Drinking liquid gold at Manny O’s

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That’s exactly what I felt when I and a group of  privilege few  cheerfully drank a bottle of wine (2000 La Tache, Grand Cru, Monopole de la Romanee-Conti) costing US$ 1200. That’s 55,800 pesos per bottle (46.50 peso to the dollar) and that must be the most expensive bottle of wine I ever tasted. And at those prices, of course, cheerful gyud ka!

And we did not taste only one wine; we had nine different wines in a dinner called “An Evening of Indulgence in Trophy Wines & Wagyu”. It was held June 29 at Manny O’s, Hilton Cebu Resort & Spa and was jointly sponsored by the Societe Generale (SG Private Banking, Asia Pacific) and FICOFI, France’s premier specialist in wine investments and wine related events and Chateau Palmer.

 Most gracious host was Manny Osmeña (chairman, Hilton Cebu) and when Manny O invites, it is most difficult, if not impossible to decline (unless abroad or in ICU confinement!). It is always an event that is going to be very memorable. For the reason, that Manny is a very simple man with very simple taste. When selecting wines, he usually limits to those with a surname “Grand Cru” and when choosing beef grades, he rarely deviates from Wagyu.

What exactly do you mean by “Grand Cru”? In the Bordeaux region of France, there are many red wine producers (thousands!) and there was some confusion as to the quality of wines produced. There was a need to classify their wines and in 1855, there was an agreement reached, the Exposition Universelle de Paris. The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 listed the top ranked wines and they called it the Grand Crus Classés (Great Classified Growths).

There was further classification within the group and the best of the best wines (murag Top Gun!) were given the highest rank of Premier Cru (First Growth) and four wines qualified: Chateau Latour, Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Chateau Margaux and Chateau Haut-Brion. In 1973, Chateau Mouton Rothschild was promoted
to Premier Cru status.

But that involves only red wines, how about the best sweet wines?  In 1855, nine wines were classified as Premier Cru while eleven were ranked as Deuxième Cru (Second Growth). Special nomination was Chateau d’Yquem which was classified as Premier Cru Supérieur.

Now, that’s a mere scratch on the surface about wines. White wines have yet to be classified. We have covered only the region of Bordeaux, how about the region of Graves, Saint-Emilion, and Burgundy? They have developed their own methods of classification. We also have the region of Pomerol, that refuses any cataloguing and yet produces one of the more expensive wines like Chateau Petrus.

 And, ahem, take a look of the list of wines that your favorite food columnist had to study that night:

1. 2001 Le Montrachet, Grand Cru, Domaine Bouchard Pere & Fils

2. 2000 Montrachet “Marquis de Laguiche”, Grand Cru, Domaine Joseph Drouhin

3. 2000 La Tache, Grand Cru, Monopole de la Romanee-Conti

4. 2002 Romanee Saint Vivant, Grand Cru, Domaine de la Romanee-Conti

5. 2002 Chambertin Clos de Beze, Grand Cru, Domaine Prieure Roch

6. 1990 & 1998 Chateau Palmer, Cru Classe, Margaux

7. 1996 Chateau Palmer, Cru Classe, Margaux

8. 2001 Chateau d’Yquem, Premier Cru Classe Superieur, Sauternes

That is a total of nine wines to scrutinize for color, nine wines to smell and inhale the bouquet and aroma; to investigate the body and bouquet and scrutinize whether it is clean, complete, complex, distinctive, elegant, flowery, robust…so many things to study. And my faithful followers of this columnist know that too much study produces a headache, luckily the best medicine were merely inches away to be savored.

The first two wines cost US $300 per bottle so my full attention was focused on the 2000 La Tache, Grand Cru, Monopole de la Romanee-Conti priced at US$ 1200. Murag red alert, all my senses since I had not tasted wine at these prices and no comparison to relate. I had expectations of something very complicated. After the swirl to expose the wine to oxygen, the smell was definitely berries. A small sip enough to flood the taste buds and wow, so simple, nothing really to dissect, clean taste of berries and smooth on the throat, just like silk. Encoded immediately to memory cells, I have now a benchmark to what a great wine is supposed to taste like!

And now, discussion can proceed on the food served during that Evening of Indulgence. “Food and wine can interact perfectly, creating a sensational taste experience that is greater that than food or wine alone.” This food business is the second passion of Manny Osmeña for he reinvents food, turning ordinary dishes into culinary treasures fit for royalty.  His magic ingredient is Wagyu beef.

Wagyu (wa means Japanese and gyu means cattle, or Japanese cattle) comes from the Japanese breeds like the Kochi, Kumamoto, Tajima, Tottori and Shimane. It is bred to produce intense intramuscularly fat called marbling. To be called “Kobe beef”, Wagyu cattle drinks Japanese beer and sake (gives a higher percentage of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids!) and enjoy massage every day.

Expensive man in Japan, so Wagyu cattle is contracted to USA and Australia, raised and fed in these countries (same standards apply), ship back live to Japan, and fabricate the carcasses in Kobe, making them legally “Kobe Beef”. Prices start at about US$ 300 per pound (30,690 per kilo). Any beef with Wagyu cattle genetics is called “Wagyu” regardless of its country of origin and this reduces the price to a mere 7,000 per kilo (Wagyu Black tenderloin).

Let’s take a look at the menu prepared for that evening:

1. Poached Crystal Bay Oysters, Light Mornay & Fume de Poisson

2. Tempura Tiger Prawn Cocktail

3. Wagyu Shio Yaki Sushi (seared wagyu on sushi)

4. Wagyu Goulash

5. Spikey Shau-Mai, served with rice wine vinegar

6. Grilled paper-thin Wagyu covered Inoki mushrooms

7. Wagyu Burger Steak Bento

8. Tropical Fruit Dances with Gaagen Dazs among nuts

Goulash is a Hungarian stew consumed by Magyar shepherds, with beef, potatoes and sweet paprika. Manny O has reinvented goulash with the addition of Wagyu beef and this dish is now appropriate for all types of distinguished guest and not mere, excuse me, shepherds.

Another redesigned simple fare is the burger. Add the magic ingredient, Wagyu beef and it is now Hilton Hotel patented dish called Wagyu Burger Steak Bento and it is claimed to be the priciest burger in the Philippines at 1,375++ pesos. Add seared Wagyu beef into ordinary sushi and a new dish emerged called the Wagyu Shio Yaki Sushi. And the taste is awesome, like “beef foie gras, smooth, velvety, incomparably sweet with a subtle tang of savor that lingers on the palate like a rare perfume.”

As all evenings come to close with a fine dessert selection (Tropical fruits Dances with Haagen Dazs among nuts), the accompanying dessert wine was carefully selected from the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, the Chateau d’Yquem that was classified as Premier Cru Supérieur. Very modest choice kay tag US$ 1000 to 1250 per bottle ra man.

Like liquid gold, you need a bank to “store” these collections of Trophy Wines and certain private banks like the Societe Generale (SG Private Banking, Asia Pacific) have done that. In fact, collection of fine wines has become the latest trend for the super-rich and wine investment funds have been tailored for these clients.

For the rest of humanity like your favorite food columnist, dream na lang, until the next invitation, for another Evening of Indulgence in Trophy Wines & Wagyu .