Meursault-Charmes 1er Cru 1995, Potinet-Ampeau, a photo by mengteck on Flickr.This bottle didn’t show well at all yesterday with the deep fried frog legs at Jade Palace. Quite a muted nose and a little tired on the palate. Probably past its prime, or perhaps just a bottle variation? At least it wasn’t as bad as this. Courtesy of RL 
Click on the pic to view the whole set on Flickr!
Carina mentioned this place to me before but I never managed to check it out until this evening. The Lor Bak was beautifully deep fried – the pork filling was still quite juicy and packed with flavours. I quite liked the Penang Rojak though it could use more bunga kantan and a touch of lime juice. My dinner companion and I chose not to have any desserts but ordered an extra plate of Char Kway Teow! The fried pork lard made all the difference but we decided to do without the cockles (locals call them “haem”) on our second order and it was markedly less fragrant, and less flavoursome too. The Assam Laksa packed a punch with a strong underlying “hae kor” (prawn paste) element in the sourish broth. Unfortunately, they used a thinner version of the rice noodles and there weren’t enough vegetables, mint leaves and shreds of bunga kantan (but nobody does that anymore these days anyway). One of the very few places on the island which offers authentic Penang food. But be prepared for the small portions and somewhat steep prices. They are, after all, glorified hawker food.
Started the evening with a bottle of Leflaive’s 2003 Puligny-Montrachet Clavoillon which was brimming with mineral tones and sherry-like notes. It took quite awhile for my dinner companions and I to finish the bottle with the beautifully braised peanuts, the tasty frog legs (with deep fried ginger slices) and the roasted quails before we managed to move on to the reds.
The Brane-Cantenanc 1975 which I have double decanted earlier was reticent at first but showed quite well after some aeration with an opaque garnet core, light brown hues and an orange-brownish rim. Lifted aromas of dried mandarin peel, and a little honeyed character on the nose when it was first uncorked. More floral tones developed later on with some aeration at the dinner table. Lots of sediment here. Delicate. Tart red fruits with a dose of cinnamon on the palate. Cloves and sour plum flavours emerged too with layers of secondary characteristics. And it went down quite well with the pan fried tofu with crabmeat and crab roe. Do note that the cork crumbled as I tried my best to pry it out of the bottle but fortunately, what it meant to protect was still fresh and lively. The wine still had a tannic grip but smooth and ripe. Med+ finish. Why can’t they make young Bordeaux taste like this? I’d hate to wait 20-30 years for wines to mature and show their peak performance!
