Clueless at the club, part 2

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We're having our third MNSC gathering in a month, and tonight it was Curry's turn to play host. After debating whether he could live with the poor stemware at his favorite Seventh Son (家全七福), our host ultimately opted for the more serene settings of the Derby Room at the Hong Kong Jockey Club. It's been nearly five years since I last dined here, when Francky Semblat first started his stint with the club. Word is that the menu has shifted back to a more old-school, "clubby" offering, without much semblance to the refined nibbles from Oncle Joël...

Corn fritters - these were pretty sweet.

Tomato sorbet with pickled cucumbers and crème fraîche - nice acidity to whet the appetite.

Grilled foie gras, Paimpol white beans・Iberico chorizo・Xérès reserva vinegar - the little bits of diced chorizo were pretty nice.

I think in this day and age, a classic, well-executed pan-fried foie gras is really under-appreciated. I wish mom could taste this.

Here came a beautiful-looking sole.

Dover sole meunière, vegetable medley・mashed potatoes - so classic. So nicely done. I loved the vegetables and I was gobbling them up.

Then came the roast chicken...

Roasted whole yellow chicken, confit potatoes・shiitake mushroom

Finally, we got ourselves a big slab of wagyu rib...

...with a nice potato gratin...

OP rib Australian wagyu, gratin dauphinois・beef jus tarragon

Way too full for desserts so we just nibbled on some sweets.

As good and solid as the food was, our attention was squarely on the wines. Our generous host delivered a nice lineup:

2013 Raveneau Chablis Valmur - huge, toasty nose, with lovely lemon notes. Nice and buttery.

2013 Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre - more grassy notes on the nose, more ripeness AND more acidity.

First flight: opened more than 3½ hours prior to serving.

2007 Emmanuel Rouget Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaumonts - nice and smoky, earthy, meaty. Opened up further with time. 95 points.

2007 de Montille Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Malconsorts Cuvée Christiane - nice and fragrant nose, very elegant. Softer. 95 points.

Second flight: opened more than 5½ hours before serving.

2013 Mugnier Musigny - very fragrant nose with a little leather notes. Slightly grippy on the palate.

2013 Dujac Bonnes Mares - this was more complex, with a more toasty nose. 96 points.

Third flight: opened 5 hours prior to serving.

1995 Lafleur - really smoky, pretty bretty and savory. The brett faded and this was showing beautifully. 97 points.

1998 Lafleur - sweeter on the nose, more elegant. Pretty open and smoky almost 6 hours after opening, with a bit of grass.

Another fun evening with the boys, and another fun evening failing to guess the wines in a blind tasting. Admittedly, we did better than the last two outings in August, but that doesn't say very much...