MNSC Dinner - Amuse Bouche

MNSC dinner at Amuse Bouche, hosted by The Ox.

2004 Paul Déthune, dégorgée en janvier 2012 - nice and lovely nose, with some caramelized sweetness and mineral notes.

1973 Leroy Meursault 1er Cru Les Charmes - very sweet on the nose, plenty of vanilla and almost marzipan, also marmalade.  High acidity on the palate with oxidation.  Drinking beautifully.

First flight: popped and poured in decanter just before serving.

1964 Latour - very minty, savory, with a hint of black olives, plus sweet fruit on the nose.  Palate was dry.  Also some stewed fruits and smoke.  91 points.

1966 Latour - more minty than the '64, also more green and vegetal, grassy.  Nose was much cleaner, with lead pencil and graphite notes, and very big and smoky.  94 points.

Second flight: decanted for 3 hours prior to serving.

1982 Latour, ex-château - a beautiful wine.  Smoke, coffee, pencil lead, sweet fruit, fragrant, a hint of grass.  But also a little chalky and dirty.  A little leather but slightly stinky, with a hint of hospital disinfectant.  98 points.

1988 Latour - smoky, leaner than the '82, with more green pepper, and a bit cloudy.  93 points.

Third flight: decanted more than 4 hours before serving.

1990 Latour - older and more elegant, some leather, smoke, and fragrant nose.  A little riper and softer on the palate.  95 points.

1996 Latour - minty, leaner, a bit of smoke, but really dusty and chalky for some reason, even after changing glasses.  93 points.

Bonus: popped and poured.

1953 Latour - nutty, a little marzipan, pretty sweet, maybe a little tonka bean, minty, and smoky.  High acidity.

Full post on dinner is here.

Juris vs Burgundy

Dinner at Hong Kong Cuisine.

2016 Juris Sauvignon Blanc - pretty fruity and tropical, stone fruits, flint.  Ripe on the nose as well as on the palate, with a bit of acidity to balance.  Nose was fairly big but a a teeny bit pungent.

2009 Lucien Le Moine Corton Renardes - served 1½ hours after opening.  Pretty sweet and ripe on the nose, with coconut and almost bubblegum notes.  Around 2 hours after opening there was almost a hint of coffee.  Tannins still here.

2013 Juris Pinot Noir Setzluss - ripe and fruity, also a hint of coconut.  About an hour after opening showed some smokiness, and almost toasty and coffee.

2011 Juris Pinot Noir Hochreit - served about an hour after opening.  Very sweet on the nose and especially on the palate, almost a little jammy.  A bit more animal and leather notes here.  2011 saw an extended growing season.

2008 Dominique Gallois Charmes-Chambertin - served 1½ hours after opening.  Ripe and stewed fruit, a little savory, with slightly higher acidity.

1999 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays - served 1½ hours after opening.  Good fruit here, and softer on the palate.

2014 Dubreuil-Fontaine Aloxe-Corton 1er Cru Les Vercots - very cool fruit, a little eucalyptus, maybe a little stemmy.  Perhaps needed a little more aeration.

2009 Dugat-Py Gevrey-Chambertin Cuvée Cœur du Roy - served 2 hours after opening.  A hint of toast, a hint of leather at first, pretty smooth on the palate.  Showing a little more smoke and heavier toast, as well as fragrant wood notes.  Leaner on palate.

2002 Michel Magnien Clos de la Roche - served 2½ hours after opening.  Minty, maybe a bit sulfur.  Pungent and not well-integrated nose, with huge toasty notes.  Later on the nose opened up a little more and showed some fruit.

2012 Juris Pinot Noir Haide - served 2½ hours after opening.  Very young and fresh, lovely, with lots of dried herbs and pretty sweet.  Not quite integrated, and almost showing Chinese medicinal herbs like ginseng.  From Dijon clone 114 planted in 1980s.

2004 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays - served 3 hours after opening.  Nice and ripe.  Pretty open.

2006 Prieuré-Roch Vosne-Romanée Les Hautes-Maizières - toasty and ripe nose.  Fragrant with a hint of stewed fruit.

Full post on dinner is here.

Jesus, Dethune, and Guiberteau

Dinner at Frantzen's Kitchen.

Paul Déthune Cuvée à l'Ancienne, dégorgée en janvier 2012 - initially not getting much from the nose, but the palate was pretty nice with good acidity balance.  Slightly dry and a little toasty.  Showed a good amount of maturity and depth of flavors after warming up a little.

1985 Bouchard Vigne de l'Enfant Jésus - definitely TCA with telltale wet cardboard nose.  Madeirized.  Grassy.

2013 Guiberteau Saumur Clos de Guichaux - dry with crisp acidity.  Minerals, a little oak, lemon, and some white flowers.  Long finish.

Full post on dinner is here.

Riesling and friends

Dinner at Le Palais in Taipei.

1999 Amour de Deutz - fairly mature now, good balance between the ripe sweetness and acidity on the palate.

2008 Hugel Riesling Schoelhammer - big nose with lots of petrol.  Needed time to fully open up.  Most certainly the best offering from Hugel.

1995 La Conseillante - smoky and lovely.  Tannins have softened up nicely.

1986 Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard - smoky, minty, pencil lead, and still lively.  The acidity of the soup brought out the fruity notes and sweetness.  Very nice.

1990 von Schubert Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Riesling Spätlese - still have plenty of acidity, with lemon and citrus notes, and almost green apple.

1990 Joh.Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese - sweetish but still got acidity.  Big nose of plastic with some white flowers.

Full post on dinner is here.

Bongwater at RAW

Lunch at RAW in Taipei.

2015 PUR n° 7 Énergie - very aromatic and floral, with tropical stone fruits.  Almost fatty and oily, thick and round on the palate.

2015 Agnès et René Mosse Les Bonnes Blanches - nose much more muted.  Hot on the palate and burns a little going down.  Not a fan.

2014 Jean Laborde Saint Joseph La Ferme des Sept Lunes - really ripe and almost jammy, with a hint of green.  Almost floral honey notes.

Full post on lunch is here.

Beringer, Dom, and Dujac

Dinner at Mume in Taipei.

1997 Bringer Merlot Private Reserve Bancroft Ranch - a little musty at first, slightly overripe, with fragrant cedar notes.

Drinks at The Terrace at Humble House Taipei.

2006 Moët et Chandon Cuvée Dom Pérignon - very toasty and fragrant nose. Lovely.

2008 Louis Latour Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts - a little dusty and toasty.  A pretty shitty bottle.

2007 Dujac Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru - much better, with plenty of lovely fruit.

Full post on dinner is here.

Pierre Péters and Canon-la-Gaffelière

Dinner at Joël Robuchon Restaurant in Singapore.

Pierre Péters Cuvée La Perle - a blanc de blancs.  Nice and caramelized nose, lovely fragrance, with yeasty notes.  Ripe and rounded on the palate, with good acidity and lean on the back end.

1999 Canon-la-Gaffelière - 40 minutes after decanting, showing smoke, ripe fruit, and lovely cedar notes.  A little pencil lead after an hour in decanter, and 1½ hours after decanting the nose turned pretty sweet.  Still some tannins here, but drinking pretty well.

Full post on dinner is here.

Kistler Cathleen and Bertheau

Dinner at Straits Clan in Singapore.

2004 Kistler Chardonnay Cuvée Cathleen - unfortunately this was overripe and waaaay too oxidized.  Nose was sugar, sweet, and caramelized.  Worked horribly with both the octopus and the youtiao.

2014 François Bertheau Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru - sweet and fruity with black cherry, eucalyptus, and dried herbs.

Full post on dinner is here.

Cristal, Clos Ste Hune

Drinking at a friend's home.

2005 Louis Roederer Cristal - floral nose.  Easy to drink, but otherwise unremarkable.

Dinner at The Naked Finn in Singapore.

1996 Trimbach Riesling Clos Ste. Hune - such a classic dry riesling, with petrol, flint, and lemon notes.  Very good depth of flavor here.  Beautiful!

2013 Peter Michael Chardonnay 'Mon Plaisir' - very sweet nose, with plenty of tropical stone fruits and vanilla.  So buttery and fragrant.

Full post on dinner is here.