Beserkers,
Fellow TWEC ™ and board member Sanjay Shampur and I had a wine lunch together with our friend David He at The Captain’s Catch. It’s a Cantonese seafood restaurant in northeastern Toronto. For a primer in Chinese cuisine, there are 8 schools of classic Chinese cuisine and there are three that tend to dominate in North America: Cantonese (sweet and mild flavors with less salt and oils used), Szechuan [or Sichuan if you prefer] which specializes in hot and spicy, and Hunan which specializes in hot. Seafood is naturally sweet as a protein so the Cantonese style of cuisine is a great match for it.
For our aperitif, Jay brought the Laherte Freres NV Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature. This beauty is clean and crisp, done in the lean style of Champagne, with very bright brioche and baked green apple flavors. There’s a phenolic touch on the very tart finish. Beautiful and a great palate cleanser.
For our dishes, we started with Spicy Pepper Chicken.
Next up was Scallops with Chinese Broccoli (Gai Lan).
Next up was Garlic Fried Shrimp.
Next up was Soy Braised Chicken.
Our last dish was Vancouver Lobster and Noodles.
David brought the next three wines we had. Our second white was the Les Yonnières 2018 Muscadet-Sèvre-et-Maine. From the Loire made with Melon de Bourgogne grapes. Most think of Muscadet as a simple easy-drinking wine, but I found this quite complex. Green, crisp, herbal and saline. Quite savory and very delicious.
Next was the Bolgheri 2021 Le Serre Nuove Dell’Ornelaia. This second label Super Tuscan is made from 50% Merlot, 35%Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petit Verdot. This is all about texture and mouthfeel, incredibly smooth structure and tannins and deep rich red plum flavor. Absolutely delicious and a fantastic match with the food.
Last was the Gabriel Meffre 2019 Laurus Côte Rôtie. 100% Syrah from the Rhone. Rich tannins and tobacco flavors spice up sweet black cherries and raspberries with high acidity on the finish here.
This was a great lunch. TWEC ™ would like the floor and kitchen staff at The Captain’s Catch. You can check them out at https://captains-catch.com/ We look forward to returning.
