I grew up hearing the names of the great wine chateaus of France spoken with reverence—Lafite, Margaux, Latour, Haut-Brion. Occasionally, if I happened to be in the right place at the right time, I would have the chance to taste them. My dad, or one of his friends, would beckon to me and hand me a glass, instructing me to smell and then to sip while they waxed poetic about the merits of the wine I had just tasted.
WINE AND MAGIC
Most of what they said went over my head. What I did take away with me, though, was the feeling that wine was magic. And while I know that science has an explanation for just how a wine can carry a myriad of complex aromas and flavors such as smoke, leather, black currants, chocolate, and bell peppers, when it is simply made from grapes, I prefer to believe in the magic, especially when it surrounds the world’s great wines.
And so, when a last minute invitation was extended to a special wine dinner at Crown Towers’ The Tasting Room at City of Dreams, I dropped everything. Chateau Haut-Brion is the oldest wine property in Bordeaux, dating back to the 1500s. It is one of only four chateaus ranked as a Premier Cru (First Growth) when Bordeaux wines were classified in 1855. That means it is among the best of the best. Chateau Haut-Brion was purchased by American banker Clarence Dillon in 1935 and his family has kept it flourishing ever since. It is relatively small compared to the other First Growths, producing only 7,000 to 10,000 cases of wine a year. And perhaps, that also adds to its mystique.
WAGYU OF CHICKENS Poularde de Bresse with choux de bruxelles, beetroot, celeriac puree
FIRST-CLASS
The wines served at The Tasting Room, Crown Towers, City of Dreams
The Bounty with Monbazillac Amberwine Clarendelle 2012
Scallops paired with La Mission Haut-Brion 1993
Poularde de Bresse with a 1986 Chateau Haut-Brion
Duck liver with Chateau Haut-Brion 2004
Mediterranean sea urchin paired with Ruinart Blanc de Blancs NV
Potato and caviar paired with Chateau Haut-Brion White 2012
Joan Mourges, Domaine Clarence Dillon’s export director, explained to us that Haut-Brion’s terroir expresses itself in the wine’s unique signature of smoky, roasted, Havana cigar-like aromas and flavors. The vineyards are planted almost equally with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, giving the wines harmony and balance. Balance and harmony are keywords to remember for these wines. As are elegance and complexity.
If you are used to the intense, full-bodied, fruit-forward, rich mouthfeel of New World wines, your first impression of a First Growth wine like Chateau Haut-Brion may leave you just a little dissatisfied at its austerity. But you should remember the words “elegant” and “complex,” and go back for a second and a third sip. It’s a bit like comparing the little black dress designed by Givenchy for Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s to the colorful, whimsical outfits of American designer Betsey Johnson. Just like Givenchy’s black dress, Haut-Brion may seem plain and subdued against a bold New World wine, but dig a little deeper, and you’ll notice a different nuance of taste with each sip, and how with each swirl of your glass a different aroma tickles your nose. The flavors are subtle, not flamboyant. They work together, never overpowering each other—and therein lies its elegance.
I think of Chateau Haut-Brion as a male wine, not because only men would like it but because of the rather masculine character it has. It reminds me of my dad and his friends, sitting around after dinner, wreathed in cigar smoke while the table is littered with red wine glasses as they laugh and talk.
AGE AND RARITY
Mourges told us that Haut-Brion wines need at least 12 to 15 years to mature. Between seven and 15 years, it is mainly the secondary aromas that come through. The signature earthy aromas of truffles, cigar smoke, cedar wood, roasted chocolate, and the like, show themselves at 20 to 25 years. The more the wine is aged, he adds, the more the Havana cigar flavors come out.
The wines served at the dinner retail from $250 to over $1,000 each. The special menu created by chef de cuisine William Mahiwould (OJO! HIS NAME IS MAHIWOULD, RIGHT?) highlights the wines because, at a dinner like this, the food is chosen to complement the wine, and not the other way around.
I enjoyed the Chateau Haut-Brion Blanc 2012. Haut-Brion’s white wines are known for their capacity to age, but are produced in such small quantities, they are a rarity. At our table, we couldn’t agree on its aromas, but that just underlined the complexity of the wine. I detected sweet melons and lychee, a fresh aroma that hinted at a crisp wine. But I tasted honey and spice, and it felt very rich in my mouth. This wine, we were told, could age at least 50 years. Chef Mahi’s pairing, potatoes enrobed in edible volcanic clay and dolloped with caviar, was like a blank canvas for the wine. The caviar’s saltiness brought out hints of honey, and the neutral flavor of the potatoes allowed the wine to linger in my mouth.
With the 2004 vintage, we ate a thick slab of duck liver, pan-fried to barely pink in the center. The way a true Frenchman would cook foie. A rich, sweet wine is the classic pair for duck liver to match its unctuousness, but you can also go the way of opposites—choosing an austere wine that will dissolve the fat. I enjoyed the way the lean 2004 cut through the richness of the foie, allowing me to eat it all without feeling like I had overindulged.
Next was Saint-Brieuc scallops, wasabi sorbet to both cleanse and shock our palates, and a dab of goat cheese to soothe. The wine was Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion 1993, a separate neighboring property. Often thought of as Chateau Haut-Brion’s second wine, it is actually quite different as its style is more full-bodied and rich. Many critics now consider some of its vintages superior to Chateau Haut-Brion. The 1993 had lots of tannins, and concentrated fruit flavors with just the barest aroma of leather. It was one of my favorite wines that evening.
Chef Mahi served poularde de bresse, the famous French “blue-footed” chicken as main course. And while chicken may seem like a cheap main course, this is the wagyu of chickens, the queen. Chef Mahi did a traditional preparation, cooking the chicken with a thin layer of black truffles under its skin. It was so elegant, tender, and flavorful I didn’t think I would be able to eat regular chicken again. It tasted just the way chicken should taste.
With the chicken, we drank Haut-Brion’s 1986 vintage. It had lots of tannin, and concentrated black currants and plums on the nose, with some wood, smoke, and leather notes in the background. These were all characteristics highlighted by the earthy flavors of the chicken and truffles.
SWEET NOTES
Before dessert, we savored a large wedge of truffled Brie de Meaux in all its runny, creamy, funky glory. And with it, the rare Chateau Haut-Brion 1970. Its tannins were soft, with lots of sweet tobacco on the nose, and its taste lingered in my mouth long after I had swallowed. There was not much fruit left in it, but it was a wine that constantly changed character in my glass, and with each sip I discovered something new.
Chef Mahi’s dessert was inspired by the very American Mounds candy bar—sweetened coconut blanketed in dark chocolate, topped by tropical piña colada foam. Those tropical flavors brought out the candied pineapple and orange peel flavors of the dessert wine—MonbazillacAmberwine Clarendelle 2012 (OJO! PLEASE CORRECT THIS, THE WORDS GROUPED TOGETHER NOT SURE WHERE TO CUT). This wine was a great find, honeyed but with a touch of acidity at the finish that kept it from being cloying. Made by the same winemakers as Chateau Haut-Brion, Clarendelle is Bordeaux’s first premium wine brand. I did some online checking and, at price points just slightly less than P2,000, it is a very good buy.
A dinner like this is certainly worthy of the aspirations conjured up by a name like City of Dreams. The wine dinner costs P44,000 per person, and I doubt I would be able to afford this on my own. But the privilege of being able to drink as many glasses of Chateau Haut-Brion as I did that night was a joy that I will remember. If you love wines, the iconic First Growths and their best vintages—Chateau Haut-Brion among them—have a romance that is hard to resist. And if money were no object, I’d be at The Tasting Room again!
Email me at cbj2005@gmail.com or follow me on Instagram @eatgirlmanila.
If you are interested, The Tasting Room at Crown Towers, City of Dreams has limited seats for this special wine dinner at P44,000 per person. Call (02)800-8080 for details.
AWC Philippines distributes Clarence Dillon Wines’ Clarendelle in the Philippines. (02)817-1417.