Andre Wine & Dine

Another session of fine food and decadent wines on Thirsty Thursday night.
Today the choice restaurant would be Andre Wine & Dine at Telok Ayer road. It is a little cozy French bistro with friendly service.

First, let us enjoy the wines:
Petersons Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2001, Mudgee Hunter Valley: Beautiful nose of vanilla, chocolate and currant. Palate was full, smooth but not too complex. some biting tannins in the end but it was a good way to start off the day. It was flown in from Aussie a few days before!

Casetta Winery Barilin Barbera D'alba 1997: The first Barbera D'alba that I'd bought. 1997 being a fantastic year for Piedmont, I was so full of high expectation for this bottle. However, my heart sank after we opened this bottle. The nose was totally muted. Very much like sniffing mineral water. On the mouth it was very lean and sour with ultra high acidity. I was deeply disappointed and left the wine aside...
But all is not lost.... the Barilin woke up from her beauty sleep upon 1.5hours later. With a complex nose of salty oyster intermingled with sour plum. The palate was evolving with fine mineral tannins gripping your palate. mouthfeel was light but complex with mocha and chocolate emerging at the end palate.
E and J voted this as the WOTN and E go as far as saying this is the best Barbera D'alba he has tried so far. I would just say, the Barilin took me to a roller coaster ride of frustration, disappointment then end with a pleasant ending.

Dezzani Il Barolo 2000: A medium body with pretty elegant mouthfeel. Finish was a tad short. This sounds crazy but this Barolo was very easy to drink and left not much impression on me. ( I thought Barolo supposed to be the king of red wines with highly complex body and aging capability?) Will not pay for it.

Pio Cesare Barbaresco IL BRICCO 1998@185SGD: The famed Pio Cesare winery from Piedmont, Langhe. A big rounded nose of vanila and chocolate with currants. Mouthfeel was lush with chocolate and coffee. Elegant. Medium finish. Overpriced.

Michelle Chiarlo Nivole Moscato 2006: What better way to end the night of mainly Italians wine but a good refreshing Moscato. This is a very enjoyable moscato with tropical fruits, apricot, lime jumping out from the glass. Medium sweet. Enjoyable.


The food:
Prawn Salad with Pan Seared Tuna: Good pinkish tuna but i prefer OSO's version. However, Andre is very generous as our starter was really huge.

Mushroom soup + truffle + truffle butter: OK, the soup was a tad too watery for our liking. Nice flavour thou. Could have more kick (I'm a Asian ma. big flavour, big satisfaction)
Main: Lamp Rack: Cook till medium rare, the lamb was very flavourful and tender. Shiok!

Main: Duck Leg: Andre is famous for this dish but i find it soso. Taste very similar to chinese braised duck. Meat was not moist enough for me.
Lime Sorbet with Strawberry: So so la...a refreshing intermediary

Desserts of Varlhona Molten Chocolate: It is so common to see molten chocolate being the STAR dessert of many restaurants and i'm getting bored of eating molten chocolate. So so effort from Andre.

The food cost was around 70per pax and free corkage for us. We get a 10% discount and a special entre thanks to S being a good friend of the owner of the restaurant. Food was above average but nothing to shout about.