Wineshark Recipe - 62. Fillet of Lamb Lucullus

Ingredients:

• Fillet of lamb - 1 lb 4 oz (to divide into four pcs)
• Marjoram - 2 tsp
• Tomato puree - 1 tbsp
• Salt - 1 tsp
• Black pepper finely - 1 tsp
• Sliced mushroom - 4 buttons
• Skinned quartered tomatoes - 4
• Foil - 4 pieces

First cut the fillet into the right size and remove the tendon. Soak dry with tissue paper.

Put the fillet on foil paper, then marinate with the seasonings and tomato puree. On the side put the mushroom and quartered tomatoes.

Wrap the foil and put in oven to cook for about 10min, using 250 degC.

Take the wrap out and cut open the top, then put back into oven to cook for another 5min.

Wineshark Recipe - 61. Pesto Genovese

Ingredients:

• Cooking oil - 1/2 oz
• Leek - 1.5 oz
• Onion - 1.5 oz
• Carrot - 1 oz
• Potatoes - 1.5 oz
• Celery - 1 oz
• Cabbage - 1 oz
• Stock - 2 lb 8 oz
• Tomato diced - 1.5 oz
• Chifferi - 1.5 oz
• Salt - 1 tsp
• White pepper powder - 0.5 tsp

Ingredients for Pesto:

• Olive oil - 2.5 oz
• Garlic - 2 pieces
• Marjoram - 0.5 tsp
• Basil - 0.5 oz

First stir fry the leek, and then put the onion and other vegetable to stir fry for a while, add tomato and stock to cook for about 30min. Then add Chifferi to cook for another 10min, add seasonings.

The add the pesto sauce on top.

Wine tour 2012 - day 13 and day 14

Coming to the end of the trip, today we took the train from Bordeaux back to Paris. Spending about 3.5 hours, we came back to Paris, and staying at the same hotel - Mercure Tour Eiffel. I went to the nearby aquarium trying to see whether they got my favorite shark doll. Unfortunately, the gift shop is inside and we have to pay the entry fee to get in. Having not much interest (it is a small aquarium) I gave up...

After going over to Lafayette to buy souvenirs, we came back to hotel for dinner, at a nearby brassiere. Really the worst meal for the whole trip, there was nothing I should elaborate, but just some simple pasta, and a large pint of beer...

On the next day we went to Champs Elysees near noon to walk around and had our lunch, at an Italian restaurant Cafe di Roma. Decent food and good price, no wonder there were so many people there... Continuing to shop, we also went to Hediard and Fauchon for some chocolate and foie gras to bring back home.

Finally, it was time to go back to HK. Arriving early, we spent some time in the new CX lounge in CDG. Nicely decorated and spacious, there was the Dan Dan Noodle which, even though not exceptionally good, still got us something different from the last two weeks.

We also met my friend's husband who was on the same flight, as well as another friend, who had got his cash stolen in the airport after immigration. How unlucky he was...

Overall we had a wonderful time throughout and despite the unhappy incident right at the beginning, there was nothing I complained on this trip. I really look forward to organizing another one in near future, and next time it may be Loire or Rhone....  

Wine tour 2012 - day 12

Today we went to St-Emilion, on the right bank of Bordeaux. On the way we saw quite a different side of Bordeaux, with a more quiet and peaceful feeling as compared with the left bank. We went by a lot of the famous chateau like Cheval Blanc, Ausone before arriving at Chateau de Ferrand, which is owned by the same family of the stationery giant Bic.

The winemaker came to greet us and showed us the winery. Much smaller in scale than the chateaux we visited in Medoc, there was a more personal touch that I could smell from the environment. No matter it was the concrete vats that they used, the mobile small press, all gave me the appreciation of the 'heart' of the producer. And I was happy to hear that they were just promoted to GCC in the 2012 classification.

Another interesting thing is that they still kept quite a lot of the older vintages in their warehouse. We then proceeded to taste several vintages, including 2001 and 2004. Generally speaking the right bank was not one of my favorite but these were easy to drink and also probably more suitable for drinkers who like more fruit and smoothness.

Next we moved to Chateau Figeac. Much larger than de Ferrand, again I got the 'commercial' feel from the Medoc GCC. Quickly going around the vineyard and tasting some ripe Merlot and Cabernet Franc, we went back to the cellar and tasted the wines. Much more robust and intense, you could immediately feel the difference compared with de Ferrand, which was more akin to the left bank.

When I asked that question, the staff from Figeac explained that they got a high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend, which definitely showed in the style of the wine.

Feeling hungry, we went to the town centre and had lunch at L'Envers du Decor. Our guide told us that adjacent to our table was a chateau owner (I forgot which one). Dining outside though a bit cold, we all had a wonderful time.

Originally we planned to visit the underground monuments after lunch, but the ladies would prefer to spend some time in Bordeaux city shopping so we returned to the hotel, but before that we managed to take some nice photos of this peaceful town - St. Emilion.

Without having a proper seafood dinner, we all felt we had missed something in this trip, and so on the night we went to a good seafood restaurant in Bordeaux called Fernand. Decorated like a cabin of a vessel, I had some oysters and mussels. The mussels were very very good, and the other dishes like duck breast and onion soup were equally delicious. A happy meal to farewell Bordeaux...

(to be continued...)

Wine tour 2012 - day 11

Today we began our Bordeaux journey, following the Medoc area and visit a few chateaux. After a short ride we arrived at Margaux, and even though it was not our destination, we dropped by a few GCC like Chateau Giscours, in which we saw a big group of Chinese tourists just arriving!

Since it was a bit early, Alice brought us also to Chateau Margaux to take a few photos. I actually visited the same place two years ago and it was just like yesterday.

Then we went to our first tasting of the day - Chateau Lascombes. Upon arriving we were shown the vineyard, and tasting the ripening Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot berries. Afterwards we went inside the winery to look at the wine-making facilities, which they were in the process of cleaning and getting prepared for the coming harvest.

Proceeding to the cellar, there were rows and rows of barrels of the 2011 vintage, with new barrels also being delivered for the 2012 vintage. Completing the tour, we moved back to the tasting room and try the first and second wine, Chateau Lascombes 2004 and Chevalier de Lascombes 2007. Frankly they were nice but not exceptional, and since it could be bought quite readily in HK I did not buy any.

Feeling hungry, we went for lunch at the famous Lion d'Or restaurant, where a lot of the chateau owners frequented. They kept their wines in the restaurant, and one could see many cabinets displaying their 'wares', which easily cost a fortunate with some very good and older vintages of the first growths, and some super seconds plus other renown ones. The wife of the restaurant owner served us a good meal of fish and other local delicacies.

After lunch we continued to Pauillac, and on the way took some photos of the famous first growths, like Lafite and Latour, before arriving at our next stop, Chateau Pichon-Longueville Baron. Used to be under the same family, it was split up in the 19th century, with the brothers taking the Baron part and the daughters the Lalande part. Remaining separated, Pichon Baron is now acquired by AXA, and the investment could be readily seen from the modern facility and well-maintained estate.

Frankly the winery and cellar were very similarly set up as Lascombes but with a grander and more modern scale, and we moved quickly to the tasting, trying Chateau Pibran 2007, the second wine Les Tourelles de Longueville 2006 and Chateau Pichon-Longueville Baron 2004. I like the 2004 with a strong intensity and showing beautiful development, prompting me to consider when I will open the same bottle I got at home.

Continuing further we went to St-Julien, coming to the last stop - Chateau Branaire-Ducru. We walked around the estate and bumped into a gentleman jogging. Originally thinking whether he is the owner, it turned out he is the chief gardener and he showed us his orchard and gave each of us an apple from the tree. I have never tasted such sweet and juicy apple before, honestly.

Again, we went to visit the cellar and the guide also showed us the laboratory where the chateau analyzed the wines and control the blending. It would be good if they could show us the actual operations there. We then tasted a few wines, including the still in-barrel 2011. It is not something nice to drink, too tannic and acidic, and it amazed me how the wine critics could give an assessment of the future quality of the wine by tasting this?

Returning to the downtown, we got some spare time to wander around the area, finally settling on a restaurant for dinner (which I also visited two years ago). Decent, but nothing special, we did enjoy the time and settled for the night, for the last day tomorrow in Bordeaux.

(to be continued...)

Wine tour 2012 - day 10

Sadly it was the last day we were in Alsace, with two of us leaving the group to go back home while another joining. Having checked out from the hotel, we started by driving to Heiligenstein, a small village in the heart of Alsace, to visit Domaine Daniel Ruff. The very special thing for this domaine and village is that it is the home of Klevener, a grape variety seldomly seen elsewhere, producing some very nice wines.

The owner Mr. Ruff could not speak English that well but fortunately David helped us to do the translation. We visited the cellar and the thing interests me the most was the gyropalette. Having read about the machine for doing the riddling process for sparkling wines, it was actually the first time I saw one in action.

Of course the main focus was still to taste the wines, especially the Klevener which is unique to this village. We had tasted a lot on the day, including Sylvaner, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Klevener, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Noir. They were all nice but personally I like the Klevener so bought a few bottles, and you could not believe how good the price were. A 2011 VV only cost EUR 8 and the quality was good.

Moving on we drove to Obernai, another small village which had kept the decor of yesteryear, for lunch at Winstub Le Caveau de Gail. Eating outside in the garden with beautiful weather, we met up an Indian waiter who had been living in France for many years. There were a lot of fun when he laughed at Ah Foot and seemed to think me and Ah Foot look alike!

Continuing the journey we arrived at Strasbourg, the main city in this part of France. However, we got to catch our flight to Bordeaux (and my friends the train to Paris).

Boarded a small plane, we arrived at Bordeaux late in the afternoon. A driver who could not speak much English came to pick us up, bringing us to downtown, to check in at Hotel Quality Ste Catherine, where we met up with Rosa, as well as our guide for this part of the journey Alice.

Alice brought us to a walk around the city, and giving us a small treat in a local brasserie for something light - some very nice shrimps and mussels! Experiencing the city further, one can feel the prosperity of Bordeaux with all the grand buildings as compared with Beaune and Colmar. And you can see more tourists from all over the world here.

On the night we had a good meal at Brasserie Bordelaise, which was crowded and packed. Tired, we returned to the hotel to get ready for the Medoc wine road journey tomorrow.

(to be continued...)

Wine tour 2012 - day 9

Today we drove to Mittlebergheim to visit Domaine Boeckel. This family had been working in Alsace for over 400 years and the current owner Emile Boeckel, came to greet us and showed us to the private tasting room. With some very good bread, we tasted a lot of different wines, including Cremant Chardonnay Extra Brut, Sylvaner VV, Riesling GC Zotzenberg, Pinot Gris GC Zotzenberg and Gewurztraminer VT. I was particularly impressed by the Sylvaner.

After that we went down to his cellar. Still maintained like more than 50 years ago, with a few modern stainless steel vats, we found they had kept a very large collection of old vintages. I then requested Emile to sell me an old vintage Sylvaner, which after some thoughts he agreed and got me a bottle of 1985 Sylvaner. Never had a Sylvaner so old, it was kept in the ideal condition so I was happy to get something unique. My friend Grace also got a old bottle and Emile was so kind to also give her another bottle for free!

Then we moved to another village, Bergheim. It was a small village still remained relatively untouched by tourists. Taking some nice photos there, we proceeded to Wistub du Sommelier for lunch. With perfect weather, we decided to dine outside and enjoyed the environment.

With a delicious meal behind us, we moved to the famous village of Riquewihr, producing one of the most famous wines in Alsace. Arriving there it was quite a surprise, with a lot of tourists walking around the small village. Comparing with the quiet and tranquility we just experienced in Bergheim, it was a total difference.

We stopped at one of the most famous producer in Alsace - Hugel & Fils. Always a big fan of this producer, I jumped in to start tasting all the wines, from the Classic, Tradition, Jubilee series, which most I have tasted before in HK. But my attention was always on the sweet wines, trying the different VT and SGN on offer. Struggling I finally bought a Riesling SGN 2000 "S", a special cuvee even for the special years in which SGN is made.

With some spare time, we walked around the village to buy more souvenirs. The village was actually quite small and it took a short time to go through all the shops, but still I was amazed by the number of people visiting. It was a bit too crowdy for my liking, so we decided to move on to the next stop - Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle.

Don't imagine the castle was something very grand. Located on the top of a hill, it was a relatively small settlement covering an inn, forge and mill, with the main castle spiraling up showing all the omni-present architectural designs like drawbridge, armory, cannons and so on.

We had a good time imagining ourselves as the noble in the castle, before leaving as it was already dusk and the castle was closing down. With enough exercise on the day, we headed back to Colmar to have dinner at Brasserie l'auberge du Bristol, just adjacent to the train station. Being the last dinner in Alsace, we had a 'sad' dinner as the next day we would have to split the group with two of us backing back home...

(to be continued...)

Wine tour 2012 - day 8

Today we started with a guided tour of this town, Colmar. Located near Germany and Switzerland, this place provided a good glimpse of history, with beautiful architectural heritage everywhere. Our guide brought us to a small canal, with some gandolas on the river and we wondered whether we were in Venice!

Along the way we also admired the pretty houses of the local residents, asking the guide why the houses were painted in different colours. In fact, the colours used to mean which occupation of the resident, whether a butcher, baker, farmer and so on, but of course now it is more the personal touch of the owner that matters.

We went to a local market to look at the fresh vegetable, meat, cheese and other produce. All the fruit, all the cheese, all the different local delicacies attracted us so much that we could not stop wandering in the market for quite a while, and it was only with the guide urging us on that we left the place.

Next we arrived at the old manor house, used to be the building also to host the council and receive important visitors. I could not believe when the guide told me the building was more than 400 years old! Spending some time taking pictures, we moved on and saw a small market. With a few of shopoholics in the group, of course we spent some time. But it was good that we could buy some souvenirs.

Since the time did not allow us to visit both the museum and the church, both historic centres in Colmar, we decided to go to the museum to look at the famous painting recommended by the guide. The entry fee was a bit high at EUR 8 per person, but the different paintings and sculptures were all captivating.

With the ladies finishing some shopping, we walked to La Wistub Brenner, another Michelin restaurant, for lunch. On the wall there were a lot of wine labels showing old vintages (and I dreamed if I could taste some of those...) and we had some good local cuisines, thanks to David for the translation.

Of course we could not have a day without wine tasting, so we proceeded to Domaine Bruno Sorg in Eguisheim. A transquil place, the domaine was founded in 1965. The owner Mr. Sorg explained to us his philosophy in winemaking, and we tasted together a wide range of his wines, with Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris and Cremant d'Alsace. I particularly liked the Pinot Gris SGN and bought a 2007, really a bargain at only EUR 47. My friend Carmen, who did not drink much wine, also was so fascinated by the Gewurztraminer and bought two bottles.

We then drove to another village Ammerschwihr, to visit another vineyard Domaine Pierre Adam. Really a nice countryside cottage, they had a small vineyard just outside the cottage planted with all the different varieties. We sneaked in and ate some berries, and then tasted again a wide range of wines. It was not too exceptional so I did not buy any, but the friendliness of the people made us feel so comfortable that we wanted to spend more time there...

Returning to Colmar, we had dinner at L'atelier du Peintre, a Michelin restaurant serving nice and award-winning cuisines. The chef had put together a nice course which was so meticulously put together that it was really a piece of art. With David joining us as well, we had a wonderful night (though a bit hot in the restaurant).

(to be continued...)

Wineshark Recipe - 60. Coriander with Chicken Rice

Ingredients:

• Coriander finely - 2.5 oz
• Chicken stock - 2 oz
• Chicken leg - 1 lb 8 oz
• Salt - 1 tsp
• White pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
• Garlic finely - 1 tsp
• Rice - 10 oz
• Chicken stock - 1 lb

First rinse the coriander leaves thoroughly, and then dry them before putting into a blender with the chicken stock to form a sauce.

Remove the skin of the chicken leg and cut into pieces. Add the seasonings, garlic and some coriander sauce to marinate for about 20 minutes.

Rinse the rice and put in a pot (or rice cooker) then add chicken stock, coriander sauce and salt. Cook for a while and then add the chicken leg. Cook until there is no more stock in the pot but avoid burning the rice, ideal to maintain a moist and soft texture.

Wineshark Recipe - 59. Spinach & Cauliflower Soup

Ingredients for Cauliflower soup:

• Cauliflower - 1 lb
• Butter - 1/2 oz
• Onion sliced - 4 oz
• Chicken stock - 1 lb 8 oz
• Salt - 1/2 tsp
• White pepper powder - dashes
• Whipping cream - 2 tbsp

First chop the cauliflower into small pieces and clean thoroughly.

Stir fry the onion with butter, then add the cauliflower for 2 minutes. Add chicken stock to cook for another 20 minutes. After cooling, blend the soup.

Re-heat the blended soup and add whipping cream and seasonings.

Ingredients for Spinach soup:

• Spinach - 1 lb
• Pine nuts - 1 tbsp
• Butter - 1/2 oz
• Garlic finely - 1/2 tsp
• Onion sliced - 4 oz
• Chicken stock - 1 lb
• Corn flour - 3 tsp
• Water - 1 tbsp
• Salt - 1/2 tsp

Pre-heat the oven and then put the pine nuts in, take it out when it turns slightly brown.

Stir fry the onion with butter, add garlic and then spinach. Pour in the chicken stock and cook for about 10 minutes.

After cooling, blend the soup with the pine nuts. Then re-heat the soup and add the corn flour and water mix. Finally add the seasonings.

When serving, pour the two soups together on the two sides of the bowl.