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.