Tuesday Dinner at La Regalade.

This past Tuesday (19th August 2008), the Doc proposed an impromptu dinner at La Regalade with our wives. Since we were already at the office, going all the way back home to pick up some bottles and returning to Makati for dinner was not doable, so both the wines that evening were the Doc's.

Regalade is, as many already know, the newest French bistro in Makati - a branch of a similarly named restaurant in Vancouver owned and run by a French chef who has at least a couple of Michelin stars under his belt. For a bistro, it's quite large and the interiors pretty sleek compared to those in France, even Paris. I do like restaurants where I can look into the kitchen while dining though.


The bar was certainly nice as well. Hardly surprising, though, since I understand Tonyboy Cojuangco is one of the major owners - capital could hardly be an issue.

In any event, the menu was typical for a standard French bistro. With 3 appetizers: the parmesan tart, seared foie gras and pork rillette, a bottle of:

2001 Domaine Weinbach Cuvée St. Catherine Riesling Schlossberg (Alsace Grand Cru) - the last time I had this was also from the Doc during a dinner at Lili on the 24th March 2007. My old notes from that dinner state:

From the Doc,
Chinese dinner 24th March. Uplifting, clean, cool bouquet of peach, sweet/ripe
lemon, small white flowers, touches of honey, vanilla and, trailing, faint, yet
unmistakable, petrol notes. The flavors, crisp, bright and fairly focused,
mirrored the bouquet, the petrol comparatively more pronounced, the middle
dominated by the sweet peach and ripe lemon. Unquestionably the biggest riesling
I have ever tasted (in my admittedly meager experience with rieslings) Certainly
a joy to drink, which I did unashamedly until the bottle was empty. I wonder
what this would be like in 4-5 years....

This was quite a treat - not only because I get to see how it has evolved over near 1-½ years - but also because, after an eating/tasting sojourn in Alsace last September (which included one in Domaine Faller, the makers of Weinbach), I have since gained much more experience with the wines of said area.

That said, however, my old notes above-quoted are still pretty much consistent. All I can add now is that the complex flavors are marked by added harmony and precise balance - not a mean feat considering its richness. Definitely still feminine and luxurious on the palate, but, now, a touch more understated. The wine has gained a bit of weight and the petrol notes are more apparent now, but still well within balance. Unsurprisingly, it paired best with the foie gras.

Excellent wine. Loved it then, love it now.

With 4 main courses, i.e., 2 orders of the rib-eye (medium-rare for Mrs. Doc, the other rare for me), pasta for the Doc and lamb stew for my wife:

1995 Château Montus Cuvée Prestige (Madiran) - From Madiran in Southwest France, this is made up exclusively of tannat. This wine, typical of the reds from this area, is darkly intense (as you can easily in the picture), masculine and robust, with smoothly rolling muscle underneath earthy leather, dense, brambly dark fruit/blackberry, licorice, cedar and touch of violets and a dose of pepper (more in the bouquet - which subsided with aeration) and well-integrated woodiness.

The Doc had decanted it when my wife and I arrived and didn't tell me what it was. A quick sniff in the decanter yielded a blast of pepper and cedar over the fruit so I thought it to be a Rhône. By the time my steak arrived, I took my first sip and pronounced it to be a Madiran.

These wines don't fool around. They'd probably whack you on the head if you look at them the wrong way. I usually describe these wines, as well as the reds of Cahors, as "wines that put hair on one's chest". Massively tannic, but, in this case, the tannins were so smooth - one could say "molten". Great depth, superior balance and a kilometric finish.

Despite its apparent oversupply of testosterone, however, the wine was smooth mid-palate, albeit clearly concentrated and viscous. I believe this could probably hold its plateau for another 10-15 years. With the steak, it was superb. Truly a macho wine.

Addendum: I just checked my old notes and now realize that I've had this wine twice before - the first sometime in January 2006 - at an IWFS function. Said notes are pretty consistent:

Chateau Montus Cuvee Prestige 1995 (Madiran) - 100% Tannat.
Brooding inky, dark black-red-violet, well-muscled, incredible tannins but
relatively smoothed out. Mildly spiced moderately round black fruit with
leather, tobacco and wood. Nicely knit at this point. Had it with a
boldly-flavored twice-roasted duck with lentils. Good match (made by Bernie Sim,
president of the Philippine Chapter of the International Wine & Food
Society) as the dish drowned out my '99 Haut Marbuzet. Quite surprised that my
wife liked this hugely tannic wine so much, specially the pairing.

I must mention that the steak came with lots of roasted/caramelized whole shallots and garlic cloves - rarely done in Manila - which was a most excellent touch. Assuming my wife or friends pick this venue, I'd return just for this dish. While the others (especially my wife) were much more taken by the apricot lamb stew than I, it was more than decent. Granted the restaurant is barely off the starting line at this point, the staff could certainly do with a lot more proper training.

Desserts were tart citron, tart chocolat and pear in red wine. My wife was ecstatic to see the inebriated pear available, she loved it ever since she got to try it in Bordeaux a couple of years ago. I, on the other hand, favored the tart citron as any dessert involving lemon custard or lemon cream reminds me of my late mom who used to make the best lemon merengue pie I've ever had.

In all, it was a nice dining experience, certainly one of the better Tuesday dinners in my book. The highlights were the wines, my steak, and, of course, the great company.