Wine Gathering - Blue Duck Workshop (Private Kitchen)

As an alternative to Friday night drinks after work, we were excited to experience our first private kitchen with the following 2006 Meursault Charmes, 1983 Clerc Milon, 1982 Magdelaine, 1983 Doisy Vedrines.

Take a left off busy Stanley St, up the stairs and you are greeted with a plain white door with no signage. With slight hesitation that you be interrupting a family dinner, I rang the door bell. The door opens into a homely, tranquil warmth that is the Blue Duck Workshop. The food was average, but the company and the wines made up for it. The highlight of the night was the 1982 Magdelaine, a wine that got better as it breathed to flood back memories and the terroir of classic Bordeaux.

Wine Diary - 2004 Col D'Orcia Brunello di Montalcino (4 Macaroon)

Nothing like a taste of the Tuscan terroir. Made from the Sangiovese grape in the land just south of Siena, the Brunello provides a roundness that can can go well with food or drink by itself. It does not have the power of a nebbiolo, but it has a balance that makes this is one of my favourites so far. The first time I tried the Brunello in London, I loved it and I have just fell in love again. Bravo!

Wine Diary - 2004 Chateau Prieure-Lichine (3 Macaroon)

A delightful Bordeaux red from Margaux. Reasonably priced and therefore good bang for buck. . Need my Cote de Boeuf to pair with this.

Wine Diary - 2006 Pelissero Nebiola (2 Macaroon)

Thought I would try a Barbaresco. Not what I expected as it lacked the passion and power of a good Italian. 2 macaroon, once is enough... next!

Shek-O Beach and a New Bag

Taking advantage of the good weather, we ventured out to Shek O beach on the East side of Hong Kong island. For some reason, Marisa was expecting it to look like Nice and she was gravely disappointed.

A Hong Kong beach does feel different from other beaches around the world. There are only a few people that actually sunbathe on the beach and the people that went into the water would be wearing shorts and tshirts. It may be modesty or the fact that people here tend to want to be more white than black.

I should mention that we bought a gorgeous new camera bag. They say once you buy one, it will last you your lifetime. We will see how it goes.

Wine Diary

To balance the frenetic pace of Hong Kong, there will undoubtedly be more consumption of vin rouge while I am here. I have been drinking for a while, but have not given the time to take note and journal the wines that cross my palette. With the onset of old age, the names and years of vintages have been forgotten from my memory, so this is my attempt for each post to remind me of the look, smell, taste and fragrance of each drop.

I am going to avoid providing pompous tasting notes and keeping it simple to a rating out of 4. This is Trent's 4 macaroon scale for wine.

2004 Chateau Prieure-Lichine

2006 Pelissero Nebiola

2004 Col D'Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino

BO Innovation, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

It has been 6 long weeks since we first arrived in Hong Kong. We are slowly settling in and to ensure we keep our Michelin macaroons ticking over, we booked into the 1 star Bo Innovation. Alvin Leung is famed for being able to deconstruct traditional Chinese dishes and reinvent them into something that is modern and thought provoking. The diner is presented with 3 degustation menu's ranging from tasting, chef's menu and the if you are really hungry chef's table. For the evening we opted for the chef's menu. It kicked off with very impressive twist on steamed oyster with ginger and shallots to be followed by my highlight the har mee. Overall the food was intriguing with a delicate balancing act of the sweet, sour, bitter and spice flavours. Hail the kitchen devil!