Wine is really cheap in Japan. I bought a few bottles to share with friends, and while I was looking for a place to drink them, I heard there was a spot near Gangnam Station with free corkage, so I dropped by. Prices are on the high side and the food isn’t much to write home about, but there just aren’t that many places where you can open a whole pile of wine.
We got there around 7 and the place was packed to bursting. Sure, there aren’t many good places to go around Gangnam Station, but even allowing for that, I could really feel how big the wine boom sweeping Korea these days is.
The front entrance
It was easy to find. The restaurant is in the basement.
Today’s wines.
A half bottle of Sauternes, Château Suduiraut 95, the Gruaud Larose second wine 96 (the label reads La Roseraie de Gruaud Larose), Pensées de Lafleur 98, and a half bottle of Mas de Daumas Gassac Blanc 03.
First we chilled the Daumas Gassac and the Suduiraut, and decanted the Pensées.
When I asked for glasses, a decanter and an ice bucket, they brought them right over. The free corkage is apparently a kind of opening promotion, so keep in mind they may start charging for it..
Soup of the day
Ordinary. With the soup as a nibble we opened the Daumas Gassac. The legendary VdP, Daumas Gassac turned out to be a lot better than I expected. It’s been a while since I had a white wine that well made, both in balance and in aroma.
Caesar salad
A little better than TGI Fridays. We polished off the half bottle of Daumas Gassac in no time and opened the next batter up, the Gruaud Larose second 96. The Gruaud Larose second 96 is right in its drinking window now. The nose is at its peak, but the palate is just starting to fade. My friend picked it up in a sale, and at that price it’s about the same as in Japan or even cheaper, so the environment for enjoying wine in Korea seems to have gotten a lot better than it used to be.
Steak pizza
Not much different from Outback. Around this point we drank the main event of the evening, the Pensées de Lafleur 98. The Pensées is actually made in smaller quantities than the grand vin, Lafleur. These days, whenever I spot a wine on Rakuten that’s hard to find or listed below the going rate, I buy it and stash it away. I bought three bottles of this one. It got WS 93, but well.. I check the scores when I buy, and I’ve pretty much forgotten them by the time I drink. Since it’s from Lafleur, called the leader of Pomerol and said to go toe to toe with Pétrus these days, I had high hopes, but it seems I opened it far too young, which hurt a bit. The nose is lovely, but the tannins, still not integrated, fill your whole mouth. Still, however good the wine is, it only means something when you drink it on a good day with good friends.
Mushroom pasta
A little worse than Mad for Garlic. Now it’s time for the dessert wine. Suduiraut is a good Sauternes, but the 95 vintage isn’t a particularly great one. I came across it by chance walking down the street and bought it for 3,000 yen, so I didn’t have big expectations from the start. Tasting it, it didn’t have the potential you’d expect Suduiraut to have, but it was still a delicious wine that was plenty enjoyable.
My friend paid for dinner as thanks for my consulting on a Kyushu hot-spring trip. Maybe I should take the plunge into the travel business? ^_^