Old Australian Wine

Scampi and scallops - best scampi ever!

12 Jan 2012: Robert's last dinner in HK before he headed back to Sydney. I decided to take him to Amuse Bouche to regain his confidence in fine dining in Hong Kong.  He once again ordered the tasting menu at Amuse Bouche....and this time he had nothing but compliments for the quality of the cooking.  The black truffle capuccino was a particular highlight for him, as was the scampi and scallop dish - Robert said best scampi he'd ever had.  I had the same dish as main course - the freshness, flavours, and texture, all in perfect proportions.....

I took 2 old Australian bottles along to dinner.....



Chicken liver pate and quail



Yellowtail carpaccio in ginger/wasabi dressing - isn't it like a bouquet of flowers?

1981 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay: Golden colour. A nutty, spicy and honeyed bouquet of honeysuckle, macadamia nuts, dried apricot, dried mango, oatmeal, liquorice and preserved ginger, with hints of smoke.  Full-bodied, luscious, still fresh with good acidity.  Very long finish, almost sweet......Melanie made the best selection of first course, pairing this wine with a chicken liver pâté and roast quail dish.....I probably made the worst selection in terms of food-wine pairing: a very colourful (and tasty) dish of yellow tail carpaccio with salmon roe and ginger/shallot/wasabi dressing......The wine which was so impressive initially, however, did not last the evening and 2.5 hours later, it had lost its zing a bit and became a little dull..... Drink now!  17/20

1987 Cullen's Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot:  Garnet-ruby. Quite a reductive nose (brussel sprouts, cabbage) dominating the other aromas, cedar, earthy, mocha and cherry/plum. Rather lacking in fruit and rather austere/ungenerous on the palate. Slightly drying finish. Tried to give it the benefit of further aeration...but to no avail.  It became less and less interesting. The little fruit it had at the beginning had disappeared by the end of the evening......14/20

The Cullen's might not have been a great example but I have no doubt that great Australian wines do age (and rather well, in the case of the Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay!).  Perhaps it's time we tried the other old bottles from Australia.......otherwise, we'll never know, will we??