Lobster Encounters

Chis Low: It was Lionel's idea after he had some great lobster meal at Elegance Inn menara Hup Seng (lobster stir fry with goose liver and another style was lobster stir fry with salted egg york)A dejavu of the global economic crisis? Because the lobster is only RM38 per 100gm!In a fine dining Cantonese restaurant.

And he share this lovely dining experience to me on the next day and i immediately propose; why don't we do it ourselves? Coming Sunday, here i was with 2 nos (close to 6kg for RM550)live Australian live lobster. Trust me, to kill both of the the giant shellfish is like having a session of arm wrestling with a full grown man. But the rewards is sweet.

We prepared the shellfish in 3 ways: Shashimi one of the tail for starter, lightly batter and pan fry the other tail so that we can make a macaroni cheese and lastly i steam the heads and claws with light soy sauce, brandy and some old ginger from Bentong. And the results? 5 hungry souls satisfied with Chris Low uric acid raised to the top of the profile!And we finished the meal together with Mumm Cordon Rouge Champagne.

Merely one week after the home cook lobster meal at Lionel's house. I rejoin my Singaporean "makan kaki" for a dinner in Imperial Treasure-Great wall City. This round of lobster meal is slight more intense...on the wine side. Thanks Robin for lovely Burgundies for that night. We had an St-Aubin from Domaine Leroy and lovely Vosne- Romanee 2006(surprise me that is so drinkable at this early stages)

And i always argue or debate with my vino friends that Bordeaux is perfect match with Cantonese cuisine and this was proven right again with Chateau L' Evengile 1985 and Chateau Cos d' Estournel 1990.

Light seared Scallop with egg white omelet and truffle oil. And the Champagne Jacquesson Vintage 1996 lift up the dish so well.

Cantonese style salt and pepper lobster tail, this went extremely yummy with the Bordeaux.

LOSBTER..anyone?

Farewell Dim Sum Brunch end January

Lionel: I hosted a small farewell dim sum brunch for my friend Carla, the outgoing GM of The Carcosa just before CNY. It was at one of my favourite chinese restaurants, The Elegant Inn at Menara Hap Seng.  They had just started serving dim sum a few months ago and I have to say, although the selection is small, it has to be one of the best in KL.

Totally, decadent as I chose to pair this wonderful brunch with champagne. The first was a bit of a oddity, a 1988 Dom Perignon which was given to us to try as it hadn't been stored very well and the neck level was already down to almost shoulder level on the bottle.

Now, for those uninitiated, dim sum and champagne is a pairing made in heaven. The delicacy of the dishes and the wine meld together seamlessly, and the bubbles just cleanses the palatte ever so gently to accomodate the next delightful morsel!

I know it doesn't look like much, but this is the ingredeints that went into the soup, damn nice with the champagne too!
Fried carrot cake
Fried Yam dumplings, yum, yum
These are the prawns wrapped in cheese and beancurd roll!
It was oxidized of course but still winderful, the honeyed secondary caracthers were all there and maybe even more so, hardly any bubbles left but what an interesting drink it made. Wonderful!
Steam Prawn dumplings of course
Now, I can't remember what these were called. they were like paus but with cream paste flavoured with mint. lovely
A hallmark of a good HK trained chef is if they can produce a "Chew Yim" salt and pepper dish, sounds simple but very difficult to do well. This is white bait friend in salt and pepper, perfection!
Of course, one bottle of champagne isn't enough. So a bottle of Drappier 2002, yum yum
Siew Mai or prawn and meat dumpling
Best Malai koh in town, yes not many people do this and most of them are terrible. This is melt in your mouth stuff, must try!
AS you can see almost didn't get a chance for the picture, very, very good egg custart

Vintage Assets on BFM, 89.9 - The Business Station

Catch Vintage Assets: The Success Investment Story at 7.00pm, this Thursday, 19 February 2009 on The Late Late Business Show, BFM, 89.9 - The Business Station.

You can also listen to the interview on live podcast at www.bfm.my

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!

Happy New Year!

The Cork Brothers wish all Happy New Year!

Tasting of Pichon Comtesse de Lalande@ Hilton

Happy Chris Low with Gildas d'Ollone

Director General of

Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse De Lalande

Vintage 2004 Ch Pichon Comtesse De Lalande,

in line or better than the 1986 and 1996 Vinatge?

I am thinking of Teppanyaki Wagyu while savouring the fine tannin of this wine...

Reserve de la Comtesse 2003-lots of cassis, warm, up front and already enjoyable at this stage.

and Chateau Bernadotte 2002-Supprisingly backward and green, lots of green pepper linger with some cassis and black olives.

Under ground cellar of Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
(Spring 2008)

Vineyards of Ch. Pichon Comtess de Lalande that oversee Ch. Latour and the Garonne river.
Do you see the tower(La Tour)?
(Spring, 2008)

Happy Chris Low posting infront at the Garden of Ch. Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande during the 2007 En Primuer Campaign.

(Spring, 2008)

Chris Low: The Cork Brothers was invited to the Trade tasting of Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande organised by Milawa. We had the oppercunity of sampling 3 wines from the esteem Chateau and presented by Mr Gildas d' Ollone-Director General of the Chateau.

Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is a 2nd Cru Classe of Pauillac.

History of Pichon.

This prestigious viticultural estate was created by Pierre de Mazure de Rauzan in the 17th c. Château Pichon-Longueville-Comtesse-de-Lalande has carefully kept important archives including a great many records relating to the purchase of lands the estate is composed of between 1686 and 1689. Pierre de Mazure de Rauzan gave the vineyard to his daughter Thérèse as her dowry when she married Jacques de Pichon, baron de Longueville, the first president of the Bordeaux parliament.

In the 18th c., baron Joseph de Pichon, born 1755, died 1850, through his intelligence and strong personality, left his stamp on this estate by his great qualities as viticultor. The poet Biarnez celebrated baron Joseph’s 90-year long life linked to the quality of his wines. In 1850, in execution of his will, kept in the château’s archives, baron Joseph’s estate was shared between his five children, 2/5 to his two sons and 3/5 to his three daughters who entrusted their shares to countess Henri de Lalande. From then on there were two châteaux Pichon-Longueville, one belonging to the baron and the other to the countess.

Precious documents reveal rigorous management by the countesses de Lalande and Lacroix who looked after the estate in succession: day-books, books of accounts and despatch are an inexhaustible supply of information covering the period 1860-1910. In 1925, Louis and Edouard Miailhe bought the estate from the descendants of the Pichon-Longuevilles.

Since 1978, Madame de Lencquesaing, daughter of Mr. Edouard F. Miailhe administers Pichon-Longueville-Lalande with the help of a young professional and dynamic team. To this day all the furniture as it was arranged by the countess de Lalande plus several pictures painted by Sophie de Pichon Longueville remain as faithful witnesses of this illustrious family’s daily life.

Today Pichon is extremely up-to-date with its equipment - cellars and fermentation-room - allied to a profound respect for family tradition. Overlooking the estuary and the vineyards of Pauillac and Saint-Julien, an enormous panoramic terrace has two majestic wine stores. Similarly a precious collection of ancient glasses includes very lovely articles from Roman to modern times.

Thanks to the regularity of their quality, their elegance and their complexity, the wines of Pichon-Longueville-Comtesse-de-Lalande have won the esteem of wine-lovers the world over...I mean, for those who loves the finess, and feminine touch of the countess.


PS. This estate has been sold to the Louis Roederer/Deutz champagne firm .