Of Fellow Winos, Bordeaux Reds, & Steak.

The Usual Suspects, a fun, informal group of fellow winos of which I am a member (the name coined by J-Lab), used to hold regular (virtually weekly) 6+ hour wine lunches beginning approximately in the last quarter of 2008 up to a year or two ago when the Philippine Stock Exchange implemented afternoon trading. That pretty much killed long wine lunches for old buddy/wine collector Jojo Madrid (a.k.a., "the Stockbroker"), one of the group's founding/core-group members and stalwarts. Since then, we moved our get-togethers to dinnertime. As years passed, people got busier (myself included), Keiichi moved back to Tokyo, many travelling more often and for longer periods, etc., so we don't get together nearly as often as before - but, when we do, it's just as much fun as ever.

~ oOo ~

A week or so ago, Rene issued, via e-mail, a Usual Suspects call-to-arms, as Jojo was back in town from a long trip to Vancouver. Six of us immediately confirmed (Rene, Miguel, Jojo, Aaron, J-Lab, & myself), and the date and venue were quickly set: dinner for Thursday, the 15th August 2013, at Mamou Too! - a group favorite for good steaks and fine reds.

Rene, J-Lab, & Jojo.

No fooling around, by around 6:45pm we started off with 1996 Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne Cuvée Palm d'Or Brut - from Rene, a top-line bottling of a well-respected champagne producer in a great champagne vintage. Alluring biscuity theme in its cider-and-yeast-touched, creamy, lemon curd, ripe apple, pear, yellow apricot dominant flavors. Bright, good freshness, good acid balance, good palate push. Confident wine. Very nice indeed.

Jojo, Miguel, & Aaron.

Nobody needed to read the menu, and left the ordering to me. Again, no fooling around - in short order, 3 orders of Spaghetti Bottarga hit the table - our favorite pasta dish at Mamou and Mamou Too! excellent as ever. I continued with the above-mentioned champagne with this.

Miguel had brought a 1991 López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Gran Reserva Blanco for the night's still white, but, since we were still finishing off the first champagne, we saved that for another day (hopefully for JC de Terry's coming Rioja Cuisine Festival).

Halfway through the pasta course, a rosé champagne was opened: Champagne Vilmart & C'ie Cuvée Rubis Brut Rosé - from Jojo, a bubbly by a very highly-regarded owner-grower newly available at Premium Wine Exchange. Very fresh, vibrant, notably vinous strawberry with secondary cherry, slight minerality, with underlying pinot noir "milkiness". Good purity to the surface red berry/fruit and healthy acidity make it, to me, dangerously drinkable. Consequently, I drank my share rather quickly, so didn't have the opportunity to see how it develops in glass. Next time, I will.

For the reds, 3 orders of the Double Size Dry-Aged US Prime Grade Bone-in Rib-Eyes (rare-medium rare, of course) with 6 orders of White Steak Rice. Well, I got one order of the broccoli side dish too, for a semblance of healthiness. 

Naturally, we had to order a couple of Foie Gras Sandwiches just to try out. With steak slices and caramelized bits under the foie, slathered in a concentrated sauce, one has to go to confession after eating this, especially after having steak.

For the above-depicted, heart-stoppingly good mains, we had an array of several reds - all from Bordeaux, though we did not impose any wine theme and did not discuss what we would bring: L-R: 1989 Pichon Lalande (from Jojo), 2000 Le Petit Cheval (from Rene), 1995 Angelus (from Aaron), 1990 Grand-Puy-Lacoste (also from Aaron), 1994 Pichon Lalande (from me)...

...and, last, but certainly not the least, J-Lab's 1998 Carruades de Lafite...

...which was of particular "historical" interest as J-Lab bought his batch of this many years ago. The price tag shows Php3,525 (approximately US$81 by current exchange rate). He said he got this with a courtesy 20% discount, bringing his actual acquisition cost to Php2,280 (or approximately US$65.58 at current exchange rate). Those were the days. Today, wine-searcher pegs the average price world-wide at US$356/bottle (approximately Php15,308).

2000 Le Petit Cheval - Rene's bottle; the 2nd wine of Cheval Blanc. I've had this wine twice before, my last notes on it from a Veuve Cicquot dinner at RED over 3 years ago, on the 2nd December 2009, as follows:

2000 Le Petit Cheval - Doc's bottle. I tried this strong vintage 2nd wine of Château Cheval Blanc in early September 2006 from Bernie when I bumped into him at Je Suis Gourmand. We were having dinner with our respective families; I sent him a glass of 2004 Château de Puligny Montrachet's Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Folatières I was trying out (to see if I should buy more - and I did) and he sent me a glass of this. I didn't write any notes about it, unfortunately, but I do recall clearly that it was very concentrated, opulent, rich, meaty (hefty doses of espresso, leather and a bit of animal) and definitely full-bodied. Thus, it was great to try it again over 3 years later. 

Now, it is notably more calm though still notably concentrated and rich - especially for a 2nd wine. Very ripe plum, cherry/kirsch, chocolate, espresso, dark spice, bit of leather, no more animal. Quietly full-bodied, absolutely no angles, velveteen in texture. This still needs a few years to come together more, but all the materials appear to be there for a most excellent wine. This was my favorite wine of the night.

This subject bottle was very expressive and, comparatively, more stylish and better-knit. Full, luxurious body, with mouth-filling ripe black cherry, kirsch, dark raspberry, mocha, cocoa, creamy vanilla, cedar, and violets. Still young and a tad primary, the quality and longevity of this wine is, to me, quite evident. Hedonistic now, and with great things to look forward to. No rush to open this though, as I believe it will continue to improve for at least a decade or so more.

1998 Carruades de Lafite - J-Lab's bottle; the 2nd wine of Lafite Rothschild. I remember vividly having had a couple of these at my dad's house (his bottles, not mine) in the past 2-3 years, but I apparently made no notes thereon (not surprising as I am not in "blogger mode" when at dad's place - at most, I take a few photos, but make no notes). 

In any event, this was quite a mellow, understated, typical, medium-bodied (maybe slightly more) Pauillac which showed moderate pencil lead shavings, cedar, slight licorice, suggestion of ceps and asphalt undertones in its cassis and black cherry. Quietly confident, in balance, I could call it "classy", not showy or stylish. It was the last red I tried, so my palate was already tiring.

1994 Pichon Lalande - My bottle, one I promised to open with Rene (so I kept my promise). I've written about this repeatedly and consistently positively - that is when not side-by-side a bunch of very fine ones. Bigger, full-bodied, sturdier in structure and more expressive than the '98 Carruades. As it sat in glass, however, the licorice in the dark fruit seemed to get more and more forward - to the point that I found it a bit bothersome and even a tiny bit out of balance. Not the best '94 Pichon Lalande I've had, but not a bad wine by any means.

1990 Grand-Puy-Lacoste - Aaron's bottle; from a highly-respected, over-performing/under-appreciated 5th growth from Pauillac in a great, distinctively ripe vintage. Again, i know I've had this wine more than twice before, but my only old notes on it was from the 10th October 2009, served blind by James de Jesus:

After a few bites of bread and butter, as well as a taste or three of dried sausage, I attempted to identify the wine. My first sip was big, ripe, well-extracted and a bit hot towards the back with sweetish dark fruit, cassis, cedar and a touch of camphor. This made me initially suspect I was being slipped a Bordeaux ringer (i.e., a wine made with a Bordeaux blend, in the Bordeaux style, but made other than in Bordeaux or even France). The Doc assured me it was Bordeaux. 

I tried to settle down a bit and get into tasting mode. A few more sips revealed a good, definitive yet fine strike/attack flowing easily to a fullish middle, tapering smoothly to a long, elegant finish. The dark fruit was very ripe - somewhat sweetish - over cassis, cedar, touch of baked fig, sweet camphor and hints of licorice and truffle. There was a nice, subtle over-all gravelly nuance to the wine. Very silky and refined. Wonderful balance.

The Doc then hinted that we tried this a long time ago from the Stockbroker, but that didn't help me any because we've all shared so many wines over the years.
Because of its ripeness, I said it may be a 1990 or a very well-preserved 1982. Leaning more towards 1990 (though agreeing with one that it may possibly also be a 1989), I said then that it was a left bank 1990. However, because of over-thinking - not trusting my first guess/instincts really - and the mid-mouth red fruit, dried cranberry and plummy notes that seemed to emerge later on - I changed my guess to another wine far off-base. It matters not, to me, that I was on the right path at first, I changed my answer. I just console myself by saying that it's a good thing I wasn't on a game show answering for a million dollars.

The subject wine was halfway between medium and full in body, serene, the flavors consistent with my above-quoted old notes, but without the fig nuance. Incredible balance. Lovely wine. Excellent wine.

1989 Pichon Lalande - Jojo's bottle; one I've had many, many times and have always enjoyed. Again, typically Pauillac, expressive, fleshier because of its merlot content. Particular vintage of Pichon Lalande I have consistently found more of a masculine, ruggedly handsome type - with more savory, warm asphalt, ceps and leather notes (some bottles show a truffled bouquet too) in its firmly structured dark fruit. Another particularly fine wine, notable complexity and balance - to me the only true rival of Aaron's 1990 GPL that night.

Aaron's 1990 Grand-Puy-Lacoste was pretty unanimously called the wine of the night. Though I generally prefer 1989 to 1990 (even when served blind), that night, I had to give the slight edge to the '90 GPL as well. Aaron's 1995 Angelus was saved for another day.

Everyone seemed in fine form that night, especially Jojo who was surprisingly trim and tanned despite his long sojourn in Vancouver. Lots of teasing, jokes, and laughs all around; just like old times.

After a couple of orders of Fuet & Grana Padano (no photo) to finish off the bottles with, dessert was a few orders of Pecan Pie with Schlag. Double espressos capped the night nicely.

Great fun, as always, getting together again. Until the next!

IWFS Manila Ladies' Branch Alsace Event @ Champêtre,

Dinner of this past Tuesday, the 13th August 2013, was the International Wine & Food Society Manila Ladies' Branch's (the "Ladies' Branch") Alsace wine & food event at Marc Aubry's Champêtre. Catha, currently on the Ladies' Branch's board, was one of the organizers, so I helped out a bit (upon her and Cyrene's request) in making menu and pairing wine suggestions - which was no sweat for me as I organized a similar event with Marc for the IWFS Philippines Branch (a.k.a., the "Men's Branch) almost 5 years ago at the old Je Suis Gourmand.

The Ladies' Branch's Alsace Menu
paired with Alsace wine.

It turned out that the Ladies Branch didn't use any of my suggested wine pairings (budgetary constraints played a large part, as I understand), though they did go with my suggested dishes (all typical, traditional Alsace dishes). As always, I brought along my own bottles of wine just for insurance - for purposes of quantity as much as anything else, since the IWFS ladies generally do not drink as much as the men.

The house was packed as the event was very well-attended, the only tables available for walk-ins were those outside. I was seated at my usual table, together with family and friends: Catha, Tad & Chako, Michelle (Catha's sister), Sylvia, Minnie (who recently joined the Ladies' Branch), and Anne Dumoulin.

On the table for pica-picas were Mini Tarts Flambées & Duck Foie Gras Terrine Mille-Feuilles with Raspberry Compote...

...paired with bottles of 2012 Domaine Mittnacht Frères Pinot Blanc & Auxerrois - a simple, honest, but deftly/notably balanced dry white that shows good freshness in its lightly spicy orchard fruit. If I had to sum the wine up in a word, it would be "precise". Good dryness and acid balance make it food-friendly - quite a nice pairing with the pica-picas.

Cheers from our table!

Next was the delicious Onion & Emmenthal Tart w/ Salad...

...paired with a 2010 Domaine André Ostertag Gewürztraminer - a basic gewürz bottling from a highly respected Alsace producer (nb: it was Ostertag's wines that got me interested in Alsace's vinous offerings; a favored producer of Bernie Sim who introduced me to their wines many years ago). Just a touch of residual sugar to the lively, fresh lychee and peach reminiscent fruit. Clean lines, good focus. It was a good pairing as the wine's fruit ran with the caramelized onion' sweetness and the former's fresh acidity was a nice foil to the emmenthal's slightly gamy, savory earthiness.

Just for fun, I brought along a basic 2011 Domaine Hugel Gewürztraminer also for the onion-emmenthal tart, and it was decent enough, but the Ostertag's comparatively cleaner lines, better focus, and brighter acid balance made for a much better pairing.

I also brought along a 2003 Léon Beyer Cuvée des Comtes de Eguisheim Gewürztraminer for comparative pairing purposes. The Cuvée des Comtes d'Eguisheim is Beyer's top-of-the-line bottling, so, aside from it being from a different vintage, it is no fair comparison for the aforementioned basic bottlings of Ostertag and Hugel, especially in terms of heft, middle, finish, depth, complexity, elegance, and general palate-presence. Lovely wine on its own, but the acidity was on the low side for me (due to the unusually warm 2003 weather, for sure), so, as a pairing, the clearly Ostertag carried the night.

Bacchus Int'l carries the Beyer brand, but no longer imports its Cuvée des Comtes d'Eguisheim line. Since Catha favors this bottling, we picked up some bottles (including the subject bottle) during our last visit to Beyer's wine shop in Eguisheim's town plaza this past March.

Tad & I.

Then came the most anticipated of the night's dishes: Choucroute Garnie with Goose Confit. This was excellent, and loaded with goodies - at a much higher garnie-to-choucroute ratio than typically served in Alsace. The goose confit was tender, moist, deeply flavored. Delicious, honest, hearty, comforting fare - typical of Marc's style that has kept me coming back for more for almost a decade.

More than enough food for everyone...

...with lots to spare.

For the main course was paired the 2012 Domaine Mittnacht Frères Riesling Les Fossiles - Beautiful specimen of Alsace riesling: dry but with well-focused, notably fresh, properly ripe fruit/citrus infused with minerally cold stoniness. Good purity, focus, and refreshing acid balance. Very food-friendly. As a pairing, for the main course, well, let's just say I do not think any wine pairs as well with Alsatian choucroute (garnie, royale, or otherwise) as good Alsatian riesling - and this is definitely a very good one. Hats off to Catha, Cyrene de la Rosa, and Nicole Panlilio-Morris of the Ladies' Branch, as, I understand they determined the wine pairings. Great job, ladies. I was impressed.

For those interested in trying out or buying more of the subject wines, all wines mentioned herein, except those by Hugel and Beyer (which I brought to the event), are available locally at Jerome Philippon's Sommelier Selection.

Plum & Cherry Tarte w/ Kirsch Ice Cream & Sauce for dessert.

With and after the delightfully bright and palate resuscitating dessert course, I served a 2000 Léon Beyer Pinot Gris Vendanges Tardives - another bottle (a late harvest pinot gris) Catha and I picked up from the Beyer shop in Eguisheim this past March. Moderate scents of spicy, wild-honey-touched dried apricot, peach, bit of baked pear, hints of lemon curd, with a soft, minerally underbelly. Mirrored on the palate on a supple medium-body. The middle could be more pronounced; the finish of decent length. Quite nice, but, honestly, I was too full to pay it the attention it deserves.

Good job, Ladies! Great food, Marc! Until the next!

Fresh French Summer Truffles & Red Burgs.

Dinner last night, Friday the 9th August 2013, was at Cyrille & Anna Soenen's Brasserie CiÇou to partake in it's on-going French Summer Truffle Menu. Cyrille, Anna & children recently got back from their annual vacation in France, bringing back some fresh summer truffles, so the truffle menu is only good while supply lasts. This special menu started off this past Tuesday, and, as of last night, I understand that the truffle stock is already half gone - so hurry if you want to enjoy the dishes.

Good friend and regular drinking buddy, Richard Joye, just got back from 2 weeks' vacation in Japan, and, after a self-inflicted 3-day cleansing diet of pineapples (I don't even want to imagine that), messaged that he wanted to get together for the summer truffle menu over some aged Burgundy reds as he is to leave shortly for a long business trip to the USA and Europe. I readily agreed to join in.

We started off with a bottle of Champagne Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé NV - J-Lab's bottle, a batch straggler that escaped his notice in his cav for several years. He can't remember exactly how many years it lay forgotten under a pile of other bottles, but I noted that, while still frothy upon pouring, it isn't as bright, lively or effervescent as younger bottles of this bubbly would be, and displayed mainly strawberry and slight currant mid-palate, a vague suggestion of café crème underneath, with fruit-pit emerging in the finish. Still, it was a pleasant enough way to start a meal.

As always at Brasserie CiÇou, I dug into a bunch of their Mini Baguettes - the best in the country in my never-so-humble opinion. Served hot, with good butter, they are one of life's simple joys.

First for Catha and I was the excellent Salade Périgourdine - jambonnette of duck breast, foie gras, marinated pear in sweet white wine, mesclun salad, walnuts, and fresh summer truffles.

Masarap na, para healthy pa!

Second was the indulgently creamy, meltingly earthy and delicious Warm Brie de Meaux with Fresh Summer Truffles & Mesclun Salad...

...which went magnificently with the 1979 Michel Ollivier Chassagne-Montrachet Tête de Cuvée Rouge - Richard's bottle (he is friends with the producer and often buys from them). A few notches lighter than being medium-bodied, it presents unmistakably as a red Burgundy, though, if served blind, I'd not have been able to guess where exactly within Burgundy it was from.

It is definitely still alive, showing mild iron and blood notes in its cep, walnut skin and violet-touched dark red berry and fruit essence. Its finish simply ran with the truffle and cheese's creamy earthiness. Lovely pairing in that not only were both the wine and the dish reciprocally enhanced, the combined finish also brought a whole new nutty-creamy-gamey flavor and sensation altogether.

J-Lab needed to borrow Catha's reading glasses to read the labels...

...much to Richard's amusement.

Next up was a 1985 Pothier-Rieusset Pommard 1er Cru Rugiens - My bottle (nb., the niece of the old winemaker, Virgile Pothier-Rieusset, Marianne, married Laurent Pillot and brought with her to Domaine Pillot half of the Pothier-Rieusset estate. By 2001, the Pillots acquired the other half, thus, taking over the entire estate and bringing its vineyards under the Pillot name). I'd not had any wine from this producer before, so I didn't really know what to expect, though I am quite familiar with the wines from Pommard's 1er cru Rugiens vineyards.

Richard, who heavily favors the 1er cru Epenots wines when it comes to Pommard, tried it first and quickly pronounced it still good and that he liked it. Trying it myself, I feel that its 28 years from vintage has materially mellowed out the, at times, burly, typical masculine Pommard rusticity. Medium-bodied, serene, showing notes of ceps, slight sous bois, bit of cedar, and old book-pressed violets in its age-smoothened black cherry, dark raspberry and underlying dark plum. Quite nice, and from the year Catha & I started going out together late in junior year college.

Richard takes in the wine's & truffles' aromas.

For main courses, Catha had the above-depicted Eggs Benedict with Truffle Hollandaise & Fresh Summer Truffles; while J-Lab & Richard both went for the Sous-Vide Onglet Rossini Style with Assorted Mushrooms in Cream & Truffled Mashed Potatoes.

I wanted something simple and hearty to let the truffles take center stage, so I had the Aligot: Fresh Tome Cheese Mashed Potatoes & Roasted Home-Made Garlic Pork Sausage...

...and an extra serving of Shaved Black Summer Truffles.

The third of the evening's reds was a 1990 Daniel Rion Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Chaumes - Typically deeper, more concentrated, materially riper (the vintage as well), darker fruit accented with the distinctive soy sauce-hoisin sauce reminiscent Vosne spice. Obviously of bigger build and heftier than the previous two, it was also more stylish in its typicity. Velvety, markedly ripe (not quite roasted-ripe), spiced dark cherry and raspberry, hint of kirsch, underlying nuances of dried figs, cedar and dark violets. Definitive from attack to moderately long finish. The bouquet was not as expressive or sweetly truffled as the last bottle of this I opened, but it was still very nice.

This was my main pairing for my Aligot.

Cyrille & Anna joined us for a few glasses and to catch up...

...joined later on by Jim & Ella who also happened to be dining there.

Still having some bottles to enjoy, we had the cheese plate featuring some 12-Month Aged Laguiole.

With this we had a bottle of 2002 Faiveley Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Champonnets - J-Lab's bottle, served popped-and-poured. Faiveley's wines, in my own experience, really need many years to strut their stuff; and are still infants at 11 years from vintage. I guess 2002 was a precocious year for the producer, or, maybe Gevrey-Chambertin or even the Côte de Nuits in general, as this wine, though still obviously young, was nowhere near as surly, closed, or ungiving as the 1998 Faiveley Latricières-Chambertin or 2001 Faiveley Latricières-Chambertin at 13 and 10 years from vintage, respectively.

Well, either that or Faiveley implemented a change in style in the past 11 years - I really wouldn't know as I've long learned to leave their wines alone to age for long before trying to enjoy them, so I hardly ever try them out young. In any event, with coaxing swirls and a some minutes in the glass, the wine did show more openly than I expected, though it is still obviously very young and a bit tight. Still, one could already make out its rigid structure and masculine character in its still primary, mildly brambly, spiced fruit.

For the blue cheese, we had a half bottle of 2008 De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon - J-Lab's bottle. Catha said it was her first time to try an Australian botrytis cinerea-infected sweet wine and was very surprised how much it reminded her of a Sauternes. With its vibrant and forward canned peach, apricot-in-syrup, orange marmalade, slightly spicy honey, and creamy vanilla notes, it is, undeniably, a crowd-pleaser. Richard correctly noted that it is readily enjoyable, though not elegant or complex as a fine Sauternes or Barsac. For a casual sweet white, it is highly recommendable. In my experience, Australia is pretty reliable and good at making inexpensive botrytised semillon.

Richard opened another bottle of rosé champagne after, I vaguely recall it was a Moët & Chandon Rosé Imperial NV, but I don't remember for sure, and I forgot to take a photo of the bottle.

Naturally, I could not leave without having Cyrille's deservedly famous
Kouign Amann with Salted Caramel Ice Cream.

A choice of digestifs compliments of Cyrille.

A toast to CiÇou's Summer Truffle Festival!

The evening's reds.

Excellent night! Until the next!