Massone San Cristoforo + Chartogne-Taillet

Lunch at Nicholini's.

2009 Stefano Massone Gavi San Cristoforo - classic nose of minerals, toast and lemon.

Full post on lunch is here.

Dinner at Tim's Kitchen.

2000 Chartogne-Taillet - yeasty, caramelized, with salty plum notes that I love. The century egg brings out the sweetness and ripeness of this wine... pretty amazing.

Full post on dinner is here.

Araujo Sauvignon Blanc + Grace Chairman's Reserve

Dinner at Whisk.

2009 Araujo Sauvignon Blanc Eisele Vineyard - nose of lemon, pipi de chat, flint and toast.  Classic Sauvignon Blanc from a top winery at a reasonable price.

2005 Grace Vineyard Chairman's Reserve - lots of ripe fruit, sweet, jammy, a bit of forest, green peppers, and later on piment d'espelette.  While the nose was not bad, the palate was pretty weak and diluted.  While this wine was not cheap and drank better than my last bottle of Chinese wine, my experience based on these two bottles leads me to conclude that I shouldn't waste any more money on them.

Full post on dinner is here.

MNSC Dinner - 1978 Burgundy horizontal

Dinner at Cépage.

1978 Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles - a huge, sweet nose with lots of caramel, toast, orange marmalade, almonds, straw, minerals, amber and sweet, unsalted, creamy butter.  An hour later the nose was full of shredded coconut and honey.  A totally mind-blowing wine!  97 points.

Thanks to the age of the wine, the color has now turned a golden amber.  I got the last pour from the bottle and there was plenty of fine sediment in the glass.

The rest of the wines were served without decanting, semi-blind in two flights.

Flight #1:

1978 Armand Rousseau Chambertin Clos de Beze - more concentrated than the other wine in the flight, with more animal notes, mint, smoke, really sweet with lots of fruit.  97 points.

1978 Henri Jayer Echezeaux - explosive, floral, sweet and fruity, leather, rose, black olives, dates and a hint of smoke.  Very opulent.  The color has turned amber at the rim and you could tell this was an old Burgundy in prime condition.  What an absolute privilege to drink this legendary wine!  98 points.

Flight #2:

1978 DRC Grands Echezeaux - leather, animal, floral, minty and exotic coconut.  96 points.

1978 DRC Romanée-Saint-Vivant - animalistic, raw with tons of sweet fruit.  95 points.

1978 DRC Richebourg - very awesome, floral, a bit of leather, dates, dried fruits and mushrooms.  96 points.

All three wines from the second flight were clearly more concentrated and appeared younger compared to the first flight.  In a blind tasting, we would never have guessed that they were from the 70s...

1976 Gilette Crème de Tête - honey, orange, botrytis, a little mineral and flint.  Alcoholic.

Full post on dinner is here.

Tatsuriki Akitsu

Dinner at Yi Pai Ya.

Tatsuriki Junmai Daiginjo Akitsu (龍力 純米大吟醸 秋津) - full of fermented rice grain (酒釀) notes, and a little sweet on the palate but with a dry finish.  A very fine sake with seimaibuai of 35%.

Drinks at b.a.r. Executive Bar.

Mango daiquiri - made with Thai mango, Bacardi and a dollop of honey.  The top was lightly brûléed.  Not bad.

Peach daiquiri - made with peach from Fukuoka, along with Bacardi and peach schnapps.  A nice big ice ball sits in the middle of the glass. Very nice.

Full post on dinner is here.

An evening of whites

Drinks at California Vintage.

2009 Langetwins Viognier - ripe and sweet, with peach and tropical fruits.

2007 Chentella Viognier - mineral, flint and ripe fruit.  Hot on the palate with higher acidity.

2009 Francis Coppola Sofia Blanc de Blancs - sweet like bubblegum, a little funky with a hint of peach.  Ordered it because it is named after one of my favorite directors, Sofia Coppola.

2008 Treana White - a blend of Marsanne and Viognier.  Very ripe and sweet, oxidized with straw and honey.

Dinner at Yan Toh Heen (欣圖軒).

2003 Penfolds Yattarna - I was blown away the first time I drank a bottle of this Chardonnay.  Tonight the wine wasn't as explosive, but still drank incredibly well.  Nose of buttery corn, toast, and very sweet.  Ripe on the palate with good acidity balance.  A very lovely and elegant wine.

1995 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese - very big nose of plastic, petrol, white flowers and a little orange marmalade.  Nice and sweet on the palate.

Full post on dinner is here.

Te Koko and Brandlin

Dinner at On Lot 10.

2006 Cloudy Bay Te Koko - nose of minerals, pipi de chat, toast, muscat grape, sulfur.  Ripe on the palate.  Drinking just as I expected.

2004 Brandlin Cabernet Sauvignon - typical Cali Cab, with mint and ripe fruits in the nose.

1977 Glenlivet, bottled by Douglas Laing - this was a single-barrel release from bourbon cask, sharp at 50% alcohol.  Sweet and floral, with medicinal / hospital disinfectant notes.  Very long finish.  Many thanks to David for giving me a pour as my birthday present!

Full post on dinner is here.

1970 Egon Muller Spälese

Dinner at Pierre.

1970 Egon Muller Riesling Scharzhofberger Spälese - classic nose of petrol, white flowers, honey, lemon and minerals.  I am lucky enough to be able to drink this 3 times within the last month, and I'm now convinced that this is a wine that should stay in the ice bucket and not allowed to get too warm...

Full post on dinner is here.

A few bottles of old wines

Dinner at Yung Kee VIP Floor (蘭亭閣).

1997 Haut-Brion Blanc - pretty cold in the bucket and we took the decanter out to warm it up.  Nose was initially a little toasty, with minerals and a little lemon.  Acidity was pretty high, but the ripeness showed through after the wine warmed up a little.  Nose was a little dusty at the end.

1978 Solaia - I'm pretty lucky that this was my third time drinking this wine.  Nose was minty, fruity, slightly medicinal, with dried herbs, smoke, pencil lead notes.  Later on nose was a little savory, almost soy sauce-like.  Very smooth on the palate.  Perhaps not as spectacular as the bottle I tasted at the Solaia vertical last year, but this was still very lovely.

1971 Freiherr Langwerth von Simmern Rauenthaler Baiken Riesling Beerenauslese - my friend drank this 2 nights ago and brought us the leftover half.  Seems to be the trend for dessert wines these days...

The color is now dark amber, which I think is due to the sugar being oxidized...  Nose of honey, dates, nuts and marmalade.  Still reasonable acidity left and not just overly sweet.  A very lovely wine.

Full post on dinner is here.

7 wines, 5 varietals

Dinner at Caprice.

Diebolt Vallois Mis en Cave 1983 - this is exactly my kind of Champagne... with a very oxidized nose, lots of iron and rust along with that yummy, salty plum (話梅).  A lovely palate with a long finish.  A very enjoyable blanc de blancs.

1970 Egon Muller Riesling Scharzhofberger Spälese - I was fortunate enough to have tasted this wine a few weeks ago when my friend served it during lunch.  Today the wine was served at a colder temperature, and just about blew me away.  There was a HUGE nose of plastic and petrol, with white flowers, a little bit of minerals and white pepper.  Slightly off-dry on the palate, but got a little sweeter as the wine warmed up in glass.  At the end the nose smelled a little "dusty", and we thought it was just like turning on one of those vacuum cleaners with a paper bag inside... The color was amazingly light for a 40 year-old white wine - a testament to the storage conditions.

1988 Coche-Dury Meursault Les Rougeots - what a beautiful wine!  I normally find the explosive, toasty nose of Coche-Dury's young Meursaults very attractive, but this was totally different.  A very big and sweet nose, with toasty popcorn, straw and sweet, creamy corn towards the end.  Ripe, very round and smooth mid-palate with an acidic and long finish.  This was simply a very elegant wine... as age has rounded the corners and taken the edge off the explosive toasty notes.  This has to be my wine of the evening, should I be made to choose one...

1996 Marcassin Pinot Noir Marcassin Vineyard - nose was alcoholic and sharp at first, with lots of strawberries, mint and mushrooms.  As the wine opened up further, prominent notes of sweet lychees came out.  I was immediately reminded of Rayas and the 1998 Le Pin I loved so much.  There was also a little bit of orange.  Honestly, this wine is still a little young and could do with a few more years of cellaring.

1981 Penfolds Grange Hermitage - notes of vanilla and pine forest.  Unbelievably, the nose was still a little sharp after 30 years...  As I would expect the wine was still very concentrated.  Drinkable now, but this could easily go on for another 20 years!

2003 Château Chalon - again, Benny brought us glasses of this lovely oxidized vin jaune to go with the Comté...

1998 Sine Qua Non Mr. K TBA - very sweet with lots of concentration.  Notes of honey, apricot and raisins.  Curiously made with Viognier.

2003 Clos Mimi Étiquette Rose - I've had this wine on a previous occasion and it failed miserably as a food wine, prompting me to nickname this "the Monster"... although I must admit it was doomed to fail with the food that evening.  Tonight this was served very chilled, which helped temper the 19.0 percent stated alcohol...  Nose of minerals, red fruits and yeast.  There was definitely a strong resemblance to the yeasty notes in beers such as the Hoegaarden we had on the table.

Full post on dinner is here.

1995 Insignia

Dinner at Justin's Signature in Taipei.

1995 Joseph Phelps Insignia - minty, black fruits, Asian spices, forest and nutmeg on the nose.  Amazingly, still tannic on the palate with a full body and a long finish.  This has been in my collection since 1999, and I find it to be still incredibly young for its age.  I guess I won't open the next bottle for at least another 5 years!

Full post on dinner is here.

Burgundy and Rhône

Dinner at Ming Fu in Taipei.

2008 Lou Dumont Bourgogne Blanc Cuvée Famille - a biodynamic cuvée.  Nose was a little oxidized.  Ripe and sweet on the palate, but there's some acidity there for balance.

2005 François Villard Condrieu DePoncins - over the hill for a Condrieu... especially in a ripe year like 2005.  Nose of minerals and lemon but none of the floral notes a Viognier should have...  Ripe and sweet on the palate.

1997 Dominique Laurent Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots - very open, soft and floral.  Fruity with a little plum, and some leather.  A very lovely wine.

1998 Denis Mortet Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St-Jacques - nose was pretty closed at first, with a little mint and a light body.  Gradually opened up a little.

Full post on dinner is here.

The Specialist birthday

Dinner at 8½ Otto e Mezzo.

Jacques Selosse V.O. (disgorged May 3, 2010) - sweet, caramelized and oxidized, yeasty with minerals.  Later on savory like salty plum (話梅).  I love Anselme Selosse's wines, and this blanc de blancs blend of three vintages is another interesting example.

2003 Vogüé Bourgogne Blanc - nose of straw and sweet like marshmallow.  Very interesting.

1990 Pol Roger Cuvée Winston Churchill - slightly oxidized nose with minerals.  Crisp and acidic on the palate.

1983 Haut-Brion Blanc - strange nose of plastic, burnt rubber... a little funky and stinky, with minerals and pipi de chat.  Pretty disappointing.

1985 Hospices de Beaune Mazis-Chambertin Cuvée Madeleine-Collignon par Bouchard - about an hour after opening (but not decanted at the Specialist's orders): nose of leather, floral, black olives, a little mint.  Smooth and very feminine.  After 2 hours the wine became more full-bodied.

2003 Faiveley Mazis-Chambertin - very pronounced animal notes, with cherry, forest, dried herbs and strawberries.  Very fragrant.

1985 Léoville-Las Cases - grass, smoke, lead pencil, mint and a little soy sauce.  Very classic claret that is drinking beautifully.

2002 Cheval Blanc - sweet and minty, but in generally the nose was pretty closed despite having been decanted.  A little smoke and some ripe fruits.  Still kinda tannic on the palate.

2004 Le Gay - smoke, ripe fruit, coffee, dried herbs and alcoholic.  The nose was open and nice, but the wine was still very tannic.

1900 D'Oliveiras Moscatel, leftovers - I had half a bottle leftover from a dinner last month, so I decided to bring it out to give others a taste.  Prominent nose of salty plum (話梅) that has been soaked in Chinese Huadiao (花雕) wine, with nutty and grapey notes.  Definitely a little more oxidized compared to last time...

Full post on dinner is here.