It Came From Down South

It was last Friday at The Establishent met up with the regulars for what was suppose to be a bottle or two but we ended the night with another triple play.
It was recomended by the establishments over enthusiastic future somelier guy who reckons that we would enjoy this. Couldn't make out the lable as it was all in latin and as you would guess i'm still grasping with the english language. Anyways the colour was a deep purple with a nose of musk and sandalwood which reminded my buddy that it was time to pay his respects to his ancestors at the altars back home. To sum it up it was typically South African with earthiness, mushrooms, short,oakey, no fruit, minerally, tannic acidic and ends like a juice. It reminded me of intermission wine between 2 sad piano concertos. And to make the day sadder it was RM300 a bottle. Enough said.

We had to have something else to make up for the first and we again visited the vineyards of the southern hemisphere and had the Alkoomi Jarrah Frankland River Shiraz 2001 (RM216, again not cheap) which was full of plums and berries, very fruity lots of tannins. Medium bodied and lenght. Will probably get better in a few years time but it was not going to make up for the first bottle. STRIKE TWO!




The establishment was definetly not happening for us so we got out of there for a late dinner at Prego's of the usual pasta, risotto and duck (write about that another time). The wine that accompanied dinner was a Bruno Giacosa Nebbiolo d'Alba 2004 (back to familiar territory), it started out tight but after a while it was a lovely wine with cherries, a hint of strawberries, tar and licorice. Feels like silk in the mouth. Nice acidity, balance and finish. Had to pay unrealistic restaurant mark ups for a basic Giacosa but at least it made up for the earlier rough rides.

Triple Play

This happened last Friday after a long, hot frustating week at the office. It was early around 3pm, luckilly i had company and it being the last day of the week we ended the day with 3 bottles at the establishment.


Chapoutier Gigondas 2005
medium bodied Rhone with hints of cherry and plums with a minerally after taste. I've not had much luck with french wines but i think i found this one to be palatable and it has a decent price point of RM155. Note * i thought it had a very familiar smell of cherry chupa chups on the nose.

Alex Gambal Nuit Saint Georges 1998
Yucks! Thin, dry and highly acidic. Couldn't make anything out of this bottle except for an unpleasant smell of a wet dog if you know what i mean. Tried decanting and still that smell wouldn't go away. Maybe the frenchies don't do it for me. Bigger heartache was the price RM269 definetly no bang for your buck here.
Note from the website: 1998 Nuits St. Georges – Primarily from old vines on the Vosne side of Nuits; Aux Lavières and Au Bas du Combe. A bit more red fruits in Nuits in 1998; very ripe raspberries with smooth tannins. 100 cases made...yada yada yada


Sette Ponti Oreno 2004
Sangiovesse young but very good. It had the very things i like in a wine and thats cherry, black fruit, tobacco, leather, vanilla, coffee, chocolate, and oak on the nose and palate. Medium to full bodied with a nice long finish. At RM275 i'd pay this anyday over the frenchies.

Pio Cesare Barolo 2003

This is one of my all time favs, a delicious wine with full blackberry aromas, full bodied, hints of coffee, licorice, tar, soft tannins, good balance with a nice long finish. It's exactly what i love about barolo's. ( the lable reminds me of Cinzano bianco).
A great young barolo with a lot of potential for later drinking but meanwhile its a great young wine which believe me is impressive now. I really enjoy drinking it now and delicious with meat. Overall a very good wine.
But as usual good grog don't come cheap it retails for around RM230 at the establishment. It sells for around RM380( or more) a bottle at restaurants but i had the once in a lifetime incident where i enjoyed 2 bottles of this excellent wine for RM130 a bottle due to some fuck-up at this new restaurant which i will not name to protect the innocent staff members from losing their jobs.( and i have the receipt to prove it!)

Felton Road Otago Pinot Noir 2007

Just back from a short tipple with a buddy and his better half at the usual establishment catching up with all the craziness hapenning around us ie. politically and this was recomended a New Zealand Pinot Noir whose claim to fame is being the southern most vineyard in the world.

A youthful crimson wine with hints of coffee, sultanas and red fruit on the nose. Fruity on the palate with oak, mineral and very well managed tannins. The mouthfeel is smooth and silky but a little too short for my liking, however i believe there was even a hint of "tong kwai" the chinese herb at the end. Definetly a bottle that would go very well with food. It retails for around RM198 and i think its ok value for the buck.

TerraMater Unusual Carménère Shiraz 2003

It's the weekend, been out in the sun all week on the job and everything that could go wrong did. I had to get that drink to bring back some sanity after the week i had. None of my usual suspects were around again owing to the Wesak Day extended weekend. Took a short walk with my lovely better half for a bite at the establishment.

TerraMater Unusual Carménère Shiraz 2003 is my pick for this evening. I don't usually have many fond memories of Chilean wines. I tried this bottle before back in Febuary and was quite surprised. This unusual blend of Carmenere and Shiraz gives a intensely deep red colour with characteristics of blackberry, plums and a hint of coffee and chocolate. Very well balanced with an intense persistent finish that i like. We took a couple of hours to enjoy dinner and it seemed to get better as it breathed and it probably would have benefited from decanting. Overall a very good wine for RM168 retail.

Ceretto Langhe Monsordo 2002

My Labour Day treat....I have had this wine a half dozen times and it is a great little drink.... Walks a tight line between new world fruit and old world charm..... which get my 2 thumbs up for value for money. At RM138 retail its the Ceretto Langhe Monsordo 2002 from Piedmont, Italy.... My usual suspects are all out of town and taking a long weekend so i had a good couple of hours to enjoy it and ponder Liverpool's second trophyless season.

A red Bordeaux* blend and a California cabernet with some Nebbiolo in the mix. Dark purple in colour with loads or berry aroma's with a hint of vanilla. Good acidity and structure with a moderate long finish. Modern but still enjoyable.

*(The variety Red Bordeaux Blend implies any blend using any or all of the five traditional Bordeaux varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. As such, this is used worldwide, whether for wines from Bordeaux, Meritages from California and Canada, some Super-Tuscan wines etc.)

La Brancaia Toscana Il Blu 2003

The top product of the Brancaia brand is the Brancaia IL BLU, IGT (Supertuscan),
50% Sangiovese, 45% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Blackberries, currants and berries with hints of minerals. Full-bodied and chewy, with lots of character.
It's 5pm, Saturday afternoon.... cellphone rings....Buddy calls for a quick bottle at our usual haunt....5.10pm we are sitting around this bottle we have had several times before.... The results is another well spent couple of hours catching up and the accompanying bottle did not disappoint....Still young, it was surprisingly approachable and fun to drink today,... At first the taste had lots of leather.... That too gave way over time first cherry then plumb.... We drank over the course of an hour and a half.... I'm guessing that 3 hours of decanting would have really helped.

As always the downside to drinking in KL is that it will set you back RM268 a bottle retail.

GIANNI GAGLIARDO BAROLO PREVE 2001

GIANNI GAGLIARDO BAROLO PREVE 2001, now thats a name to remember. Buddy of mine made good on our Liverpool vs Arsenal triology.

Gianni Gagliardo is located in Piedmont, Italy. The Barolo, one of many to claim the title "Wine of kings, and king of wines".

An intricate, complex nose offering sweet cherries, tobacco, minerals and spices, complimenting an exquisitely structured, balanced palate with a nimble poise of sweet berries, minerality and freshness, great tannic backbone and a complex, very long after-taste. Great stuff!

Major drawback here is that it retails around RM300 a bottle but its worth every drop in my books.

Simonsig Tiara 2000

this is where i give my unsolicited, unqualified review on good bottles and places to eat......


Last weekend i got together with my regular buddies and as usual we pooled our money together and bought a couple of bottles at our usual wine shop in Damansara. This practice has been goin on for quite some time now and its a great way to experience wines without burning a hole in your pockets. No thanks to our countries sin tax on alcahol.

Well here's a bottle we thought was quite fantastic value for money, Simonsig Tiara 2000 from South Africa, we were very surprised at it was, delicious smooth and it had a nice long aftertaste. I have always been wary of new world wines for being rough, too sharp and lacking any pleasant aftertaste. I personally recomend decantering it a bit to allow more of its flavours to come forward. It retails for around RM115.




The flagship wine of Simonsig, this Bordeaux-style red blend exhibits a deep, black cherry color, with a nose of ripe blackcurrant and cassis, and subtle toasty wood, vanilla and cinnamon influences. Delicate crushed berry fruit on the palate is well balanced by the classic, mature tannic structure. The overall impression is elegant, with lots of hidden flavor that will emerge with further maturation.