...members of Manila's Irish and British communities, golf buddies, etc. John's little fellow is a chip off the old block - as one can see him in the picture above apparently grabbing a quick, surreptitious sniff from his dad's wine glass. Dinner was an Indian buffet catered by Kashmir...
...enjoyed in the garden.
The bar was fully stocked. I had a NZ sauvignon blanc, for my apéritif, the maker and vintage of which now escapes me. Probably because of the several glasses of Jameson 12 year old Irish whiskey I had with my post-dinner cigar.
The red wine flowed from 7pm to past 2am, an endless and generous stream of...
1999 René Barbier Penedès Gran Reserva - Distributed by Aaron's ADP Industries. Though I've had this at least thrice in the past year, each time was always with many other wines. This time, it being the sole red of the evening, I was able to liesurely enjoy and delve a little deeper into it.
Penedès is a wine region in Catalunya, not far south-west of Barcelona. Though it is better known for producing cava, Penedès also produces a lot of red wines from the likes of tempranillo, grenache, cariñena, monastrell (a.k.a., mourvèdre and mataró), cabernet sauvignon, merlot and others. The subject wine is mainly tempranillo. I do not know exactly the percentages, but I would say there is probably a small percentage of a weightier grape in this, probably cabernet sauvignon. Per Hugh Johnson, 1999 in Penedès was marked by mild winter and spring, with a dry, warm summer which led to a very good, abundant harvest.
Dry, very smooth, comforting and very easily approachable, this medium-bodied wine shows a mellow personality in its soft black cherry, minor wild strawberry, bit of underlying blackcurrant, cedar with hints of tobacco leaf, licorice, whispers of violets and leather. After sitting in the glass, slight notes of vanilla and cinammon emerged. Acidity is adequate, balance is good. This is mature at a little over 10 years from vintage. Nice. At its very reasonable price, approximately US$26 full retail in Manila, it's a more than decent wine to serve at large parties.
After dinner, we lit up some Cuban cigars.
Nice night.
Saturday Night, 30th January 2010: at my father's place - in commemoration of my late mom's birthday this past Wednesday. He wanted steaks, and I was to cook them. Since it's easier for me to make them at home (I also have more and stronger burners for proper searing), he sent the meat over - anyway, he also lives in the village, so bringing them back to his place already cooked is not an issue.
My two older sons had their respective parties to attend, so we were just 7 in all: Dad, my youngest sister Reena, brother Tad, sis-in-law Hisako, my youngest son, my wife & I. We arrived a little past 7pm, the others finishing up their beers and pica-picas, then dinner was served.
R's Grilled Vegetable & White Cheese Salad - she had intended to make a fresh green salad and dad wanted some grilled vegetables, so she just combined the two into one dish. Very nice, actually - a good mix of fresh and smokey. Aside from the fresh greens and white cheese, there were grilled tomatoes, eggplant, onions and asparagus. I'll suggest she add a bit of grilled red peppers to the salad next time.
Spaghetti Tomato, Basil, Olives Sauce. There was also a bowl of mashed potatoes which I didn't bother to photograph.
US Prime Grade Rib-Eye Steaks
1998 Herederos del Marqués de Riscal Rioja Gran Reserva - This '98 Rioja gran reserva is notably Bordeaux-esque in its smooth, medium body, silken texture and its firm structure, healthy acid balance and typically austere, dry, minerally dark fruit, black cherry, bit of underlying warm asphalt, violets, licorice, cedar and leather. The wood is very well-integrated, and I suspect French oak is used rather than American.
In the finish, there was licorice, dry black cherry, cedar, violets and, to me, a suggestion of blueberry (the latter a note I cannot remember ever before encountering in a Rioja). I like this wine's quiet, dignified style. It is very food-friendly, and, though I had some apprehensions at first, it stood quite well against the rich, fatty steak.
Dessert was a Super Moist Chocolate Cake which easily lived up to its name, and then some.
Hisako had tried this a few years ago at The Diamond Hotel in Manila, but found the source too geographically inconvenient to buy it regularly. Lately, though, she found that the hotel opened a shop at Rockwell called "The Cake Club" and so got one for us to try. Very moist, deeply chocolatey but not sweet, overly rich or heavy. This cake is right up my alley. Loved it.
We finished up with some fresh fruits, then some glasses of Martell XO Cognac, cups of coffee, and, out on the lanai, a few cigarettes.
My youngest, though, had finished his dinner quickly and hied off to the video room to watch 2 back-to-back movies of Naruto. I guess with his brothers away, the adult conversation didn't interest him much.