And onto Christmas

How is it already the first week in December?  It's supposed to be 26 degrees tomorrow.   That's pushing 80 my North American friends.  Not that I'm complaining.  I absolutely love this but find it a touch difficult to get in to the holiday spirit whilst rocking a tank top.  But that's neither here nor there.

Monday was Simone's birthday, so a few of us met up to celebrate with some wine, whiskey, and snacks.  I am so thankful to have met Simone and so appreciative of her as a friend and tasting partner.

Tuesday involved checking out some apartments-nothing exciting- and a quick drink with Courtney for her birthday.  I can't wait until we live in Central/Sheung Wan so we can pop in and say hi anytime.  Courtney and Patrick are the reason we're moving :)

Sin Sin Gallery

Wednesday am was more apartments.  This time a little more promising, but no keepers.  Then to office, then off for a meeting in Central with this amazing Italian restaurant which will, fingers crossed, order some lovely wines from me.  Post work I hit up a jewelry show/art exhibit where I met the inventor of:

 

 The tangle.  Richard is an artist and in the 70s invented this stress relieving mess.  Cool, no?

Then I went over to Key Wines to visit my friend Adrienne and to try some Bordeaux lovlies.  I tried Chateau Prieure-Lichine 2010, 2008, and 2007 which were great= the 08 and 10 being quite meaty and animally, and 07 full of leather.  The 2010 was definitely my stand out.  There were also some Saint Emilions (Chateau Villernauire), but were gone by the time I got to them.  Thanks, A for another amazing tasting!

 The Sherries are in, the Sherries are in!  Tomorrow is our Sherry dinner with Peter Liem!!  Peter is the foremost (one of at least) Sherry experts and co-authored a Sherry book last year; Sherry, Manzanilla & Montilla.    I listened to a podcast about Sherry a year ago not realizing that one day I would sit down to dinner with the guy on the podcast.  [I've also been to a tasting led by the interviewer of the podcast, Geoff Kruth. Wine nerd gone to heaven, eh?].   And now here it is months later, we've sourced some of the best Sherries in the world, and I get to introduce the Sherries, my company, and Peter. Cool!

Last Thursday I had lunch with an old client and friend, John, of Factory 99 in Kwun Tong.  He invited some of his Jockey Club friends, I brought some fancy wine, he served some tasty food.  The star of the night was definitely the above; 1985 La Mission Haut Brion.  This chateau didn't make the 1855 classification, but it's neighbor Haut Brion made first string.  Many say this outperforms its more famous neighbor.  I don't have a basis of comparison (Haut Brion is $$$$$), but this was pretty spot on for being 30 years young.  

I also brought a "surprise" bottle that was intended to sway the Bordeaux lovers into liking something outside of Bordeaux.  Experiment fail which just meant more 1994 Rioja (Gran Reserva nonetheless!) for me!

Bordeaux and smoke salmon?  Why not. 

Waitress, John, (2 people you can't see) my arm, Bordeaux lover, and another Bordeaux lover you can't see.   Ahhh Kwun Tong the other side of that vast vast harbour.

Gorgeous running weather in December.  Almost has me thinking I should take on a half...almost...

Friday was hospital day!  Not really, but poor Laura, who had a stress fracture gone bad (are there good ones?) needed surgery to put a pin in her foot and luckily it happened to be in Happy Valley so I could go visit on my lunch break!  We had a lovely Eric Keyser (look him up- best bread in Asia!) sandwiches, and what visit with Laura would be complete without a little bubbles?  She still had hours to go before Derek would pick her up, so hopefully between the sparkling and pain meds she was well occupied.  Heal up, lady! 

Then immigration- I'm legal til 2015!!!- and I realized I'm shortly going to have to change my passport again...and visa...hmmm McPhate > Fiehler....

Friday night was my company Christmas dinner where we all brought along our significant others for a totally ridiculously delicious hot pot wine dinner.  Tai Hang is an awesome little area that's known for its food, and Chaos hot pot didn't disappoint.

We sat outside on plastic stools right off the street, and guess what!?  Amazing service!  Totally unexpected and totally amazing.  Above is Janet and Joe and Joe's husband Shion in the middle.  Also in the middle, geoduck sashimi.  Yum and absolutely divine with...

The best Champagne I have ever had.  And probably top 10 (5?) wines I've ever had.  Dom Perignon Oentheque 1993.  Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.  I think Paul even enjoyed it despite the bubbles.  3 Doms in 2 weeks. tis the season indeed.

We also had Gantenbien Chardonnay.  As mentioned in previous posts, Gantenbein is the DRC of Swiss wine.  Totally concentrated, pure, and delectable.  There were a bunch of other whites- Chablis, my first Daegeneau! which was great, and some others, and then onto the reds.

Just ask wanna-be sommelier, Paul.

We eventually got cold and made our way inside for some incredible wines from the 70s.  Gaja Barbaresco 1974 (Paul's fav) and Vega Sicilia Unico 1970- a pretty unanimous favorite.  Wow.

And then onto dessert wines!  I had my first Chateau d'Yquem (1996, Bordeaux sweet) and then a beautiful Trockenbeerenauslese from Germany.  Ahhhhhhh working for an incredible wine company certainly has its perks!  Jay, Mandy, Paul, Bernard and I capped off the night with a round of drinks down the street and before we knew it, it was 2am and time to call it a night!

For Saturday we had a wine tasting!  Burgundy.  I have a new favorite white wine producer; Pierre Yves Colin Morey.  These wines are big and rich, yet clean and linear.  MmmmmMMmmm.

And also Thibault Liger Belair (big bold reds) and his cousin Comte Liger Belair (Vosne Romanee with class and elegance).  I am so spoiled. 

A big turn out which meant small tastings, which was great because we had a big night ahead...

At David's.  David hosted an incredible Christmas brunch cum dinner.  Best friends, mulled wine, and a whole table of food- including Ms. B's better than sex cake.  Doesn't get much better.  No, sir.

Bollywood dancing obviously.

We crashed pretty early, which was nice so that I could get up for a 9:30 run with Lululemon.  I love that Island East Market.  Run, run again, and then we found our apartment.  And we signed it.  Boom.

 Big living room.  Big bedroom (door!) with a cute little office nook.  Big windows. Great neighborhood.  Sheung Wan right off Hollywood Road.  OVEN.

OVEN.

<3