Wine Dinner @ Clementi

Dinner with B, E and ZB at my humble abode. We had roast duck, fries and Guinness Stout sausages. After that we had cheese sausages and blueberry cheesecake (not pictured). Along with the meal we had 2 wines, both from Voyager Estate. This is a winery in the Margaret River region in Australia and one of my favourite brands for cheap and value-for-money wines.

Voyager Estate Cabernet Merlot 1998
Wow, 1998 is almost 10 years ago. Had some difficulty in uncorking this oldie as the cork seems a tad fragile. Noticed lots of sediments sticking to the bottle itself as I decanted it. Indeed, this is an aged wine.

The first glass tasted closed and reserved. But after 30mins, the intensity of it showed up as we progressed through dinner. This seems to be a recurring experience. I really need to decant my wines longer next time. The color was slightly brownish maroon and the nose exhibited herbal notes and hints of smoky tobacco. The herbal notes seems to be stronger this time as compared to the previous time I tried this at the Moomba "Voyager Wine Dinner". The palate was structured and drinking very well now, though to nit-pick, the acidity seems to be lacking slightly. Tannins were fine and there was some sweetness in the wine, akin to raisin and prunes. As expected for an aged wine, the primary fruit flavors were gone, replaced by minty/earthy flavors. Overall, a very enjoyable wine especially at its price level!

Wine bought from Hermitage sale.

Voyager Estate Chenin Blanc 2006
Ah, the memories of tasting it at the Voyager Wine Dinner several months ago came flooding back. This wine was served then as an aperitif, however we drank it as a pre-dessert wine this time round. Bottled in screw-cap, this wine is meant for early drinking.

The aromas were intense, invoking images of cold climate fruit like pears and apricots and images of frolicking on the grass on a breezy summer day. The color was very faint, bordering almost on transparent. Palate-wise, the acidity frame held up the sweetness of the wine very well. If I were to make a comparison, this wine is similar in style to German Kabinetts. Dry with a noticable sweetness level. Again, for the price this is an extremely value for money wine. Ladies will definitely enjoy it (while guys don't need to pay an arm and a leg for it :D).

Wine bought from Moomba sale.

Choya Kokuto Umeshu
We had this as a sweet ending to the meal. This plum liquor is different from the normal ones because it's sweetened with black sugar (kokuto). Tried it once many years back in Japan and loved it ever since. Very thick and syrupy in nature with almost no acidity. That's why really need to add some ice or water with it. The nose wasn't fantastic but the palate was velvety, mouth-filling and of course robustly sweet. There was some of the coffee and smoky flavors from the black sugar. Overall, an excellent end to a good meal with good company!

Wine bought from DFS.