Ogier without Ogier

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A lunch was being organized to round up a group of winos to go have seafood on Lamma Island. The guest of honor was going to be Stephan Ogier, the winemaker from the Rhône Valley. I had the pleasure of visiting him back in 2011, and was definitely looking forward to seeing him again.

Well... the weather was pretty bad today, so the organizers decided it would be best not to go out on a boat to Lamma Island. The venue was moved to Luk Yu Tea House (陸羽茶室), but the Man in White T-shirt still went to the Ap Lei Chau Market (鴨脷洲街市) to buy seafood to bring to the restaurant. I know the Man in White T-shirt is used to BYOF(ish) at a few places, and I guess he or someone else has a good enough relationship with Luk Yu to be able to do that...

The organizer mentioned that he had taken Stephane out partying over the last few days, and our guest probably had a little too much fun last night... so he wouldn't be joining us for lunch. Oh well...

The powers that be ordered a bunch of dim sum items for the group, as there's not enough seafood to feed everyone. After all, we did have 15 mouths seated around our table...

Deep-fried cuttlefish (椒鹽鮮魷) - what's not to like about battered and deep-fried squid?!

Duck and chestnut pie (鮮栗火鴨批) - an old school item I'd never seen before, as I'm not a regular here. Crust was pretty flaky.

Steamed fried rice with chicken wrapped in lotus leaf (雞粒荷葉飯)

Blanched whiskered velvet shrimps (白灼赤米蝦) - I really love these... Too bad our CC Dogcow isn't here, because she'd love them, too!

Blanched kuruma prawns (白灼九節蝦)

Saltwater dumplings with yellowed chives (韮王咸水角)

Deep fried spring rolls with shredded beef (牛柳絲春卷)

Steamed shrimp paste (珊瑚百花甫)

Mochi with barbecued pork (叉燒荳糠糍) - pretty interesting. Another old school dim sum I'd never had before.

Steamed pork "shumai" topped with pork liver slice (釀豬膶燒賣) - LOVE this old school siu mai (燒賣) without any wrapper.

Steamed beef "shumai" with hand chopped beef (鮮牛肉燒賣)

Steamed Hong Kong grouper (蒸紅斑)

Steamed star snapper (蒸石蚌)

Deep-fried pinspotted spinefish (炸泥鯭) - really loved this. That fish skin was so crunchy and springy. Awesome stuff!

E-fu noodles with lobster (龍蝦伊麵) - I can't remember the last time I had this dish. It's so nostalgic. Love it.

Fried sliced pigeon with ham (燒雲腿鴿片) - another classic from the restaurant. Today the ham came in thinner slices so they weren't deathly salty...

Baked flaky egg tarts (層酥雞蛋撻)

Flaky dumplings with jujube paste (棗坭雪酥餃) - I LOVED these! I grew up on desserts made with jujube paste, and I found myself unable to stop eating this. I think I had four halves by myself...

The wine theme today was "Rhône blends and riesling", and I brought one bottle for each of the two themes...

2021 Rappenhof Riesling E² - a little flinty on the nose with some lemon. Good acidity on the palate.

2004 Pax Venus - nose was very much oxidized but others felt it was simply natural aging. Notes of pineapple, Chinese angelica, and a little metallic rust.

2014 Gramona Corpinnat III Lustros, disgorged July 2022 - really nice on the palate and nicely balanced. A little acidity here but very smooth, without being too sweet or ripe.

2019 Château-Grillet Côtes-du-Rhône Blanc - the nose was very fragrant and floral, with stone fruits and some flint.

2022 Ogier Condrieu La Combe de Malleval - the nose was really floral and fragrant, with tropical fruits.

2016 Gangloff Condrieu - very alcoholic on the nose with notes of acetone.

1990 Maximin Grünhäuser Herrenberg Kabinett - this was really nice, with plenty of lemon and polyurethane on the nose. Good acidity on the palate, almost bordering on being sharp, with a very long finish. The wine was much more viscous on the palate than expected, and just drinking beautifully.

2018 Keller Westhofen Kirchspiel Riesling Großes Gewächs - very big nose of polyurethane. Good amount of acidity on the palate.

2020 Ogier Syrah La Rosine - drunk much too young. Notes of blueberries as well as metallic nose.

2011 Ogier Côte-Rôtie Lancement - this was pretty elegant, very smooth on the palate, with notes of leather on the nose.

I was pretty full and pretty drunk after this very long lunch, so I figured I should go home and chill out... Many thanks to our organizers for putting this together, even if we didn't get to hang with our French guest...