Last night's dinner was at the Alpha restaurant headed by Chef Billy King. Chef King was practically a superstar when he came to the Manila dining scene in the 80's. He founded the long-lived and very successful Le Souffle restaurant and still heads Baguio City's premiere dining destination at the Manor Hotel. It has been a while since I've had his cooking so I was looking forward to this dinner.
While waiting for everyone to show up we started with my Piper-Heidsieck Cuvee Rare NV. Light lemon hue. Cafe au lait, nuts, brioche, and white chocolate. Full bodied and yeasty. Despite the somewhat ponderous flavors, the acidity still manages to keep it fresh. . Good length. This is the style I favor for Champagne although I think this example is starting to show signs of over-maturity as the flavors are getting to be rather heavy. Might be time to drink up the last few bottles. (Checking a note on another bottle drank this year, it appears there is some bottle variation as I noted that the previous bottle still seemed to have some upside to it).
A second Champagne was opened for the foie gras. Philipponat Royale Reserve Brut NV. A middle of the road style, showing off some nutty flavors but also having a rather acidic and slightly bitter lemon peel flavor particularly in the finish. Good, but this should have come before the Piper Heidsieck.
We had two whites for the salmon paillard. First up was Hubert Lamy Les Frionnes 1er Cru St. Aubin 2010. Light and lemony but with a rather obvious wood character which adds a creamy element. By itself, not too interesting, but it went very nicely with the fish. Second white was a Brocard Montee de Tonnerre 1er Cru Chablis 2010. Stony and light. Very refreshing, summery wine. Gino said it was like drinking mineral water. I thought it was good by itself but was no match for the creamy sauce of the salmon.
With the main course of Dutch veal loin in a chanterelle sauce we had 3 Right Bank reds.
Chateau Laroque St. Emilion Grand Cru 2005 - Decanted about two hours. Dark, opaque. Rather oaky on the nose. Ripe, New Worldy fruit. Chocolate. I would have probably guesses this a California wine if served blind. Quite modern and very good. Perfect with the veal and the group's favorite red.
Chateau Angelus 2003 - Decanted about one hour. Beautiful nose. Sweet spices, mint, cumin. Very complex. Worcestershire sauce. Some said soy sauce. Bitter chocolate. Very young and really needs age to develop. Very long finish. Excellent now but no doubt will be outstanding with a couple of more years. Tough to choose between this and the Laroque but I went with the Angelus as my red of the night.
Chateau Conseillante 1999 - Quite dry. Some herbal, leafy character. Seems fully mature as it shows leather, dried tobacco and some mushroom. Outclassed by the previous two wines.
On to the cheese course of baked Brie de Meux with a caramel sauce. We paired this with a Chateau Doisy Daene 2008 - Classic Sauternes nose (this property is in Barsac). Tropical fruit salad. All yellow fruit. Mango, peach and pineapple. Luscious but so finely balanced by the acidity there is no heaviness at all here. Easy to drink. Exceptionally long. Excellent and I think the unanimous wine of the night. Not satisfied with just one dessert wine, a half bottle of Alois Kracher #10 Scheurebe TBA Zwischen den Seen 2004 was also opened. Dark gold. Very rich, syrupy. Honey and marmalade. Although I had my doubts pairing it with the chocolate dessert, it was so powerful it was able to hold its own. Another excellent wine.
We finished with some Frapin Chateau Fontpinot Cognac before calling it a night. Many thanks to Gino for putting this together.