Wineshark weekly - 4 March 2012

This week I went to a Japanese Restaurant in Wanchai, called Ten Sho, in Jaffe Road. When I arrived, seeing all the Japanese customers (yes, all the customers except us were Japanese), then I knew I had come to a good place. The decor was not anything special, but really got a traditional Japanese feel, and we were seated at the bar-table. With the fresh seafood in front of us, we ordered a sashimi platter, some skewers, a grilled mackerel and a shabu shabu.

The skewers (one minced chicken stick and one bacon-asparagus roll) were very tasty and good with beer.

The sashimi were very fresh, and I particularly like the uni, or sea urchin, which was so sweet and nice.

I have to admit I am not a fan of uni but I can't simply stop having more. The other fish and shrimp sashimi were also very good. The grilled mackerel was also delicious.

The only disappointment was the shabu shabu, not because of any quality issue, but simply because comparatively it was not so value for money in my opinion. Total cost for the night was $1135 for two. Nevertheless overall I enjoyed the meal very much and this is a Japanese restaurant that I highly recommend and definitely will visit again!

Some colleagues made fun of me and saying that I was never at home for dinner. Well, this week it was actually true. Monday I went to Sushi Hiro with some overseas colleagues, Tuesday I had hot pot in Sham Tseng, Wednesday it was Ten Sho as highlighted above, Thursday was K'cal in Sham Tseng, Friday Japanese sushi in TST, Saturday Fusion Gourmet in Sheung Wan and today going back to my parent's home... Sometimes wonder maybe that's why the maid was not good at cooking - lack of practice...

Yesterday at Fusion Gourmet we had our monthly wine tasting event. The theme this month was Central Italy, and we had the following:

Ruffino Orvieto Classico 2010

Castello di Brolio Chianti Classico 2001

Poggio al Tersoro Dedicato a Walker 2006

Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino Annata 2001

Poliziano Vin Santo di Montepulciano 1997

I am very satisfied with all the wines except the most famous - the Biondi-Santi. Probably because it was not from a good vintage, it was very light and thin, with a high acidity and not much characters or structure. I hope my Riserva 2004 would be much better...

The Brolio was very good, intense and juicy, which still got a good vibrancy despite already aged for 10 years, truly living up to its name.

But the surprise of the day was the IGT from Poggio al Tersoro. A 100% Cabernet Franc wine, it got good complexity and concentration, allowing one to glimpse the reason the Bordeaux wine-makers add the variety into the blend, to make it more complex and fragrant.

Talking about the restaurant, it was certainly in a nice setting with cozy atomsphere. However, it is of a high price-tag and the food in my opinion was not exceptional. Maybe I am too critical now that I am doing a lot of cooking myself... 

More on wine, this week I got some more added to my collection:

• Antinori Solaia 2003
• Mommessin Clos de Tart Grand Cru 2000
• Joseph Phelps Insignia 1993
• Shafer Hillside Select 2003
• Chateau Rol Valentin 1995
• Ginestet Reserve 2005
• Conti di Buscareto Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Ammazzaconte 2008

Besides the wine I tasted in the party, this week I had been drinking sparkling, with one I highly recommend to all drinkers (E&E Black Pepper Sparkling Shiraz):

Acceptable quality traditional method sparkling from Cremant de Limoux, the wine has a light gold colour with small bubble size. Fairly light on the nose, it did show good complexity, with developing aromas of pear, lees, rust, green apple, biscuit and cream. On palate, it got refreshing, fairly high acidity and is light in body, showing reasonably intense flavors of hazelnut, green apple, biscuit, lees and lemon. Good in balance though only with a fairly short length. Ready to drink now and can benefit from further ageing of another 2-4 years.

Very good quality premium Australian sparkling shiraz with deep ruby colour and a purplish tinge. Small bubble size, it has a complex and intense nose of blackcurrant, black cherry, blackberry, plum, cloves, cedar and butterscotch. Slightly sweet, the wine has a lively acidity with fairly high tannin, rounded and fine-grained. Slightly high in alcohol, the palate is fair intense with black cherry, blackberry, plum, cinnamon, nutmeg and cedar. A creamy mousse, it got a juicy fruit with hot-climate ripeness. Good in balance, it finishes with a fairly long length. Ready to drink now but can benefit from further ageing of another 3-4 years.

With the budget constraint I don't get to travel much, with only infrequent trips going to Manila for business reviews and management. Theoretically I should have more time to catch up on my study, but at the end it was still not close to what I wanted in terms of progress... With my examination on sparkling wine coming up in one and a half week. I have decided to take a week off after my trip next week in order to get prepared.

So until next week, take care my friends, and wish the humid weather will be gone soon...