This was a special day, so we gathered at a special place: Ae. People who are hard to get together all showed up at once.

Celery for the otoshi

The mayonnaise is really good, you know.

The table

It’s a small place, but if you book ahead they can fit a group of six to eight.

Chen Mapo Tofu sauce

Someone who’d just been to China brought me one. Later I made mapo tofu with it, and it really tasted like Sichuan.

Today’s bottle: Tesseron Lot No. 29

Lot No. 29 means it’s blended from eaux-de-vie from 1929 or earlier. That’s spirit from almost 100 years ago, bottled about ten years back, so we’re talking roughly 80 years of ageing. I’d never had anything like it.. I was dying to know what it tasted like, but a bottle like this isn’t something you open on any old day, so I’d been waiting for a proper occasion.

Open the box and this is the bottle inside.

Judging by the seal and the case, this cognac was made for keeping rather than drinking. It looked like it could sit there another hundred years without a problem.. Once we got the tightly sealed cork out, the cognac that poured was so dark it was nearly black. Right after opening there was a strong prune aroma, but after it sat for a while it opened up and turned slightly dry yet elegant.. It lingers on the palate for ages and spreads out beautifully, and honestly, apart from the price, there wasn’t a single thing lacking in this cognac.. Well.. I guess I was just lucky to get to drink it..

Utashiro

A sake.

Sashimi moriawase

Neat and tidy as always.

Unagi

Great with drinks.

Nabeshima Blossoms Moon

I ordered it because the label was pretty, but the taste was pretty ordinary, I think.

Grilled tilefish

The grilling here keeps getting better and better.

Charcoal-grilled Iberico pork jowl

The grilling is spot on, but the cilantro really works with it too. A great one to order in summer.

Chicken nanban

Proper chicken nanban topped with tartar sauce. The dishes just keep on coming.

Mackerel bo-zushi

Maybe because the mackerel is so good, the bo-zushi is good too..

Subuta

It’d feel wrong not to order this one.

Katsu sando

I think this was my first time seeing it on the menu, and it went great with drinks.

Gunsan-style steamed pollack

After all that eating and drinking, this is the dish I always end up ordering to settle the stomach..

Sea bream noodle soup

The broth was sweet and clean. Probably because they use sweet shrimp.

Shochu on the rocks

Tasty.

Then we moved on to BARolo.

The second bottle of the day: Château d’Yquem 2002

When I bought this, I wondered when its drinking window of 2020 would ever arrive, and now it’s already 2026 and the wine is right in its prime. I had no idea life would fly by this fast.

Light snacks

Even some kaki no tane..

And cake..

It kind of felt like we were taking care of several things at once.. And of course the cake from Shoto was delicious..

A glass of something light, too

By this point I’d had so much to drink that I don’t remember much..

Bread comes out.. and foie gras too.

Why? Because food like this pairs so well with Yquem.. The folks who drink it know their Yquem well.. so everything was prepared for it..

Yquem

Yquem shouldn’t be too cold; around 15 degrees is ideal, so we had to wait a bit before drinking it. Once it had warmed up a little (not lukewarm, mind you) and was pleasantly cool, the aromas started rising out of the glass and it was absolutely delicious. It isn’t just sweet: there’s acidity and everything else, and the balance is wonderful. I found myself wondering how such a delicious liquid could exist in this world, and I had to admit it really is the number one dessert wine on the planet.. This is what you’d have to call the drops of god..

Actually, 2002 is an off vintage, so it was cheap when I bought it and I didn’t expect too much, but honestly, they say 2001 is even better than this, and I really couldn’t imagine how much better it could possibly get. There’s a saying that Yquem has no off vintages, and now I know what it means.. In fact, if Yquem thinks a year won’t be good, they simply don’t make wine that year.. That’s how seriously they take quality.. It was a perfectly balanced, flawless wine, and I think with a long-ageing dessert wine like Yquem, what matters more than the vintage is drinking it once it has aged properly and reached its window.

It was another fun day. Being able to drink good wine with good people on a good day: I’d say that alone makes for a pretty decent life..

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