19 July 2010: Totally unplanned, joined some girl friends for dinner at The French Window. The food was better than I remembered (last went in January for Richard's birthday), less gimmicky, more thoughtful and more flavoursome! We started with a bottle of Jacquart Mosaïque NV (assemblage of Chardonnay 35 - 40%, Pinot Noir 40 - 45%, Pinot Meunier 15 - 20%). Tiny persistant bubbles, a light golden colour. Aromas of pear, green apples, toast and grilled nuts leapt out of the glass. Refreshing acidity, subtantial enough to make it a good accompaniment to dishes such as my lovely scallops with truffle and mashed potato! Nice finish. I chose a Hungarian dry white for the evening: 2004 Oremus Tokaji Furmint Mandolás. A golden coat, noticeable age on the nose, with aromas of honey, hazelnuts, peach and tropical fruit. Still a good dose of acidity. Medium body with some richness. Perhaps lightly short on the length. A fruity style wine of some complexity but tasted a little tired last night- I would have preferred it when the wine still retained its fiery character and freshness. It went well with my friends' main courses, including the Bouillabaisse and ravioli with lobster in creamy truffle sauce.
I thought I did much better with the red: 2005 Fattoria Le Pupille Poggio Valente. The appellation is Morellino di Scansano. Scansano is one of the coastal regions in Tuscany and Morellino is the local clone for Sangiovese. The estate is owned by Elisabetta Geppeti (http://www.elisabettageppeti.com/). Poggio Valente is a wine made with 4 different Sangiovese clones (with some Alicante) grown on a single vineyard of 12 hectares. The first vintage was 1997 after Elisabetta bought the vineyard in 1996. I was really impressed by it - great value-quality wine, I think around HK$ 750 a botle on the wine list. After fermentation and MLF in stainless steel vats, the wine would spend around 15 months in 40% new oak and the remainder second-wine barrels. The wine is typically released 3 years after vintage. Medium body, firm tannins, vivacious acidity making up this well-textured wine with great balance. Aromas of red cherries, plums, undergrowth, herbal, sweet spices and a faint hint of smokiness and leather. A nice long finish. A wine style that combines concentration of ripe fruit, complexity, perfect balance, grippy texture and length. Drinking well now, and will continue to evolve over the next 5 - 6 years. 17/20
The red went really well with my duck dish - I finished every scrap! The perfectly cooked to medium duck breast was topped with a lovely layer of crispy pork crackling, and served with rather dainty spinach "croque-monsieur" triangles. Such delightful assembly and great flavours...a very brave combination of crackling and duck breast, but neither one ingredient was overpowering the other. The spinach was a little strange - perhaps Swiss Chard or kale would have been a more appropriate accompaniment.
A pity the restaurant wasn't busier last night (though admitted, it was Monday night) - it deserves better recognition!
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