German riesling and Cantonese food

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I love German rieslings, and usually bringing some whenever I go out for Chinese food.  So when I found out that Egon Müller IV was going to be in town, I was only too happy to join DaRC for a special dinner at One Harbour Road (港灣壹號) in the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong.

We started with an aperitif from Down Under...

2015 Kanta Riesling Balhannah Vineyard - dryish with polyurethane notes.

One Harbour Road deluxe appetizers (廚師特色拼盤) - a trio of bites to start us off.

Roasted suckling pig, foie gras pate, crispy lotus (乳豬伴鵝肝醬脆蓮藕) - kinda interesting, I guess.

Baked minced pork and turnip pastry, pepper and sesame seeds (胡椒蘿蔔酥餅) - lots of pungent (and fragrant) pepper.  Not your regular pork and turnip pastry.

Steamed dumpling, vegan Omnipork, mushroom (鮮菌純素肉粉果) - this was pretty interesting... all plant-based.

2012 Château Belá Riesling - much sweeter, thicker on the tongue.  More floral.

Braised fresh Boston lobster, morel mushrooms, green peas, pumpkin and chicken broth (金湯羊肚菌豆仁燴波士頓龍蝦) - not sure I liked the sauce here... tasted a little weird.  The texture of the sauce was also a little powdery and grainy.

2018 Egon Müller Scharzhof Riesling - very crisp and refreshing.  Definitely flinty, with a hint of ripeness.  Good acidity balance.

Stir fried Patagonian toothfish fillet, shimeji mushrooms, Yunnan cucumber, black pepper sauce in stone bowl (石煱黑椒靈芝菇炒澳洲鱈魚) - the "Chilean seabass" as expectedly tender, and worked well with a light coating of batter.

2018 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Kabinett, from 6L - too cold at first, but definitely white flowers.  Lovely sweetness and ripeness, and so fragrant in the mouth.  Wonderful flint and mineral notes.  This was, apparently, the first time that Egon himself has tasted kabinett from such a big format... because they've never bottled them like this before.

Wok fired duck fillet, vegetables, fungi, olive seeds (碧綠欖仁炒鴨脯) - meh.  Duck fillet was kinda chewy without being dry and tough.

2018 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Spätlese - more fragrant and elegant.  Obviously sweeter than the kabinett.  Still polyurethane and flint, with white flowers.  Rounder on the palate.

Casserole of crab meat and vermicelli, fermented chilli bean paste (砂鍋干煸蟹肉炒粉絲) - a little spicy, which was OK with the sweeter auslese.

2018 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Auslese - leaner, more depth on the palate, with a higher sweetness level but also a little bitterness.

One Harbour Road dessert selection (港灣甜品薈萃)

Chilled sago cream, pomelo, mango (楊枝甘露)

Steamed pumpkin dumplings, red bean paste (紅豆南瓜粿)

Baked egg tarts, Hong Kong style (酥皮焗蛋撻)

2007 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Trockenbeerenauslese - the family reserve that is not commercially released.  Really, really viscous... just rolling it around the tongue in the mouth didn't seem release enough saliva to dilute it.  Lots of sugar here but also a strong dose of acidity at the same time.  Definitely marmalade, candied kumquat, and orange blossom water.  Apparently a basket press which holds 700kg of grapes only yielded 30L of juice...