K&J's post-wedding dinner

Kel and Joyce invited a few of us for a post-wedding dinner at Blue Ginger. True to form, we chased this with a post-dinner drink at our place after. It would always be a challenge pairing wines with spice-laden Peranakan (Straits-Chinese) cuisine, but the two wines that we had went remarkably well. I wish we had tried the Amarone with the food as well - that would have been an interesting experiment. However the silly corkage policy (replete with poor wine service, where two different whites were poured into the same glass) discouraged us from opening too many bottles. Nevertheless, a great night was had all round.

• 2008 Château Mourgues du Gres Gard Terre d'Argence 90 Points

  France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Gard

  From a magnum. This was somewhat better than the last bottle I had, and showed a remarkable propensity to work well with a range of spicy Peranakan dishes. Nice nose here, with fleshy white fruit, beeswax, vanilla bean, and then some earth and sweet spices. As with the previous bottle, it took me awhile to register this as a Rhone blend. The palate was nicely spiced on the attack, with some rich creaminess to its apple, peach and hints of apricot on the mid-palate. The finish was quite decent too, with a slightly sweet lemon lilt and stony mineral linger. All in all, a nice wine. Quite a hit with the ladies too rather surprisingly.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2009 Johanneshof Gewürztraminer 90 Points

  New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

  I thought this was really quite nice. A world away from the rich Alsatian style, this was certainly much more in line with the fresh lively, slightly simpler stuff one normally finds in aromatic varietals from NZ. Really aromatic nose here, with pretty wafts of white flowers and lychee rising out of the glass with each swirl. The palate had a very nice balance to it, with simple but very attractive flavours of lychee, melon and apple melting into a mouthful of spice at the finish. No pretensions to greatness here, this was just a good, solid, very pleasing expression of its place and varietal. Unsurprisnigly, this too went well with a range of spicy Peranakan dishes.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2008 Laborie Estate Wine Chardonnay 90 Points

  South Africa, Western Cape

  Third of a trio of very decent, if not quite run-of-the-mill whites. This one, a Chard from South Africa, had the table split as to whether it was an ripe old world example or new world Chardonnay when blinded. Pale yellow colour, it had a sweetly ripe nose with scents of lemon, verbana, vanilla and a bit of cream. The palate showed some richness, with sweetish notes of cherry flesh and red apples, and then another lemony squeeze and a bit of chalk and limestone at the finish. Decent length here, but it was scored with a bit of heat which shook the wine slightly. Otherwise, this was pretty nice - an elegant effort for what it is.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2004 Cecilia Beretta Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 91 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

  Good. Not fantastic, but certainly a very commendable Amarone. It had an entrancing nose, with classic scents of bramble, briar and smoke, along with plums, mulberries and crushed black cherries, all ringed with a chocolatey accent. Nice stuff. The palate was certainly weighty, but with a nice rich feel rather than the overtly alcoholic punch of lesser examples. This had fresh 2004 acidity balancing out sweet, ripe notes of sultanas, dried grapes and cherries, and then more of that nice brambly smokiness moving into a lingering finish. This needs some time yet. Still primary at its core, still rather in your face in a young Amarone way. It did fare much better when paired with some spiced tortilla chips and with cheese, but it will probably show much better only in 5-6 years' time.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

• 2004 Roc de Cambes 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Côtes de Bourg

  Very decent. Quite modernly styled, so that most of us thought this was a new world Cab rather than a Bordeaux. Nevertheless, it was a well-made wine. Unusual nose though, with some briney notes, lots of earth, mushrooms and moss, with some tobacco smoke along with a whiff of sweet cassis, capsicums and dried flowers. Some oaky coffee and mocha tones rounded it off. It would actually have been really nice bouquet if not for some acetone VA notes floating around. The palate was quite nice too. Here, we got flavours of red berries and cherries, cassis and earth with a top-note of tobacco, roasted capsicum and smoke wafting around the oak washed finish. Rich for a 2004, yet freshly balanced and nicely structured with well-shaped tannins. A bit disjointed at first, but this kept on growing in the glass through the night, so that it became quite a nice tipple by the end of the evening. One for those who liked their Cabs on the modern side.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No