Masi @ Mag's Wine Kitchen

Looking for a drinking hole after dinner with B, we decided to give this place a try as we couldn't find any more wine places. Went to Cuvee before that, but found out that they close at 9pm.

Mag's Wine Kitchen is really a hole in the wall kinda place where there's barely enough seats for 20ppl and the kitchen is just beside the dining area. Apparently they only serve set lunches and dinners so we settled for a cheese platter (later we found out this was $35!!) and some bread. The bread was pretty good and the cheese platter came with 4 types of rather strong cheese. A bit too strong for my taste though.

Their wine list was pretty impressive, but no wine by the glass. So we settled for this half bottle of Amarone, which I've always wanted to try.



Masi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Costasera 2003 (half bottle)
The color was very bright ruby, very transparent. By the color alone, I would have guessed it’s a pinot. The nose wasn’t forward in the first 1-2 glasses, but after nearly an hour, the third glass emitted a ripe and relaxing aroma. On the palate, it had soft tannins, extremely mouth-filling and of course the raisiny sweetness was subtle and not cloying. Finish was reasonably long. It’s medium to heavy bodied but definitely not as “kao” as a Barossa Shiraz. Investigating the bottle further I noticed it was actually 15% alcohol. But definitely didn't felt like it. Probably because of the sweetness.

This was my virgin taste of an Amarone and indeed it’s an interesting drink. Personally, I wouldn’t go out of the way to hunt this down but of course I wouldn’t say no to it if offered.