Updated: 27th May 2002 (minor 08 November 2006)
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WineTasters' Notes
"White & a splash of RED" affair
Hung Kang Restaurant
Friday, 24th May 2002

Thanks to its free-flowing format, the wine matching Teochew dinner at Hung Kang Restaurant was an interesting eye-opener, or shall we say, palate-teaser!  Instead of the usual rigid formula of matching each course of the meal with a particular wine, we did the clever thing of having all the wines available throughout the entire meal.  So depending on each participant’s preference and his/her palate’s sensitivity to tannins, acidity or sweet fruit, we stuck to our choices, waxed lyrical about them and debated diverging views.  In short, great fun was had by all!

For many that evening, a 10-year-old vintage new world sparkling was a first experience; and the Matua 1992 Brut did not disappoint.  In clear, light amber, the wine exudes a lovely “mature”, toasty nose, with white fruit made soft by the oak (and age), exhibiting depth, body and elegance, on the palate.  Not surprisingly for that age, the wine lingered with a fair bit of length; all the more pity that we didn’t have a flute for the wine to show its “mousse” in!

Most at the table thought the Matua went well with the spring rolls and deep fried crabmeat dumplings in the cold dish combination.  Many of us continued drinking it with other dishes that followed and found it highly compatible; particularly with the shark’s fin, the Soon Hock and the prawns.

Not that we always agreed on every match that evening.   While many thought the goose dish and the stewed vegetables both paired well with the Chianti Riserva Montespertoli 1998, some insisted that they preferred the vegetables with the Lagar de Cervera Albarino 1999, which with subtle and refined fruit and slightly perfumed nose, really complemented the delicate flavours of the stewed vegetables.

And thanks to our host Remie, we all learned a bit about the Albarino from the far north western corner of Spain: Galicia.  The grape has thick skins, hence is blessed with concentrated acidity, body and flavours.  It is often found in Portugal’s Vino Verde, which is made right across the border from Galicia.  Apparently interest in Albarino has been growing in recent years and it is now quite sought after in Madrid and even across the Atlantic!

Personally I always find pairing Chianti with Chinese home-cooked food a no-brainer.  I must add, though, this is the modern Chianti I am talking about, not the tannic vinegar that passed off as Chianti which used to flood the market some 20, 30 years ago.

Take the Chianti Riserva Montespertoli 1998 for example.  The wine has a deep robe of ruby, plums, red fruit and a bit of spice on the nose, and ripe fruit, soft tannins with clean acidity on the palate – excellent match for the deep fried Soon Hock, goose meat of course, and great for the salt-baked prawns and fried noodles, too, in my humble opinion.

Arguably the sweetness of the prawns juxtaposed by its salty shells, would also be set off well with the Shingle Peak Pinot Gris 2001, another favourite of many that evening, who found its floral, herbaceous – almost Sauvignon Blanc – nose and fruity, refreshing taste a great balance for say, the shark’s fin, the prawn salad and the braised sea cucumber.  I kept my dissenting voice as I declared my bias – I always prefer the slightly sharper acidity in Italian Pinot Grigio; which to me is often more a sipping wine than food wine.

The wine that lost out, if ever there was one, at the dinner had to be the Matheson Estate Chardonnay 1999.  Nothingwrong with the wine, mind you, but it was too “big” for most of the dishes.  With oak and vanilla very pronounced on the nose, it was fat and a little overpowering on the palate.  Some of us were thinking out loud, “May be a Thai curry can stand up to it……” 

Now, the dessert wine….was quite an interesting story altogether, as few at the table (certainly not I) have ever had a sweet wine made from the grape Carignan, or Carinena in Spanish, one of the lesser varieties prevalent in the south of France.

While our Anejo Dulce Baron de Lajoyosa says Carinena – the name of the region as well as the grape variety – on the bottle, Carignan may not be the principal grape variety in a Carinena wine, according to Jancis Robinson’s Guide to Wine Grapes.  While the grape originates in the province of Aragon in Spain, it is grown mainly in Catalonia today.

Well, whichever grape variety being its principal ingredient, our Dulce was far from a perfect match for the rather rich and heavy mashed yam with gingko nuts.  In a dark cherry red colour, the wine has a restrained dark fruit nose, despite its alcoholic content.  On the palate the tannins are a bit coarse and too much to the fore, masking the sweet fruit.  A pleasant enough rustic sweet red, I would say, but completely missed the mark from the mashed yam’s point of view!

Compiled by: Ms. Doris Lau-Parry, WSET (London) & Wine Enthusiast

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