16 July 2010: I have attended a number of wine tasting dinners at unusual venues, but this one completely took the prize of being the most imaginative! It was about 8 pm. We were led through a spacious cafeteria inside an industrial building in Kwun Tong, where a few revellers from the previous group were on the point of taking their leave from a gregarious dinner gathering, past the kitchen that had been working very hard, into a brightly lit, white-washed private room. Inside the room was a large square table, already laden with a number of dishes ranging from pasta cooked simply with butter and garlic to risotto with shitake mushrooms and smoked salmon to braised oxtail! I felt very honoured to be invited to be part of this wine tasting dinner, having taught some of the fellow diners who are busy revising for their WSET exam at the end of the month.
Usual format. Each person brings a bottle of wine (or two). I picked the 2007 Keller Riesling Kabinett "limestone" to start with. Klaus Peter Keller belongs to the younger generation of well-trained, well-travelled and inspired winemakers who have been demonstrating to the world that high quality wines can come from Rheinhessen, particularly not from the steep terraces on the Rhine but on mixed soils far from the Rhine. Keller is based in Flörsheim-Dalsheim, in the south of Rheinhessen. My impression of the 2007 Riesling Kabinett: a medium lemon-yellow colour, intense nose of floral, pineapple, lychee, honey and mineral, the judicious amount of residual sugar well balanced by a good level of acidity, medium body and finishes long. A very well-made Riesling - just delicious on its own.
Then I tried the 1998 Bruno Giacosa Nebbiolo d'Alba that I had brought. On the nose, rose, violet, spicy, peppery, mocha and a hint of leather. Nicely aged Nebbiolo, still with plenty of acidity to make it a good accompaniment to the risotto. Drinking at peak now, not a wine for much further keeping.
The 2006 Echézeaux by Gros Frère et Soeur showed much readiness for drinking. Once in the glass, without any need for decanting, it displayed a lovely perfume of ripe red fruits (raspberry, red cherries) and even some blackberries, some spiciness and a good dose of minerality. Medium bodied, velvet-textured, balanced, well-integrated smooth tannins, less generous with the acidity. Finish was somewhat short and not exactly memorable. The wine somehow lacked depth, concentration and grip. Retasting the wine after 1.5 hour of opening (still in the bottle), the wine tasted rather flat and uninteresting. Judging by tonight's performance, would recommend early to medium-term drinking for maximum enjoyment. Burghound gave it a score of 90 - will check again his notes.
By comparison, the 2007 Saint Romain by Taupenot Merme showed a sprightly purple colour, very youthful, fruity and spicy.
The surprise wine of the evening was Château Grillet 1983. The colour was a bright yellow, showing hardly any signs of its age. The wine took a little time in the glass to settle down after the shock of exposing it to air. The result was a complex bouquet of nutty, smoky and honey, still retaining faint aromatic remnants of its earlier life: peach, yoghurt and floral notes. Medium body, but much of the acidity (characteristic of the Viognier variety, acidity was not high to start with anyway) had faded away. Some length. A wine probably past its peak, but drinking well still with some interest.
The 2006 Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits, Gros Frère et Soeur was an immediately impactful wine, with much more obvious oak, already showing a complex nose of lemon curd, peppery, nutmeg, spicy, toast, smoky, and nutty. Good level of acidity, with a medium body and some richness. Normally all Chardonnay, with the odd addition of Pinot Gris or Pinot Blanc in certain vintages. Wonder if this is the case here, given the richness and roundness. Medium length. Drinking very well now but will evolve over next 3 - 4 years for those who love their white burgundies with a bit of age. Perfect accompaniment with food, such as lobster with creamy sauce, quenelles, escargots or just simply a nice piece of well-aged comté.
The chef/proprietor also brought us a bottle of wine to try. 2007 Merlot by Samuel Champlain, Vin de Pays Atlantique. A pretty wine with black fruit, plums, chocolate and coffee. A wine for early enjoyment. Thank you, Chef! Very kind!
We finished with a Cream Sherry by Gonzalez Byass. Very attractive nose of walnuts, caramel, treacle, coffee and herbal. Just perfect with the cappucino cheese cake prepared by the chef!
A very enjoyable evening and plenty of interesting contributions from everyone! I think one of them promised some whiskies for the next gathering - definitely looking forward to that!
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