red fruit and a touch
of cedar. In the mouth, it was a pure silk of lush ripe red fruit layers with
violet plummy undertones. Its sweetish cherry and plum finish stretched out
luxuriously over hints of spices. There was absolutely no heaviness in the
concentrated flavors, no cloying in the sweetness, just layers of pure, clean,
flavors; very elegant.

I will always remember lying in bed that night, book laid down on my chest, smelling the wine's sweet perfume. No other bottle of that same wine was ever as good.

1997 Opus One - Early December 2000 in the restaurant "La Mer" of the Halekulani Hotel in Honolulu, with my wife, at a table for two over-looking Waikiki beach. The sommelier recommended it to pair with my main course of roast rack of lamb and squab. I initially declined, opining that it was surely much too young to enjoy. He gently urged me, guaranteeing we'd like it. We certainly did. This was the bottle that raised my interest in Napa cabs. I had this wine many, many times since then, but that first bottle, on that night, was the best of them all.

1955 Château Rauzan-Ségla - Served by Emmanuel Cruse with the excellent cheese course at his family's fairytale château d'Issan during a dinner in July 2007.

My enjoying the cheeses and wine had a lot to do with the venue, of course, as well as the company and conversation of my seat-mate, Jean-Pierre Chambas (a French immigrant to the US who owns and runs Aleph Wines, one of the biggest wine distributors in South Carolina), a bull of a man with a walrus moustache, gentle demeanor and great wealth of knowledge of food and wine.

1997 Domaine Romanée Conti Le Montrachet - The Doc, Stockbroker and I thirded a bottle of this over lunch at Tivoli, late March 2005. The Stockbroker arranged for a special menu for us revolving around this bottle. I recall we had a 1996 Dom Pérignon to start. What a wine. What a lunch. A lot of time was spent analyzing, re-analyzing, savoring it, alone and with each course, and, naturally, discussing all the aspects and nuances thereof.

1977 Gevrey Chambertin by Emile Bourgeot - Shared with me by Robert Burroughes sometime in August or September 2006. Though an admitted Bordeaux amateur, I'd had some experience with red Burgundies at the time, but never really quite understood why they were so revered. This was my first romance with a truly good, aged Burgundy, its perfume touched with decayed violets, as well as the nostalgia it elicits. I've never looked back. The Doc had told me more than once that he'd read that "All roads lead to red Burgundy". With that bottle, I finally got what he meant.

~ Memorable Lunch, Almost Forgotten Wines ~

Since the members of our little wine group fell into each other's company, we've had so many superb bottles, it would be impossible to try to make a list of exceptional ones. However, there is this one particularly memorable lunch we somewhere lost in time and alcohol (the Vigneron hadn't joined us regularly yet, so I'm guessing it was late in 2005) where the Stockbroker and I got majorly plastered (the Doc much less so - or so he insists). So much so, that the Stockbroker and I couldn't be roused from our naps and, consequently failed to attend our respective dinners that night.

Ironically, we all remember that lunch well, but couldn't individually be sure of what bottles we drank. Thus, we had to piece the list together from our collective memories. I recall we started with the Doc's 1996 Dom Pérignon, then moved to the reds with our main courses - though there may have been half a bottle of white from the Stockbroker somewhere in between.

The Doc remembered he brought a 1998 Tertre Roteboeuf (which I liked so much I served the same wine on my following birthday), and the Stockbroker remembered my 2001 Opus One (a gift from good friends from Hillsborough, Ca). With dessert, we had the Stockbroker's half bottle of excellent 1983 Rieussec (that one I remembered). I also recall the Stockbroker opened a Napa cab, but can't remember what it was as this was the one that surely "pushed us over the edge", as it were.

It was a stroke of luck that I brought a driver that day as I was in no condition to drive myself. I slept all the way back home and continued thereafter to the next morning. The dinner I missed was hosted by us at home, so my wife was, understandably, peeved at me for not attending to the guests (better than throwing up all over them, I thought).

We three then decided to limit our lunch wines to just one white or bubbly and one red from then on unless the Vigneron or someone else joins us.

~ Not only old or extra-special wines can turn out memorable of course ~

The first Bugey Cerdon I ever tried, the maker of which I have long forgotten. At Ducasse's 1930s-esque Parisian bistro, Aux Lyonnais, in July 2006. I didn't really know what Bugey Cerdon was at the time, but noticed that everyone around us seemed to be having this scarlet bubbly as their apéritif, so I ordered some for my wife and I - very inexpensive. It was just so light, refreshing, simply enjoyable and dangerously drinkable, it set the pace for a memorable dinner that night. The oeufs cocotte here was the best we've had, even Robuchon's, while very good, couldn't do better. The grilled calf's liver is to die for - honest, hearty, robust and rustic. Have dessert elsewhere though.

I ordered a case of the Cerdon de Bugey Caveau de Mont St-July (under $15 per bottle in California) when I got back to Manila. Everyone who I let try it loved it. Sevrine, after her first two glasses told me to keep it away from her as she would drink the whole bottle herself. Mrs. Doc loved it too when I brought it to their beach house and had the Doc buy her her own stash of it. The Stockbroker ordered 4 cases of the stuff. Enough said.

2002 Domaine Michel Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet - A simple village (i.e., neither a premier cru nor a grand cru) Chassagne-Montrachet from one of the better makers of the area, with our second course of langoustine and truffle ravioli, during my wife's and my first meal at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Paris. The interplay between the wine and the dish and discussing all the numerous courses with my wife made it memorable.

2006 Joseph Mellot Sancerre La Gravelière - A couple of bottles during a late dinner (around 10:45pm) with my wife at Au Pied de Cochon in Paris with moules farçi, assorted fresh oysters and os à moelle. It was cheap, around 39 Euros per bottle restaurant price (I subsequently checked and it could be bought at 12-13 Euros at retail), but it was superb and paired well with everything we had, even the thick, spicy, garlicy tomato-based sauce of the moules. We slugged down almost the entire first bottle before our food arrived, ordered another bottle, got tipsy, struck up a conversation with a nice, young Russian couple at the next table, and, eventually, stumbled back to our hotel way past 1am, laughing like idiots.

Tempier Lunch.

Early this week, Jérome Philippon organized a lunch to present some of the wines of Domaine Tempier, among others. I immediately confirmed my attendance - wouldn't have missed it - since I got to try the 1999 Tempier "La Tourtine" and 2001 "La Migoua" from the Doc in the dead of summer 2006, as well as one of the rosés (the vintage of which escapes me), and liked them all.

Simply put, Domaine Tempier is widely acknowledged to be the best wine producer of Peter Mayle's much-romanticized Provençe. Located in the appellation (status as such since 1941) of Bandol, some kilometers inland from the coastal vacation destination town of the same name, Tempier is especially famous for its rosé - considered by many as the very best rosé in the world. Jérome's Somelier Selection is now the authorized distributor of Tempier wines for Asia (excluding Japan).

Thus, 8 of us met at Je Suis Gourmand yesterday (wasn't I just here?), palates raring to go.

Luigi, Jérome, Alex, Felix, Tonji, Ken, Myself and Louie

I ordered some goat's cheese on toast (chèvre en croute) to start off with chilled bottles of Jérome's 2002 Domaine Michel Redde Pouilly-fumé Cuvée Majorum - the top bottling of one of the best producers of Pouilly-fumé - and my 1999 Domaine Henri Bourgeois Sancerre La Bourgeoise - an aged medium-high bottling of one of the better producers of Sancerre which I brought for purposes of comparison. Sancerre and Pouilly-fumé both are appellations of France's Loire region, across the river from each other, both producing crisp, refreshing, minerally wines made from sauvignon blanc.

I've written about both these wines before, and one can read my respective notes by clicking on the highlighted text of the said wines above. I asked for the chèvre en croute because that is one of the traditional pairings of the Loire, and, of course, because I happen to like the pairing myself. The Majorum, in this instance, was comparatively crisper, with cleaner lines, with brighter fruit, better focus, minerality and acidic balance. It clearly upstaged the older, comparatively more mellow and softer La Bourgeoise. Louie accurately noted that the Majorum would pair well with Chinese cuisine (both fish and shellfish) and promptly ordered a case of it.

With one of my all-time favorites: the escargot bourguignonne, we had the:

2007 Tempier Bandol Rosé - Having enjoyed a previous vintage a few years ago and read several rave reviews in US wine sites about this latest available rosé of Tempier, I was very eager to try it.

An exquisitely pure and clear light pinkish salmon in color, it is a hell of a pretty wine, one could drink it in with one's eyes. In the nose - and I've never really bothered to pay much attention to any rosé's aroma before - was alluring - like a light, cooling summer cologne.

In the mouth, it is light and delicately infused with a fine melange of fresh canteloupe, strawberry, bit of melon, orange rind and the faintest whisper of lavender. Perfectly balanced. Ethereal. Astounding. My poor descriptions fail to do it justice. It is, without any shred of doubt, the best rosé I have ever had. Period.

At an IWFS Ladies' Branch tasting at Jérome's office later that evening, Mrs. Vigneron and Fely tried it as well and the latter obviously liked it as much as I. I can't say it enough, this is an incredibly good wine - and perfect for the Philippine clime.

At just a shade over P2000 per bottle (P2050 to be exact), I'm loading up on this. A bit pricey for a rosé, but, this is the best in the world and I think it's well worth it. I've compared prices in the US, and, considering the cost, not to mention hassle, of bringing some in myself, it is both marginally cheaper and much more convenient to buy it locally.

With the special of the day, an absolutely tender and succulent roasted lamb loin stuffed with goat cheese with Provençal ratatouille:

2006 Tempier Bandol Classique - Made up of mainly mourvèdre grapes with some grenache, cinsault and a touch of carignan from the different estate vineyards, this is Tempier's basic bottling. Poured straight in to the glass, it is full, masculine and unabashed, loaded with sturdily structured ripe-roasted dark plum, blackberries, cassis, very subtle black coffee and meaty undertones, pepper, anise, violets, lavender, thyme and rosemary. Admirable harmony and balance, with a discreet earthiness/meatiness that will probably surface more after a couple of years in bottle.

There is, naturally, a bit of heat at the start which subsides with aeration. Good push and length. Enjoyable now with food and a bit of aeration, with very good future potential as well.

Tonji and I later on discussed how surprisingly enjoyable it was with the food though still very young. Though it will surely gain in complexity with age, this was already very enjoyable to have with our robust, earthy main course. A reasonable P2520 per bottle from Sommelier Selection, an affordable way to get a sample of Provençe.

2004 Rubrum Obscurum by Château de Roquefort (Côtes de Provençe) - I am not at all familiar with the wines or producers of this area. Smells and feels somewhat like a highly extracted/concentrated Southern Rhône wine to me...or even a modern Priorat. Spicy, peppery, deeply-veined dark fruit, probably comes from old vines and underwent a good amount of time in wood. More power than the 2006 Tempier Classique and not as harmonious or structured. I would guess the latter will age more gracefully.

Those who enjoy powerful, spicy, peppery, up-front, Parker "blockbuster"-styled wines will probably like this. I imagine a thick hunk of rare, grilled rib-eye steak (Mamou, anyone?), Marc's Boeuf Onglet or gamey venison would pair well with this. I am not aware how much Sommelier Selection sells this for.

With a thin apple tart topped with ice cream, we had the 2006 Bott-Geyl Gewürztraminer Les Elements which was an excellent pairing. I have written about this wine several times and it should be pretty clear by now how much I enjoy this wine and how great a bargain I think it is. There is no need for me to belabor this point. I can gush over it only so much; any more is embarrassing.

Not satisfied with how much wine we had already imbibed, after all, we were all still vertical and conscious (albeit beginning to laugh a bit too loudly), Jérome invited the remaining 5 of us over to his office to taste his currently available vintage of one of Tempier's higher-end bottlings, La Tourtine. How could we say no to that?

2006 Tempier Bandol La Tourtine - Grapes from a single, elevated vineyard, I would guess similar in blend to the Classique. Popped and poured - no decanting, it was difficult for us to wait for it to air in the glass so we tasted it immediately, but slowly, to see how it evolved.

Again, Tonji and I were surprised at how drinkable it immediately was, albeit, naturally, with more apparent youthful tannic astringency at the finish. This wine displayed superior definition and more precise focus than the Classique with more surface ripe, red berry/black cherry flavors. Its earthy power, muscle and garrigue and sun-roasted herb notes emerged after around 20 minutes with emphasis on rosemary, lavender and more discreet touches of thyme and pine. The woody notes, readily apparent but not obtrusive, will surely integrate even better given a few more years ageing. Long, strong finish, admirable balance, and, again, good harmony.

This is a wine for the long haul - something confirmed aficionados would have in their cellars. At P3800 per bottle, it is probably not an everyday wine for us mere mortals, but not at all unreasonable or unattainable. It's a buy for the cellar - I know the Doc and Stockbroker keep older vintages in theirs.

To cleanse our by now surely deeply purple-stained tongues, Jérome opened a 2006 Domaine de la Sarazinière Clos des Bruyères Bourgogne Aligoté - This is a simple, charming, inexpensive (P950 per bottle) aligoté (one of the white grapes of Burgundy, second to the ruling chardonnay of the region) that one can open pretty much anytime wants a fresh, dry, unpretentious and pleasant sip of white, or, with a simple fish dish or even, perhaps, a light salad. Well-chilled on a hot afternoon, pour over a tiny bit of crème de cassis and you have a kir (which I almost always choose as an aperitif in Burgundy).

Light, clean green apple, demure citrus and a nuance of straw ("chaume", I believe is the French descriptor). Something to drink young, whimsically, and, at its price, anytime one wants.

It was a welcome refresher after a hard-fought day.
As we were getting ready to take our leave, the ladies started trickling in and I figured I'd stay a few more minutes to say hi to Mrs. Vigneron and Fely and witness how they find the Tempier rosé and Bott-Geyl gewürz.

Of course, when Jérome started pouring fresh bottles for the ladies, he also offered us (by now, just Tonji, Louie, Alex and I) some of the wines we had already passed through ("a second round" said he). One look at that luscious rosé and golden gewürz and I just couldn't refuse - how weak I am when it comes to good wine.

All told, by around 7:30pm, we said our goodbyes, gave our thanks and rushed back south. After all, I had a friend's farewell dinner to attend and was already running late.

Thanks for the enjoyable day and marathon wine session, Jérome. I'd steer clear of Catha though, if I were you, especially after she reads this and figures out how much I drank for yesterday's 7½-hour lunch. My excuse was that I was forced to drink all that wine. Heh heh.

The Stockbroker's Vintage 1990 Wine Lunch.

The Stockbroker called a few days ago for a wine lunch with Bernd and J-Lab. It was to be another one of his "don't-bring-any-wine,-I'll-take-care-of-it" lunches, as he has to cull his considerable collection every so often. Hey, I'm easy, but there seems to be so many of them lately. I, naturally, agreed, though - lunch out with friends is always fun albeit with my vinous wings clipped.

We all met at old reliable Je Suis Gourmand for Marc's hearty, honest real French cuisine and the restaurant's relaxed, comfortable (and comforting) atmosphere. All wines except one were the Stockbroker's. J-Lab got to open his bottle since only he brought dessert wine.

To it, then!

As a welcome drink and to prepare our palates:

1990 Perrier-Jouët Champagne Brut Cuvée Belle Epoque (Epernay, Champagne) - A blast from the past for me. I used to buy tons of this same vintage (as well as the 1989) from Säntis when it was only P700 per bottle back in the mid-to-late '90s. J-Lab said he used to get it for slightly under P700 in Greenhills (thus, we date ourselves). Not having had the '90 for many years, this chance to revisit it was a superb treat.

The first bottle (same bottling but from 1985) was dead, no pressure in the bottle, no bubbles when poured, pure over-oxidation. Discarded. The second bottle exhibited pressure and immediately displayed a sparse yet exquisitely delicate mousse. Bernd, a confirmed Champagne aficionado (together with J-Lab) assured us that it would come around with more mousse by the second pour, and, indeed it did.

Yes, I know, the picture isn't of a proper flute, we just tested it with this glass and switched to flutes afterwards.

By the second pour, the bubbly gained a bit of rounded weight mid-palate and presented surface ripe, faintly honeyed white stone-fruit with nuances of nutty beurre noisette. There is a biscuity, toasty-creaminess to it, increasing towards the back, magnified further by letting a bit of air in and "gargling". A mild oxidative over-all theme lends a touch of complexity, nostalgia, emphasizes the weight and toasty-creaminess (especially towards the back). A whisper of lemon custard joins in at the finish. Very nice. Admirable balance, breadth and structure at this late stage.

Loved it then when it was a lean and bright-eyed youth, love it now as a mature and worldly-wise adult.

With a delectable Cream of Chantrelles Soup with a dollop of chèvre (I finished off half of it before remembering to take a picture)...

...and Moules de Bouchot avec frites:

1990 Champagne Deutz Brut (Aÿ, Champagne) - This looks and smells like a blanc de blancs (i.e., 100% chardonnay) but doesn't taste like one to me - this is not a bad thing at all - on the contrary, though I do appreciate blanc de blancs, I prefer champagnes with the added heft and roundness of pinot noir.

This comparatively fresher, purer in fruit, more linear, better-focused wine's flavors were dominated by crisp green apples, with citrus highlights and subtle grapefruit and white mineral notes. Lesser in weight than and not as luxurious or layered in the mouth as the previous bubbly, this possessed a tauter, lither, more athletic body and more straightforward personality.

Underneath all this, there was an ever-so-faint nuance of milk-chocolatiness that suggests to me a healthy blend of pinot noir. I could very well be wrong, but there it is. It is always specially entertaining and stimulating to be able to compare two wines from the same appellation and vintage.

The Deutz's better focus, tighter and leaner body, as well as apparent minerally notes made it a better pairing with the moules in my opinion. Marc, who hails from Champagne (did I hear right that he's actually from the same hometown as Deutz?), stopped by to see how we were doing and was convinced to have a quick glass with us.

With our main courses (grilled rack of lamb for me):

1990 Château Clerc Milon (Pauillac) - Ripe, rounded mildly earthy dark fruit, cassis, fig, graphite and (readily apparent though well-integrated) oak/vanilla base with a touch of licorice toward the back. Sweetish cedar and red berries more apparent on the surface subtly blending downwards. Slightly over medium-bodied, and lush on the palate with decent length.

Not a "blockbuster" in style like its bombastic 1st growth cousin, Mouton Rothschild, but, then, it needn't be. Call me whimsical, but it seems more like Lafite Rothschild on the surface and more like Mouton Rothschild underneath. I, personally, prefer the less bombastic style this wine partakes of. In blind horizontal (i.e., same year, different producers) tastings, I almost always rate Mouton Rothschild in the middle tier or below ("almost" because I ranked it 1st place in a recent 1996 first growth blind tasting).

In any event, I greatly enjoyed this wine with my grilled rack of lamb - the smokiness of the chops running with the graphite notes while the sweetish-savory ripe fig and ripe red berry notes lent a nice foil to the earthy meatiness.

The Stockbroker also opened a bottle from Cahors - a wine region in southwest France where the malbec grape (there called "auxerrois") rules. It was a 1990 Château du Cayrou - from a producer authorities consider to be one of the best in the region. I was mouthing off (as usual) that these typically robust, tannic and manly wines are the sort that grow hair on one's chest.

As if to spite me, though, the wine didn't deliver as I described. Flat in the mouth, virtually no fruit, yet, there was no souring/vinegary taste or odor at all, and no mustiness/moldiness of old cardboard or over-oxidation notes. It did have slight odors suggestive of fish and tin though. All these considered, I'm calling it as slightly TCA-tainted (i.e., "corked") .

The bottle was set aside and we moved on to J-Lab's dessert wine....

2006 Dr. Loosen Riesling Beerenauslese (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) - Medium-sweet with healthy balancing acidity that rejuventated my palate. Fresh, bright, friendly notes of cling peach, orange rind, honeysuckle, white mineral and a honeyed, vaguely melony/grapey theme that reminded me a lot of a sweet muscat-based dessert wine from Mondavi that I tried there in May 2006 - go figure. This was much better though.

Playfully entertaining wine with a lot of charm. Very easy to drink. Honest, no pretenses to contemplative depth or complexity - it does its job as a dessert wine, and plenty well enough. The botrytis tang/spice is there, but very delicate. Nicely crafted wine.

Fun lunch. Thanks guys!

Napa Cab and Rioja with Steak.

It had been several months since my former regular golf group (with spouses) all got together for dinner again after a "reunion" round of golf. "Former" because several moved on to biking, sailing, too much work and whatnot. Last night (12 September 2008), however, attendance was complete at B and M's new house for one of their not-to-be-missed steak dinners. B, born and raised in the US, is a confirmed Napa cab man, while M is of Spanish extraction. Since the former always serves Napa cabs at their dinners, I thought to bring along a reliable Rioja for the latter.


The evening began with glasses of crisp, well-chilled 2007 Bodegas Protos Rueda Verdejo (for extensive notes, see my post on JC de Terry's recent Bodegas Protos dinner) for the appetizers of homemade salmon and cream cheese dip, brie and Parma ham - continuing with the initial course of crab cakes salad (with homemade sour cream).

With thick slabs of US prime grade rib-eye steaks and paella:


1993 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve (Napa Valley, USA) - B's bottle. Though I've tried the '91, '94, '96 and '97 versions, '93 was a vintage I'd not previously had.

Georges de Latour was a French immigrant who made his money in the US selling cream of tartar. A bit of research shows that in 1900 he purchased a 4 acre property in Rutherford (the historic vineyard area of Napa) for his wife, Fernande, which they named "Beaulieu", which means "beautiful place". He planted rootstock from his native France in this land, and, beacause Napa's phylloxera (a tiny louse that destroy vineyards) infestation reached devastating proportions around 1910, eventually became the biggest supplier of rootstock for the area's wine estates.

In 1938, Georges de Latour brought in Russian-born French immigrant André Tchelistcheff as winemaker who brought Beaulieu Vineyards (where he was fondly called "Maestro") from strength to strength and went on to become a huge influence in Napa's wine-producing history.

Ok, enough with the factoids. On to the wine itself.

This '93 was accurately summarized by my wife as "luscious". It's bouquet of creamy cassis, ripe blackcurrant, kirsch, raspberry highlights, dried herbs, mushrooms and vanilla/oak had the slightest touch of gamy magnétisme animal, all of which were broadly displayed on a bordering-on-full body. Bold, dusty, but 15-years' softened, molten tannins and adequate acidity propped up the wine, gave good structure and kept the palate from being numbed by the steak's richness. I thought I detected whispers of toffee and anise in the long, cedar-laced finish which would ordinarily tip me of that the wine is from Napa, or, at least, California.

Since the wine wasn't served blind, however, I can't definitely say I could have nailed it as such since it was quite suave, the toffee nuance very discreet, and, as a whole, it was reminiscent of a well-extracted, somewhat modern-styled Médoc from a ripe (but not roasted-ripe) vintage. Mature and drinking beautifully. Excellent with the steak.

The bottle was from B's dad's cellar (purchased on release and impeccably stored); this BV-GdL vintage is not locally available to the best of my knowledge.

2001 Marqués de Cáceres Rioja Reserva (Rioja, Spain) - My bottle, 85% tempranillo with the rest made up by grenache and graciano, 22 months in oak. 2001 was a very good year for Spain's wine regions in general.

When I was growing up, until well into the early-to-mid '90s, most all Spanish red wines available in Manila were from Rioja (as far as I could tell, anyway). It was only in the late '90s onward that I could easily find reds from Ribera del Duero, Toro or Priorat (now, one can even find wine from the new "hot" area of El Bierzo - see my post on Pétalos). By default setting, though, I cannot help but find Riojas comfortingly familiar.

Cedar and, to a much lesser extent, camphor, lace the leather-touched, earthy dark fruit, ripe raspberry, strawberry, dried thyme, mild anise and toasty oak. Rustic feel to it. Hint of old violets and drying wood towards the back and in the finish. A shade over medium-bodied, healthy extraction, a bit low on acid (because of the tempranillo, hence, I suppose, the blending in of graciano). The finish, though a bit drying, is acceptable in length. Nice typicity, it speaks of Rioja, albeit in a modern manner as compared to, say, the more traditional 2001 Cerro Añón Reserva. Available at Terry's for a little over P1600 per bottle. I'd buy it again as comfort wine, and its quality-to-price ratio is pretty good to boot.

We didn't have any dessert wine that night, which was absolutely fine with me. What with the belly-busting amounts of food the evening's hosts always prepare (we barely finished half of the steaks), I was already staggering to the dessert table for the decadent flourless chocolate cake, peach cream torte and Yulo's coffee crunch cake.

I couldn't resist, I had a slice of the all of them - two of the coffee crunch cake, actually. I did think twice about the second slice, but figured "That's why God created Alka Seltzer", and proceeded to continue over-indulging myself.

A cup of coffee and several cigarettes later, I felt vaguely human again, just enough to engage in half hour more of conversation before thanking our gracious hosts and bidding them goodbye.