Wineshark weekly - 22 April 2012

Last week I did not write this blog, my car could not start when I went out to have afternoon tea with my classmate. After calling the Audi service, I got the toll truck to pick it up to the service centre to check. I was quite pissed because originally I had scheduled my annual check on Fri (and that was booked nearly a month ago). If the check could be arranged earlier then this could be avoided... I had to spend $1000 extra on the toll truck.

Unbelievably it took them four days to get back to me on the check results. Like I suspect the battery was dead and need to be replaced. And since my car was already five years old there were quite a few other parts that they recommended me to change. But the cost was quite high and so I ended up only changing only the regular pieces and the brake part. Will need to change my tyres elsewhere though to save money. When will I get my car back? Next Wed! A total of 10 days! Isn't it fantastic?

Enough complaint. This week the restaurant I featured is Lawry's The Primb Rib. Located in The Lee Gardens in Causeway Bay, it is an American restaurant which also has outlets in LA, Chicago and a few other cities. Quite busy on the day, the whole restaurant was full (we went there at about 9pm).

The place is quite comfortable, offering ample space and you will not feel your privacy is invaded. I ordered a Cream of Mushroom Soup and a Lamb Cutlet, while Ivy ordered the set dinner, with a cocktail, Salad, Pumpkin Soup and Steak.

The salad was mixed in front of you, with the waitress mixing it on a big bowl on top of ice, swirling it to cool it down, and then pouring the sauce from high up. We were also given a cold fork to eat the salad.

The soups were acceptable in my standard, without surprise. For the main course the steak was cut in front of you, with the chef pushing a silver cart with the meat, and depend on your order on the portion size and how thorough the steak is cooked, the chef would cut the steak for you. Although I did not try the steak, from the pinkish look and the way Ivy cut it I know that it was tender and juicy. I think it is quite well prepared.

For my Lamb Cutlets, it was done properly. The quality of the lamb however was not the best. But still overall I enjoyed the dinner and especially appreciate the warmth and nice atmosphere. With a glass of red wine, the total cost on the night was $1090 (after a credit card discount). Not cheap, but not super expensive, I will visit this restaurant again in future.

I also had the month's tasting party with my friends this week. The theme was US and I had prepared six bottles of different varietal wines. I turned out did not write any tasting notes as I wanted to enjoy the dinner and conversation instead of spending too much time on writing down the notes. Particularly memorable was the Zinfandel from Russian River Valley, with an alcohol level of 16.1% abv! Frankly at the end of the dinner I was a bit drunk and barely recalled what happened on the way home...

The other wines I tasted since the last blog:

2002 Chateau Beychevelle (St-Julien)

Good quality Bordeaux GCC with deep garnet colour and a fairly intense and complex nose, showing developing aromas of blackcurrant, blackberry, black cherry, prune, cloves, perfume, cedar and savory. Medium in acidity, with well-integrated and velvety tannin, the wine is of medium body and showing reasonably intense and relatively simple palate of blackberry, black cherry, plum, cedar and cloves. Finishing with a fairly short length, the wine is ready to drink now but can benefit from another 2-3 years of ageing.

2003 Chateau Chasse-Spleen (Moulis)

Good quality Bordeaux with a deep ruby colour and a garnet rim, showing signs of ageing. Fairly intense on the nose, the wine has a fairly complex and developing aroma of blackcurrant, black cherry, blackberry, liquorice, cedar, chocolate and savory notes. Medium in acidity and tannin, with a ripe and fine-grained texture, it is a fairly full body wine with reasonably intense flavors of blackberry, plum, black cherry, cedar and cloves. Finishing in reasonable length, the wine is overall in balance though the palate is comparatively weaker. Ready to drink now but can benefit from further ageing of another 5-7 years.

2004 Chateau Desmirail (Margaux)

Good quality Bordeaux with a deep ruby colour, having fairly intense nose with developing aromas of blackcurrant, bilberry, blackberry, liquorice, cedar, cloves and savory. Medium in acidity and tannin, which is ripe and silky in texture, the wine is fairly full body with reasonably intense flavors of blackberry, cedar, bilberry, prune and cloves. Finishing with a reasonable length, it is smooth and elegant. The nose is more complex than the palate, with a little bit of bitter taste in the end. Ready to drink now but can benefit from further ageing of another 4-6 years.

2007 Chateau Loupiac-Gaudiet (Loupiac)

Good quality Bordeaux sweet from Loupiac with a fairly light gold colour, intense and youthful nose of lemon peel, orange, mango, acacia, grass, marzipan and honey. Medium-sweet, the wine has a medium acidity. Full bodied, it has a reasonably intense palate of honey, lemon, apricot, pineapple and acacia. Finishing with a reasonable length, overall it is quite simple. Even though the sweetness and acidity is in balance overall it is still a bit disappointing. Ready to drink now and can benefit from further ageing of another 8-10 years.

2006 Chateau Bahans Haut-Brion (Pessac-Leognan)

Good quality Bordeaux with a deep ruby colour, with a garnet rims showing the signs of ageing despite its relatively young age. A reasonably intense nose of developing characters, including blackcurrant, blackberry, plum, cedar, earth, savory, chocolate and perfume notes. Medium in acidity, the wine has ripe and well-integrated tannin. Fairly full body, the palate is reasonably intense with blackcurrant, blackberry, cedar, cloves, smoke and coffee flavors. Finishing with fairly long length, it is overall in good balance and the nose evolves beautifully over time. Ready to drink now but can benefit from further ageing of another 8-10 years.

Next week I would travel to Manila and also need to give a sharing with some UST students, to preapre for their career. I look forward to that. Then we would have an offsite meeting. Another busy week coming up...

Until then, please take care and want to hear from you soon on comments/feedback on this blog.