Kistler, Vogüé and Delamotte

Dinner at Cafe Joli.

1997 Kistler Chardonnay Kistler Vineyard - I bought this from Winebid.com and it was obviously stored poorly. Nose was heavily oxidized, sweet with nose of poached pear, marmalade, minerals, a hint of chalk and marshmallows. Color was a little deep and cloudy. The finish was a little tart at first.

1999 Vogüé Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru - minty with sweet fruit, orange and forest notes. Very nice.

1999 Delamotte Blanc de Blancs - reasonably sweet on the palate, with a short finish.

Full post on dinner is here.

1995 Guigal La Mouline

1995 Guigal La Mouline - drank over dinner at Pierre. This is hands down my favorite wine in the world, and I bought a few bottles of this vintage in Tokyo 10 years ago. I always knew it was a little early to drink this wine, but I wanted to see how far along it has come in its evolution. The nose had lots of violet, pine needle, forest, caramel, toffee, smoked meats, very sweet fruit like ripe melon, mint and eucalyptus notes. Reasonable concentration, with a medium length finish that is slightly acidic. The alcohol was still very apparent. I wasn't disappointed at all.

Full post on dinner is here.

2001 Rousseau Charmes-Chambertin

2001 Rousseau Charmes-Chambertin - drank over lunch at Fook Lam Moon. This took a little time to open up. Smoky notes of grilled meats gave way to fragrant nose of eucalyptus and mildly sweet black fruits. Not spectacular but a decent food wine.

Full post on lunch is here.

Bordeaux and Riesling

Dinner at Manor Seafood Restaurant.

2000 La Chapelle de la Mission Haut-Brion - this was nice and simple, with classic notes of mint, eucalyptus, smoke and grilled meats on top of the fruit. 

2007 Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Kabinett - this was equally classic, with typical nose of petrol, mineals and plastic over lemon and orange.

Full post on dinner is here.

MNSC Dinner - French Window

MNSC dinner at the French Window, hosted by Pineapple. Theme was 1969 horizontal.

1969 Dom Pérignon - this was a very, very beautiful wine - lots of straw, oxidized pear, orange marmalade, honey...the nose turned sooo sweet after a couple of hours. Color was deep golden, and the wine was initially slightly acidic but became much more so with aeration. 96 points. And I did guess the identity of this correctly.

1969 Penfolds Grange - nose was initially plastic and a bit chalky (this should have given me the hint as old Grange can be chalky), with sweet strawberry notes giving way to coffee and Asian spices. Pretty smooth on the palate with light tannins. 95 points.

1969 Beaulieu Vineyard Reserve Georges de Latour - very strong polyurethane and burnt rubber nose, with mineral notes. Tannins a little firmer. 92 points.

1969 Michel Gaunoux Corton Renardes - fruity nose, clearly an old wine, lightly stewed fruit, minerals, and lots of button mushrooms. Sweet orange notes emerged later, and a little sharp in alcohol. 95 points.

1969 Louis Jadot Chambertin Clos de Beze - beautiful, openly decadent. Smoky nose with grilled meats, a bit plasticky, amazingly sweet, with lots of bacon and farmy notes. Very light on body with a slight aciic finish. 98 points and my wine of the evening. Who would have thought? A Jadot...

1969 Guigal La Mouline - initially a bit closed and steely, with a very sweet fruit core underneath. Amazing ripeness. Was there eucalyptus in the nose? More structure compared to the Jadot, with a slight acidic finish. 96 points. What a privilege it was to drink this wine! And I would have thought I'd pick this as my favorite...

1969 Charles Krug - nose was a bit funky, old and oxidized. Disqualified from the tasting.

1969 Latour - smoky, grilled meat notes with eucalyptus. Definitely a Cab. 92 points.

1969 Marey-Monge Romanée-Saint-Vivant - very ripe and sweet with lychee notes. Faded a little with time. 94 points.

1969 Jaboulet La Chapelle - notes of bacon, grilled meats and leather. Sweetness. 92 points.

Full post on dinner is here.

2007 De Villaine Bouzeron

2007 De Villaine Bouzeron - drank over dinner at Swiss Chalet.  The wine showed steely minerals with a good amount of acidity to cut through the richness of the cheese. There was some degree of ripeness on the palate, and the wine tasted a little "hot".

Full post on dinner is here.

2 Kokuryus

Dinner at Masa in Taipei.

Kokuryu Shizuku (黒龍 しずく) - a daiginjo (大吟醸) with semaibuai (精米歩合) of 35%.  This was nice and sharp, clearly much drier and spicier.  But as I noticed last time, the Shizuku isn't terribly complex...and was outclassed by No. 88 in this respect. 

Kokuryu No. 88 (黒龍 八十八号) - a daiginjo (大吟醸) with semaibuai (精米歩合) of 35%. This was smooth and sweet initially, before the ice bucket lowered the temperature significantly, and then turned drier as it got cold. This is a much better buy compared to the Shizuku.

Full post on dinner is here.

Cali Chard and Kiwi Pinot

Dinner at Manor Seafood Restaurant.

2001 Kistler Chardonnay Hudson Vineyard - this was not bad. The nose was initially muted (or was it because of my diminished olfactory function?), but opened up to reveal minerals, toasty oak and apricot. The palate was ripe with slightly high acidity, and a little alcoholic.

1999 Martinborough Vineyard Pinot Noir - this was a total disaster. Not much in the nose, and body was a little on the light side. Not one of my better buys.

Full post on dinner is here.

Another mixed bag

Dinner at Sup 1.

1988 Pol Roger Brut Chardonnay - nose of toasty oak, caramel, vanilla, cinnamon apple, and slight minerals on the finish. Pretty flat as there weren't many bubbles left, and the acidity was pretty mild for a Chardonnay.

1988 Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin Brut - I remember this wine well from another dinner earlier this year. This bottle was even better! Notes of apricot, minerals, toasty oak, caramel and that lovely oxidized nose coming from an old Champagne... A little more fizz than the Pol Roger with a hint of sweetness on the palate. This one won against the Pol Roger tonight.

1970 Roger Sabon Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Marquis - nose of stewed prunes, a little bit of smoke, brett and sharp alcohol. Smooth on the palate with reasonable length on the finish.

1985 Nicolas Potel Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes - I brought this bottle tonight because I remember drinking this wine last year with Nicolas Potel, and it blew me away. Not quite the same performance tonight, but it got better after being "released from prison" - when we poured the wine from the original small Sauvignon Blanc glasses into the large red Burgundy glasses. Slightly oxidized nose of sweet grass, corn, citrus, minerals, beeswax and green nashi pear (水晶梨). Good acidity balance.

2003 Nicolas Potel Charmes-Chambertin - a beautiful wine with a very sweet and fruity nose. Slightly alcoholic. Very smooth on the palate.

1996 Pascal Doquet Blanc de Blancs Le Mesnil-sur-Oger - I carried this back from Reims earlier this year, and it was recommended to me by Fabrice, the owner of Les Caves du Forum. This was very, very nice. Nose of marshmallow, caramel, a little toasty oak, lots of yeast, citrus and a little oxidized. Coming from the great 1996 vintage, the wine was very vibrant and drank very well. Now why didn't I buy more bottles of this?!

2005 Marius - I was prejudiced against this wine as I've tried their first vintage (2004) and wasn't very impressed. The wine's pedigree is impeccable, however. This is the family winery of Frédéric Engerer, the Director and President of Château Latour who graciously hosted us this past April. The vine cuttings were from the Latour nursery, so one would expect this to be a pretty awesome Cab. The 2005 vintage is better than the 2004, with a sharp alcoholic nose, brett and smoke. The wine was sweet on the palate, and showed good concentration. I would expect this wine to improve with a little more age. But truth be told, I think there are better buys for the price...

2004 Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Chaupin - eucalyptus, sweet fruit, a little jammy, tangerine...really rich with very sharp alcohol in the nose.

2001 Altesino Brunello di Montalcino Montosoli - smoky with good amount of sweet fruit. Sharp alcohol with good concentration.

2001 Pierre Usseglio Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de mon Aïeul - very alcoholic and sweet nose.

2004 Musar Rosé - this was surprisingly good, with nose of caramel and ripe fruit, and a reasonably good acidity balance.

2002 Drappier Cuvée Charles de Gaulle - oxidized with a bit of toast, yeast and citrus.

2001 Clos des Papes - sweet, smoky with a bit of alcohol. Reasonably smooth. Contribution from the restaurant's owner...