Tetsuya's with Terence&Meiting and Elaine
Tetsuya's, Sydney
Tasted Thursday, March 24, 2016 by JerM with 467 views
Introduction
Pre-Good-Friday dinner back in Sydney with Terence&Meiting and Elaine. For education's sake, we took separate wine pairings: Australian + International
NV Equipo Navazos La Bota de Amontillado 31 "Bota NO" 92 Points
Spain, Andalucía, Manzanilla de Sanlúcar de Barrameda
[Aperitiff] Savoury soy sauce caramel and raisins on the nose. Soft, yeasty earth, hints iodine and salt spray, dark florals, cocoa powder, salty molasses, with toasted nuttiness. A good start!
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NV Naka Shuzo Asahi Wakamatsu Omachi Junmai Muroka Nama Genshu 95 Points
Japan, Shikoku, Tokushima
[Bottled 2014; 10 yrs?; Omachi Rice, 70% polish, abv 19%] Woah, this was a bomb of a sake: imagine the "natural wine" of the sake world, organic rice, unfiltered, unpasteurised and aged, rich, oily, buttery funk, reminiscent of savoury sherry flor, toasted almonds, rich umami, lifted magnificently with florals and light fruit acids. Tightly balanced, elegantly layered and complex, gaining sweetness and transparency with time in glass, lithe and sweet as fresh spring water littered with white petals. What a bewildering, special drop! Mind boggling on its own, and even more enjoyably so with the signature Pacific Oysters with ginger rice vinegrette.
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2013 Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Wachenheimer Altenburg Riesling 93 Points
Germany, Pfalz
White flroals, white florals, pomelo pith and pomelo sweetness on the nose. Bright apple acids, lime zest, airy, with cereal and ethereal finish, with a sweet purity about it. Paired with tuna sashimi with kohlrabi beautifully.
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2005 Kanta Riesling Balhannah Vineyard 93 Points
Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Adelaide Hills
[made by Egon Muller!] Funky kero notes prominent, certainly developed, complex pomelo notes, with white spice. Complex oily palate, echoes of honeycomb, yet restrained with bone dry acidity, but finishes abruptly, giving way to seductive smoke and struck flint. An elegantly developed riesling, somewhat old-worldly. Quite a different strategy from the young pure Pflaz when paired with tuna sashimi with kohlrabi, but works similarly beautifully. Nothing like any Aussie riesling I've encountered.
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2015 Lark Hill Grüner Veltliner 91 Points
Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District
Bright white fruits, lifted with morning florals and fresh dew from a brisk morning. Palate is congruently dry, clean and watery, finishing layered and somewhat bloomy. Lots of space to work with the puzzlingly smoked warm octopus salad with fennel and shiso oil.
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2013 Ottella Lugana Le Creete 91 Points
Italy, Lombardia / Veneto, Lugana
[trebbiano] Fresh stone fruit, kiwifruit florals, lifted along with grassy guava notes. Layers and layers of it, very generous nose. It's clean linear acidity works well with the smoked warm octopus salad with fennel and shiso oil.
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2001 Henschke Gewürztraminer Joseph Hill 93 Points
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley
Beautifully aged, with smoke and kero, hints oak, lined neatly with floral roses. Beautifully structured, some concentration and extended savoury finish, with yet more oily minerality. Beautiful on its own, but even more so when the complexity and texture dances lovingly around the signature confit of petuna ocean trout!
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2015 Te Whare Ra Gewürztraminer 92 Points
New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough
Riotous explosion of lychee and roses and powdery turkish delight. Buttery and textural, with beautifully balanced hint of residual sugar. Straightforward, textbook modern gewurtz, but clever pairing with the signature confit of petuna ocean trout made the wine far more complex and accomplished that one might suspect!
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2013 Domaine Christian Moreau Père et Fils Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
Clean, flinty struck matchstick, slate and wet shale. Clean with ringing lemon purity, nashi pear, and just a hint of tropical fruit past the edges. Light, clean and delightfully ephemeral pairing with the grilled shio koji toothfish, disappearling in a whiff of smoke and sea minerality!
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2012 Pierro Chardonnay Tetsuya Bottling 93 Points
Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River
Full malo, balanced oily butters, fresh and chewy acids, hints tumeric and sri lankan spice powders, leading to a long oily finish. What a contrasting approach compared to the Chablis pairing with the grilled shio koji toothfish, but working equally and enjoyably!
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2014 Tolpuddle Vineyard Pinot Noir 93 Points
Australia, Tasmania, Coal River
Green stems, earthy hawflake berries, dark florals, funky sousbois, feral, with crushed black pepper. Elegant, if idiosyncratic structure. Good organic complexity, matching the miso-cured duck with cauliflower shavings.
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2013 Curly Flat Pinot Noir Tetsuya Bottling 93 Points
Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Macedon Ranges
Rich dark berries, with bright raspberry. Gentle body, lifted spices, with yet more dark sour cherry, finishing dusty and smoky, giving a different perspective to our miso-cured duck with cauliflower shavings.
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2010 Victory Point Cabernet Sauvignon 94 Points
Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River
Dark sweet tobacco leaf, herbal pastilles, black fruit edging on graphite. Tall, linear structure, layered velvet, with a bold generosity and complexity I would not have recognized as margaret river. Not that I could have placed this modern cab anywhere else either! Worked very well with the wagyu tenderloin with the over-the-top porcini cream!
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2008 Puriri Hills Clevedon 93 Points
New Zealand, North Island
Smokey tobacco, oak, velvet plums. Plush and quite horizontal. Blue and black berries, leading to a complex, ashy finish. Similarly generous when pairing with the wagyu tenderloin with the over-the-top porcini cream. Drinking beautifully now.
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2010 Crawford River Nektar 92 Points
Australia, Victoria, Western Victoria, Henty
Late summer fruits, creamed caramel, toasted cashews, orange peel, juicy taut acid balance. Light and delicate enough to pull off the surprising and delightfully refreshing lychee granita with strawberries and coconut icecream! Genius!
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2010 Alois Kracher Muskat Ottonel Auslese 93 Points
Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee
Loud perfumy explosion of marzipan, turkish soap, jasmine water, and other heady aromas. Textural and rich, yet with enough finesse lifting the delicate balance of lychee granita with strawberries and coconut icecream. Hedonistic!
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1986 Bodegas Toro Albala Montilla-Moriles Don PX Gran Reserva 94 Points
Spain, Andalucía, Montilla-Moriles
Woah, heady, viscous and black in glass. Rich herbal raisins, licorice, dark mocha, dark cocoa powder. Hint savoury molasses, prunes, medjool dates, root herbs, medical syrup, and more licorice. Hedonistic, textural and utterly yummy, if impenetrable, one doesn't quite know if to sip it or pour it over icecream. Luckily, we are saved by the equally decadent chocolate mousse (or an excuse for a 'cake') and finally this noble PX can go down well matched in weight and density. What a wonderful and fun way to end a spectacular evening with great food, wine and friends! Special mention to Pak, our impeccable server who'd magically show up at all the right moments and answer our random questions.
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