Around the end of January I had a lot of leftover wine, so I held a get-together to work through it. The truth is I buy wine on a regular basis (or, to be precise, I get pressured into buying wine), but I rarely get the chance to drink it, so my cramped cellar keeps ending up in an unmanageable state, and I more or less have to hold a wine tasting once or twice a month. Wine doesn’t taste good when you drink it alone at home, so getting through it takes a bit of sociability too.
Today’s wines
It was a tasting centred on Pinot Noir. The Moulin-à-Vent was Gamay, though… The star of the night was a nicely aged Échézeaux. I’d tried it not long ago and was so impressed that I opened it right away ^_^ A gentle, elegant berry aroma that lingers. Come to think of it, it was also recommended in The Drops of God as a wine beginners would love. You don’t come across wine at this level very often. (That said, I don’t drink wine all that often myself, so it feels like I only ever end up drinking wine of about this level…)
Pain de campagne I brought back from Japan
You can find quite a few places selling campagne in Korea now, but none with this many flavours. I’d love to eat bread of this level more often.
Salmon carpaccio
So-so… 2chef’s food shows up here so often that I’m thinking about not photographing it anymore…
Mushroom pasta
A pasta with a different twist, and tasty.
Sirloin
Not bad…
As with all my meetups, the food is just a palate cleanser; now the real dessert time begins.
Echire butter ice cream
An item I went to a lot of trouble to bring back from Japan. It was winter, so I managed to carry it home without it melting. (Someone even called it a miracle… but it really was freezing cold back then.) The butter flavour was far better than the caramel. It’s a premium ice cream with a deep richness, and the downside is that it’s as eye-wateringly expensive as it is delicious. Still, once you buy it, ice cream keeps in the freezer practically forever -_-, so I’d like to try bringing some back again next winter.
Yamazaki 18, bought at the duty-free shop at Haneda Airport
Maybe because it’s aged in sherry casks, it’s deeply infused with a sweet oak aroma like a fine wine. On top of that it shows Yamazaki’s signature character as is, and it goes down so smoothly, with nothing catching in the throat, that you barely notice the high proof. It’s not cheap, but a spirit this good is worth every penny (and at duty-free you get 25% off…). Being a premium single malt, the best way is to pour a glass and slowly savour the aroma and taste. But this night’s crowd was a rather elite (female) lineup, and the whole bottle vanished in no time… They say that when the bill is split, people will happily eat a whole cow, and since this one was a gift, there was no way any would be left…
Chocolate from Cacao Sampaka
Chocolate gifted by a member who’d just been on a trip to Spain.
Candles stuck in yokan
Someone at the table had a birthday around then, so we lit a little something. The number is the age…
A meetup that started out modestly but ended grandly came to a close like this. I’ve learned that single malt whisky is hugely popular these days, so I’m thinking of focusing on single malts rather than wine from now on.