Cold Crabs at Lee Kui
Lee Kui (Ah Hoi) Teochew Restaurant, Mosque Street
Tasted Thursday, August 6, 2009 by Paul S with 589 views
Introduction
We gathered for a quick and dirty mid-week dinner and drink at Lee Kui on Chad's suggestion. Elsa and I went along, with Alex, William, Lawrence and CJ making up the table. As always, great company, some great wines and great food. Apart from the molting cold crabs, we had steamed promfret, Teochew mixed fry, braised duck, mixed nine varieties of vegetables, kong bak pao (braised pork belly with steamed buns) and orh-ni (sweet yam paste).
Some notes on the pairing with the delicious crabs - Champagne was a no-no, coming out rather metallic and strange, Chard did not fair much better. The Rieslings were the best match, but even then it was notperfect, with the Crab roe bringing out a metallic strain even in the Spatlesen. Still though, it worked pretty well, especially when the crab was dipped in the traditional plum sauce. Yum. Of the two, I thought the crab paired better with the young 2007 Riesling than the older 1998, even though the later was clearly the superior wine on the night. Probably a function of the sweeter fruit and higher acidity. Conversely, all the whites went fabulously with the steamed fish, playing off both the freshness of the fish as well as the creamy fish-fat laden sauce. Yum.
NV Egly-Ouriet Champagne Grand Cru Tradition Brut 91 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Rather golden colour, not much in the way of bubbles. Very typical Egly-Ouriet nose - oxidative notes of browned apples, a toasty edge, some cream, chalky mineral and a savoury salted vegetables (kiam chye) and chicken meat lilt to it. Cleaner than the VP on the palate, with lots of freshness. Pretty welcomed too, given the weight and heavy texture of the wine. Flavour-wise, more chalk, and red apple mixed in with some sour green ones with juicy acidity. The fruit stops at the mid-palate and the wine goes full throttle dry, with a power-packed punch fading into a long minerally tail. Not what you would call elegant - this is about as athlethic and masculine as a Champagne gets.
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1998 Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 92 Points
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Yummy, and drinking just beautifully now. Lovely golden colour. Really complex nose. Started out with a complete diesel bomb, with tightly wound flavours underneath, but that faded slowly into tones of treacle and buttery cream, a touch of slate, some white fruits, sweet grenadine scents and higher tones grass and spice notes. Gorgeous creamy texture on the palate, again, a bit tight at first, but it opened up to show oily burnt butter flavours, along with creamy peach, apricots, a touch of musk and honey tones. The wine has lost some of the freshness of youth, but still had a nice juicy acidity moving into a tingly finish that showed dried fruit notes - figs and apricots I thought - and musky, minerally leftovers in the mouth. Lovely.
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2007 C. H. Berres Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese 91 Points
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Not quite ready when we got to it - will retaste tonight. Bottled-under screwcap, this was all very reductive. Rubber band on the nose, which toned down to to show sweet cherry cordial notes with some mineral and a liberal dose of the Wurzgarten spice. Nice, stylish balance on the palate, but again, lots of sulfur and reduction. Lots of swirling later, sweet fruit and more spice notes came out. Very primary and tight though. Unfortunately, I thought the wine went a little belly-up at the finish, which dissolved into a sweet, indistinct and rather abrupt end. At the moment, the Kabinett is drinking far better. But I will retaste the two glasses or so leftover and report back later.
A complete change one day later. The reductive notes had all blown away, leaving behind a veritable fruit basket. Lovely spice on the nose, along with pink guava and ripe grapefruit. Palate was sleek and stylish, with great balance, and lovely flavours of pineapple, ripe grapefruit and more pink guava moving into a fresh, round finish. Very nice now, especially paired with century egg porridge. This should be left to age for some time, and preferably decanted before serving. A lovely riesling though. Another 2007 hit.
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2004 Philippe Pacalet Puligny-Montrachet 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet
Pretty rich, modern style for a 2004, and slightly lacking in Puligny typicity, otherwise I thought this was pretty good indeed. Green gold in colour. Nose was a dead-ringer for young Brie. It really took quite a bit of time for me to get past that to underlying tones of white fruit, smokey gunflint and stony mineral notes, grassy herbs and flowers and just the lightest pat of butter and a hint of nuts. Nice definition on the palate, with fresh acidity balancing richness in sweet white fruits. There was a nice backbone to the wine too, with sterner lemon pip and mineral flavours weaving its way through the palate into the decent finish which showed some creme fraiche and floaty cardammon tones. Nice interesting wine this.
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