1998 Rufus Stone

Drinking at home.

1998 Tyrrell's Rufus Stone Shiraz McLaren Vale

MNSC dinner - world cult wines

MNSC dinner at Teca. Theme was cult wines of the world. Lord Rayas joining for the first time.

1986 Gruaud Larose - very nice! Classic St.-Julien. Smooth and velvety, with good fruit core of sweet berries as well as leather. Sweet on the palate, too.

1996 David Abreu - nose of caramel and toffee.

1988 Guigal La Landonne - very strong nose of game meats, with "horse sweat" notes.

2000 Andreas - nose of coconut, caramel, toffee, and cotton candy. Curiously spicy mid- and after palate.

1994 Artadi Viña El Pison - high acidity on the palate. Nose of lime powder?

1997 Gaja Barbaresco - nose smelled like cherry-flavored cough syrup and caramel. Tannic and high acidity on the palate.

1995 Reynella

Drinking at home.

1995 Chateau Reynella Cabernet Sauvignon Basket Pressed - it was alright. Nothing really special. Disappointing after a friend's recommendation.

Bought from Ponti for HKD 119.

97 Annie's Lane

Drinking at home.

1997 Annie's Lane Cabernet Merlot

89 Clos du Mesnil

Dinner at Brasserie on the Eighth.

1989 Krug Clos du Mesnil - very fine, indeed. Crisp acidity, refreshing, plenty of toasty oak and vanilla.

Bought from Olivier for HKD 2,200.

Leeuwin Cab and Latour

Dinner at Morton's.

1996 Leeuwin Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Art Series - not a bad wine. Very new world and firm, concentrated. Much better than expected.

Bought from Remy for HKD 265.

1975 Latour - this is a notiriously hard wine. I double-decanted at home. The tannins are now smooth and velvety, but there was a curious lack of fruit. Nose was smoky and of grilled meats, but a bit disappointing. Was it decanted for too long, or simply dried out?

Drinking at home.

1996 De Bortoli Noble One, from half bottle - althought this wasn't bad, I can understand why some peole think this wine is overrated.

Bought from Bacchus for SGD 36.

97 Lapostolle

Dinner at home.

1997 Casa Lapostolle Chardonnay Cuvée Alexandre - this was very much a new world wine. Heavy oak, toasted to give a nose of almonds and nuts, a bit of citrus, fermented, slightly sweet, slightly creamy. Pretty good but not great.

Bought from Manly for HKD 180.

1993 Issan

Drinking at home.

1993 Issan - kind of disappointing. Typical Bordeaux but too diluted. Never really opened up, even after 1 hour, so not a good candidate for a drinking wine.

Bought from Watson's for HKD 330.

92 Sarget

Drinking at home.

1992 Sarget de Gruaud-Larose, en demi-bouteille - wow! Was this even better than the '92 Mondot yesterday? Yes! After about 45 minutes, really opened up to reveal massive amounts of sweet berries and sweet honeydew melon! Yum!

Bought from Ponti for HKD 134.

1992 Mondot

Drinking at home.

1992 Mondot, en demi-bouteille - very good indeed, considering the vintage. Opened up really well to be sweet, lots of berries, minerals, game meat. Wow! Definitely worth buying!

Bought from Ponti for HKD 136.

MNSC dinner - Napa cult wines

Dinner at Brasserie on the Eighth. The first gathering for MNSC where we named ourselves Monday Night Supper Club after a group of regulars at the restaurant who call themselves Friday Night Club. The Ox, Gayliao, Pineapple, Dr. Poon and me present along with Pineapple's friend TJW.

1994 Shafer Hillside Select - from the start this wine was drinking beautifully, after opening up for 2 hours. Fruity, well-balanced despite the high alcohol level. Very smooth despite being young. Concentrated. This was really nice. Everyone liked this wine.

1993 Harlan Estate - this took a long time to open up. It was the most "French", "Bordeaux" of all the wines, so everyone guessed it was Harlan. It started out with more earth, mineral nose, then opened up really well, with gobs of sweet black fruits and very good concentration. I really liked the wine, but it could use more cellaring.

Bought from Vinum for SGD 600.

1995 Araujo Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard - we all got it wrong and thought this was the Maya at first. The nose was so distinctly different from the rest, more perfumed, floral, and evident of caramel. This was soft and we thought it was the cab franc. This was also a well-balanced wine. Very good. My second favorite of the night.

1993 Dalla Valle Maya - this was the disappointment of the night. By the time we got to it, it had started to close down, then for a long time the nose was too faint. Towards the end it opened up a little, but still not that good.

Leeuwin, Rabbit Ridge, and Barnett

Dinner at a friend's home.

1993 Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay Art Series - very good, with minerals, earth, petrol, buttery cream, oak, citrus nose. Acidity balance was OK. Medium- to full-bodied. Very enjoyable.

Bought from Oriental House for TWD 1,200.

1996 Rabbit Ridge Zinfandel Hedin Vineyard - pretty good once it opened up. Fuller-bodied and very fruity. Acidity sometimes a bit more evident, but I liked this wine.

Bought from Oaks for SGD 61.

1997 Barnett Vineyards Merlot - soft and earthy, lots of minerals on top of the fruit. Typically merlot from California. Pretty good,