2002 Comtes Lafon Volnay 1er Cru Santenots-du-Milieu

2002 Comtes Lafon Volnay 1er Cru Santenots-du-Milieu - drank over dinner at Island Tang.  This turned out to be a little disappointing. The nose was very muted initially, taking a good hour to open up in the decanter. Hint of caramel and a bit of fruit and game. Reasonable concentration with a slightly acidic finish.

Full post on dinner is here.

Bacio, Troplong and Meursault

1998 Bacio Divino - drank over lunch at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon. This was pretty fruity and a little earthy. The Sangiovese was immediately apparent. Initially the nose was a little alcoholic, but this faded to reveal smoke, toasted nuts and sweet fruit. The tannins were soft and supple, with good concentration on the palate. A very nice wine to drink.

Dinner at Fook Lam Moon.

1996 Troplong Mondot - this was drinking well. Nose of coffee and smoke, and a bit alcoholic at the beginning. Good concentration but very smooth on the palate. Pretty classic Bordeaux.

2002 François et Antoine Jobard Meursault En La Barre - this turned out better than I expected, with ripe nose of sweet corn and butter that was pretty wonderful. Initially the finish was slightly acidic, but then turned into something that reminded me of the classic French candied soft citrus jelly.

Full post on lunch and dinner is here.

French country wines

Lunch at Caprice.

2004 La Courtade Blanc - this is made on the Ile de Porquerolles just off the Côte d'Azur. The wine is made from a local varietal called Rolle, and showed nose of lemon zest, mineral, flint and a bit of white flowers. Very aromatic and ripe on the nose. Acidity was pretty high mid-palate with a bit of tartness, with a ripe finish.

2005 Mas Amiel - I have always liked this wine in the past, but not today. It was "hot" and high in alcohol, with a bit of citrus notes. Not very sweet today. Short on the finish and quite disappointing.

2004 Pibarnon Rouge - made from Mourvèdre. It was fine to drink and the tannins blended with the cheese, but this time there was no "wow" from the marriage of the wine and cheese.

Full post on lunch is here.

1997 Pian delle Vigne

1997 Antinori Pian delle Vigne - drank over dinner at Tuscany by H. This was a bit smoky, with a good fruit core and concentration, and notes of ripe prunes and sous bois. At one point I thought I detected a good amount of perfumed, floral notes but I suspect that the glass was quietly collecting the air freshner used in the restaurant... The wine seemed to have gone downhill about two hours after opening, starting to turn acidic on the palate. This Brunello was a perfectly good wine to drink with the meal. Although it wasn't a knock-out, I wasn't going to complain too much given how little I paid for the wine on release.

Full post on dinner is here.

Dassai Junmai Daiginjo 23%

Dassai Junmai Daiginjo 23% (獺祭「純米大吟醸」磨き二割三分) - drank over dinner at Suzufuji (鈴籐) in Taipei. This has always been easy to drink since it's on the sweet side (甘口), but tonight I felt it was lacking a bit of complexity, as there wasn't anything very prominent in the nose other than banana...

Full post on dinner is here.