Great French wines, not-so-great American steaks

It's been a couple of months since I last hosted a dinner for the MNSC boys, and now it was Curry Jayer's turn.  After a couple of years at Seventh Son (家全七福), this year the venue was changed to the American Club in Hong Kong.  There would be steak on the menu.

Our host decided to order a few simple dishes, which was just fine by me!  My stomach could use a little break from eating...

Caesar salad - actually pretty good.  Each of us took a chunk of romaine lettuce, and the croûtons were pretty nice.

Grilled Alaskan king crab legs - these were VERY tasty, with melted, seasoned butter dripping from the shells.

There were two different steaks tonight for the boys to share:

Tomahawk steak - the tomahawk always looks impressive with the long bone, but honestly I've never really been a fan.

Tonight the kitchen kinda overcooked it, and this was on the dry side.  We told our waiter as much.

Cowboy steak - this looked prettier, in my opinion.

And it was also much, much better in terms of taste, with deeper, almost cheesier flavors.

Some sautéed spinach and sautéed mushrooms.

The purple cauliflower was actually really delicious...

French fries - with grated cheese on top.

Striploin - the kitchen was very apologetic about overcooking the tomahawk, so they sent out a complimentary striploin.  This was clearly not overcooked...

And indeed, it was more juicy.

I was tempted, but couldn't handle dessert.  Maybe next time...

Our host has always been generous when it comes to wine, and tonight was no exception.  The line-up was truly fantastic.

2003 Coche-Dury Meursault - lovely, toasty nose, with good ripeness, a little sweet grass.  Medium palate.  A little later showed some butter on the nose.

1st pair:

2004 Méo-Camuzet Richebourg - opened 5 hours without decanting prior to serving.  Very sweet nose, a little floral on the palate, dry on the palate, with a little iron... and a little soapy.  96 points.

1997 Méo-Camuzet Richebourg - opened 2½ hours without decanting prior to serving.  A little more intense than the 2004, with animal notes.  A little dry on the palate.  93 points.

2nd pair: opened 5 hours without decanting prior to serving.

2001 DRC Romanée-Saint-Vivant - served chilled.  Elegant nose, very dry on the palate, with leather, smoked meats, and stemmy nose.  93 points.

2002 DRC Romanée-Saint-Vivant - more fruit, dry and slightly savory palate, a little floral.  95 points.

3rd pair: opened 3½ hours and decanted 2½ hours prior to serving.

1989 Guigal La Landonne - more alcoholic, lean, smoky.  Second pour showed sweeter nose with vanilla notes.  95 points.

1991 Guigal La Landonne - more fruit than the '89, very meaty.  Full bodied and tannic.  93 points.

4th pair: opened 4½ hours and decanted 3½ hours prior to serving.

1995 Latour, ex-château - smoky, minty, grassy, a little green pepper.  Good tannins.  Second pour showed much more fruit and mint, with pencil lead.  97 points.

2003 Latour, ex-château - sweet fruit, coffee, smoky, meaty, also a little grassy.  Second pour showed less coffee.  98 points.

A real fantastic evening full of surprises. I gotta say... my week spent eating top quality Hanwoo beef in Seoul has spoiled me for other types of beef...