Joe & Mio's Blog

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One Night in Bangkok
February 19, 2009

All right, to those of you who lived through the eighties you know I couldn't resist this title.  On our way to a wine trip to Australia it ended up that we had a one night layover in Bangkok, Thailand.  Mio & I were pretty excited as we have always been interested in Thai culture and have a love for Thai food.  We decided to spend one night at the Marriott Resort and Spa in Bangkok and I have to say this was a very pretty Hotel at a really reasonable price.  We arrived at around 2PM in the afternoon and began our adventure with a wild taxi ride down to the Hotel from the airport.  It was somewhat surreal driving through the city with the three wheeled Tuk Tuks zooming all around us.  We arrived at the Hotel where we were given a security inspection prior to being allowed onto the property.  Once we went in, it was amazingly beautiful with a huge lobby and check in done over in a bar like atmosphere.  The staff was very polite and spoke reasonable English.  As we were being helped up to the room they even gave us a quick lesson in basic Thai phrases.

After settling into the room we decided to go and wander around the property.  The Hotel was on the ChaoPharya river so we walked down to the edge and spent some time wandering around the gardens and the pool as well.  The hotel offered a shuttle boat service into the city so we hopped on for a twenty minute cruise downtown.  The views were interesting as you saw beautiful hotels and high-rises mixed in with some really broken down houses built over the river.  When we arrived downtown it was impressive to see how metropolitan Bangkok really was.  Most of the signs were bilingual and we had very little trouble exploring the city.  There was a pretty decent train system as well that was useful to get around.  We spend a couple of hours exploring and decided to head back to the Hotel.  The boat ride back was really pretty as it was dusk and the lights were just starting to come on.
When we returned to the hotel it was time for dinner, we decided to go tourist that night and took the chance to dine at the Marriott restaurant that offered an Asian buffet selection and traditional Thai dance performances all evening, this was actually a recommended show by many people for the quality.  Now many bemoan Buffets, but this one actually proved to be excellent, they pulled very few punches on the spiciness of the Thai dishes and had an awesome selection of grilled seafood including something that was extremely similar to Lobster Tails.

 
I have to also say that Singha beer in Thailand is a very different experience than it is in the states.  It goes absolutely perfectly with the climate and the food.  The dancing was actually very interesting.  Thai dance involves intricate hand movements for the women and many dramatic scenes for the men.  The costumes were quite beautiful as you can see in the pictures.  The music had hints of China and was dominated by what looked like a marimba.  We left dinner feeling overly stuffed with all of the good food and thoroughly entertained.  As we retired for the night we both agreed that we will definitely be back to Thailand again.

                           Joe

Chateau Mercian - Best Japanese Wine
February 14, 2009
This Saturday as we were wandering through the city we happened upon an opportunity to try some wine made in Japan.  Japan is not the best place for Viticulture and has taken many years to figure out what is the best method for growing grapes.  The humidity and precipitation here is very high which, without properly grown grapes, produces extremely vegetal wines.  However, the soil here is an excellent volcanic type and with proper head treatment and trellising, beautiful wines can emerge.
We had the opportunity to try one of these wines, the Chateau Mercian Kikyogahara Merlot.  This is the select label of the Chateau and production is very small, numbering under 8000 bottles.  Speaking with the Sommelier this sounds like it is on the order of a Cayuse or other cult wine.  Heavily allocated it takes a year to get on the waiting list to get a bottle.  We jumped at the chance to try this and see what we were missing.
I have to say I was astounded by this wine.  The nose was quite beautiful with a light red fruit, chalk, and a hint of leather.  The pallet was in a word beautiful, very mineral heavy, characteristic of the soils it was grown in with a limestone note.  A beautiful balance of acid and fruit rounded out the palette.  The finish was lengthy lingering on my tongue for almost 30 seconds to the point it mingled well with the cheese that we were enjoying with the wine.
Mio and I liked this wine so much we signed up for the allocation list.  It showed us what this country will be capable of as more and more is learned about winemaking with the unique challenges that face Japanese Winemakers.  But after tasting I wouldn't be surprised if we see these wines show up on US shores some day.
                                                                                            Joe M

The Beauty of Rhone & Cigar Nights
February 6, 2009

One of our Saturday rituals is to wander into the city to escape the small suburb in which we live and have some fun as well as get other shopping done.  Occasionally we happen by one of our favorite wine stores in Sakae, the shopping/entertainment district of Nagoya.  On this day it happened that they had a really exciting tasting going on of the 2006 Clos des Papes Blanc.  Many of you know about the famed Rouge, but in my opinion the white is a true dream, this vintage was awarder 95 points from Wine Spectator.  When we saw they were pouring this wine we knew we had to join in and ordered two glasses.
The Blanc was fresh from an ice bucket and came out a bit cold, so we spent some time enjoying the opening of the nose as we let it warm up.  Once warm, it was still really tight and young with a shy nose hinting at nuts, a waxy sort of citrus, and a touch of a floral note.  Upon the palette it was very lithe and clean with a nice honey flavor and consistency with a bit of citrus and minerality around the edges.  The finish was light and clean with a hint of a chalky feel left in your mouth at the end.  Truly a pleasurable experience and one not to miss.
Following our walk around town we ended up at my other favorite place to relax in Nagoya, the cigar bar Estmare at the Marriott Hotel.  This is one of the best Cigar Lounges I have been to in the world.  With comfy leather couches, low lighting and soft jazz music playing it is a great place to lean back and enjoy your cigar with a great selection of Scotch & Whiskey that is a hallmark of Japan.
On this night I brought with me a Tatuaje Cojonu, one of my current favorite cigars in the store.  This big boy is a plus size 6.5x60 with a killer punch and a beautiful clean smoke.  I love the power of this cigar and with a good draw it makes for a good hour long enjoyment.  The hint of spice that comes across throughout the smoke makes this extremely enjoyable.  As some of you know I also have a penchant for Islay Single Malts.  I happen to have a bottle of Ardbeg Renaissance on hold at this bar, they offer a bottle keeping service.  The peat and high alcohol content melded with a hint of sweetness characteristic of the Renaissance matched perfectly with this Cigar.  All in all a great way to end a fun day!

A Fun Find in Tokyo
January 31, 2009

Mio and I were wondering around in Tokyo when we came upon a fun little wine bar in one of the International areas of downtown Tokyo.  This was a cool place with a few tables and a view overlooking an olive tree.  Only a couple of benches in true Japanese style this was a minimalistic shop.  As we wandered thru the shop we saw a treasure trove of old amazing wines, none of which we could afford, but amazing just to look at on their own.  From first growths of over 70 years of age to amazing Jerobaums of 2005 Firsts this was like a museum.
I suppose I should explain something about Japanese wine stores first off.  It is amazing here what gets imported.  American wines are pretty spars, but French, Italian, and German wines are plentiful.  The fun thing for us over here is that there is a large selection of reasonably priced older wines.  Some excellent 8-15 year old Bordeauxs can be had for $30 or less.  We have been having a lot of fun sampling through Cru Bourgeois from the 90s lately.  I have a theory that it is because Japanese do not have room for cellaring wine in their homes, but I am not sure.  At the same time it is also easy to find older vintages of high end and cult wines over here, but they are a bit out of a reasonable price range.
Anyhow, I was happy to see them pouring some absolutely amazing wines on this day that we had to try.  Not quite to the level of the 1970 LaTache and 64 LaFite that we had had on another occasion, but still these still were no slouches.  The list we chose included;

2003 Bonneu Du Martray, Corton Charlemange
2002 Chateau Haut Brion, Pessac Legonan
1986 Chateau Giscours, Margaux

We started off with the Corton which was far too cold so as we chatted and enjoyed the view, we let it warm up.  Once warm this was a pretty Burgundy, while the 2003 season was a bit warm and the whites lacked in acidity, the age on this wine had integrated it well.  Long gone was the laserlike intensity of a young Burgundy, this had integrated very nicely and had a smooth creamy mouthfeel.  The finish was long lasting and pretty as well.

Second I moved onto the Giscours not wanting to blow my pallet with a huge 03 Bordeaux.  The first thing that caught me was the pretty color of a faded garnet and the wide rim of the wine.  Then, as I brought the glass to my nose I was captivated.  I have to say that this wine had one of the most amazing noses that I have ever experienced with layer upon layer of new scents surfacing.  It immediately hit with a nice currant and an almost red fruit,  then gave way to hits of spice and cassis.  The pallet was nice and well rounded with a good amount of fruit and well integrated tannins.  The finish was almost a bit brief considering the enjoyment I received from the opening, but still quite satisfying.  I would have picked up some of this, but alas the store was out.

Finally we moved onto the Haut Brion.  2003 was an amazingly hot year and the Bordeaux wines from this vintage are showing very well young.  The Haut Brion was no exception.  The power and grace of this wine showed through in the nose very well with tons of fruit and spice.  The pallet was still young and sharp, but had a very nice, almost new world extracted flavor to it with heavy vanilla indicative of young and vivrant oak with lush chewey tannins.  The finish was still somewhat sharp, but hinted at the potential that this wine has in years to come.

All in all this was a great experience and one that I was happy to have had the chance to experience.
                                                                                                        Joe M
 

Taste of Washington Tokyo
January 30, 2009

On a cold January day in Tokyo we had the opportunity to attend the Taste of Washington Tokyo.  This event is held every other year by the Washington Wine Commission.  It gives the members of the wine trade in Japan and the consumers a chance to sample and discover how great Washington Wines can be.  Over thirty wineries from Washington were at the event with some of our Favorite Winemakers in attendance.  We spend the afternoon attending the trade event and then went on to a grand tasting with a great buffet in the evening.  The event was held at the beautiful Tokyo Westin in downtown Tokyo.

As we entered the hallway it was good to instantly see some familiar faces, we saw Sean Boyd of Woodinville Wine Cellars and headed straight over.  Sean had brought along his beautiful Sauv Blanc and two vintages of his awesome Asonius.  As we chatted about the latest gossip in Woodinville Wines.  After Woodinville the Longshadows table caught our eye and we hurried over to find our favorites before they disappeared.  They were pouring the whole gambit of their wines from Poet's Leap to the coveted Feather.  Most were the 2005 vintage and all I can say is there was not a bad apple in the bunch, they were all amazing wines.

After Longshadows we moved onto the table featuring DeLille and K Vintners.  K is actually the Washington wine we have seen the most in Japan with wide market penetration we can find it all over the place.  From the Boom Boom to Milbrant they were all amazing.  But the highlight of the series to me at least was the 2005 Doyenne Syrah which had benefited immensely from a year of bottle age from the last time I had tasted it.  Mio's favorite was the DeLille Chaleur which had opened up quite a bit from previous tastings.  As we were finishing up with the DeLille Wines we noticed Chuck Reinenger at the table next to us.  He had brought over his Cab, Merlot, and Carmenere.  I know many of our club members got to try the Carmenere at our Fall Winemakers Event, but it was our first try.  It was an elegant, complex wine with a nice clean pepper on the finish.  It was simply stunning to my pallet which has gotten used to French wines and Italian wines as of late.  A refreshing reminder of the diversity of Washington State.

As we wandered around the room next we ran into Jaime Brown, winemaker for Waters and Wines of Substance.  The cool part is he is doing a tasting for us next weekend at the store.  We got a great preview of the wines he will be sampling from both portfolios.  Waters makes some sophisticated, complex wines while Substance is an awesome value with a great marketing concept.  Their website is top notch as well with an amazing periodic table of wines.  But you can check that out for yourselves.  My personal favorite from Jamie's Waters wines was Interlude a pretty blend that just plays on your palette.  For Substance, I have not tasted such a solid value line up in a long time, every wine was an awesome daily drinker at a great price.  We had so much fun visiting with Jaime we ended up hanging out with a glass of wine.  For those of you who haven't had the opportunity to meet Jaime, definitely take some time to come by the store early for his tasting on the 7th and say hi.

After tasting through some great wines for the afternoon it came time to take a break.  While the hall was rearranged we took a walk around the plaza at Ebisu station.  It is a beautiful open air mall with a cool replica of a French palace at one end that also happens to be Joel Rubichon's restaurant in Tokyo.  Many of you may have heard of him from Iron Chef fame.  Mio and I have been to his restaurant in Nagoya and the food is impressively creative.  We topped it off with a browse through a wine shop with an incredibly museum of vintages of old French wines and Italian wines, seeing the holy grail of the 82 Mouton and large amounts of Richebourg.

We came back after a bit and they were all ready for the night activities.  The event had presold over 500 tickets and it was starting to get crowded.  When we walked in they had an incredible spread of great foods.  Since we were done with the tasting earlier in the day we sat down and began to enjoy the wines and try to find that perfect food match.  During dinner we got some great glasses of wine and met some of the ExPats living in Tokyo.  It was nice for a change to socialize with others in our native language.  As we sampled through wines we met some great people from all over the world and it really reinforced that wine a great social tool.  Wine brings people together and I always have thought that is one of the best parts of the experience.


As the night went on we met up with the winemakers of Two Mountain Winery and Coeur d'Alene Cellars.  We have had a long tradition of going to Two Mountain in the Spring to get a good supply of some of the best Rainer Cherries around and pick up some great wine.  The Merlot from Two Mountain was a killer wine, keep an eye out for it coming soon to the store and the Viognier from Cd'A cellars is really pretty.  The best part is that both of them retail for under $20 in the states.  The Merlot had an awesome minerality with a beautiful follow through, an amazing wine for the price.

In all I have to say that this was one of the best wine events we have attended in a long while.  After tasting through we reminisced on the train ride home and noticed how many others on the train carried the tell tale gift bag of having attended the event.  We will be sure to attend next time if we end up in Tokyo in two years!
                                                                                                    Joe M.