How did you all spend your Golden Week? I think some people, including myself, had a long nine-day holiday. Perhaps because I was tired from the new semester, I didn't have the energy to do anything and stayed at home the whole time. I had a dinner appointment on the last Sunday, so I ended up going out in the rain. This was my first time to have a dinner, so I was nervous. The only reason was that out of the four members of the group, three were chefs, so I felt like I was the only one who was completely out of place. Those members were Chef Nakata of Chanterelle in Motoyoyogicho, Chef Otsuka of Legumes in Hiroo, and Chef Mahori of Une Pensee in Higashiazabu.
I also met Chef Nakata in Shizuoka in March with Yuko Anda of Anda Gyoza. By coincidence, my late parents' homes and Chef Nakata's homes are both in Shizuoka city, so whenever I go to Shizuoka, I ask Chef Nakata to join me at restaurants such as Kawasaki, an excellent French restaurant in Shizuoka.
I was introduced to Chef Otsuka by Chef Nakata when he was sitting next to me at the counter at Chanterelle, and although I have visited his restaurant in Hiroo several times, this was the first time we have dined together.
This was my first time meeting Chef Umahori. I was reminded of the nostalgic experience of working with Chef Otsuka at "Cojito" in Roppongi. Chef Yamada, a famous Burgundy lover, won one star at his restaurant "Cojito" when the Tokyo edition of the Michelin Guide was first published in 2008. In fact, Akasaka's "Chemin", where we dined that day, also won one star at that time. Chef Ichikawa, who worked with us at "Le Maestro Paul Bocuse Tokyo", also won one star at Hiroo's "Chef Tomo", and I think that the evaluation was quite fair when the Michelin Guide first started, but before we knew it, it had become something that made us scratch our heads.
In 2008 , I was in charge of a column called "Michelin for Lunch" in the Nikkan Gendai newspaper, and together with a reporter, I went around eating at about ten Michelin star restaurants and wrote an article about them. We also visited Chemin and Cojito at that time.
I was also honored to meet Chef Umahori, who used to be the chef at "Karapeti Batuba" in Azabu-Juban. I had always wanted to try this restaurant, but it closed before I had a chance, so it was an honor to meet him. (It has now relocated nearby and is open for business.)
Being a French cuisine lover like me, I ended up dining with three chefs, and I ended up getting strangely excited. Anyway, each of the three chefs spoke clearly and in their own way. They spoke softly and never felt pressured, but they had none of the "conformity" that is so typical of Japanese people, so I ended up honestly criticizing the poor quality of French cuisine these days. Of course, this doesn't apply to the chefs present.
The owner of "Chemin", Mr. Shibata, is a sommelier, so it is famous among wine lovers as a restaurant with a good selection of wines. I have been there several times. Chef Nakata is on friendly terms not only with Mr. Shibata, but also with Chef Nobusada, so we ended up having dinner at this restaurant.
As for wine, Shibata-san said that the last bottle would be his special one, so I decided to choose from my own choices until then. I figured that with this group, it would be Burgundy, so I started to wrestle with the Burgundy page on the list. I predicted that the last wine would be expensive and that many of the wines would be empty, so I decided to start off with a moderate price. In any case, chefs eat and drink a lot. In contrast to me, the taster. In the Gevrey-Chambertin section, there were several Camus Grand Crus listed for over 10,000 yen. So I chose Mazis-Chambertin 2004. It was an off-vintage wine, but it was delicious. A mature and generous Gevrey. I'm grateful that Grand Crus are available at this price.
About 30 years ago, when I was a wine enthusiast, the first thing that came to mind when I thought of Burgundy was the black label of Camus. I think it was in 1994 , when I went to Bistro Vincent in Shinsaibashi, the most highly rated restaurant in the Kansai region (awarded three stars in Morio Mita's Epicurean), and the sommelier recommended Camus Gevrey-Chambertin. I also learned about the difference in tastes between the Kanto region's Bordeaux and the Kansai region's Burgundy.
What surprised me was that chef Nakata's generation hadn't even heard of Camus. This is probably because reefer containers had to become commonplace in order for the delicate Burgundy wines produced by such a diverse range of makers to be imported in large quantities.
For the second bottle, Shibata-san was going to prepare a Burgundy, so I decided to go with a Bordeaux. There were only famous wines in the Medoc, so I looked in Libourne, but there were three inexpensive and excellent chateaux in Fronsac. From there, I chose the 2001 Chateau Fontenil, owned by Michel Rolland, a renowned consultant. Rolland also owns Chateau Bon Pasteur in Pomerol, but Fontenil can be enjoyed in restaurants for around 10,000 yen. I enjoyed the rich wine, typical of Rolland, which made the most of the fruitiness of the Merlot.
Finally, the wines selected by Shibata were served on the table. Nakata said, "Jackie Truchaux, after all." The author recognized the name. Recently, I had drunk Francois Fuet several times, and I remembered that Truchaux was the former owner of Fuet's "Morey-Saint-Denis Premier Cru Clos Sorbet." He was said to be a master of Morey-Saint-Denis, but he went out of business in 2005 and sold his vineyard. Nakata told me that Shibata knew Truchaux and served Truchaux at his restaurant while he was still active. Truchaux was consumed in France and was not widely available overseas, so it became a premium item after he went out of business. When I looked it up, I found that the last Clos Sorbet from 2005 was worth over 500,000 yen. I was shocked. The wine served to our table was also from 2005 , but it was from a different vineyard, "Morey-Saint-Denis Premier Cru Les Ruchots." "Les Ruchos" is a vineyard adjacent to Chambolle-Musigny. It was a valuable experience. In contrast to the generous and bright-colored wines of Camus, this was a calm wine with a deep tannin.
Afterwards, we were given a variety of drinks by the glass, and I was amazed at how much the chefs drank.
Chef Nobusada's cooking is meticulous, and the exquisite cooking of the veal main dish, with its moist texture, and the excellent use of morels in the sauce, are testament to this.
Chef Nakata and Mr. Shibata were kind enough to pay the bill, and we stayed within our budget. Since university was starting the next day, I had to leave early. Everyone else moved to another bank and continued drinking until 8am. I was impressed by the vitality of the chefs (including Mr. Shibata).
It was a valuable experience and I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone.
This month's recommended wine "Don't forget Graves, home of the excellent white Bordeaux wines"
"Chateau Carbonneux Rouge 2017 AC Pessac-Leognan" 6,800 yen (excluding tax)
The two major Bordeaux wine producing regions are said to be the Médoc on the left bank and Libourne on the right bank, but there is another region that should not be forgotten. That is the region called "Graves" that runs south of the Médoc, from around Bordeaux city up the Garonne River basin. Graves is famous as a producer of Bordeaux's white wines, and not only dry wines but also "Sauternes" and "Balzac", which are famous for their noble rot, are located in the Graves region.
Moreover, as an exception, Château Haut-Brion from Graves was selected as a first-class red wine in the 1855 Medoc classification. In 1953 , Graves created its own classification for red wine, and in 1959 , it was revised to include white wine, and remains so to this day. Since all of the classified chateaux are located in villages in the northern part of Graves, they have been called Pessac-Léognan, an appellation unique to those villages, since the 1986 vintage. In other words, wines currently called "Graves" are from chateaux in villages in the southern part of the Graves region.
For white wines, the dry variety is Sauvignon Blanc, with Semillon as the main variety and Muscadelle as the secondary variety. In contrast, the sweeter Noble Rot wines are made with Semillon as the main variety and Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle as the secondary varieties.
The red wine, AC Graves from the south, is fruity and best drunk early. It is reasonably priced and perfect for lunch. When it comes to wines to go with lunch at bistros in Paris, AC Medoc or AC Graves are the go-to.
In contrast, red wines from Pessac-Léognan have tobacco and smoked flavors, firm tannins, and complex flavors. Haut-Brion and Mission-Haut-Brion are the top two in the rankings.
This time, we will introduce "Chateau Carbonnieux" from among the classified chateaux. Carbonnieux was famous for its white wines for a long time, but since the 1980s its red wines have also been doing well, and it is a brand that is familiar to Japanese people. The varietal composition is the same as that of the Médoc, with 60 % Sauvignon, 30 % Merlot, and supporting varieties of Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec. The price is also reasonable among the classified chateaux, allowing you to enjoy top-class wines from Graves at a relatively reasonable price. Please take this opportunity to try it.
For inquiries about the wines introduced, please contact AVICO Co., Ltd.
Biography
Osamu Seki Born in Tokyo in 1961. Currently a part-time lecturer at Meiji University and other institutions.
He specializes in contemporary French thought and cultural theory, and is a director of the Reefer Wine Association.
His books include "An Introduction to Beautiful Men" (Natsume Shobo) and "My Neighbor is Arashi-kun" (Cyzo), and his translations include "How Should We Read Foucault?" by Oksara (Shinsensha) and "Mr. Pydrow, What Use Is a Gastronomic Critic?" by Pydrowski (Shinsensha).
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