Champagnes & Wonderful reds

Ok, I do admit that sometimes I'm very spoilt when it comes to dining and drinking. I have friends with fine tastebuds and thus sometimes the dinner can get a little lavish. So happened that during dinner sometime ago, it also coincides with my sis getting a promotion and it was very kind of my friend to call for a celebration with some wonderful bubblies.

Dom Perignon 2002

The Dom needs no introduction. However, the latest release of the 2002 shows that it is capable of drinking well with a very floral bouquet, hints of ripe apricots, passion fruits and peaches on the palate and a finish with a subtle hint of bitterness. It's good to drink now.



Right after we finished sipping our Dom, a lady brought in a plate of strawberries. At the corner of my eyes, I've already spotted a bottle of Cristal, the jewel and tête de cuvée of Champagne Louis Roederer chilling in the champagne bucket. I was squealing with delight but my sis was kinda blur and didn't know I was excited about her favourite champagne.







"If a wine could ever make you want to pull the top down on your '68 Ferrari convertible, rip off the rearview mirror and take off, this is it" as quoted by Wine & Spirits.



And so, the strawberries were meant to go with the Cristal 2002. Wine & Spirits gave this a 100 pointer but it managed to get a 96 from Robert Parker which is the same rating for Dom 2002. Cristal 2002 is brilliant yellow with light amber highlights and has a beautiful mousse with fine cordon of persistent and fine bubblies. The nose is intense and delicate, revealing a clean and well-blended mixture of flavors of honey, cocoa, lightly toasted hazelnuts, candied citrus fruit.It's a harmony of well-blended flavours that is silky and refined.

The dishes we had were pretty simple. There's steamed prawns, "seng kua" with pork, bbq pork ribs and also my favourite pork noodles. Ok, almost all the dishes are pork.

And a cigar in between dishes.

My friend liked the idea of doing blind tastings as it tells whether we really like the wine as it is or because we knew it was an expensive label. Obviously none of us knew what we were drinking that night until the end of the dinner.

Blind tastings of reds

Oh I do love blind tastings. It made the whole wine drinking experience so interesting and exciting because you just wanted to know if your tastebuds really do get influenced by the mind after knowing the labels.

The first wine has a very nice nose. It turns out to be one of the wines that I so wanted to drink! it's a Vega Sicilia Valbuena 2000. Vega Sicilia is indisputably one of the great estates of Spain.The one we were having is actually a second wine of the Unico, which is dubbed as Spain's "Chateau La Tour".

Vega Sicilia Valbuena 2000

This was the vintage of the good wine grower, for much depended on careful work in the vineyard, which has given the wine richness and concentration, with tightly knit fruit and nicely balanced oak, making for a structured but elegant wine.



Powerfull on the nose, some oak, vanilla, tobacco, but well integrated. Good acidity and bitterness. Long and complex finish.







I love the palate of the second bottle, not knowing that it's actually a bottle of the Wirra Wirra Chook Block 2002. Why this wine of Australia is so special, you ask?



From time to time Wirra Wirra produces wines from very small parcels of extremely intense, high quality fruit. Chook Block is a unique wine which is not made except in exceptional vintage like 2002. It is not made to a particular style; winemaking is purely in a custodial sense attempting to reflect in the wine the quality of both the Chook Block Vineyard, and the vintage. The fruit was 100% Hand Picked, with bunch selection by hand to remove any undesired bunches. "There’s no doubting that it’s a deep, profound wine!"







Only 250 cases were made! There's an oriental spices bouquet with an underlying score of licorice. On the palate, it's concentrated, chocolatey with a refined structure of finely balanced acid and fine grained tannin. As this is purely Shiraz, you can expect it to be medium to full bodied and has a savoury complexity and exceptional length in flavour and intensity.



The friend of mine was trying to bluff me and tells me that this is a bottle of YellowTail which until today, I've yet to taste it. I told him, "If this is really a Yellow Tail, I really don't mind drinking this all the time at all!" And then he kept quiet. Oh come on, I'm still not drunk. The 4 of us drank these 4 bottles in one dinner.

The Rolland Collection Wine Dinner @ The Pressroom Bangsar

The dinner invitation came very timely which is just right after I got my medical report and a liver passing with flying colours. Ok, to be making sure that I am keeping my liver well and strong, I'll better consume good wines and eat good food. It's time to roll, babeh with the Rolland Collection!

The dinner is hosted by Sunrise Wines & Spirits and it was held at The Pressroom in Bangsar Shopping Centre (BSC). The last time I was at this restaurant were some moons ago and I've not dine here for quite sometime. It's a good reason to come back and try their dinner menu.

Danny Rolland and Michel Rolland

Dany Rolland was in town to lend grace to the dinner. She is a renowned oenologist and a right hand person to her husband, Michel Rolland whom is a famous wine maker and consultant. Together, they formed the Rolland Collection, a range of Bordeaux wines with 5 appellations from the right bank, where the Rolland family originated in Pomerol.

There were particularly 2 wines that I was looking forward to try that night. A quick scan at the menu and wine pairing, I knew these 2 wines would be the highlights of the night.

Ch. La Grande Clotte 2007, Bordeaux Blanc

This white Bordeaux from the vineyard of Lussac terroir consists of a blend of 60% Sauvignon Blanc et gris, 25% Semillion and 15% Muscadelle. The fermentation is done 100% in new french oak barrels. The 2006 vintage was rated 90points by Robert Parker Wine Advocate and I was wondering how the 2007 vintage would be doing. Dany told me that she would rate the 2007 vintage a notch better than the 2006. The 2007 is fresh, flowery with citrusy notes and minerals. It's acidity is refined with a persistent finish and it would be drinking well now or probably in another 1-2 years.

Ch. Le Bon Pasteur 2006 Pomerol

The wines from Chateau Le Bon Pasteur in Pomerol are from vines that are more than 30 years old. The grapes are harvested manually at full ripeness and are sorted before and after destemming. Then the grapes are fermented separately in small tanks and aged 15-18 months in new french oaks. Rated at 90 points by Wine Spectator, this wine is also worth noticing as it has very soft tanins, aroma of plums and blackberries and it's full-bodied. You will also find it having hints of vanilla, chocolate and coffee undertones.

What was equally important to a wine dinner is of course the pairing of food with the wines. In my opinion, the food does affect the palate of the wines and thus a lot of effort and careful planning must be put into the menu.

Tian of Crabcake
With Avocado & Tomatoes dressed in Cilantro Oil

Paired with a glass of Ch. La Grande Clotte 2007 Blanc, this crabcake compliments the wine very well by bringing out the freshness of the white. The crabcake itself is moist and crispy on the outside.

Roast Duck Spring Roll
with Jackfruit Salsa, Hoisin & Lemon Dip

Paired with the Spanish Campo Alegre 2007 from Toro. This wine is the 2nd wine of Campo Eliseo, made from 100% of Tinta de Toro which is a Spanish classic variant of Tempranillo grapes. They are then aged 12 months in French oak barrels. This is a wine with lots of blackcurrants, spices, peppery and also oaky. When I look at the menu, I already can expect that this pairing is going to be very tricky. The Spring roll was too hard and the jackfruit salsa was sweet and sourly. Overall, the taste did not really jive with the wine. It's an interesting dish but too bad the jackfruit didn't compliment the wine well.

Foie Gras Ravioli
And Beef Consomme with Truffle Foam

Paired with a glass of Ch Le Bon Pasteur 2006 from Pomerol. This is the iconic wine of the Rolland Collection with a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Carbernet Franc. The foie gras ravioli is complimenting the wine very well with its robust flavours but the dish came in a little cold. The beef consomme which is slowly simmered with mushrooms and beef bones were very tasty. I drank every single drop of it! And I was wishing that I can have bigger bits of foie gras...

Wagyu Cube Roll
With Extra Virgin Olive Oil & Maldon Sea Salt

Before adjourning to the mains, we had a scoop of orange sorbet to cleanse our palate. The wagyu was done medium rare but from the looks of it, I had a feeling that it was done rare because the meat is still very tender and reddish looking. It's nice but somehow it didn't give me a very good taste of the beef. The flavours were subtle but lucky the simple preparation style matches the Ch Le Bon Pasteur 2006. The red meat brings the plums and blackberries flavours out of the wine.

Chocolate Cigarillo
with Honey Mascarpone Cream & Coffee Mocha Ice Cream

I was glad that the dessert has finally been served as the portions for the dinner is quite substantial and I'm definitely filled to the brim. This chocolate dessert is paired with a glass of Remhoogte 2005 from Stellenbosch South Africa. It's a good vintage from South Africa and with a blend of Merlot, Carbernet Sauvignon and Pinotage, it gives this wine an oaky and smoky palate.

The dessert was very sweet and I managed to have a conversation with the Head Chef, Saiful @ Bob. It doesn't help that I'm a chocolate snob and thus I was very curious about the chocolate he had used for the dessert. It was a 55% cocoa lined with a brandy snap. I suggested that he should have used a 70% cocoa instead given the nature of the sweetness from the other ingredients. The 70% dark chocolate would have tasted better with the combination and together with the wine.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable dinner as Dany herself has been educating us about the wines and sharing her passion in this field. These wines are priced from RM180 for the white and the reds except Ch Le Bon Pasteur 2006 which is at RM500/bottle. There were some hits and misses with the menu and there is still room for improvements.

Sunrise Wines & Spirits Sdn Bhd
Tel: +6012-2154811
Fax:+603-62728288
www.rollandcollection.com

Max decides what you eat here! @ Millesime KL

~Thursday sounds like a fine day for some fine food~

Millesime @ Dutamas KL

For some reason, a mysterious guest from Singapore decides to come down to KL to watch the recent LPGA tournament and calls me up for dinner. In fact, this friend of mine is so difficult to catch because he's always out of the country and I think I only see him twice a year! He asked me where can we have dinner and without a second thought, I called up Max to make a reservation for 4 as there were 2 more guests joining us for dinner. (I am still angry at him for not allowing me to be the 1st one to step in his new restaurant - Millesime)

His new restaurant, Millesime "great vintages" in French is his 3rd venture in the KL dining scene - first being Max Kitchen & Wines and followed by Max@iHaus. I've went through all his 3 restaurants by now and I must say that I grew with Max's culinary journey and he is indeed until today, my favourite chef in KL! The new restaurant is of a new concept with minimal deco and settings. All you see is a restaurant resembling a work station with an open kitchen concept. I like this, as I can disturb Max over the counter unlike the previous restaurant where he has to be behind closed doors.

Max decides what you eat here.

So, don't be such a pain in the ass demanding that I want this and that. But, if there's anything that you do not take in the daily-changing-degustation-menu, tell the staff in advance and Max can always cook up something else for you! I've always like this concept because I usually do not look into menus. I like to be told what to eat and I honestly have no food taboos except the bittergourd!

The amuse bouche was tuna loin seared with organic sesame oil and topped with condiments like chopped clams. I finished it in one bite... not very lady like. The guests were happy with the amuse bouche and I know this is a good start to a great dinner ahead!



Of course any dinner here would not be complete without wines. I really like the wine selection that my friend chose for the night. There were racks of wines on the left wall of the restaurant and then a special wine room for the more pricey wines. He checks the rack and then tell the staff, I want to see the ones "inside" and went in and picked 3 bottles.



First, we had a 2008 Faiveley Pouilly-Fuisse by Joseph Faiveley. I've always like a white Burgundy. This is a wood aged 100% Chardonnay that comes from a highly respected Burgundy house. I find it to be a pleasure to drink with some acidity and a crisp of freshness. The nose has expressive flower notes and generous fruits. With a touch of wood, this wine has quite a long finish.

Next, we moved on to a Spanish red. The 1999 Bodegas Y Viñedos Alión Ribera del Duero Reserva is made from Tempranillo grapes - most famous as the predominant grape in the blended wines of Rioja. It has a medium-bodied palate with juicy acidity and bright raspberry fruit enlivened by notes of dusty earth, dry herbs and leather. Friend was very happy to find this bottle here.

I lost count how many bottles or glasses we drank but certainly the 3rd bottle we had that night is a Italian bottle - 2005 Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva. This is rated 91 by Wine Spectator. It has an intense red ruby colour, with intense aromas of red berries like raspberries and rich red cherries. The tannins are refined and elegant and there's some hints of cocoa too. It's drinking good now even as we speak.

This friend of mine is really adventurous with his wines. He does not plan what to drink or which to drink first because he believes in spontaneity. Sometimes it may go wrong because if we had a full-bodied wine and follow by something that is more mellow and elegant, we might not be able to taste the wines properly.

1st dish ~ Parmesan baked oyster, Pistou Laced Clam, and Cuttle Fish Carpaccio~
Pistou is actually a cold sauce made from cloves of garlic, fresh basil, and olive oil. I guess the clam used here is the Lokam clam where he used to serve it in his previous restaurant with pesto sauce. I love the cuttle fish carpaccio. It was something new to me.

2nd dish ~ Sea Scallops with Yabbies and Sea Urchin cream~
I love the seared scallops which is cooked just right as over-searing will definitely spoil its texture. The yabby is actually a crayfish from Australia which adds a succulent texture to this dish, the same effect you get from a tiger prawn. The best thing about Max's dishes are its sauces. You have to lick them clean!



3rd dish ~ Tomato duck breast with Sweet bread~
If you're a fan of offal, you'll love this dish. Although the sweet bread isn't much but the duck makes up for it. The pairing of meat with the tomato is like a match made in heaven because after a few dishes, you need something sour to lure the appetite again.



Mains ~ Halibut Fish fillet with Snails in parsley cream and mushroom Ravioli~
The Halibut fish has always been my favourite and the texture is something similar to a cod fish. The most important technique in preparing this dish is to make sure the fish is not overcooked or else it'll spoil the whole dish. The snails (escargots) is an interesting addition to this dish. No complains at all although I do not fancy parsley in my food.

OR

Mains ~ Wagyu Karubi Beef Belly, Grain Mustard Seed Sauce and Board Beans~
The "ngau lam" or beef belly in English is really a good twist to the usual wagyu steak or even a rump steak. My friend chose this dish instead and that's why I get to take a photo of the two mains. This dish is served with polenta (if I'm not wrong) instead of the usual mashed potatoes. I had a piece of the belly and I must give credits to the chef, because it's done beautifully.

You know what's the funny part? My friend was so happy with the food, that he had two mains! He had both the Wagyu beef belly and the Halibut Fish after he saw my dish because he's absolutely in love with the snails!



Sweets ~ Caramel Sponge Pudding with caffe latte ice-cream~
I'm so disappointed that Max didn't serve my favourite chocolate souffle. He asked his staff "ada souffle ah?" (do you have souffle?) and they shook their heads. Oh well, I'm ok with trying new desserts but I still want my chocolate souffle!!! I'm a little fussy when it comes to dessert, really...

We had a good chat with Max after the meal and after all the customers had left. It was my first time there and so are my guests from overseas but lucky I made the right choice to bring them here. I know Max would never fail me and he did live up to the reputation.

The degustation menu is at RM150++ per pax and that night, for the 4 of us and 3 bottles of wine, the bill came up to RM2k and you can roughly guess the price of the wines we had that night. The person paying the bill was definitely very happy to depart with his money and the tips he gave to the staff was utmost generous.

Second post on Millesime & its Truffles here and 3rd post here and here.

Millesime
(it's outside of the building on the extreme right corner)

G1-01-3, Level G1
Menara Kencana Petroleum, Solaris Dutamas
No. 1, Jalan Dutamas 1, 50480 Kuala Lumpur

Operation hours are from 12pm-12am

Tel: +603- 6211 0648