It's Not Really All About Wine & Food.

Though I readily admit to being obsessive about food and wine, it's not all about those things. They are my most enjoyable ways to spend time in the company of friends and family, but the latter takes precedence. I'd much rather drink and eat less fancily with good friends and family than drink fine wine in the presence of people I don't like. Fortunately, I am blessed with a wonderful family and many good friends.

Jos' Birthday Tournament.

Jos Moraza, simply put, is a bear of a fellow with a hilariously irreverent sense of humor. I can't seem to stop laughing when he starts acting up. At Henry's goading during his birthday dinner, Jos invited the Golfos present to his own birthday tournament on the 10th December 2010 at the Country Club - everything was on him, from the green fees, golf carts, caddie fees, snacks at the tee houses, hole-in-one prize, drinks, merienda-cena, raffle and a special "nearest-to-the-pin" shoot-out prizes. The weather cooperated making for a very pleasant round for the 5 flights - no valid excuses for bad play.

I played decently on the front 9, but my game collapsed early in the back due to my pulling my drive into the rough and insisting on going for the green around 200 yards away from a side hill lie, trying to skirt some trees and over a large ravine. Needless to state, I pulled a "Tin Cup" and was, instantly, out of the running - so I just played around the last several holes going for low-percentage, heroic shots (rather unsuccessfully, I might add).

On the veranda, the guys were already making headway into bottles of red wine, scotch, vodka, beer and many rum Cokes. Above, Jos is in the yellow shirt. With him are Jimmy, Quito, Tito Chito and Raffy.

Being in the final flight with Douglas, Jaime and Raffy, most of the other guys had already finished eating by the time I had showered and dressed. Damage already done to the buffet dishes, I didn't take shots of the food and just proceeded to stuff myself and wash away memories of my back 9 with a couple of cold beers.

Douglas and Henry

Quito, Tito Chito & Miguel

Raffy, Tito Bomboy, Vince, Mari & Bobby

The "tee box" for the nearest-to-the-pin shoot-out (to a green across the water) was a rather small, raised platform on the veranda, perched precariously over the water. Even some of the better players couldn't make or stick on the green. Tito Bomboy was the only one who managed the green, and, consequently, won the hotly-contested cash prize.

The raffle followed, everyone had to stand and would re-take their seats as their name is drawn and called out by Jos for elimination.

Henry jokingly questioned Jos' rules...

...and was promptly rewarded by having his name drawn next.

One by one, each took his respective seat - as did Raffy...

...until only a few remained standing.

Jaime followed a little later, but managed to get one of the runner-up prizes.

I was actually busy going around taking photos, so I didn't really know exactly what was going on. I was about to take my seat when Quito started pointing at me as Jos called out "Attorney for the people!".

Long story short, I turned out winning the first place raffle prize. Lucky me! The winners of the golf tournament proper were then announced...

Jos with the winners: Bobby (3rd place), Mari (2nd place) and Tito Bomboy (1st place).

A toast to our generous host and celebrant!

¡Salud!

Drinking, eating and jokes went on until dark. Raffy and I left before the others finished as he had to go back to Alabang to get his car since he rode with me. Excellent day, one I greatly enjoyed and needed. What a nice way to end a work week. The company of friends - that's really what it's all about. Thanks, Jos, and, again, Happy Birthday!

Dinner & Wines at a 10th Wedding Anniversary.

December brings its usual deluge of parties. The other night, however, was extra special since Catha and I (together with many other friends) got to celebrate Lance & Jay's 10th wedding anniversary over dinner and lots of drinks at Masseto which they had closed down for the party. Difficult to believe its been 10 years since we witnessed them exchange vows in Honolulu.

We arrived on time and settled in, Lance near the entrance greeting guests as they arrived...

...and were served chilled glasses of...

Champagne Jacquesson Cuvée Nº 734 - Of Jacquesson's Nºs 732, 733 & 734, the 734 edges out the 733 as my favorite. Not linear and aggressively citrusy like the 732, and marginally more rounded than the 733, the 734 is crisp, lightly bready, well-focused, with nicely rounded, ripely sweetish lemon, apple, pear, touch of slate and an alluring slight hint of lemon merengue creaminess that kicks in past mid-mouth. Dangerously drinkable. Since I was tired from golf that day, I allowed myself only one glass of this before dinner, but would have had no problem polishing off a few more had I brought a driver along that night.

Johnson, Jay, Maricar, Candy & Catha

Lance flanked by his two best men at the wedding: Johnson & Chris.

Marcia, Lisa & Berck

Tippi & Michi made sure we were well fed and that everything ran smoothly.

Catha and I also got to say hi and chat briefly with Lance's mom. I actually don't think I've seen her since the wedding. I remember vividly during some of Lance's birthdays before he got married, Mrs. G used to make really nice teppanyaki steaks on their outdoor misono table, as well as one of the best pancit sotanghon guisados I've had - the latter of which I would literally stuff myself on every time because I didn't know when the next chance I could have it would be.

The Menu

Portobello & Baked Egg

This is a simple, honest and earthily comforting dish for me, having it every time I'm at Je Suis Gourmand, and, a couple of times in Spain. Different from Marc Aubry's rendition mainly because the portobellos were diced. The flavors were good, but, personally, I prefer biting into bigger chunks of the meaty mushrooms and having a bit more gooey yolk. This was paired with the 2005 Les Hauts de Smith Blanc - the second white wine of Château Smith Haut Lafitte. Quite rich and hefty for a second wine with a large dose of oak and leese notes in its very ripe and sweetish apricot, slight peach and grapefruit.

The Spaghettini Bottarga was generously flavored with the pressed salted roe. It was different from the last 2 times I've had this by Tippi in that the texture was a bit grainy this time. Still, I enjoyed this a lot and would have happily had a lot more of this Sicilian/Sardinian dish, but thought to save my appetite for the main course of...

...Rib-Eye, Foie Gras & Port Sauce. I ordered mine rare, and it arrived properly rare - not easy to do considering the thickness of the slice. The foie was nicely caramelized on top as you can see from the picture. I was happy with my dish and pretty much cleaned my plate. Some at the table commented that the meat had a bit of sinew - something I also observed, but knowing what it looks like, I just cut around it. The port sauce was subtle and discreet - which I greatly appreciated - and the sidings were impeccable. This was paired with...

2006 Château St-Georges Côte Pavie - This is the first time I've tried the wine from this château. This was actually quite nice - not overblown, over-concentrated/extracted/ripe/oaky the way many modern St-Émilions are. Medium-bodied, moderately firm; there is a bit of a serious note to the dark fruit as well as some tobacco, slight leather, cedar and a bit of violets. Smooth. Easy to like. Most everyone at the table told me they liked this without my having to ask. A quick check on the web shows this to be quite reasonably priced (I don't know how much Masseto charges for a bottle though). I assume the Stockbroker picked out this wine for Masseto. If so, a tip of the hat is in order.

Me with Jay's table. I was seated at Lance's table further down the couch with Johnson, Candy and a charming Thai couple (the fellow was Lance's classmate in Wharton, if I recall correctly).

Mike arrived late and joined us for a couple of glasses.

A dessert trio of Pavlova Strawberry, Chocolate Hazelnut Tart and Apple Crumble with Vanilla Ice Cream followed. The chocolate hazelnut tart was my favorite one of the three. A close second was the pavlova. Berck, who I've not seen since his and Booze's joint birthday party late this past May, had moved to our table as well, and he and I started hitting several double scotches while catching up. By the time he and Lisa had to head home, most everyone had moved to the bar area and things started heating up.

I continued with more double scotches (those I could get past my wife, anyway). Some were having single malts neat, while many were drinking...

2004 Château Ferran - Michi made me taste this to see what I thought of it. It is a very decent, though none-too-complex red that shows typical notes of Pessac-Léognan (hints of asphalt, slight tobacco and dried herbs) in its below medium-bodied dark cherry, cassis and cedar. Easily quaffable, if not very distinctive.

I was happy to see Lisa (Apa's elder sister) there who was with her husband, Anton (partially hidden on the far right), and their partner in the local Straights Wine shop.

William joined me hitting scotches after his better half, Leia, had gone home after dinner.

Jay enjoying the company of friends joining in celebrating the momentous occasion.

Getting down as the DJ played dance tunes.

My camera must have been having some scotch as well without my knowing as everything started to blur....

Happy 10th anniversary, Lance & Jay! Great party! Catha & I got home past 4am - it's been years since that happened.

Tasting 4 Tasmanians (!?!) @ Terry's 2º Piso (We Had Other Wines, Of Course).

Over a week ago, JC de Terry asked me to put a small group together to taste some small-production Tasmanian wines which the winery sent over for evaluation. I sent a few texts out to some friends much more experienced with new world wines than I - J-Lab and Johnny said they were in. Thus, sometime last week, we met at Terry's 2ºPiso. I arrived early, and, not having had lunch, I had my usual "Don Quijote" bocadillo (jamón Serrano, manchego, extra-virgin olive oil and freshly marinated crushed tomatoes) and a glass of rosado.

After around 30 minutes, J-Lab and Johnny arrived. JC followed from a meeting shortly after. We didn't waste any time, immediately commandeered a bigger table and got down to business.

We were to taste 4 wines from Sugarloaf Ridge, a boutique winery located in cool climate south east Tasmania, overlooking Frederick Henry Bay.

2010 Sugarloaf Ridge Sauvignon Blanc - This was, for me, the best of the 4 from the winery. Sweet, somewhat creamy ripe, wild-honeyed passion fruit and guava. Much, much subdued gooseberry, grass and grapefruit and fleshier compared to the sauv blancs of Marlborough, NZ. Bright, nicely curved and fresh, I found it quite pleasant. Upon inquiring as to its probable retail price, J-Lab and I were shocked to find out it was relatively expensive for a new world sauv blanc. Though not much in gross terms, I noted that it was more expensive than the Raimbault Pineau Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé that JC carries (which Miguel, Rene and I really like and regularly buy). J-Lab said he'd probably buy it at up to P800, but not much more than that.

2008 Sugarloaf Ridge Chardonnay - Bit of toasty oak on the green apple, lime and citrus nose. Good purity and sharp focus, but the citrus/lemon/lime notes were far too aggressive for me.

We were each then served an amuse bouche of crab and caviar - which we liked so much, JC gave us another round.

2010 Sugarloaf Pinot Gris - All of us tasting are quite familiar with pinot gris. While I am much more familiar with pinot gris from Alsace, I have, occasionally, gotten to try some from the new world. This particular one, we noted, was unusually dark golden for a just-released vintage. The best I can describe the nose and flavors is "nondescript". This was, by far, the strangest pinot gris all of us tasted. Nobody liked it, to say the least.

Johnny: bothered and bewildered, but obviously not bewitched.

Miguel had then joined us, and JC started breaking out his own wines and more food...much to our great delight.

2008 Raimbault Pineau Sancerre - Lovely wine. My favorite expressions of sauvignon blanc are definitely from Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, though I do also like the ones I've had from Grgich Hills (Napa Valley). Pure, focused, tense, excellent acidity (firm, bright, crisp, but not sharp), very mild gooseberry, gentle grapefruit, faint mandarin orange, harmonious. Loved it...

...especially when paired with a couple of excellent specimens of chèvre from JC. These favored sauv blancs from the eastern Loire are regionally paired with goat's cheese - and with good cause.

2008 Plácet Rioja Blanco - Produced by Palacios Remondo, part of Spain's renowned Alvaro Palacios group. Probably the most complex viura I've had. Notable balance and harmony in its citrus, mild lemon, leesy touches of moderate vanilla/oak. This made Johnny, Miguel and I stand up and take notice. With the following dishes, it went very well. I recall either Miguel or Johnny (possibly both) called this their wine of the night.

One of the few vegetarian dishes I would actually order myself.

Deep-fried sea bass, crisp outside, so moist & juicy inside

An awe-inspiring platter of cold cuts.

Silent reverence....

...and irrepressible desire.

We then tasted the 2008 Sugarloaf Pinot Noir (which I, unfortunately, forgot to take a solo photo of). It had a pervasive and persistent aroma of rusty water to it that I immediately noted. JC and J-Lab agreed. After several minutes, the rust subsided but was still there. J-Lab commented on how very dark it was for a pinot noir. JC commented that some rouges from Nuits-St-Georges can get as dark. Very deep, dark, concentrated, candied fruit. Vaguely spicy, quite minerally. Cola, noted J-Lab. A few minutes later logs of wood emerged; too much for my taste. J-Lab said he found it an interesting pinot noir though.

Miguel takes a whiff.

Chuleton time! With fries, roasted garlic and piquillos to boot!

Johnny hogged the roasted garlic.

2006 Abbotts Cumulus Reserve Minervois - From the Minervois appellation in far southern France Languedoc Roussillon region, close to the Spanish border. The wines I've tried from there I have generally found too ripe-roasted and alcoholic for my tastes - but not this one (maybe the vintage speaks here?). Deeply-veined, moderately spicy berries. Judicious use of oak (probably very little new). Slight pepper, blackberry, cassis, raspberry liqueur, moderate oak and related spice. Neat and clean. Very nice in itself and excellent with the chuleton. At a mere P830/bottle, it is a no-brainer buy and enjoy with grilled steaks.

¡Un millón de gracias de nuevo, JC, y hasta la proxima!