The dinner would be Chinese - Teochew-Cantonese to be precise. Flavours should be delicate, plainer, and simpler but with certain pointed extremeties - savoury it may be, but spicy it shouldn't be. Well-made chardonnays should do just fine. When the dish is lean-ish, the fat and nutty tinge should complement it. And when the dish is more robust, the acid should cut through just fine. And what chardonnays? Burgundies, of course!
And so the birthday boy requests a 4/5-flight game format (depending on turn-out and what everyone could bring). I'm making it focussed but still should give everyone a chance to participate -- this is not a cellar-extortion.
The flight composition I'd suggest would be such:
- Chassagne-Montrachet flight (3 wines)
- Meursault flight (3 wines)
- Puligny-Montrachet flight (3 wines)
- Free-play white burgundy flight (3-5 wines, which may comprise of the above three appellations, plus Corton, Chablis, Maconnais, Cote-Chalonnaise, even Cotes de Nuits whites...)
- Red-wine flight (Burgundy or Bordeaux)
- The burgundies should at least be a 1er Cru and up. So naturally Grand Crus automatically qualifies.
- There's no vintage limitation, but generally I would be expecting vintage 1995 and younger. Of course, if anyone is generous enough to contribute matured, older wines, I am more than game for it! (Thanks in advance.)
- All contributions are to be reported to Andy Tan (email or SMS). Contributors need only to mention which flight he/she is contributing to. (Example: "I'm bringing a Chassagne...", or "I'm bringing a 'red'...", or "I have a freeplayer...") This ensures that there's still excitement for guessing what wines, etc.
- Packaging. All capsules must be removed. Aluminium foil (less-glossy side out) to be used to wrap bottles all the way to the mouth.
- Order of the flight may be determined on the evening itself.
