Grape Wine Journey

Source: http://www.charleskaufman.com / Artist: Charles Kaufman

These days, it seems like the topic of WINE will easily break the ice in gatherings.  For me, the company is more important than the wine itself.  Sharing a few bottles with friends is a perfect way to spend an evening.

After the completion of the first Wine Appreciation Course, the instructor arranged a dinner as a graduation dinner in celebration of completing the course.  About twenty people joined, and from that day onwards, we had continued to meet on a regular basis for over two years now! 

The Ladies Night started after one of our gatherings, and went on enjoying the night and gossiping.  We were in Causeway Bay on a Friday night, went around to few places and ended at TOTT in the Excelsior Hotel.  Men probably will never understand why ladies like to talk so much.  We were there when all the lights were on and the maid came in vacuuming the floor.  We figured well they probably wanted us to leave.

When we choose a restaurant for the gathering, it’s the corkage charge that we will ask first before anything else.  As wine lovers, we always prefer to bring our own wine to share.

For the last gathering, we went to a Shanghai restaurant in Causeway Bay.  I worked out a deal with the manager where we had a private room and the dinner of HK$4,000 for 8 people, but the most important part was that there was no corkage fee.  I had gone to this restaurant a few times for lunch and dinner, and enjoyed the food with a reasonable price. 

We started the meal with Champagne, a perfect start.  We went on to order four appetizers to pair with the champagne. 

I brought 2 bottles of 2004 Reserve de la Comtesse, the second wine of Chateau Pichon Lalande.  This is one of my favorite wines that I always stock in my wine cellar. Chateau Pichon Lalande from Paulliac is well known to be very consistent in their wines.  The 2004 Reserve de la Comtesse would require around 30 minutes to breathe before serving with the meal.  It is a full bodied wine, well balanced with black currant, and a touch of dark chocolate and vanilla at the end.  It is not as complex and powerful as the first wine, but at HK$350 a bottle, it makes up its value!

There was one other reason I picked this Shanghai restaurant, they have deep fried “stinky tofu” on the menu.  It is definitely an acquired taste, but it matched perfectly with a full bodied tannic red wine.