El cheapo Burgs

Dinner at Guo Fu Lou.

1999 Coche-Dury Meursault - very heavy nose of toast, roasted corn, a little lemon citrus.  No surprises here... but I love it.

2011 Cecile Tremblay Bourgogne La Croix Blanche - really fragrant nose, sweet, a little bubblegum, very ripe, definitely minty and eucalyptus.  Later on the nose became super-bubblegum.

2009 Charles Audoin Marsannay Clos du Roy - very alcoholic on the nose, with dried herbs, cool but pretty sweet fruit.  A little pungent on the nose and a little bitter on the palate.  Made me wonder if this was fermented with stems.  This opened up a little further and then somehow the palate died and became yucky...

2000 Anne Gros Clos-Vougeot Le Grand Maupertui - pretty sweet, with nose of dried herbs and cedar, a little ripe.  Very nice.

2010 Hospices de Beaune Beaune 1er Cru Cuvée Rousseau-Deslandes par Champy - nose of cedar, nice and ripe, pretty sweet, so fragrant on the palate, with exotic spices and a little forest.

2001 Coche-Bizouard Monthélie 1er Cru Les Duresses - corked.

2007 Sylvain Cathiard Vosne-Romanée - opened more than 2 hours before I drank it.  Nice and sweet, very fragrant, a little leather and bacon fat.

2005 Jean-Paul et Stéphane Magnien Clos Saint-Denis - sweet and nice.

2005 Deutz Amour de Deutz - yeasty and ripe.  Always yummy.

Full post on dinner is here.

Myokarankyoku and Andre Clouet

Dinner at a friend's house.

André Clouet Brut Rosé - very nice, but slightly bitter on the finish.

Daishichi Myouka Rangyoku (大七 妙花蘭曲) - first pour out of the bottle was incredibly smooth and round, pretty sweet on the palate, with notes of tropical bananas.  Later on as the sake warmed up a little and breathed a little more, it became sharper, drier and pretty spicy on the palate.  Interestingly this evolved exactly like the last time I drank another bottle of this.

Kistler, Wagner and Bouchard

Dinner at One Harbour Road.

2005 Kistler Chardonnay Stone Flat Vineyard - nice and toasty nose, and a little buttery.  The toasty nose got pretty heavy later as it opened up.

2010 Wagner Family of Wines Sauvignon Blanc - this was definitely a Sauvignon... with a little pipi de chat.  Nice and crispy, with a hint of green apple.

1985 Hospices de Beaune Mazis-Chambertin Cuvée Madeleine-Collignon par Bouchard - decanted just before serving.  nose of leather, a little stewed and ripe.  Nice acidity.  I think the wine is getting tired and going downhill.

Full post on dinner is here.

1998 horizontal

Dinner at Holytan in Hong Kong.

1981 Krug - sweet and caramelized nose, with a little straw, Chinese licorice (甘草), minerals and marmalade.  Acidity was pretty high, and there were almost no bubbles left.  Very lovely.

1998 Roulot Meursault Les Vireuils - initially when the bottle was opened, we detected oxidation but wasn't sure if it was premox.  Turned out it wasn't, but it was still a tiny bit off.  Surprisingly dry on the palate, a little dusty, a little flinty, with marmalade.

1998 Haut-Brion Blanc - HUGE nose, slightly pungent, mineral, flinty and lean.  The Sauvignon Blanc was definitely front-and-center, with a little bit of plastic.  Later on it opened up and became a little buttery and fatty, showing its ripeness.  Absolutely awesome, and by far the wine of the evening for everyone.

1998 Prieuré Roch Vosne-Romanée Clos Goillotte en magnum - very cloudy as expected, very toasty corn, plenty of sweet fruit, not clean but a little dirty, slight hint of forest with animal and leather coming out later.

1998 Leroy Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts - nose of toasty corn, also a little dirty, with plenty of nice fruit.

1998 Guigal La Turque - despite being decanted for close to 3 hours, the wine was still pretty closed and tight.  Nose of forest pine, smoky and woody, very clean and cool.  Very fragrant later, and after almost 4 hours we finally found some bacon fat.  This bottle was waaay too young.

1998 Dalla Valle Maya - ripe and smoky nose, still pretty tannic on the palate.  A different animal.  45% Cab Franc and 55% Cab Sauvignon.

1998 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Auslese from half bottle - petrol, flinty, apricot, marmalade.  Nice acidity.

Full post on dinner is here.

1995 JJ Prüm

Dinner at Tenku RyuGin in Hong Kong.

1995 Jos. Joh. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese - nose of petrol and white pepper. Medium sweetness with good acidity balance.

Full post on dinner is here.

Selosse, von Schubert and L'Interdit Valandraud

Dinner at One Harbour Road.

Jacques Selosse Exquise, dégorgée le 15 Juin 2009 - very ripe and sweet on the palate, oaky.  Later on showing sugar cane and Chinese licorice.  Wonderful.

1988 von Schubert Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Riesling Auslese aus halbe Flasche - very floral and elegant, a little sweet, some tropical fruit like lychees.  Acidity was higher than expected, and rounded on palate.

1988 von Schubert Maximin Grünhäuser Herrenberg Riesling Auslese 153 aus halbe Flasche - more intense, with classic flinty, polyurethane notes.  Slightly more viscous and definitely sweeter on the palate.

2000 Valandraud - decanted about 1½ hours prior to serving.  Very smoky, a little ripe, closed up later and lost some of the sweetness.

L'Interdit de Badon - not as ripe, smoky, wet cardboard, green pepper.  Definitely a corked bottle.

L'Interdit de Valandraud en magnum - ripe and sweeter, very fragrant, smoky, with pencil lead and cedar notes.  More intense than Valandraud.

1970 Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial from magnum - a little ripe, minty, smoky, a little exotic, acidic on palate, aromatic, with stewed cherries and some exotic coconut.

Full post on dinner is here.

Casual Burgs

Dinner at a friend's place.

2008 Amiot Guy Le Montrachet - opened a day earlier with Coravin.  Very nice and rich, with good acidity.  A little flinty, slightly pungent, dusty, oaky, with orange peel notes.  Full-bodied.

2012 Vincent Dancer Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Tête du Clos - ripe and fat, with apricot notes.  Very nice.

2005 Prieuré Roch Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Vieilles Vignes - really sweet with tons of fruit, and a little forest pine.  Very nice.

2005 Mugnier Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Clos de la Maréchale Rouge - obviously suffering from heat damage, not pleasant to drink.

1999 Matriarch

Dinner at L'Idiot in Taipei.

1999 BOND Matriarch - very sweet, with exotic coconut butter. Drinking very nicely.

Full post on dinner is here.

85 Guigal and Santoleri

Dinner at Orto.

2009 Nicola Santoleri Crognaleto - bland at first, but became nutty and metallic with prosciutto.  A little ripe on the palate later on.

1985 Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde - very smooth on the palate, but towards the end slightly denser than expected as we did not decant.  A little violet and leather on the nose.  Pretty nice but this wine is on the way down.

Full post on dinner is here.

Cignale and Happs Pinot

Dinner at Kam's Restaurant.

2011 Happs Pinot Noir - strong nose of grape skin and forest.  Sugar sweet on palate.  Lolly water.

1999 Querceto Cignale - a little smoky with grilled meats.  Rounded tannins.

Full post on dinner is here.

Champagne and Cali

Drinks at La Cave at the Aberdeen Marina Club.

Egly-Ouriet Brut Tradition Grand Cru - nice and smooth, very balanced in terms of acidity and ripeness on the palate.  Somewhat caramelized nose.

Dinner at the Horizon at the Aberdeen Marina Club.

1988 Kistler Chardonnay Kistler Estate Vineyard - the color was a beautiful amber.  Nose was very sweet, bubblegum-like, caramelized, honey, marmalade, and oaky.  Later on showed straw notes.  Ripe and mature but still alcoholic, with a finish that was kinda dry.  After 2 hours, this was totally buttery, with a little coconut.  An absolutely beautiful wine.

1998 Kistler Pinot Noir Kistler Vineyard - still really young and just beginning to soften up.  Really sweet and fruity, which is just what I would expect.  The slightly pungent smell of the grape skin is still evident here.

1986 Joseph Phelps Insignia - very strong notes of leather, kinda medicinal, stinky, smoky, earthy, pencil lead... and still some fruit left.  Very soft on the palate after almost 30 years.

Full post on dinner is here.