Archive for January, 2010
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 1996 Horizontal Tasting
Ahhh, the tasting we’ve all been waiting for. Domaine de la Romanée-Conti or DRC. Wait! We were told that it is sacrilegious to shorten the name and it should be said out in full all the time. I guess when you produce such beautiful wines that are worshiped by every wine connoisseur around the world, such insistence cannot be blamed.
OK, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (thank God for copy and paste in iPhone OS 3). This event was organized by American Express with the wines supplied by Berry Bros & Rudd. Their own Burgundy Director, Jasper Morris MW, hosted the evening for the horizontal tasting of the 1996s. 1996! That’s C and R’s anniversary year. Cool. The dinner was at Grissini at the Grand Hyatt, Hong Kong. We’re not sure why this venue was chosen (the food was just OK), but the private dining room created a very nice intimate atmosphere for the lucky group of 12 enthusiasts.
During the cocktail reception, we (C specifically) indulged in the Krug Champagne, along with the delicious grissini wrapped with prosciutto.
The wines started with the Échézeaux and the Grands Échézeaux. And Jasper’s first reaction to the Échézeaux was “yum”. Yum??? Is such a comment allowed from a Master of Wine? He said that this was a simple reaction to a wine and one doesn’t need to be over detailed in all the different flavors and may distract from the fundamental enjoyment of the wine. That reiterates C’s rating of wines – like it or don’t like it…simple. We concur the “yum” for the Échézeaux, but the Grands Échézeaux was double “yum” being much smoother.
Next was the Romanée-St-Vivant which was more elegant and had more floral notes. This wine was originally from Domaine Marey-Monge, but was bought by Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in 1988 and to pay tribute the the Marey-Monge family, included their name in the Romanée-St-Vivant label. It was a bit young and there are many more years of enjoyment in this wine. The slight acidity in the wine was eaten up nicely by the mascarpone cheese risotto.
The Richebourg was very nice, sort of like a combination of the previous three wines, but done with more finesse. The aromas were less intense to the nose, but had good body and was well balanced. At the same time, we were poured a glass of the La Tâche…the most anticipated wine of the evening. Wow! This was on an entirely different level. Full bodied and multidimensional, this monopole (vineyard controlled by a single winery – literally monopoly) reveals intense flavors both in the glass and on the palate. Having said that, this wine still has years before reaching its peak. And also, for such a respected wine, remember to add the accent on the ‘a’ (La Tâche), otherwise, tache would translate to a stain…a very expensive stain indeed.
The tastings started around 8pm, and the wines were caraffed two hours earlier. Some might argue that Burgundy wines should not be caraffed (or decanted) due to their delicate nature. But the reasoning for our 96s was that they are still young and therefore caraffed to aerate the wine. This is opposed to decanting, which is the process of separating the sediment from the wine.
Thanks to our friends at American Express and Berry Bros & Rudd, we were fortunate enough to take home a set of empty bottles of the great wines that we tasted. This will add nicely to our 1996 bottle collection. Very memorable.
– 16/20 (Échézeaux)
– 16.5/20 (Grands Échézeaux)
– 16/20 (Romanée-St-Vivant)
– 18/20 (Richebourg)
– 19/20 (La Tâche)
100129 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti - Carafes of 96s
100129 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti - Jasper Morris MW
100129 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti - 1996 collection
Great Pizza @ Gvsto, Hong Kong
We planned for a casual lunch at this Italian restaurant in the new Nexxus Building in Central, Hong Kong on a nice Saturday afternoon. Didn’t plan to do a review, but had our camera close at hand for other purposes. There’s a set menu with buffet appetizers and desserts plus a choice of main courses, either pasta or meats. But what caught our taste bud’s attention was the pizza at the buffet appetizer area. We noticed a new one was bought out from the kitchen, but we must have taken a slice at least 5-10 minutes afterwards. Even after the delay, the pizza was very good – the crust was a bit chewy, the way we like it. Those who like it very crispy might be disappointed. And the proportion of the tomato paste and cheese was just right, neither over powering the other. We went back for more, but it was a bit cold by then. The waiter told us that they didn’t use a brick oven, but rather just a specialized pizza oven. That explains why it lacked a bit of the brick oven’s burnt aromas. Nevertheless, it was very impressive.
We will definitely come back for a more formal tasting and review.
– 18/20 (for the pizza)
Gvsto Pasticceria – Ristorante
2/F, Shop 201-203, Nexxus Building
77 Des Voeux Road
Central, Hong Kong
T: +852 2147 3768
E: info@gvsto.com.hk
W: www.gvsto.com.hk
100116 Gvsto
100116 Gvsto - Pizza
100116 Gvsto - Pizza
Brie at Gaddi’s, Hong Kong
Updated on Jan 25th, 2010 with feedback from C.
Ah Gaddi’s again… Didn’t intend to do a full review this time, but brought the camera along…just in case. Luckily we did. In between our soup and main course, the captain asked us if we liked cheese… You must be kidding…of course!!! YES!!!
Just when we thought the question was referring to an after dinner cheese trolley of some sort, a cheese dish appeared in front of our eyes. It was a long strip of Brie! In the middle of a course? It turned out to be Brie marinated with truffle. Kept in the fridge for a few days, it was served slightly melted on a bed of truffle mash potatoes and topped with more truffles. Wow! The taste was not as pungent as we expected (judging from the ingredients), but it was just right as it did not overwhelm the main course that followed.
We later found out that this was a teaser for the black truffle dinner at the end of January. Reservation please.
– 20/20 18/20
Gaddi’s
Peninsula Hotel Hong Kong
Salisbury Road, Kowloon
Hong Kong
T: +852 2315 3171
W: www.peninsula.com
100109 Gaddi's - Brie marinated with truffle
Review – Pierre, Hong Kong
To celebrate R’s God-Mother’s birthday, we headed to Pierre (from the Michelin chef Pierre Gagnaire), on the top floor of the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong. And whenever we celebrate anything, there’s sure to be good food and wine to come. In hindsight, that’s a real understatement.
The amuse-bouche was in a bamboo steamer filled with a shrimp ball, squid ink gnocchi and veggie. An interesting presentation. And on to our first wine of the evening…a 1966 Palmer from the Margaux region. A very plumy taste and smooth…hold on…I think we have one bottle in our wine fridge somewhere 
Yippeee.
Our first course was the beef jelly with juniper and grilled bread. Paired with Gillardeau oysters, smokes salmon, aubergine and of course oscietre caviar, this combination is to die for. A roasted lobster complemented the 1996 Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill Champagne, one of our favorites, but paled in comparison for what was to come.
Then came the highlight of the evening. When tasted blind, the nose had strong scents of leather and lacquer. A very fruity and balanced wine. We knew it was old but not that old – we all guessed it was from the 1950′s because it was still quite powerful and didn’t seem like anything older. Boy were we wrong…it was a 1918 Gruaud Larose!!! 1918!!! WOW!!! Surprisingly it had pretty good body for such an old wine. This was definitely the highlight of the evening our wine drinking lives. We had this with Parmesan émulsion with black truffle, but the 1918 wine didn’t do this dish justice.
Our next course, foie gras pot au feu with Morteau sausage and Gillardeau oysters. Boy do the Gillardeaus know how to produce oysters, very meaty and creamy. Seemed like the oysters were the main ingredient for this one. Then came two dishes made from roasted Bresse chapon, which is a castrated chicken supposedly yielding more meat that is tender and moist. The first service, as they called it, was the breast and then followed by the leg. At first, the notion of the chapon had us expecting a lot. Maybe it was the high expectations that left us a bit disappointed, it was a bit dry and not extremely tender. Well, we can say that we tasted a castrated chicken! To compliment our main courses, we were lucky to enjoy two great Burgundies – a 1955 Seguin-Manuel Mazis-Chambertin as well as a 1995 DRC Richebourg. What a night!
There were plenty of desserts to satisfy our sweet tooth. The first collection started with an almond with milk jelly, white truffle marzipan and a Beaujolais sorbet. Next was the ginger milk with wild strawberries, which was like the Chinese boiled milk with ginger (薑汁撞奶). But still think such traditional desserts should be enjoyed at places like Yee Shun. And that’s not it…there was a coffee mousseline to complete our satisfying meal, not to mention the birthday cake too!
– 17/20
Pierre
25th Floor, Mandarin Oriental
5 Connaught Road
Central, Hong Kong
T: +852 2825 4001
E: mohkg-pierre@mohg.com
W: www.mandarinoriental.com/hongkong/dining/restaurants/pierre/
100108 Pierre
100108 Pierre - Menu
100108 Pierre - Amuse-bouche
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Review – Sushi Kuu (壽司喰), Hong Kong
This has been C’s regular lunch spots for some time as it is just around the corner from her office. But R and I have never been 
Fortunately R’s golf buddy also recommended this place and he arranged a dinner gathering so that we could try it out. As with all sushi restaurants, we made a point to sit at the sushi counter and specifically requested to be served by the handsome chef, Satoro-san.
As January 1st is also a big festival in Japan, we started off with some traditional Japanese hors d’oeuvres and mochi (rice cake) soup to celebrate the New Year. And what’s a celebration without great wine – our friends bought a bottle of Okunomatsu Daiginjo Shizuku Sake Juhachidai Ihei (奥の松 大吟醸雫酒 十八代伊兵衛). Satoro-san called the shots, so we had no idea what we were to be offered next. We started with some dried scallops topped with salmon roe. Then came the sashimi, which was very fresh and the o-toro (fatty tuna) was stunning – literally melted in our mouths like butter. The sake was a bit sweet on the first sip, but opened up and paired perfectly with the sashimi. The next surprise was the seared salmon wrapped in lettuce, which was very refreshing. A delicious baked lobster followed, but we were thinking “cooked food already? What about the sushi???” Lo and behold, we had something we never tried before – yaki hamachi (seared yellowtail) sushi. Excellent. Could this be even better than yaki toro (seared tuna)? We’ll soon find out. A boiled carrot again had us wondering is that all the sushi he’s going to serve us??? But it must have been intended as a palate cleanser. O-toro, yaki toro and saba (mackerel) were served one after the other. And yes, the yaki hamachi was better than the yaki toro, maybe because it was the first time we tried it. To top it off, a steamed sushi rice included awabi (abalone), anago (conger eel), ikura (salmon roe), uni (sea urchin) and kani (crab) served in a bamboo steamer. To end, we had a small sample of cold somen noodles, which is thinner and more refreshing than the Inaniwa udon we normally have. It was good that we could order as much or as little as we liked. After all that food, we couldn’t resist to try the noodles, but a full portion would have been too much.
During dessert (Japanese melon followed by mochi), Satoro-san asked us if we liked whiskey…are you kidding? He treated us to a glass of Lagavulin 16 years. The single malt was really smokey, which we enjoyed very much, and it really got us going. We were then dared to try a 46% alcohol rice wine – Echigo Samurai 46 degrees (越後さむらい46度)! We were up to the challenge and it actually drank very easily and smooth. Very pure and no we didn’t have a throbbing headache or hangover afterwards.
Worked out to HK$1,200/US$154 per person, quite reasonable for the quality of food that we had. This is no doubt one of the best sushi places in town. Comparable to some of the Michelin star restaurants in Tokyo. The proportion of rice to fish was perfect and the rice was squeezed just right. Hate it when some places give you a huge block of rice and worse when it all falls apart. None of that here. A very memorable experience and I’m sure R will be nagging C non-stop for not taking us here earlier. Another great place for sushi…and on Hong Kong island too! Yippeee.
– 19/20
Sushi Kuu 壽司喰
1/F Wellington Place
2-8 Wellington Street
Central, Hong Kong
T: +852 2971 0180
E: mail@sushikuu.com.hk
100105 Sushi Kuu - Chopsticks cover
100105 Sushi Kuu - Chopsticks holder
100105 Sushi Kuu - Handsome chef, Satoro-san
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