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Han Dynasty / LeBec Fin Collaboration

LeBec Fin, Philadelphia PA

Tasted October 24, 2011 by ews3 with 523 views

Introduction

A collaboration between Chef Han at Han Dynasty and Chef Elmi at LeBec Fin, the chef's alternated courses in a great French-Chinese fusion meal.

Flight 1 - Tea smoked Duck Brochette with Jasmine tea foam (1 note)

Very good -- the foam and the concentrated tea sauce were delicious. The Keller was probably the group's favorite of the dry wines, but I thought the Trimbach had a little more sophistication.

White
2005 Weingut Keller Kirchspiel Riesling Großes Gewächs Germany, Rheinhessen
92 points
Honeycomb and some light stone fruit. Nice minerality. Medium finish. Very good dry style.

Flight 2 - Escargot sticky buns (1 note)

The filling on this was really good. The wine went well and is a great example of Prum's consistency.

White - Off-dry
2007 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spätlese Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
91 points
not the most complex wine, but very pleasurable. Pushing the sweetness level, this is closer to an auslese in style. petrol on nose, sweet stone fruit. could use more acid. med(+) finish.

Flight 3 - Twice-cooked pork with vert puree, black bean crisp, chili sauce and burnt sugar (1 note)

This dish was insanely good. The Spatlese might have gone better with it, but this wine had a little spiciness to it that worked well with the dish.

White
2001 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile 375ème Anniversaire France, Alsace
94 points
I really enjoyed this. Nice spice note (white pepper? nutmeg?) really kicked up the quality level of this, but it also had nice orchard fruits. surprisingly dry and refreshing. nice acid backbone with good minerality. A great bottle of wine.

Flight 4 - Dry Pepper Hudson Valley Foie Gras (1 note)

Chef Han needs to put this on the menu at Han Dynasty. This was insanely good. So spicy and yet the sweet fattiness of the Foie helped keep the dish in balance. We had to be stingy with the pours of the Eiswein, but it was a great pairing.

White - Sweet/Dessert
1998 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Eiswein "Montag" Germany, Nahe
97 points
this bottle was surprisingly developed in color -- orange. it was still developing, with insane concentration of apricot and marmalade fruit and a lush mouthfeel that carries onto a long long finish. some white pepper is also there and was more prominent after 30 minutes open. Perhaps most impressive is the acid -- this almost makes you drool the acid is so sharp -- it is difficult to perceive because of the outstanding balance with the sugar. insanely good, and i may have underrated this. still, i dont think it is up to the caliber of the best donnhoff eisweins i have had. a bargain at the price i paid.

Flight 5 - Eddie's Kung Pao Chicken (0 notes)

We kept the wines we already had for this dish, LeBec's version of Kung Pao Chicken. The chicken was very well cooked with the skin crisped separately before being re-assembled.

Flight 6 - Crispy Sweetbreads in Garlic Sauce (1 note)

After a 15 minute interlude, we were finally served this dish -- the sweetbreads were tasty, albeit a little soggy. The sauce was the highlight here, but a little more technique could have brought the sweetbread texture and richness through more as with the Foie.

White - Off-dry
1985 Dr. Pauly-Bergweiler Bernkasteler Badstube am Doctorberg Riesling Auslese Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
93 points
some initial funk on the nose that took a few minutes to get past. all through, the palate was alive and vibrant. full and rich, with some honeysuckle and atone fruit notes. this has plenty of life yet ahead. nice med (+) finish. score reflects post-funk -- give this a quick decant to open it up.

Flight 7 - Black Pepper Mango Ice Cream (1 note)

I forget all the elements of this dish -- the mango really dominated. It disappeared quickly. A younger Auslese or BA would have worked better, but this wine went.

White - Off-dry
1990 Karthäuserhof Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Riesling Auslese Nr. 13 Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
92 points
mature auslese. peach and honey, but subdued fruit. the nose was muted, but the palate was solid. medium finish is pleasant.

Closing

I want more Han Dynasty Foie!

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