Bordeaux happy hour

Drinks at Watson's Wine Cellar.

2000 Trotanoy - very smoky with cedar notes.  Nice and smooth but there is still concentration here.  Long finish.

1996 d'Armailhac - a little stinky, animal, pencil lead, smoke on the nose.  Medium to full-bodied, with a little more acidity on the finish.

1999 La Mission Haut-Brion - smoky, ripe, a little sweet, and pretty fragrant.  Amazingly there was a little bit of exotic coconut butter here.

2000 Branaire-Ducru - smoky and classic Left Bank nose.

Drinks at a friend's home.

Krug Grande Cuvée en demi-bouteille

1999 Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Fuées - lots of dried herbs, a little exotic spices like cumin, almost minty, kinda alcoholic.  A little dusty and not enjoyable.

Dagueneau, Marcassin and Cask 23

Lunch at a friend's place.

2004 Didier Dagueneau Silex - mineral, toasty, a little green apple and lemon on the nose.  Acidity was pretty high, which was expected.

2006 Marcassin Chardonnay Marcassin Vineyard - very buttery and sweet, toasty, a little yeasty like brioche, coffee.  Really sweet nose.

1985 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cask 23 - decanted for an hour before serving.  Very ripe, with a hint of stewed fruits, but a whiff of mold in the very first pour.  Cleared up later with more aeration and chilling.  A little stinky, farmy, but drank very nicely.  Still reasonable amount of fruit but longer fresh and vibrant... Starting to show a little age here, but pretty full-bodied without excessive tannins.

1979 Lagavulin Double Matured - very, very classic.  What a privilege to be able to drink this.

French and sake

Dinner at Shinshu.

1999 Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet - a little toast, a little oxidized but drank perfectly fine.  Medium acidity here.  Clashed badly with the scallop sashimi and soy sauce.

Egly-Ouriet Brut Tradition Grand Cru, degorgée Janvier 2013 - pretty ripe on the palate, with notes of marmalade.  Always delicious to drink this wine.

2013 Hakurakusei Zankyo "Super 8" (伯楽星 残響 "Super 8"), bottle 127/365 - one of my favorite sakes in the world.  The blend of Yamada Nishiki (山田錦) and Omachi (雄町) rice is milled down to a mere 8% of its original size, taking seimaibuai (精米歩合) to the very extreme.  Initially there was tons of banana, ripe and sweet musk melon and other tropical fruits.  Very sweet on the palate and extremely smooth and rounded.  As it warmed up a little, the palate got slightly drier.  What a beautiful sake!

1970 Angelus - ripe on the nose, a little smoky, a little green pepper and woody.

1996 Dom Pérignon - from some of the very first batches to arrive in Hong Kong.  A very, very well-made Champagne, with incredible balance between the acidity and ripeness.

Full post on dinner is here.

Bollinger, Montelena and Pibran

Drinks at the Upper House.

Bollinger Special Cuvée - pretty well balanced on the palate.

2010 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay - nice toasty oak, a little buttery.  Definitely flinty and mineral here.

2009 Pibran - a little young but certainly drinkable.

Kistler and Bouchard Mazis

Dinner at Fook Lam Moon.

2005 Kistler Chardonnay Kistler Vineyard - took out 2 bottles of this baby.  Very ripe on the nose with some lemon citrus, and good amount of oak.  Ripe and sweet on the palate.

1985 Hospices de Beaune Mazis-Chambertin Cuvée Madeleine-Collignon par Bouchard - opened up two of these and decanted them just before serving.  Very ripe on the nose, with plenty of stewed prunes, a little forest, and a little salty plum.  Clearly getting a little tired.  After extended aeration the palate died pretty badly.

Full post on dinner is here.

Bollinger, Flor de Pingus and more

Lunch at Crown Wine Cellars.

2002 Bollinger La Grande Année - metallic and ripe on the palate, orange marmalade, mineral, and a little salty.

2010 Grand Village - forest notes, a little sweet on the palate.

Drinks at a friend's house.

2006 Flor de Pingus - really ripe and raisiny, with very strong notes of herbs.  Alcoholic to the point of almost being like paint-thinner.  Very funky nose.

2005 Jackson-Triggs Riesling Sparkling Icewine Proprietor's Grand Reserve - very sweet, viscous and unctuous.  Nose of apricot, marmalade, and a little acetone.  Slightly fizzy.  A little too rich for me.

2003 Kistler

Dinner at Celebrity Cuisine.

2003 Kistler Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast - minty, cedary and sweet.

Full post on dinner is here.

Mouton and Burgs

Dinner at the Chairman.

2005 Petaluma Tiers - a little corked, but we ended up drinking it anyway because the heavy oak kinda masked it.  Very ripe, a little oxidized, caramelized and sweet on the nose, but slightly bitter on the palate.  Also with some straw notes.

Krug Grande Cuvée - love the ripeness of old reserve wines.

2007 Bouchard Corton-Charlemagne - ripe on the palate, and later on a little buttery.  Slightly ripe on the finish.  Heavy toast emerged after a while.

2002 Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Taillepieds - forest and potpourri notes, some sweet fruit.  A little tight at first but starting to loosen up and drink well.

1981 Mouton-Rothschild - soooo classic.  Very smoky, savory soy sauce, cedar, mint and dried herbs.

Full post on dinner is here.

Ram's Hill and Beringer

Dinner at On Lot 10.

2011 Ram's Hill - lots of green apple, white grapes like muscat, a little mineral.  Extremely ripe with a very long finish.  Yum!

1995 Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve - very fragrant and cedary nose, sweet on the palate, and very full-bodied with some tannins left.  Drinking nicely.

Full post on dinner is here.

Burgs and Krug

Dinner at Amber.

1989 Krug - nice and aged, a little savory, salty plum, sweet grass and marmalade.  Slight hint of bitterness on the finish.  Very lovely.

2004 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet - nice and toasty, very big nose, crisp, pure and beautiful.  Later on sweet and butter.

2004 Dujac Charmes-Chambertin - very fragrant, fruity, a little smoky, very sweet on the nose but dry on te palate.  Nice woody flavors with some leather.

1999 Rouget Echezeaux - nose was a little spunky, smoky, tighter than expected.

Full post on dinner is here.

Kistler, Cos and more

Dinner at On Lot 10.

Chartogne-Taillet Rosé - very fruity with lots of raspberries.  Yum.

2005 Kistler Chardonnay Stone Flat Vineyard - toasty nose, nice and buttery.  Drinking well.

1986 Cos d'Estournel - initially I thought it might have been ever so lightly corked, but this grassy green nose faded with time.  Smoky, a little earthy and mineral.  Smooth on the palate and drank well.

Cheese at Upper Modern Bistro.

2012 Schlumberger Pinot Gris Les Princes Abbés - tropical peach and a little flint.

Full post on dinner is here.