cork brothers

no, they are not from ireland.
the cork refers to what stops them from imbibing the best of the best of spirits and wine. they are not related except by their love for all things that they can put into their mouth.
so, if you have time and the inclination between sips of spirits, just head your way to the cork brothers.
have travelled with them to some places and have had the best with them.
cheers boys!

days of wine and roses

it happened out of the blue, a drink with a friend and suddenly it turns into a party as others turn up to share the week between christmas and new year.
and what a party it was.
i had - at one time or the other - dated three of the women at the table. one was the highschool sweetheart while the rest were in the not-so-recent-past.
that's where the roses part comes in. if i had a ringgit for every stalk i sent... hmmm!
but that is the past. and best left there as two of them will finally tie the knot this year.
back to the report at hand. we were at the vintry - a bottle shop - a couple of doors away from the ribshop in medan damansara and as usual, decided to get a bottle of wine.
red it was and for the life of me, i cannot remember the name except to say that it took time before it was good to drink. we had some, make that lots of bruschetta as we gave it time to breathe.
having said that, that bottle finished fast and it was time for the second bottle - a stonier pinot noir. the crowd grew to three and possibly four - i had already picked up my highschool sweetheart - by this time as we opened the bottle.
the pinot noir had a delicious berry taste with some plum notes and a certain spiciness. it had a smooth silky finish and certainly went to our heads.
the crowd grew bigger as an old friend from school turned up in the already packed bottle shop. we ordered the wonderful chilled beef tenderloin from the ribshop as some were hungry.
so off i went to trawl among the bottle racks and picked a bottle of porca de murca douro reserva 2002. wasn't quite sure what i was doing but the bottle was a revelation.
it was really really nice with a pleasant woody and vanilla taste. the full bodied wine was also smooth and went well with the beef that we had.
great stuff from the douro region in portugal where porca de murca - which means the sow of murca - is one of the best selling wines.
that was done and the crowd grew larger. another bottle was to be found and it was the chateau belles eaux coteaux du languedoc 2003 that made its way to our table. another round of glasses for the ever-growing crowd that now stood at 10. only one couldn't drink while another had to be persuaded to try a sip as she had sworn off alcohol a while ago.
that was done and we sipped another good wine, slightly mineral in taste but a good plummy finish.
that bottle went pretty fast too.
time was coming to somewhere around midnight and a platter of cheese kept us company, apart from the crowd from other tables that became chummy with us as smiles were exchanged and bottles drained their content.
so we chose another bottle that was nice but no one could remember the label as none were that great a wine aficionado. guess our taste buds were inundated with so much wine that we just couldn't think of the label.
but it was a great night, i can assure you that! hic!
the vintry is at 130, jalan kasah, medan damansara - among the other restaurants in the only row of shops there. one can order from the other restaurants to eat in the vintry - which also has its own selection of good food.

perilous drinking in perth

there is news and there is news.
apparently this blog made it to tvsmith's mycen. under the party heading. what possessed him, apart from a shared taste in whisky and beer, is beyond me. doesn't mean this blog will see regular updates, i can tell you that.
be that as it may, after months of going to work - for a lack of a better term - decided to spend a week in perth, australia. the details are unnecessary but it is not an ordinary visit.
and what better way to visit the most remote of cities in australia than drinking a wee dram at the start of the journey.
no choice really! the flight out of klia was delayed. and i crossed paths with an old friend on his way to austria. so a quick check at the friendly duty-free, a hasty appraisal of new choices and before you can say whatever-it-is-one-says on occasions like this, a bottle of glen ord 12 years old made its way into my hands. of course, after the appropriate travel documents was shown and money given.
the first thing to hit you about this single malt, with just 40 percent alcohol by volume in a handsome boxy bottle, is the sheer sweetness. this is beginner's single malt. the bouquet is reminiscent of fruitcake - not too rich but dry like the ones made by a malaysian bakery years ago.
and the malt is just palpable with a hint of smokiness and peatiness. enough for a shot of courage but the finish is light caramel/vanilla/orangey like a cup of designer joe in your neighbourhood coffee chain.
having said that, finished a couple of rounds in paper cups at klia. and it does say in its label that its perilously drinkable. i guess that means it is about drinkable. just about.
took the rest of the bottle to perth and finished it with my hosts there, the same day i landed. goes to show that we either liked it that much or we just wanted to kill the bottle. glen ord is available at the klia dutyfree but more importantly, there is a wider range of single malts available there now. more on that when i travel again.
but what about perth? after glen ord, my wonderful hosts brought home a six pack of australian reds from the de bortoli sacred hill range. the pack contained three bottles each of the cabernet merlot and the cabernet sauvignon 2005 vintage, all 13 percent alcohol by volume.
the wine, from the riverina region in new south wales, was young but kicked in after a while. let's just say at least two bottles were sacrificed to the altar of good hosting nightly.
at A$4.99 a bottle or A$4.49/bottle if bought in dozen packs, this wine is more than fair value. its 2004 vintage won a trophy at the respected sydney royal wine show for the best wine under A$20 last year, along with other accolades from australia’s wine press.
the great australian alcohol revelation for me was a fantastic draught beer from j. boag and son which is based in tiny tasmania. apparently the pristine waters of tasmania's highland rivers add to the rich full-bodied lager with its smooth hop bitterness and a rather crisp, refreshing aftertaste.
the draught, in standard 375ml bottles with 4.7 alcohol by volume, was only released nationwide in australia in 2004. which explains why a lot of mates have not heard or tasted this beer.
its a beer that is definitely worth your time in perth or any other parts of australia.

d'vine - that's what i call a bottomless pour!

thank god its friday!
last friday - and the last few fridays, has been divine at d'vine.
this wine lounge offers a bottomless pour of wine, red and white, plus a selection of tapas as the du jour treat every friday. all at a pretty reasonable price of rm60++.
last week it was beresford wines from australia and the week before, terrazas from argentina.
the wines are pretty young and all post 2000 but they have combined well with the simple tapas on pretty much bottomless offer - stewed beef, fish sauteed in olive oil, chicken in cream, brinjals and such.
the bottomless pour has just pretty much kept most of us rooted there for most of the night. no reason to really crawl to the rest of the city for drinks and dinner. and so sated that the camera is never steady enough for a decent shot of anything.
the ambience is understated and allows for easy conversation either at the ground floor near the wine cellar or at the mezzanine where lounge chairs and sofas keep everything cosy.
the cuisine there is the same as flamenco restaurant which is a couple of doors away as both share the same management.
do try the spaghetti vongole volcanic. a spicy combination that goes well with either an unwooded chardonnay or a a tumbler of glenfiddich single malt 18 years old with a pair of ice cubes. scrumptious.
d'vine is at 26 and 26m, plaza damansara, medan setia 2, bukit damansara. its open monday to saturday.