Pierre Gagnaire

The Pierre Gagnaire review is in the Herald today. The above is the view from our table.

Below is the review in full. It really was a very good lunch. All the touches that you would expect when paying prices such as these were in place. Some of the food was exquisite. All of the food was very good. Just the cinnamon was an issue and in the chefs defence we were asked at the very beginning of the meal if we had any allergies or dislikes. If you have a celebration then now you have a destination.

In addition to all the food mentioned was a final course that could be described as petit fours. Some of these were the traditional biscuity, chocolatey things you might expect. The final was a shot glass of sweet, aromatic, palate cleansing liquid and was just another indication of the cleverness of the kitchen.

Pierre Gagnaire

The opening of Pierre Gagnaire’s restaurant at the top of the Lotte Hotel caused something of a stir in the English press here in Korea. The promise of 3 Michelin star quality food in Seoul was unsurprisingly garnering some excitement, not least from myself. Then there was silence. No reviews, no sign of menus, just the knowledge that the restaurant was there and promising so much pleasure for so much money. As I have previously stated I believe the best way to cope with the growing economic crisis is to indulge in luxury and so I took it upon myself to be the first to offer an English language review and so, as a one off, will only deal scantly with wine today.
Luxury is all about the details. With anything on which you are spending a large proportion of your hard earned cash you expect certain levels of service and satisfaction that generally come down to the details. Stepping out of the express elevator at the 35th floor of Lotte Hotel we were greeted by name into the reception. This is a very good start.
First impressions are also very important and unfortunately, with regards to décor, these were not great. Led through a dimly lit corridor with rooms hidden off to the side, the main dining area is gaudy, gold clad and feels dated in its opulence. However, our table right by the window, looking over the city and mountains quickly dispels any worries about the interior. Eyes will be on the food and the view only.
Immediately on being seated a Champagne cart is wheeled to the table with the Champagne flutes hanging like mini-chandeliers. Having been stung by Champagne prices at the start of a meal in the past and spying Dom Perignon as one of the options I should have politely declined. Instead I asked for the house (read “cheapest”) Champagne and got a crisp refreshing Don Ruinart Blanc de Blanc. Very pleasant but at 55,000 won I should have politely declined.
The two menus offered are not for the faint of heart either. The A La Carte menu is terrifying in its pricing with starters starting at a startling 100,000 won. You can peruse the menu at http://www.pierregagnaire.co.kr/pierre_en/menu_en.pdf. There is however the far more reasonable set lunch offering at 120,000 won. Admittedly, not a cheap lunch, but if you are the sort of person who puts a lot of importance on pleasures of the senses then not a disgrace. You are not just paying for a lunch to fill the belly, you are paying for an experience.
Is the experience up to scratch? Very much so. There is no room to detail everything presented so we will just deal with the highlights. First up are a selection of finger bites, small mouthfuls such as parmesan and chocolate composition and goat’s cheese in a crisp sweet shell. They were all very good and interesting. Then comes the amuse bouche, mouth amusement. I am accustomed to this being a single, small bite that is usually packed with flavour. Here we were presented with five fairly large dishes such as a palate cleansing, yuzu citrus celeriac with a soju foam, a fantastic chicken mousse with crispy chicken skin and something described as mang gae with cumin butter and hot fennel jelly which was strange and amazing. Despite the size and number these were all done with a lightness of touch that left you excited for the rest of the meal.
The only low point for me was the starter proper, cod and squid with a pumpkin veloute. It was perfectly executed but the addition of cinnamon ruined it for me as I only really like it in the company of other spices in a curry.
Main courses gave two choices; sea bass with iberique bacon and a veal salad which was pronounced a great success by my companion and my choice of duck leg with date, ginger, coco and quince accompanied by a French ‘kimchi’ and crispy smoked duck. It was a fantastic dish with savoury and sweet, fat and acid all balancing perfectly with the quince being a real surprise in its delicate sweetness. This is top class cooking.
Dessert comprised three dishes, the stand out being a pineapple, green pepper and ginger ice cream dish with a smear of coriander pesto that worked incredibly and is as good a dessert as I have had. Really inventive, slightly experimental but judged perfectly.
The last sentence could be used to judge the whole experience; it was a beautifully executed meal that managed to balance experimentation with classicism and was a perfectly weighted lunch.
The Marssannay recommended by the sommelier was reasonably priced and matched most of the dishes well, in itself a great challenge. The wine list, to my surprise does include affordable options and despite its favour of French wines offers some real interesting treats.
This was not a cheap lunch but it was a lunch that I consider to be great value. Cooking of this quality is rare in all but the world’s top cities and having a destination restaurant like this is a real bonus for Seoul. While 100 dollar starters can survive the economic down turn then there is a gem at the top of Lotte Hotel.

Les Vin Maeil

Back in the day, pre-Gangnam, I spoke a lot about Les Vin Maeil. Jamsil was the nearest, most accessible area of Seoul and so this was the shop that took most of my money. I splashed the cash about elsewhere admittedly, but this was the shop that I had most affection for. Then we moved and there were nearer, sometimes cheaper shops that caught my attention and I neglected my first discovery. This was a mistake.

Les Vin Maeil is excellent. In terms of bringing new wine into the country they seem to be a cut above the competitors. It was the first place I saw sherry here and now they have a sherry range. Fino, Manzanilla, Oloroso, and Pedro Ximenez. Given how underrated sherry is in the rest of the world that they are pushing them in Korea is excellent. I picked up a Manzanilla for 20,000 and will give it a write up in the coming week.

The range of white wines they have is also a cut above the competition. They had the Goats Do Roam red and I expressed, on here, a wish for them to bring in the white too. Well, my wish was granted and it is on sale for 24,000 won.

You may hate the name, Goats Do Roam being a pun on Cote Du Rhone, but the wines are excellent. I have talked about the red before, a blend of Rhone varietals, and the white is a similar story with it being based on the great white of the Rhone, Condrieu. This means it is primarily a Viognier based wine and it is an excellent example. Wonderfully aromatic, your nose is treated to a heady peach and apricot salad that follows through to the palate with acidity that gives a suggestion of red grapefruit. It is beautifully balanced, has excellent length and is a wine I will be buying much more of. This is one I really do think you should be hunting down. Now. Go on. Go and buy one. You will like it. It is good.

Also, they have a wine from the same producer called the Goatfather. It is a blend of Italian varietals. I have a bottle. When I drink it I will write it.

South Africa seems to be doing the business for me at the minute!

The Pierre Gagnaire review is coming. It is written. I am waiting on the Herald.

Cheers.

Whisky Whiskey

WSET, the body with whom I am undertaking my studies, take their letters from Wine, Spirit, Education and Trust. Wine, Education and Trust I think I am doing alright with here. You feel educated and trust each and every post I assume? Spirit? Not so good. I post each review in good spirit(don't trust me) but actual spirits....and education....nah. Spirits tend to be the short refreshing drink I have when my gut is full of beer at 2 in the morning. It happens.

However, a vertical tasting of scotch over Christmas has created a spark, a burning ember of interest that will only be extinguished by throwing lots of money and hangovers at it.

My expertise is fledgling. I know how to taste but I am not sure what I am tasting. I know what I like(and I like what I bloody well know) but I don't know why I like it.

Anyway. I have 2 bottles here now. A 15 year old Glenfiddich and the above Johnny Walker Black Label. The former is a single malt with 15(the clue is in the name) years of age and the latter is a blend with 12 years of age. They are both good. I read good things about the black label, comments such as 'My desert island whisky' and 'The blenders blend'. I knew Johnny Walker was widely available here and so figured it would be reasonably priced. I was right, 38,000 won at EMart. It is smokey, a little peaty and moreish.
The Gelnfiddich is a smoother, richer affair with it's time in barrel lending a chocolate creaminess with a hint of sherry nuttiness. I like it better and it is more expensive. Who'd have thunk it?

My good friend prefers the Black Label which just goes to show other people are not as bright as me.

I need to drink more. I need more blends and I need more single malts. I am a blank book. Influence me.

Having drunk 2 too many beers and doing a whisky tasting last night my next recommendation has to be Solpadeine plus. The drinkers friend available nowhere in Korea.

Public Service Announcement

Just a quick one to let all you romantic fools know that Emart are running a sale on all sparkling wine for Valentines. So, Moet about 53,000 won, Pol Roger about 88,000 won and Pol Roger 1999 about 100,000 won.

All the new world and cheapy sparklys are on sale as well if you are that way inclined.

Enjoy.

Edit: Let's not talk about my spelling.

Pazzo Barrantes Albarino 2005

Pazzo Barrantes Albarino 2005
Around 30,000won Cep D'Or Gangnam

It has been a while since I pulled out a wine review for wine in Korea.
However, this is something of note as it is a grape variety that I have not seen here before and for that is exciting. Yeah, exciting.

Albarino(Albarinho? Not sure about the h.) is a, largely, Spanish white varietal that has stirred up some interest in the UK. It tends to be expensive, however, and so is not likely to be worrying the top sellers any time soon.

It can be a really aromatic, peachy wine with the ability to age making it more interesting than a bottle of cheap Sauvignon Blanc no? No?

This is an almost golden coloured wine and was darker than I was expecting for sure. The nose was very mute with a slight honeyed orange peel quality to it. So what it lacked in intensity it made up for in being appealing.
It is a refreshing and light glass with some good, crisp citrus fruit combining with a soft mouth feel. This makes it very easy to drink with the acidity and softness making it a bit of a quaffer. It developed more body in the glass with temperature and this saw the apperance of some more plumy/pear characteristics. This is a nice wine and definitely a nice change from the ubiquity of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

I would say hunt it down but when I went back to get another bottle they had sold out. I'll update if it comes back.

Exciting see!

In my defence, blogger is blocked at work and so I am messing with publishing from google docs and thereforeI have got a bit bogged down in the geeky side of things rather than the winey side of things. The editing options in google docs appear to be cack. Still, it seems to be working so now I can work on being exciting.

The Gagnaire review is coming. Spoiler...........it was good.

Free Grange

December was a story of me surviving having surgery on my neck in the very good Asan hospital near Jamsil and then surviving Christmas back in England at the very good hotel known as my parent's house.
Surgery was a great success and for the time being all the worst possibilities that were possible are looking less like possibilities. Which is quite possibly good news.
Apologies to any commenter's ignored. I will be catching up on things soon.

Christmas too was a great success. I laid down a lot and pushed things into my face a lot.

I ate at the Michelin starred JSW in Petersfield, Hampshire and for the second time in two years had a really brilliant tasting menu there. Scallops with cauliflower, seabass and tapenade, goats cheese and onion tarte tatin, a ridiculous mushroom risotto, slow cooked lamb and pork belly that defied belief so melt in the mouth was it. Two sweets as well. Really very, very good and again the one type of cooking that doesn't exist here that I do miss for the occasional treat.

My mother's cooking was up to the usual standards with some superb lamb, an ace Spanish tortilla and her trifle all being highlights.

Let's call the above my self indulgent diary post eh?

Booze.

I drank well.

I won't go over it in detail as it has very little to do with Korea and given that my recent posts have been food related the whole wine korea title might start to look a little tenuous.

Dom Perignon 1990
Gorgeous. Straw coloured with a still fairly persistent fine mousse. This is a refined but powerful Champagne with a lovely honeyed quality. Cream soda was a factor with a long, long ripe apple finish. No edges, no meat(eh dad?) and a drink to remember.

Pol Roger 1990
This as a comparison to the above. Much darker and with a more persistent mousse. Really spicy nose on this one with a little apple. Was more like sticking your nose in a pestle and mortar than a glass of wine. It was a really interesting Champagne unlike anything I have had before. Fresh ground black pepper was the predominant flavour. I liked it a lot but it was not in the same league as the DP.

2 Bottles of Puligny Montrachet from different negociants and of different vintages which I can't remember.
The younger was tasting, er, younger. Both were excellent with great fruit and oak balancing going on. Yes, I should have taken notes.

Whiskey tasting. Glenfiddich 12, 15 and 18 year and an Islay that was 20 years I think.
Whiskey goes right to my head. The Islay was, as you would expect, peaty with a real iodine quality. Was not as smooth as I expected. There was a definite progression in drinkability through the three ages of the Glenfiddich. Again, must make more notes.

Grange 1996
Gorgeous. Fairly consistent garnet colour with very little fading at the rim.
Has a big old nose of the expected dark fruits with nice spicy complexity of bay leaf, violets and tea. It is a wine you know is going to taste nice.
It does. Full bodied and opulent it is fantastically structured with ripe fruit of blueberry/bilberry and plum combining with spice, vanilla and chocolate to veil the still very present tannins. It is a wine with a finish that just keeps giving. Will age for some time yet and will no doubt improve. The highlight of my drinking last year I think.

Korea 2009

I am back and I am busy. After the stress of last year however, I am now really starting to enjoy the new 'hood. Did a circuit of the local wine shops yesterday and picked up some good 'uns I think. We have some Portuguese wine which I have not seen here before we have an Albarino(!) which was very exciting to see. I have spotted Cloudy Bay for 44,000won for those who are so inclined(Wine House). I picked up another bottle of Sherry in order to continue training my palate to actually like it. erm... Goats do Roam has shown up in another shop and I think it is time to start pressing the importers to bring some more of the South African wines in.
What else?
All the pubs near my gaff are useless.
I might be going to Pierre Gagnaire for my birthday.
I am considering starting a second, no doubt equally ignored blog, on how to do luxury in Seoul. Where to buy all the things I can't afford, where to sleep in all the places I can't afford and where to do all the things I can't afford. Winning idea eh? You can think of me with my nose pushed against windows, in the cold, excluded from where the luxury lies.

Albarino and Portugese wine reports to come. Hopefuly something on Gagnaire to come.

Dalk Galbi Pie

I am not turning into a food blog.


But....above is my previously promised Dalk Galbi pie.

If you have ever had a balti pie at a football match you will know what this is about. Curry is great. Pie is great. Curry pie is great! Same premise. Dalk Galbi is great. Pie is great.....you get the picture.

I used a Delia recipe for shortcrust pastry which turned out amazing.
I used the my korean kitchen dalk galbi recipe toned down a bit in terms of spice and without the ddeock. Not because I am some kind of Southern Shandy drinking Nancy....... but because I reckon you don't want a pie to be so hot you can't taste the pastry and chewing rice cake and pastry seemed like it might be a bit odd.

I am no food photographer......

We served it with sesame cabbage and carrots glazed with ginger, honey and soy.

It was great. Worked exactly like I hoped with sweet, spicy, meat and potato and pastry.

Ace.

Not WIne Related

Please excuse me.

This is not wine related, just a post basking in the glory of my genius in the kitchen. Or just my genius perhaps.

The Korean pears are on good form at the minute and the ones that are getting passed around at work got me wondering as to why I don't eat more of them. Buying a few I realised that the whole peeling thing might be the problem, I'm lazy like that, and so what could I do with them that would make me think it was worth the effort.

Christmas is coming. Christmas means booze and chocolate and given that I am too poor to buy booze and too much of an alcoholic to waste good alcohol on fruit it seemed the perfect 'pearing' was with chocolate.

Short story shorter, I melted some good quality chocolate, dipped the pears in it and let them set. Superb. Dark chocolate with the nutty sweetness of the pear goes incredibly well and as only half the pear is covered the second half cleanses the palate ready for the next one. Genius.

The Lackey, Shiraz

The Lackey South Australian Shiraz
Hyundai Department Store,
30,000 won.

Just a quick one to try and prove to the world and, more importantly, myself that I am back on this blogging malarkey.

I am skint. Utterly. Friday is pay day and cannot come quick enough.

What better way to cope with the misery of poverty than to make a beef casserole, with real life dumplings(not mandu), and drink a big, spicy, new world Shiraz. So I did.

The beef was meant to be a goulash but we failed in finding paprika and sour cream and so we adapted and just made a bog standard beef and mushroom casserole. Little bit of smoked paprika, bit of oyster sauce, bit of this, bit of that. Pretty good, deep flavoured stew. I am not an expert on dumplings. I don't think I have eaten many in my life. Are they meant to be light and fluffy or something you could assault a policeman with in a riot? Mine were the latter but alright in a vulgar way.

Anyway, the wine. Fairly typical of an Australian Shiraz in this price range. Big nose of ripe, dark fruit and a palate that is juicy, spicy with really nice tannin. It comes in at 15% alcohol so I am a bit bleary eyed writing this. It is a nice wine that is just a little over the top for my tastes and starting to fall into cough medicine territory. A touch over priced but then what isn't round here? Keep an eye out for it in the sales.......

We also picked up a Chilean Gewurztraminer for 18,000 won. Torres, the huge Spanish producer is behind this wine and it's OK. Lacks the really exotic nose of a great Gewurz. This may have been suffering from reduction. I am not sure. It had a distinct rubber tyre smell that passed with time in the glass. It had nice acidity for a Gewurz and was kicking it in a juicy, exotic grapefruit styleee. That was me being a down with the kids wine writer.

Like I said, the Shiraz had a bit of a kick.

I am planning to make a Dalk Galbi pie this week. This is the pie that will eventually make me a rich man. I plan to pair it with beer.

New Herald and a few Cheapys

The new Herald article is on us today and deals with screwcaps. This was a genuine restaurant critique I read and the fella walked out without eating because of the horror of being sold a screwcap wine. Now, the wine could have been very poor and getting crap wine is no fun when you are spending 40,000 won but the horror he felt at the screwcap was palpable. Today a non-wine drinking friend texted me having read the Herald saying that my standards were dropping and I would soon be defending box wine. This is the battle the producers have to undertake with consumers with regards to closure choice it seems.

There are a few reasonable cheapy cheapy wines about at the moment. Homeplus have two Spanish wines at around the 9000 won range, both from the same bodega, both from the Tesco Finest range, both from Old Vines and one a Garnacha one a Tempranillo. They are good but not great, the Garnacha offering a little more depth but the Tempranillo being a cherry filled fruit glass. Worth a punt.

E-Mart are selling the Argento Cabernet Sauvignon at 9000 won as well. This is a decent bottle of wine. Nothing exciting but no complaints. They are also selling some 3000 bottles of wine that I haven't got the nerve to try. If anyone is willing to go at it for me and let me know I will be in your debt.

I must apologise for the lack of posts recently. I have been somewhat debilitated by blogger being blocked at work, a somewhat uncomfortable set-up at home, a genuine and psychologically scarring lack of money and an upcoming operation that makes me want to drink but makes me think I shouldn't.

Christmas is coming and I should be drinking well soon. With the New Year comes new ideas and my big idea is going to be increasing the quantity and quality of my drinking.

Cheers.

2009 Tasting

I am not very good at this blogging malarkey......

Yesterday I had the very good fortune to get an invite to a tasting at the WSET office in Seoul. WSET are the organisation for wine education with courses from the very beginner to the not inconsiderable step before Master of Wine.

Podo Plaza is a wonderful place for the wine lover. Wine bar, wine shop, wine education and indeed a cooking school are all ensconced in this wood bedecked building in Apgujeong.

On Saturday they had a tasting of wines for 2009 with a selection of the importers best new wines for the coming year. With 60 wines to taste it was something of an assault on the mouth especially considering the white to red ratio of 5 to 60. There was some good stuff and there was some bad stuff. Prices of the wines were, as ever, something of a kick in the stomach and the selection of wines on offer was, as ever, very traditional and lacking in risk taking.

It was, however, a wonderful chance for me to see the wine lovers of Korea together and I met some really fantastic oenophiles. Women really are going to push the industry forward in Korea going on the male/female ratio there. Perhaps, hopefully, this will see something of a move away from the very traditional Bordeaux/Italy age worthy reds so predominant here to more interesting lighter experimental wines. Or perhaps I will need to fly that particular flag. It was a very worthwhile experience for me and I urge everyone reading to hunt down Podo Plaza and investigate what it has to offer.

We have lamb in the oven for our Sunday dinner and so I will match this to a 2005 Bordeaux bought due to Jancis' glowing review of the vintage. I am sure it will be too young but these things need investigating eh?

Got budget Premier Crus Chablis, a cheapy Pinot and the aforementioned Claret to write up. I will be diligent.

Pierre Gagnaire Seoul

Well, this seems to have passed through my filters(Google Alerts) until today. Pierre Gagnaire who holds 3 Michelin Stars at his flagship restaurant in Paris has opened a restaurant in Lotte Hotel here.

There isn't too much information out there just yet, specifically, no sample menu, but the prices are out and are, as you might expect, on the high side. However, if the food is up to scratch and sniffing at the door of Michelin quality then the prices are immaterial. Quality and luxury in every sector is a pricey business and the same is true of food and drink.

Some of my greatest eating experiences have been hugely expensive,thanks Mam and Dad, but have been worth every penny. If this restaurant is serving consistently excellent food then as a very occasional treat why not? I will be sure to check it out as soon as my bank balance has stopped reeling.

In The City

There's a thousand faces all shining bright.

It has been a long time. Wine in Korea has been through some changes. I have moved in from the sticks and am now firmly entrenched in the middle of consumerist Gangnam. What with finding a new flat, paying for a new flat and furnishing a new flat and the stress of starting a new job there has been very little time for blogging and very little money for wine.

However, the dust has settled, the bank balance has levelled and the current financial climate makes alcohol an absolute necessity.

So, updates will be coming..........

For those of you really feeling the pinch I have news of a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc at Homeplus that is retailing for a scandalous 5000 won. Expectations were low but it honestly is very drinkable. Simple, refreshingly acidic with enough citrus and grapefruit to make it interesting, this is not bad value at all. If you don't expect to be wowed and are happy with a simple refreshing quaffer that won't tickle your gag reflex give it a try. There is a red from the same producer at a similar price that has to be worth investigating.
The good news is that the new job, new flat and a coming birthday means I have the prefect excuse to indulge in some serious Champagne drinking. Financial crisis my arse.

How To Beat The Rainy Day Blues

Up here in the north of South Korea we don't seem to get the full effect of the monsoons that annually hit the peninsula. What we get are the side effects which manifest themselves in rain. Lots of rain. This weekend has been something of a wash out in that it has rained pretty much consistently for 48 hours. The local river has burst its banks, the local building site is a swamp and plans to go flat(apartment) hunting in Gangnam have been quashed.
I have read books on wine.
I have played GTAIV.
I have studied Korean.
I have cooked a Vindaloo.
And I have opened a £40 bottle of white Burgundy. If you can't leave the house to buy something cheap one must drink what is at hand, no?

I bought this bottle as I was leaving my pre-Korea job to take advantage of a staff discount. I am a big fan of white Burgundy, be it the austere Chablis or the rich Mersault, and this particular appellation sounded like it would make a wine that worked my weak spots. I could have kept it for longer, let it age and mature and round out, but as a consumer who can only afford to buy single bottles, not cases, and lacking the luxury of space to store I am a drinker not a keeper.

And it was raining.

And grey.

Really, one needs a pick-me-up on days like this.

Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru, 2000.
Domaine Marc Colin et ses Fils,
France,
Bought for about £40. Unavailable in Korea. Probably. Maybe but it will be stupid, stupid money. The last Corton Charlemagne I saw here was selling for 1,000,000 won or £500.

I have talked before about expectation and wine. The belief that a bottle is going to knock you sideways and re-define your high water mark. A bottle that all other bottles will aspire to be. Well, this bottle neither disappointed nor set a new standard. It was not sublime, earth moving or life changing but it was exceptional, thought provoking and most importantly delicious. It was a very happy monsoon day drink.

For an eight year old drink it wasn't nearly as dark in the glass as I would have expected. It was a beautifully bright lemon with some evidence of legs. Looking youthful!

I don't know if I have got across how important it is to smell a wine. Not just for the purpose of checking if it has any faults or not but simply in terms of pleasure. Sticking your snout in a good glass of wine and taking a good old sniff is surely one of life's great pleasures. Smell is a route to memory and building memories based on great alcohol is surely more worthwhile than building a loss of memory on poor alcohol. Which I also occasionally enjoy indulging in.

This wine had a fantastic nose. My tasting note talks of pears smothered with hazelnut ice cream, sans botulism, with wet stones next to the river on a summer day. It had a beautifully evolved chardonnay nose with no off notes and superb vanilla integration which gave a creamy, buttery quality. There were apples, but not your green apples freshly bitten but apples in a Paris patisserie baking a Tarte Tatin. Yes, this could be my wankiest tasting note yet.

Smell is important then, but how did it taste? Not quite as good as the nose I am afraid. It was still fantastic though! It initially comes across with a real burst of flavour with fresh lemon and good acidity. The apples are there again but this time we are talking a Granny Smith with the nuttiness of the first bite into the skin. On top of this it felt reasonably full bodied with a real creamy mouth feel. The length was exceptional and developed a real nuttiness as evidenced on the nose.

Temperature really affected this wine and it certainly does not want to be served clap cold. Chilled for sure but too cold and it closes up.

It is a wine that seems to walk a tight rope between the austere style of a Chablis and the richness of a Mersault. It was fantastically refined and really was an absolute pleasure. Would that I could afford to drink more Grand Crus white Burgundy! It had plenty of life left in it that is for sure and I perhaps drank a little premature. I am not so upset.

Though, saying that, I am now sitting drinking the Las Moras Argentenian Chardonnay and life has less colour.

If I did tags on posts, this would be tagged under 'ponce' mostly.

GS Mart Wine Fridge

GS Mart has come up with the genius idea of placing a small wine fridge next to the counter. The summer is really hotting up now and sticking chilled white wines beaded with sweat where I am making my purchase is a sure fire sale.
Las Moras Chardonnay at 11,000won is not bad. Lightly oaked Argentinean Chardonnay with some good simple melon fruit. Perhaps a little sweet and certainly not very refined but a good summer drink.

The picture above is a bottle of Maegkoli. My weekend football team had an away game this Sunday which involved getting up at 6:30(!) and a short trip across the Han to an astro-turf pitch. I really wasn't in the mood for playing, early Sunday is not the best time for me, but after one of the hottest 30 minutes of my life and thinking I was going to die I was glad I played. I have now accepted that I am not going to be a professional footballer, I am probably one of the worst players on the pitch.

Anyway, after the 3rd or 4th game the maegkolli came out. I am really starting to like the stuff despite the fact it tastes a bit like paint. It has a little bit of fizz to it and actually manages to be quite refreshing. I suspect you need to know which bottles to buy as the only time I have bought it with no Korean help it was swinging. Lumpy, no fizz and really tasted like paint. Koreans don't like to drink without food and so we were given a really delicious plum as anju. Then some kind of boiled pea that was sort of nutty with a potato texture. Good stuff. And...they put on lunch for us all. YukGaeJang. Spicy beef and vegetable soup. You wouldn't get that in an English Sunday Pub league.

Chilean Out in the Summer

A future writing headlines for the Sun surely awaits?

The new Herald article has literally hit the shelves today.

Whilst I seem to be saying that drinking red wines is OK in the summer, today is HOT and so I think something cooler really is the way to go. Maybe beer. EMart do a reasonable, cheap wheat beer.

In other news I will be moving into Seoul in September with a new job in Gangnam. Looking at apartments at the moment. There is a possibility we will be getting a flat in Apgujeong whereby Galleria would effectively be my corner shop. Take that wallet.

Chilean Out in the Summer.

It is something of a paradox that where those of us in the cooler northern climates associate summer drinking with white wines, those from hotter regions are much more likely to go for the reds. With this in mind this week we have three red wines for your consideration all under 20,000 won at Emart, each a different grape variety and all from Chile.

Chile is a region that can represent great value once you have sorted the wheat from the chaff. It is a particularly strong country for the Korean consumer due to the free-trade agreement between the two countries. Let’s hope that the US agreement and the proposed European talks can see similar impacts on the respective regions wine showings and prices.

Starting with the cheapest we have the Cono Sur Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 from the Central valley region at 12,800won. Cono Sur are a winery that produce very modern single varietal wines that tend to express well the fruit qualities of the grape.

This is a purple glass of wine with a very tight nose. It is showing very little typical Cabernet character with a touch of cherry and blackcurrant and a hint of perfumed violets. It is a very soft fruity wine with a very real Cherry Lips(old English sweet) quality. The cherry/blackcurrant, rose/violet theme has followed through from the nose giving us a really pleasant, simple fruit and light vanilla drink that I have no qualms about recommending at this price.

Moving to the south of the country and from the somewhat experimental Bio-Bio valley region, next up is the Augustus Winemakers Selection Pinot Noir 2007 at 16,900won. Pinot Noir is enjoying some success in this area of Chile thanks to the slightly lower sunshine hours and temperatures. Hot regions produce Pinots that taste like jam.

This, as one would expect, is fairly light in the glass, Pinot is a delicate, thin skinned grape and so you get a pretty cherry coloured drink. The nose is not the most appealing unfortunately with bees wax and wet hay notes combining with a strong cherry brandy hit. It is a nose suggesting of a very alcoholic wine.

Unfortunately this alcoholic heat is following through to the palate and though it has a nice rounded mouth feel with good acidity and smooth tannins the alcohol throws it all out of balance. The fruit is nice and sweet and there is a subtle vanilla oak integration but with the 14% alcohol it ends up tasting a little like a cough sweet. This is by no means a bad wine it is just not to my tastes.

The final wine is the Santa Rita Reserva Merlot 2005 from the Maipo valley region coming in at 17,900 won. In contrast to the Pinot this is a heavily extracted wine with a deep, intense garnet colour. In contrast to the previous two simple, fruity wines there is a lot more complexity here.

It has a prominent pencil shaving and coffee grinds nose backed up by good blackcurrant and plum fruit. Also coming through are green peppers and the presence of some well integrated oak. Once again this smells a little alcoholic but there is enough interest to prevent this from being a problem and it is a very appealing bouquet.

You are certainly getting a mouth full of wine here with an intense blast of sharp black fruit. Plums and blackcurrant are to the fore nicely backed up by a smooth vanilla finish. The finish also has the benefit of being long with good tannic grip making this by far the most serious wine today. The oak is certainly making itself noticed as is the 14% alcohol but it has enough fruit and structure to make this a well balanced wine. It is another triumph from EMart’s new world red range and represents great value.

Teanum Otre Negroamaro 2006

An Italian wine from EMart. About 20,000 wonish.

We decided to make a pizza earlier in the week. Mozzarella, basil, fresh and sun-dried tomatoes and olives. Very Korean. As I was tasked with doing the shopping I decided to pick up a cheeky bottle to wash it all down. I decided to go the Italian route and this bottle proudly displayed an International Wine Challenge seal of approval and I thought why not?

Negroamaro is not a grape I am familiar with, perhaps as it was a victim of the EU vine pull schemes, and so I went into this with a completely open mind.

This is not a heavily extracted wine, it is not particularly intense in colour, somewhat contradicting its name. The nose didn't really do much for me, it was lightly fruity but had a really unappealing characteristic. The only way I can describe it is as the slightly scruffy kid at school who you always suspected didn't wash as much as he should and so carried around a slightly earthy funk to him. Not really what I want in my wine.

It is an acidic wine, fairly light bodied with soft tannins, again suggesting only limited extraction. It is however, pretty good. There is enough fruit to make the acidity appealing and it is a light, bright glass of red wine. Lots of red fruit with raspberry, not so much the flesh but more the seed that gets stuck in your teeth and a few hours later you manage to extract and chew. Delicious. Also, I got a really unmistakable orange quality, which with the cranberry fruit made it almost like a good Cosmopolitan.

Not bad at all and went well with the pizza.

Tonight, in celebration of the baking temperatures here in Korea we are making a pie. Meat and potato pie with mashed potato and mushy peas. Summer food at its finest? I am going to make up an extra batch of pastry though and fully intend to make a dalk galbi(닭갈비) pie this week. I suspect that this is the idea that is going to make me a millionaire.

A New Food Blog

Google Alerts threw up this new 'Korean' food blog and I am going to link it mainly because there is black pudding on it. I had black pudding and a fried egg as a starter before the fish and chips mentioned below. You cannot beat a bit of black pudding.

Seems to be a well updated blog so far and worth keeping an eye on.

Poor Me, Poor Me, Pour Me Another.

Yeah, so I had to go back to England again. For a weekend. Left Seoul on Friday and landed back in Seoul on Tuesday. Pretty exhausting really. And expensive.

It was a good do though, my mates wedding and so lots of old, old friends who could little believe I was living in Korea and even more agog that I considered myself a wine man. Maybe I just never seemed that...classy. heh.

I was the best man and so had to do a speech. I prepared the toast with a presumption that all weddings would have Champagne involved at some point. There was none. So my "May your marriage be like a fine Champagne, sparkling(thanks Korea Tourism Organization), intoxicating and not only long lived but also improving with age" was met with many raised pints of lager and my own whiskey.

All this means wine buying is on the down-low this month. I am out of pocket somewhat. I have brought back with me 3 bottles though. A Grand Cru Corton Charlemagne, a Premier Cru Volnay and a Grand Reserva Rioja. There will be write ups on those because they are going to make me either mouth ecstatic or expectation crushed.

Other notes.....

Economy class wine is shit. Drink beer.
Economy class food is shit. Ask for a sandwich.
Cathay Pacific is shit.
English bitter is fantastic and how did it take me so long to realise? I had a pint of Sharps Doom Bar with Fish Chips and mushy peas and it was all absolutely knock out. And very, very English.

That is all.

Buying Smart At EMart

Junes Herald article is out today and can be found, for a limited time only, here.

I will post my submitted article below because for the first time I am a bit peeved with the editing. Some of the changes actually altered the point I was making, but hey, I am not the professional so I will bow to their decisions. Of course.

In addition to what I said in the article I really do think the Stump Jump pictured above is a cracking bottle, really juicy fruit and a bit of a steal at 16,000won. It seems I am not alone because Parker has rated it as well. Definitely worth checking out.

The Tierra del Sol is not a great wine and I don't think I got that across well enough due to word limitations. However at 5,000wonish it is not as bad as you might expect. It has fruit and at a party would work. It is not a bottle I would sit and really relish though.

I have plenty more bottles to report on and will be stocking up again this weekend so laziness notwithstanding the blog should be getting a few more bottle reviews in the near future.

Buying Smart at E-mart

Living outside of Seoul seriously limits your choices when it comes to wine buying. Dedicated wine shops tend to charge prices that even I baulk at and whilst the selection at the local convenience stores does show signs of improvement it is still very much a selection that scrapes the bottom of the barrel, be that barrel French or more likely American Oak. Living in one of Seoul’s satellite towns I have faced my struggles in the past, the arduous schlep into the capital or the over priced specialist shops with limited choice. Well, apparently fortune favours the brave and everything comes to those who wait and whilst I may not be the bravest, I have waited and this weekend saw the opening of E-Mart in my backyard.

There is no room to go into the pros and cons of supermarket wine selections here but it is fair to say that E-Mart has improved the choice in my city markedly. Selflessly I have braved the opening weekend hordes and taken home and tasted four wines that range from the poor to the excellent.

Let’s start with the poor. Little Penguin South Eastern Australian Chardonnay is a wine appealing to the masses. At 15,000 won with a modern label adorned with penguins it is quite an appealing bottle to pick up and SE Australian Chardonnay can be an over the top, ripe fruit and vanilla treat every now and then. This wine does indeed have a ripe nose of melon and citrus with an oak influence that has a lot of off notes. To drink it is fairly smooth due in most to the amount of residual sugar which is present no doubt to hide all the faults present in the wine. There is some tropical fruit and if your mission was to get drunk it might do the job but it is very difficult to recommend.

Far superior is the Laroche Viognier 2006 from France, a Vins de Pay D’OC wine at 12,000won which represents superb value. Viognier is a grape which presents problems in terms of getting the ripeness of fruit in balance with the alcohol. No problems here with an extremely fragrant wine with a touch of minerality. There is a real soft fruit quality with apricot to the fore with some flower notes. The palate is juicy but not over the top opulent and has a delicious liquorice finish. Fantastic value.

On to the reds and probably the cheapest wine I have ever bought here. The Tierra del Sol 2006 from Spain is a wine made from Tempranillo, the grape of Rioja and at 4,900 won it had to be tried. It is pretty pale in the glass and has a fairly unripe nose of cranberry and red cherry with vanilla coming through as a bar of fudge. This is a very light bodied red and could definitely be chilled. With red fruit and vanilla it is simple and drinkable. Certainly it is nothing to get excited about but for the price and slightly chilled it is worth a punt.

Finally we have The Stump Jump 2006, a blend of Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre from the McLaren Vale region. At just under 16,000 won this is a cracking buy with a fantastic warm, fruity nose with a touch of spice. It is one of those welcoming wines that you just want to glug down. It has a really rounded mouth feel with soft tannins and good length. There is a touch of tobacco, but this is a fruit story with juicy blueberry and black cherry and is a fantastic glass of wine. Recommended.