My Japan Drinking Trip (2)

It was Christmas and we were invited to my friend’s parents place for dinner.  It was a sukiyaki dinner (すき焼き), which we started with pan-frying some premium wagyu beef dipped in raw eggs, then we filled the pan with mushrooms, radish and udon and topped it up with stock to make a soup, just like a shabu shabu (しゃぶしゃぶ).  It was so delicious, the beef was so soft and tasty and the udon was specially ordered from one of the best in the country.  We drank the Kagatobi’s (加賀鳶) Gokkan Junmai (極寒純米), it was a limited seasonal edition.  It was a very nice sake with interesting strong rice favour as it was not filtered.  Then we opened the Piccini’s Burnello di Montalcino from Villa Al Cortile, a Tuscany’s Sangiovese, all I can remember is that we enjoyed it so much.  A very lovely evening!

 

Our drinking trip has not finished yet, for the ten days we were in Japan, I couldn’t remember a night without alcohol.  Not to mention the weekend away to Hakone (箱根), we had tried some very good stuff!  The first night at Hakone, we’ve decided to go for a hot spring before dinner, we were a bit worried that our heart will be overloaded with the combination of hot spring and alcohol!  After a nice Japanese style dinner, we went straight back into our room and drank.  My friend, the old world wine expert, has kindly prepared all her favourite wines for us, it was such an honour to try as well as learn about them.  She opened the Chianti Classico, my favourite Sangiovese!!!  It was the Rocca Guicciarda – Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG from the Barone Ricasoli. Oh, I was so happy, and when I was still seduced by the Sangiovese, my friend opened the next wine, the Monsordo Bernardina estate’s Monsordo Langhe Rosso DOC Ceretto, it was a Nebbiolo blend with Cabernet, Merlot and Syrah.  It was the first time I tried a Nebbiolo blend, very nice and complex.  It was from the Piemonte region just next to the famous Barolo. I just could not find words to describe this indulgence in the beautiful, romantic charm of lovely Italian wines.  I had a good explanation of the Italian wine regions by my friend, and trying them in parallel was such a wonderful experience.  I was starting to love old world wines!

The second night, we continued with our wine adventure!  We started with a local sake, the Hakone Yama (箱根山), and then back to our wines.  The first one we drank was the Le Haut Medoc de Giscours 1998, this wine was produced by Chateau Giscours.  It was made from crops just outside their Margaux boundary, a beautiful Bordeaux wine.  I have learnt that the producer of the old world wines is always the most important thing to look at in a wine.  Then we opened the Francois Labet Pinot Noir 2006, Francois Labet is the owner of the Chateau de La Tour in Burgundy.  A real Bourgogne Pinot Noir is always nice in a happy relax evening after a hot spring bath!  Our Hakone weekend away was like a European weekend away, first arriving in Italy from Piemonte to Tuscany then travelled to France from Bordeaux to Burgundy.  Wakey wakey, stop dreaming!

The last evening we spent in Japan was New Years Eve, and of cause it was another big night.  We were so honoured to be invited to my friend’s parents place for a REAL Japanese home style dinner.  Mind you, the luxurious food and wine we had that night didn’t seem to me as an ordinary home style meal!  Our evening started with a crab entrée, my friend ordered the hair crab (毛ガニ) and the red king crab (タラバガニ 鱈場蟹) from Hokkaido for me as I have mentioned to her before that I couldn’t afford the red king crab but kept seeing them on the restaurants display windows when I last visited Japan as a poor student.  I was very happy that she remembered I always wanted to try these meaty long leg crabs!  We had champagne with the crab, the Veuve Clicquot NV Rosé and a special sake that is only available during the New Year, the Kesa shibori (今朝しぼり) Junmai Ginjyo (純米吟醸) from the Marumoto Sake Brewery (丸本酒).  The sake was very interesting, light and fresh but with a good mouthfeel and texture, I really liked it, and was given one to bring home, THANKS!

Next we were served with the delicious tuna toro with fresh wasabi.  There was a standard grade and a premium grade, the standard grade was already so delicious and fresh that I have never tried in Sydney.  The premium grade, a beautiful pale pink colour, was so soft, it just melts in your mouth.  It was so funny to see my friend’s old cat, who don’t usually move a lot, has actually jumped onto the table only for the premium grade toro, what a smart cat with a sensitive nose.  It was the first time I have seen fresh wasabi, it has the shape of a carrot and you just need to peel and grate it finely for use, very interesting.  We then drank another wine that I brought from Australia, the Ten Minutes by Tractor’s Chardonnay 2007 from the Mornington Peninsula, very nice and buttery.  During our wine conversations, I mentioned that I really like Daiginjyo (大吟醸) since it always seems a little bit more premium, but they said it is only the method of making the sake, and some of the Honjozo (本醸造) can be very nice, the most important factor is the winery.  So they quickly got out the rare Hakkaisan (八海山) Honjozo and opened it for me to try.  Hakkaisan is a very famous boutique winery in Japan.  It was very aromatic, stronger fragrance and texture then a Daiginjyo, and more complex then a Daiginjyo.  Then we had the specially ordered soba from a famous soba shop in Japan with freshly grated radish and salmon fish roe, it was amazing, I couldn’t imagine soba can be that delicate and smooth, it just slides in your mouth with a gentle slurp! Yum!!!  Last but not least, we drank a Bordeaux wine, it was the Chateau Dassault’s Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classé 2001.  We were so happy to be served with a beautiful and exotic dinner and finished with a lovely Bordeaux wine. 

Before we flew back to Sydney in the afternoon, we went to a Japanese Temple, which was a traditional New Year Day event.  The New Year Eve big night gave me a hangover and I couldn’t eat the beautiful New Year bento (Osechi 御節料理) that my friend’s parent ordered.  I was so disappointed since I was told that there were some very special favours in there, and they all tasted delicious!

This was the most amazing trip in my life, so happy and satisfied!

My Japan Drinking Trip (1)