Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Christmas and New Years Eve 08

Lionel: I know this is damn late but like they say late better than never. For Christmas dinner which was a whole smoked Gammon ham together with a lovely USDA roast beef, we had 2 lovely and powerful wines.

The first one is from an estate name Chateau Montelena, no it's not French in fact it's from Napa Valley, California. This estate produced a Chardonnay which was part of a handful of wines that beat the French wines in the tasting of Paris 1976. we had a 1996 that evening and it showed how well a little age will do for this big, muscular Californian Cabernet. Silky smmoth but with loads of fruit and depth of power and finesse.

This was followed Cortaccio from Villa Cafaggio, this is an estate located in Greve, central to the Chianti Classico region. With recent investments it is now a very modern and forward thinking winery. The Cortaccio is a 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Sangiovesse blend. 

A 1999, this is a wine that if tasted blind most would say that it's from the new world. Made with all the modern techniques allowed and from a very nice year. Unctous, juicy and ripe.





Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon 1996
Villa Cafaggio, Cortaccio 1999
These are some of the wines and whiskys served at my place on the 31st December 2008.

Pre Christmas Singapore 08

Lionel: a good friend and business partner of ours resides in Singapore and in the last 2 years we have made it a point to visit them just before Christmas to have an early christmas dinner. Yes, its just an excuse to eat some good food and drink great wines. But really why should we need an excuse, life's too short! So, just do it.

We arrived in Singapore just in time for lunch and this was at the Crystal Jade at Paragon on Orchard rd. Now for those who haven't been to a Crstal Jade restaurant in Singapore, let me tell you now that the ones opened in KL recently are a pale shadow of whats on offer in Singapore.

Thats another story for another day, well we had lovely dim sum and we started it off with a lovely bottle of Ch Lynch Bages 2000. Now this is a 5th growth that sells for the price of a 2nd growth sometimes even more. Great wine, great vintage.



This was followed by another 2000 but this time it was from the right bank, which means it is dominated by Cabernet Franc and Merlot and not Cabernet Sauvignon as they are on the left bank. Chateau Angelus is from the appelation of St Emilion and if you think that the bottle looks familiar, it was the wine featured in the movie " Casino Royale" in the scene where Daniel Craig's Jame Bond meets his female counterpart on the train.
After an afternoon of shopping, we prepared for dinner with a 1996 Dom Perignon and then preceded to a new establishment that apparently is listed as one of the new restaurants in town that one must visit.
Its named The White Rabbit and its located in the Dempsey area in an old church building.
Food was good and the ambiance was lovely, service was good and of course the wines we brought along was great. Starting with the Chateau Latour 2002, young but lovely drinking nonetheless.
This was followed by one of the new wines by Harlan Estate, the cult Californian. This was the Pluribus, obviously new world in style and Cabernet Sauvignon on speed!
Last but not least is a wine that I believe should be on the list of 100 wines to drink before you die.This is the 2002 Kracher number 12. The late Alois Kracher from Austria was regarded as a genius and one of the world's best sweet winemakers by many and his TBA's which are numbered according to the concentration levels are amazing as they are rare. Find some quick, you won't regret it!

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Happy New Year!

The Cork Brothers wish all Happy New Year!