In e-heaven.

Warning: Long post ahead.

After almost being missing in action for the whole weekend until Monday, I felt so refreshed and energized for the week ahead. The short break was so good, it's almost like spending a weekend in the skies. And yesterday's dinner calling from Mr.L was the seal of the greatest weekend of all times!

Expensive Heaven..

Mr.L lost a bet with me. The 1st negotiation was 20 bottles of Mouton. And since I did not state the vintage nor the classification of the wine, he took advantage of the situation and offered me the Mouton Cadet (a generic Bordeaux wine from Baron Phillipe de Rothschild) instead of the Chateau Mouton Rothschild. Gracefully, I accepted since I was trying to prove that I can drink cheap wines too! Thus the dinner calling was initially (or so I thought) a Mouton dinner.

Without any expectations, so I went. Was supposed to start off with a foot reflexology nearby Imbi Palace but can't make it on time as I was too tired and was resting at home. We started off with a fantastic yet exotic appetiser.

Beluga Caviar

The Beluga Caviar is the ultimate caviar in terms of price and taste. It is the roe of the Beluga Sturgeon Huso Huso which is currently considered to be endangered. It's the most expensive type of caviar, with present market prices ranging from $7,000 to $10,000 per 1 kg. Beluga is usually handled with a spoon made of mother of pearl, bone, or other non-metallic material, as metal utensils tend to impart an unwelcome metallic taste to the delicate and expensive roe. It should also be served in the container on a plate of ice to keep the caviar cool.

And the Beluga caviar is best paired with a Krug Champagne!

Krug served in a unique Champagne glass.

Perhaps the greatest name in the history of champagne that lives for many years in a bottle is none other than KRUG. And to drink a truly great king of champagnes, Big E brought some wonderful limited edition glasses that she has been keeping for god-knows-how-many-years! On the palate, it has a very creamy bouquet, fine bubblies, a little toasty and has a long and lingering crisp finish. The Krug Grande Cuvee is a real mosaic of flavours with a blend of 40 to 50 wines, 20 to 25 crus and 6 to 10 different years. It's easily above RM600 a bottle. The Dom Perignon pales in comparison.

Mouton Cadet 2004

Before we move on to more great food and even bigger wines, we had to have a taste of this Mouton Cadet, the very reason we are having this dinner. I actually enjoy the nose of this wine better than the palate itself. I find it very light-bodied and easy to drink. And because we are always spoilt on drinking fine wines, everyone dreaded drinking from this bottle. I ended up taking half the bottle home later. I think you can easily find this bottle at the supermarkets and it retails at under RM100.

The Food.

Oh, the food is a little different from what we have been having most of the time in Imbi Palace. This time, Mr.L decides to do without the sharksfin & abalone (due to obvious reasons) and we have a number of light dishes. We started off with some fresh oysters, a bowl of chicken and sharks bones soup which is so flavourful and satisfying. Then we have the boiled beef (chinese style as opposed to the ones I had at La Suisse), steamed fish and also the Kobe beef which is pan seared to medium rare. To finish things off, we all had a bowl of birds nest as dessert.

Mr.L being a man of his words did not give me my 20 bottles of Mouton but rather something even much better to make up that number. He offered us two bottles of the very sought after Burgundy which both of them is in my Wine Dream list and I'm so estatic that I can finally proclaim that I had drank it!

And yesterday night, we had 2 bottles of Burgundy by DRC. Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, often abbreviated to DRC, is an estate in Burgundy, France. It is widely considered among the world's greatest wine producers, and DRC bottles are among the world's most expensive.

DRC - Grands Echezeaux 1995

This bottle of the Grands Echexeaux 1995 has a very nice deep red. Robert Parker gave this a 92 points. On the nose, it has a very nice aroma of redcurrants. This wine is very appealing with the plum, and chocolate notes. It's full-bodied, supple-textured and very refined tannins. Definitely at its drinking time now. A quick price check on this bottle indicates nothing less than RM3000. I will suggest that you decant this wine before drinking as it slowly opens up as you drink.

La Tache 2001

Robert Parker gave this a 90-93 points. As reviewed by The Wine Messenger in Issue 13, 2004 (96/100 points). It has strikingly extravagant nose of rose petals, oriental spices, pungent tea and leather notes plus ultra elegant pinot fruit. The powerful, chiseled, pure flavors are remarkably detailed, precise and fine with mind bending complexity yet for all the emotional drama of this wine, it remains understated and almost aloof at the moment. The finish is dense, structured and quite firm though there is nary a hard edge to be found and while this too cannot rival the other worldly 1999, 2001 will one day be thought of as a genuinely excellent vintage for La Tâche. The market price of a bottle of La Tache 2001 today will set you back at least RM10,000.

The expensiveness of food and drinks did not just stop there. The last ultimate digestive for everything good has to be Mr.L's private collection of this 1958 Glenfarclas single malt whisky!

Glenfarclas 1958

There is only 455 bottles around. It's my first time drinking such an old (51 yo) whisky. As you can see, the whisky has a very dark treacle colour. It has a wonderful nose, rich and appetising, malty and licorish. It's a strong whisky for its years, with smooth fresh fruity and floral tastes. Magnificent and the finish is long. I started drinking it neat before adding some ice. The price for this bottle is extravagant too at no less than RM3000.

While I was savouring all these delectable treats, I managed to catch a puff on a Vegas Robaina robusto. It felt like eighth heaven (another e) if there is one!

I don't know exactly how much dinner costs but one thing for sure - I cannot afford this! This is really better that what I've bargained for so thanks Mr.L for all of these! When can we start betting again?

Doesn't the "e" fits into this post very well? Eiling, expensive, and eighth heaven.