Notes from last night's dinner at Aubergine. Reputed to be one of the best restaurants in Manila but this is my first time there. The food was superb and, for a 7 course meal, a good price at about P 2600.00. In attendance were Jojo and Fides, Arnie and Helen, Vince and Zelie, Nelson, Greg and myself. Some people brought 2 bottles so there was a lot of wine going around.
With the amuse bouche:
Roederer Estate Extra Dry NV - Vigorous, fine bead. Rather fruity and sweet. Not dry at all, despite the name. Faint breadiness and a bit of coffee on the finish. Good length. Rather heavy, An easy drink. Not bad but gets tiresome after a while.
With the duck plate of foie gras and confit terrine, seared foie gras with lentil salad, and hickory smoked duck breast with mango relish:
Rolly Gassmann Kappelweg de Rorschwihr Gewurztraminer Vendange Tardive 2006 - Light gold. On the nose, faint mushroom. Not too sweet or rich but rather nice. A good match with the duck plate.
Navarro Estate Gewurztraminer 2008 - Subdued nose. Lightish, crisp style. Very dry. Nice enough but unfortunately suffered in comparison to the Alsace as it was not strong enough to take on all the duck liver in the dish.
With lobster bisque with Champagne froth and sauteed scallops on truffled cauliflower mouselline and curry ginger froth:
Wagner Stempel Siefersheimer Riesling Vom Porphyr Trocken QbA 2007 - Very crisp, stony, pomelo. It's not all that dry on the palate. Faint pineapple. Dry finish. I thought this was outstanding with the bisque.
Donhoff Kreuznacher Krotenpfuhl Riesling Spatlese 2007 - Beautiful wine. Very sweet, could be mistaken as an auslese. Gentle, silky and very long. Although excellent by itself, I thought it was too sweet for the bisque.
I tried all the whites with the scallops and thought the Rolly Gassmann Gewurztraminer was the best match.
We had a choice of rack of lamb or fillet mignon for the main course. I opted for the fillet mignon. 4 reds were served with the meat:
Chateau Siran 1966 (in magnum) - Prune, leather, soft tannins and rather prominent acidity. Good length. There's some sweetness on the nose after sitting in the glass for an hour or so. Remarkably resilient. For a 44 year-old wine, not bad but no wow for me.
Dominus 1984 - Very stinky, bretty. Some chocolate mixed in after an hour or so. Dry and austere. Long but very dry finish. Feels dessicated. I didn't care for this.
Mystery wine - Of course, Jojo had to serve us a wine blind. Dried herbs, medium weight. Very dry. Initially I thought Southern Rhone but changed my mind to Bordeaux. Probably Graves or St. Estephe as it had a rather rustic feel to it. As far as vintage, I guessed 1990. This was unveiled as a Chateau Lafleur 1993 (Pomerol). Arnie was pretty close, guessing St. Emilion (at least he got the bank right) and early 90's. He explained he detected a green note and thought it was Cabernet Franc which is why he chose St. Emilion. I guess the green note was due to the vintage. Another austere wine.
Chateau Pavie Macquin 2001 - Meaty nose. Lovely fruit. A little tart but already showing quite well. My favorite red.
Although I didn't particularly enjoy the older reds by themselves, I thought they improved markedly with the food, the beef bringing out whatever fruit was left in the wines.
With melted Brie de Meaux on warm black cherry compote with blue cheese mousse and dessert of lavender and strawberry delight on almond sable with marinated berries and yogurt ice cream (by this time I wasn't too focused on the wines as we had a lot to drink):
Kiralyudvar Tokaji Cuvee Ilona 2000 - Sweet and very fresh due to the high acidity. Burnt sugar. Very good.
Navis Praetoria Tokaji Aszueszencia 1993 - I had never heard of this producer. The wine came in a tiny 250 ml bottle. Orange marmalade. Very slight oxidation. Very good.
We were joined after dessert by Hans, one of the owners of the restaurant, who shared some Martell XO with us.
Many thanks to Arnie who organized the whole thing.