2010 Oremus Mandolás

Lunch at Ladies Recreation Club.

2010 Oremus Tokaji Dry Mandolás - light and refreshing, with a hint of floral notes.

85 Caymus Special Selection

Lunch at a friend's house.

1985 Caymus Special Selection - very ripe nose, almost stewed fruits, but a little grassy at the same time and a little minty.  Slightly high acidity on the nose.  Definitely aged and matured.

1993 Suntory Single Cask Yamazaki Cask Strength (山崎蒸溜所謹製 樽出原酒) - bottled in 2010 at 59% alcohol. Sweet, floral, plummy, woody.  Very alcoholic and burns the nose.

1986 Cos

Dinner at Caprice.

1986 Cos d'Estournel - drinking exactly as it should… with nose of smoke, ripe fruits and grilled meats.

Full post on dinner is here.

2001 Ramonet Bâtard-Montrachet

Dinner at Megan's Kitchen.

2001 Ramonet Bâtard-Montrachet en magnum - nice toasty nose, with grilled corn and lemon.  Ripe with good acidity on the palate.

Full post on dinner is here.

Salon and Dominus

Drinks at Megan's Kitchen.

1985 Dom Pérignon - a beautiful wine in great condition.  Caramelized and sweet, with Chinese licorice (甘草) and straw.

Dinner at Nadaman.

1996 Salon - I was pretty skeptical about drinking this tonight, since every other time I've tasted this wine before I ended up thinking the wine was too young and not ready.    The Specialist wanted to try regardless, and as it turns out the wine has mellowed a little.  Still very young and fresh, with a heady mousse and a little bit of toast.

1997 Dominus - drinking very well tonight.  Nose of pencil lead, a little grilled meats, very nice and sweet berries, a little hospital disinfectant, smoky and minty.

Full post on dinner is here.

Krug Room again

Dinner at the Krug Room.

Krug Grande Cuvée - can't smell anything thanks to the fragrance in the room.  Noticed the yeasty nose and somewhat heady mousse.

2000 Krug - nose a little toasty.  Acidity higher here.

Krug Rosé

Full post on dinner is here.

Aboard VistaJet

Lunch onboard VistaJet's Bombardier Challenger 850, with Richard Ekkebus from Amber.

2002 Dom Pérignon - very heavy oak in the nose, which was kinda surprising.  Toasty, flinty and lemon.

2008 Antinori Tignanello - surprisingly accessible for a young wine.  Smoky, oaky, black fruits, grilled meats and a little savory.  Full-bodied with good tannins here.  Would have been better if served at a lower temperature.

Full post on lunch is here.

No Bordeaux

Dinner at The Principal.

2009 Roses de Jeanne Blanc de Noirs Lieu-dit "Les Ursules", dégorgée en Juillet 2011 - 100% Pinot Noir.  Slightly mineral and metallic, a little toast.  Very ripe on palate.  Second pour showed a much more open nose with heavier toasty notes.  Not bad but I expected a little more.

1970 Dom Pérignon - totally oxidized, so sweet on the nose, with sugarcane, Chinese licorice (甘草), caramelized sugar, orange marmalade notes.  Totally up my alley.  Very flat with almost no bubbles left.  Good acidity here on the palate.  I expected this to be a lot more lively and complex.  Guess this bottle was over the hill…

1995 Ramonet Bâtard-Montrachet en magnum - a little toasty, kinda sweet, honey, caramelized sugar.  Pretty ripe, but acidity still there on the palate.  Served about 2 hours after decanting.

1964 Bouchard Corton-Charlemagne en magnum - a little green and vegetal, grassy.  Could it have been a little corked?  Acidity still here.  Somewhat elegant but a far cry from the other magnum from 4 years ago.  Served about an hour after decanting.

1970 Paul Jaboulet La Chapelle - very ripe nose, a little stewed prunes, savory like black olives and soy sauce.  Served about 45 minutes after decanting.

1978 Paul Jaboulet La Chapelle - a little medicinal, slightly dusty, pencil lead.  Nice, lean and slightly austere.  Savory, smoky and very toasty.  Funny how my tasting notes for this bottle are similar to the one from the ex-chateau bottle last year…  Served after 3½ hours in decanter.

1995 DRC Grands Échézeaux - despite the Specialist questioning the dubious source of the wine, this drank just fine.  Nice and lovely nose, with plenty of fruit.  Pretty elegant.  A little alcoholic on the palate.  Served about an hour after opening.

125 Years of Bruichladdich - distilled in 1970 and bottled in 2006 at the natural cask strength of 40.1%.  This is the style of Bruichladdich that I first fell in love with… sweet and caramel on the nose.  Not a hint of peat even though it's from Islay.

Full post on dinner is here.

Ichiro and friends

Dinner at a friend's home.

Kuronawa Daiginjo (黒縄 大吟醸) - leftover from the previous evening, apparently...

2004 Pax Venus - 100% Roussanne weighing in at 14.0% alcohol.  Initially served fairly cold and the alcohol was not so evident.  A little floral, sweet, pretty ripe, pomelo rind?  A little metallic, rusty, oaky and slightly buttery.  As the wine warmed up the alcohol became more obvious.

1994 Leroy Clos Vougeot - first whiff of the nose was pretty dusty, but this cleared up quickly to show animal, leather, black cherry and plum.  Ripe and kinda sweet.

Ichiro's Malt Hanyu Mizunara Head - apparently a special bottling for Isetan, and bottled at cask strength... pretty sweet, and surprisingly although it was strong, it did not threaten to singe my nose hairs off...   Would love to have some of this again...

99 Coche-Dury Meursault

Dinner at Tenku RyuGin.

1999 Coche-Dury Meursault - drank about half an hour after opening.  Big, toasty nose, lots of grilled corn.  Good acidity on the palate.  Opened up further and eventually showed more elegance other than just the toasty punch.

Full post on dinner is here.

1995 JJ Prüm Auslese

Dinner at San Xi Lou.

1995 Jos. Joh. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese - fragrant with white flowers, a little flint.  Nice acidity balance, getting sweeter later on.