Sushi Lunch with the Usual Suspects.

Lunch today was with most of the Usual Suspects. Keiichi was the impresario this time, organizing the lunch at Sushi Kappo Kobikicho in the Makati CBD, not far from my and the Stockbroker's respective offices. The restaurant is headed by Chef Shintaro Hino who hails from Kobe. As I understand, every single ingredient used is flown in from fresh Japan.

We were 7 in all at the main sushi counter, all having the same Nigiri Sushi Kaiseki Special at P2200/person, plus some Maezawa Beef, and I got an order of Prawn Tempura just to try out.

To start off and with the first few pieces of sushi, we had...

Champagne Comte Audoin de Dampierre Family Reserve Cuvée 2000 - The Stockbroker's. Medium heft, adequate depth of fruit, but incredibly complex with scents and flavors of wild honey, baking spice, some nutiness, café crème and biscuit with some oxidative notes. It could have had more of a pronounced and rounded middle, but that's picking nits. This was a stunning champagne.

It wasn't long before Shintaro-san's expert hands were laying out our sushi.

Cuttlefish

Red Snapper

Sea Bream

O-Toro & Hamachi

Chu-Toro

Anago (Salt Water Conger Eel) & Uni

Shintaro-san rolls up some Toro for a special maki sushi.

Toro Maki (with bits of white onion) & Anago

Tamago & Toro Maki

Ebi Tempura

Excellent sushi and tempura, undoubtedly the best I've ever had anywhere. Words fail. Compliments are drowned in the sheer pleasure of eating like tears in rain. Throughout all these ethereal seafood pleasures, we had to pair...

Kubota Manju (Daigin-jo) - A stunner of a sake. Served cool, its scents brought to mind pure, clean rainwater and incredibly subtle white flowers and whispers of fruit peel. So pure, so clean, so subtly complex - I am at a loss for words. I really must develop a vocabulary for sake as I'm learning tp love it above all for pairing with sushi and sashimi.

Kokuryu Tokusen Ginjo - This was served in a wooden "cup". Seemed a little rustic beside the Kubota Manju, it seemed to have a slight toasted rice/carob flavor to it. Keiichi preferred this to the Kubota Manju as a pairing for the sushi, whereas I preferred the latter.

2008 Laxas Albariño - Miguel's bottle; a no-brainer pairing for seafood. Seems more minerally than the 2006 and 2007 and with more acid lift. Fresh and intense, its fruit seems less forward and not as plump as the previous, but it is still a very good albariño, one I would never hesitate to buy and consume with fresh, simply prepared shellfish dishes.

1999 Jean Noel Gagnard Chassagne Montrachet Maltroie 1er Cru - Keiichi's bottle. Toasty oak, leesy and biscuity notes gild the mildly baked apple and pear. There is moderate richness/creaminess and notable minerality to the soft fruit. A good enough Chassagne Montrachet, but I do think it was miscast for this lunch. Better with richer and/or cream-infused seafood dish like a lobster thermidor.

Maezawa Beef

There were 3 reds opened. Unfortunately, Rene's 2000 Château Le Bon Pasteur was corked. It happens. Shigata ga nai.

2000 Château Larcis Ducasse - Greg's bottle. I got to this wine much later than the others (as usual), so it had been breathing in my glass for quite a while. Old school St-Emilion. Nothing over ripe, over new oaked or over-blown here. A few notches over medium bodied with cherries and plum over a bit of leather and cassis; cedar and a bit of violets. More than decent, understated and quietly confident - a correct wine. I liked it.

2008 Red Car Pinot Noir - The Stockbroker's bottle, a sample from Sonoma said he (sorry, I forgot to photograph it; it had no label). A more restrained type of Cali pinot noir - and I mean that as a good thing - not too hot or over-ripe or overly oaky. Nice dark raspberry, some black cherry, bit of cassis, hint of chocolate. The wood is relatively subtle. Good Cali pinot noir for me.

Conversation starts to get on the silly side.

I'd long given up drinking the ubiquitous miso soup offered by local Japanese restaurants - that is, until I tried this one. Good stuff. Not too salty, very flavorful, clean and it actually had chunks of goodies inside - not just the token, rubberized clams and old tofu cubes of other restaurants' miso soup. This was actually quite good.

Dessert was a bit strange for me - reminded me of a warm version of the green icing leaves in Goldilocks' birthday cakes. The chewy chunks inside, I think mochiko balls (kind of like the galapong balls one finds in ginataan) made it interesting though.

All said, I loved this lunch. The stars, for me, were, obviously, the sushi and the Kubota Manju sake - but I did enjoy everything. Great lunch, Keiichi. Many thanks to Chef Shintaro and everyone who shared their wines. Until the next!

Blind Bordeaux Challenge XV.

We held the 15th of the Grand Crew's blind "competitions" at the Stockbroker's Masseto a few nights ago, the first for 2010. The Vigneron won the previous challenge (14th November 2009) with a surprisingly good '99 Trotanoy. Unfortunately, the morning of the challenge, Mrs. Stockbroker and I were taken ill. She opted not to attend (surely in a worse condition than I at the time), while I (foolishly) loaded up on medicine and sallied forth*. We were 7 in all that night.

*My palate was, obviously, not at its best that night as, aside from being loaded with medicine, I developed severe chills in the latter half of the evening - so you may want to discount my tasting notes' accuracy to a certain degree.

The Grand Crew

With the ladies.

We started off with pours of the Stockbroker's Cerdon de Bugey Caveau de Mont St-July - a simple and joyful strawberry-fruited bubbly from the Jura region composed of poulsard and gamay. I "discovered" the delights of Bugey Cerdon at Aux Lyonnais in Paris many years ago and started ordering the subject wine from K&L Wine Merchants for under US$15/bottle. I think the price has risen to around US$18/bottle now, but it's still an absolute steal for such a bright and fun bubbly.

Together with the Cerdon de Bugey, we were served a few pass-arounds including Parmesan Crisps and some type of Somosa.

Thereafter, to go with our starter courses - mine a platter of White Asparagus Wrapped in Jamón Serrano with Truffle-Hollandaise Sauce, we had some...

2007 Weingut Robert Weil Rheingau Riesling Kabinett - Ordered off Masseto's wine list at P2400. Very clean, pure and well-focused, floral off-dry peach and ripe lemon with a cold-stony minerality. Very nice indeed - Doc, Mrs. Doc, my wife and I particularly favored it and Doc promptly ordered some from supplier Brumms Quality Wines, Inc. shortly thereafter.

That said, Masseto's mark-ups on their wines are, honestly, very reasonable (I'm not just saying that because the Stockbroker and some other co-owners are friends of mine), and, considering the corkage charged, if one goes to Masseto and wants to enjoy this wine, it makes more sense to buy it off the list because the gross expense is the same, plus the bottles at Masseto are already well-chilled and perfectly stored.

As a pairing, asparagus has always been difficult for me - that is, until sometime in early 2005 when I joined an International Wine & Food Society dinner featuring many white asparagus dishes all paired with various rieslings from Germany, Austria, Alsace and the new world. The subject wine was a fine match, its crisp and neat fruitiness and bright acidity gave cut and lift to the earthy truffle-hollandaise sauce, nice counterpoint to the jamón Serrano's slight saltiness and its cold-stony minerality ran with the asparagus itself. Now I'm curious how this dish would go with a drier German riesling halbtrocken. We shall see (after I am finally rid of this damn flu).

This, for me, was the dish and pairing of the night. The Doc even went so far as to less-than-half-jokingly name this riesling kabinett as his wine of the night. I wouldn't argue with him in that regard.

Next course is not on the regular menu, but, having enjoyed it so much at the Stockbroker's year-end dinner for the Usual Suspects, I had made a special request for Tippi's Fidueà with Prawns and Squid. With this, we had...

2007 Brewer-Clifton Sea Smoke Vineyard Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay - The Stockbroker's bottle. Big and rich white, showing off somewhat creamy baked apple, pear, leesy and toasty oak/vanilla notes. There is also a good dose of minerality and a hint of honeysuckle to this. This chardonnay seemed to have quite a kick in terms of alcohol - well, either that or the wines' mixing with my meds was already getting to me.

The competing reds were then poured. We noted that not all the glasses were identical in size, but, due to the waitstaff's being terribly busy with a big Citibank function, we didn't ask to change glasses. I had these alone and with a few bites of my main course of Breaded Veal Chop with Mixed Greens.

File photo since I forgot to take a picture of my main course that night.

Wine # 1 - Nose: heavy perfume of mint, chocolate, wet tea leaves, sweet plum and violets with tamarind surfacing after around 15-20 minutes. In the mouth: flavors mirrored scents; fruit was very ripe with a slightly raisined character, lots of chocolate in this, big, full, powerful and dense. I eventually ranked this as my 1st place wine.

It turned out to be the Stockbroker's 1995 Antinori Solaia Tuscan IGT. This was the 2nd time the Stockbroker really challenged this Bordeaux-centric group's palates with a Tuscan IGT, the first time was in Blind Bdx Challenge XI with a 1999 Tenuta dell'Ornellaia (which I also happened to vote 1st place as it was the best pairing with my meal - prompting the Stockbroker to comment that I apparently have a palate tuned to Super Tuscans).

Wine # 2 - Bouquet of cedar, truffle, blackcurrant, plum, cherry and dark chocolate. In the mouth: dark chocolate, gravel, cassis, plum, cherries, violets, cedar. Rich in flavor but lighter-footed than Wine # 1. Halfway between medium and full body. Finish a bit shorter than Wine # 1, but a good length anyway. I voted this my 2nd place wine. It was eventually revealed to be the Doc's 1982 Château Grand Puy Lacoste.

Wine # 3 - Dense, ripe, deep fruit, some truffle, cedar, cassis. Medium in the mouth, with flavors of plum, cassis, violets, cedar and a bit of leather and chocolate. Good purity. Seemed quite restrained. I ranked this 3rd place. It was the Vigneron's 1996 Château Montrose.

Wine # 4 - toasted wood, gravel, tar, cherry, crème de cassis, violets, cedar. There is a pronounced smokiness to this wine. Medium-bodied. Good mid-palate push/drive, but the finish is clipped with drying, woody tannins. Unresolved and young. I ranked it 4th place and it turned out to be my 1999 Château Mouton Rothschild (decanted for over an hour).

As always, Mrs. Vigneron tallied the votes and announced the winners.

The Results:

1st Place - Wine # 2, the Doc's 1982 Château Grand Puy Lacoste with 21 points (3 votes for 1st place, 2 votes for 2nd place, 1 vote for 3rd place and 1 vote for 4th place).

2nd Place - Wine # 3, the Vigneron's 1996 Château Montrose with 18 points (1 vote for 1st place, 3 votes for 2nd place, 2 votes for 3rd place and 1 vote for 4th place).

3rd Place - Wine # 1, the Stockbroker's 1995 Antinori Solaia with 16 points (2 votes for 1st place, 1 vote for 2nd place, 1 vote for 3rd place and 3 votes for 4th place).

4th Place - Wine # 4, my 1999 Château Mouton Rothschild with 15 points (1 vote for 1st place, 1 vote for 2nd place, 3 votes for 3rd place and 2 votes for 4th place). I noted that only my wife ranked my wine 1st place and Mrs. Vigneron ranked it 2nd - so, I commented that only they had the noses and palates for 1st growths that night.

Thus the crown passed to the Doc...

...the bottles going up on Masseto's wall.

It only remains for me to note that 3 vintages of Mouton Rothschild have been entered in our Blind Bordeaux Challenges (an '86 of the Vigneron in Bdx Challenge II, a '96 by me in Bdx Challenge V and now this '99 of mine in Bdx Challenge XV) all of which failed to win. I also note that in a blind tasting of 10 '99 Médocs several years ago, I ranked Châteaux Margaux, Latour and Lafite as 1st, 2nd and 3rd, respectively, and ranked Mouton Rothschild 7th. The Vigneron chided me for even trying again with a Mouton as, historically, it doesn't do well with this group. Ok, now I really know.

In any event, it was a fun night, chills, trouncing and all.

Hail to the new king! Until the next....

2 Monday Afternoon Tuscan Reds.

Monday, 22nd February 2010, I arrived at Caffé Caruso little before 4pm from the office and was lucky enough to have a few glasses of wine with the guys (who were in various stages of tipsy by the time). Unfortunately, Jojo had already left.

After a starter glass of 2004 Leeuwin Art Series Chardonnay (Miguel's roero Arneis was already all gone by the time)...

1997 Fattoria di Fèlsina Berardenga Chianti Classico Riserva - Admirably firm structure and typicity. Leanish with great backbone. Earthy, cherry, leather, hint of tobacco leaf, violets, cedar, slight anise nuance and a hint of roast meat. Clean lines all the way to the finish. Very nice indeed. Wish I had some food to go with it.

2003 Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino Vigneto Manachiara - Rene's bottle I believe. I do not think this was decanted. Young, vigorous and stylish, showing the vintage heat. The fruit is rich and deeply-veined; probably this saw a bit more (new?) oak because of that. Full-bodied, plush, concentrated, black cherry, dark plum, spicy wood notes, hint of underlying black coffee. Heady stuff, especially since I didn't have lunch that day.

Saturday Night Tapas & Traditional Riojas at the Vecins'.

Last night, 20th February 2010, was at Miguel & Ria's place. Since it took long to prepare my Chili Prawns (the slow toasting of the chilis alone takes about 2 hours), I was the last to arrive a little past 7pm. The others were gathered around a table groaning from the weight of many assorted tapas - most brought in from Spain by Miguel.

Miguel, Ria, Aimee and Rene.

Aaron & Jo.

The Tapas

Pan con Tomate topped with Anchovy

Sobrasada and Fried Quail Egg en Croute

Foreground: Torta de Patatas (I requested this from Miguel as it is one of my comfort foods).

Assorted Deli: Bellota de Jabugo Shreds (cut from near the bone), Fuet & Chorizos.

Pan con Tomate

Salmon & Cream Cheese on Toast

Brandada de Bacalao with Peppers on Sliced Baguette

Morcilla de Arroz with Peppers

Chili Prawns

Fiduea

We started things off with Rene's ripely fruited 2009 Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, NZ, which, per Rene is produced by the former winemaker of Cloudy Bay, Kevin Judd. This is a very good, brightly peach-and-guava-nuanced sauvignon blanc, the gooseberry and grass notes politely taking a backseat. The wine is very smooth, no edges and the fruit is vibrant, the acidity correct - very neat. It went particularly well with the Pan con Tomate topped with Anchovy and Brandada de Bacalao with Peppers on Sliced Baguette. Very nice and easy to recommend. Available at ZEN Asia.

The next white was from Rioja: 2007 Bodegas Campillo Blanco Fermentado en Barrica - Aaron's wine. He said he wasn't sure of the blend, but we agreed that, as a Riojan blanco, it had to be composed mainly of viura. As the name indicates, it is barrel fermented. The leesy and toasty oak notes are very apparent, but the slightly minerally fruit's freshness, purity and brightness were apparent underneath. As Aaron and the others noted, the wine performed better with food - going nicely, to my mind, with the Fuet, Morcilla de Arroz with Peppers and creamy Barandada de Bacalao.

Ria & Aimee

Los Tintos Riojanos

The first red to be served was my 2000 López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Reserva - I opened a bottle of this not long ago during Team Panic's Lunch at Je Suis Gourmand. Though I had made previous notes on this wine, I wanted to revisit it at a relaxed pace. My previous notes were as follows:

Firmly structured but approachable, its fruit somehow didn't seem as well-rounded or ripe as the '99's; a bit linear though, not much of a crescendo to speak of. Still, there was good dark fruit: deep, black cherry, strawberry, leather, bit of licorice, violets and well-integrated wood. Good with the hearty meat course.

Though this bottle was pretty consistent, the differences were (nb: this was decanted for around 45 minutes-1 hour while the previous bottle was not decanted at all): it displayed more of a middle, the fruit was more expressive and vibrant, the cherry had a slight tartness to it, the cedar notes a bit more apparent.

1995 Bodegas Campillo Rioja Gran Reserva - Aaron's bottle. Immediately notable was the wine's subtle power and admirable depth of well-rounded fruit (typical black cherry, bit of kirsch, raspberry, bit of strawberry). The very well-integrated oak is almost assuredly not new and, I think, probably French. Acidity is sufficient and proper. Leather, tobacco, slight licorice, cedar and violet notes are seamlessly intertwined. Excellent push on the palate, it exudes confidence from attack to finish. Many years left ahead of this, it is drinking admirably youthfully at almost 15 years from vintage.

1987 Bodegas Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Gran Reserva Especial - Rene's bottle. Very nicely mature with incredibly pure and refined cherry and strawberry over a small brook of blackcurrant complexed with notes of wet tea leaves, violets, cedar, hint of well-worn leather. Hallmark creamy American oak nuances of cinnamon emerge towards the back and finish. Very complex wine and well-balanced. Excellent over-all. The word "purity" keeps echoing. At almost 23 years from vintage, this should be able to gracefully age around 8-10 years more, I believe, assuming proper storage.

Miguel & Rene

Miguel then decided to open an even older bottle that required Aaron's and my combined efforts to extract the crumbling cork.

Aaron gets 3/4ths of it out.

I take a stab at it.

The last, stubborn part comes out.

1973 Bodegas Berberana Rioja Gran Reserva - Miguel's bottle, coincidentally a birthyear wine for Rene. Last time I had this was from Bernd during dinner at La Tienda almost a year ago. Last night's bottle was from the same batch. My previous notes are as follows:

I used to buy this very same wine from Säntis in the late '90s and correctly guessed that Bernd did as well - the difference being that he kept some bottles to age even more. Pervasive pruney touch to old strawberry, plum, cedar, violets and mere whispers of tobacco and licorice would sum up this wine fairly. Medium-bodied, smoothly mellow, more than fully mature - to be enjoyed now and soonest. A good, old Rioja. I greatly enjoyed this and was very happy to be able to drink it again. Nostalgia in a glass.

With around 10-15 minutes in the glass, this showed a lot of purity as well, no pervasive prune notes at all, the fruit still retains some freshness at almost 37 years from vintage. More strawberry than cherry, whisper of underlying blackcurrant elixir, pinch of tobacco leaf, slight spice and wet tea leaves, cedar and violets. Neat. Much less oaken than the '87 Ygay GRE, marginally lighter in body. Acidity is marginally brighter. Complex enough, but not as much as the Ygay. It actually seemed to rally more as time passed, it didn't fade at all while I finished my glass. This seemed in even better shape than the bottle a year ago. Still, it is fully mature and i wouldn't wait on these bottles much longer. Consume now and soonest.

A couple of shots of chilled, sweetish anise flavored Pacharán, and we made our respective ways home.

Excellent dinner. This is my type of evening - great food, wine and good friends, all enjoyed comfortably and liesurely over an evening's span. Muchas gracias Miguel and Ria, and to all others who shared their wine and company. Most enjoyable night.