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.