86 Mouton, 82 Cheval and more

Dinner at Hong Kong Wine Vault.

1989 Bollinger Vielles Vignes Françaises - a very rare treat.  This blanc de noirs made with grapes from pre-phylloxera vines is a pretty rare Champagne, and I was happy to have a chance to drink this.  The Specialist chose not to decant this and served this in a Pinot Noir glass.  Nose was very lovely, caramelized and sugary with orange notes.  Not as lively as I expected but the nose definitely showed the aging.  Pretty long finish.  Later on mineral notes came out and was definitely a little salty.  Very nice.

1995 Ramonet Bâtard-Montrachet en magnum - I pulled this out of my cellar to share with the group, and decanted for more than an hour prior to serving.  Initially the nose was very sugary and sweet, slightly tangerine.  The color was a little dark, and I was afraid that the wine - from a vintage like 95/96 where Burgundy experienced widespread problems with oxidation - would be a little advanced in aging.  The wine turned out fine.  A little bit of spice like cinnamon in the nose, too.  Palate had medium acidity, slightly ripe and alcoholic.  I think the wine finally reached its peak some 3 hours after decanting.  Not bad but I had expected a little better.

1986 Mouton-Rothschild - wow... It's been a few years since I last drank this wine, and this was still very backward and young 25 years after the harvest.  Decanted almost 4 hours before dinner, my first pour still tasted very tannic.  Nose was lovely, very sweet with mint.  After breathing in the glass for a little, there was a faint hint of plastic in the nose along with prominent coconut.

1982 Cheval Blanc - the owner of the bottle feared that this wine was in serious decline, and decided to pop open one of his bottles to check it out.  He need not have worried.  Very lovely nose with tea leaves, floral, a little fruity, smoke and forest notes.  Very smooth on the palate.

1997 Huet Vouvray Cuvée Constance - we didn't have any dessert wine, so I went downstairs and fished this bottle out of the cellar since someone had mentioned this wine earlier.  Orange, plastic nose, very ripe, a little caramel and a little sharp.  After a while it was really sweet and full of honey notes.  Sweet on the palate but with enough acidity to balance it.

Full post on dinner is here.