Juyondai Shichitare Nijikkan

Dinner at Tenkai.

Juyondai Shichitare Nijikkan Junmai Daiginjo (十四代 七垂二十貫 純米大吟醸), 29BY, from isshobin - seimaibuai (精米歩合) of 40%.  Nice and smooth, soft and sweet, a bit dry and spicy on the back, more spicy than expected.  A really well-made sake with lots of depth and length.

Full post on dinner is here.

59 Ducru and 82 Montrose

Dinner at a friend's home.

2015 Yann Durieux Love and Pif - toasty, flinty, a little fizzy.  Not bad la...

1959 Ducru-Beaucaillou, negociant bottling - definitely nicely aged, with a nice and fragrant nose with cedar and mint notes.

1982 Montrose -  slightly corked.  Smoky nose.  Finally opened up after almost 3 hours later, and showed nice coffee notes which overpowered the cardboard notes.  More smoky notes later.

1999 Sine Qua Non The Ox - pretty fragrant.  A little floral, with nice, sweet fruit on the nose.  Slightly sweet on the palate, and soft and elegant on the palate now.

82 Ducru and friends

Dinner at The Sports Club.

2010 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Clavoillon - very ripe, nice and fragrant, sweet Chinese licorice.

2010 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Meursault 1er Cru Les Gouttes d'Or - reasonably ripe but the acidity was higher.  More flinty.

2004 Comte Armand Pommard 1er Cru Clos des Epeneaux - eucalyptus, leather, animal notes.  Fragrant but still lean on the palate.

2009 Il Marroneto Brunello di Montalcino Madonna delle Grazie - really ripe, really sweet nose, with minty notes.

1982 Ducru-Beaucaillou, en magnum - Decanted for almost two hours prior to serving.  Smoky, still some sweet fruit, minty, and woodsy fragrance.  Drinking beautifully.

Swiss wine day

Tasting at Lavaux Vinorama.

2017 Jacques et Aurelia Joly Lavaux Pinot Gris - very floral, beautiful, just like an Alsatian pinot gris.  Notes of stone fruits like peaches, tropical, flinty.

2018 Robert et Vincent Chevalley Rivaz Sauvignon - more flint here, leaner on the nose, but interestingly ripe and rounded on the palate.

2018 Jean-Marc Favez Chardonne Viognier - really floral and perfumed, ripe and sweet on the nose, with some sweetness on the palate but also a bit of flint and stone fruit.

2016 Pinguet St-Saphorin - a blend of 70% pinot noir, 20% diolinoir, and 10% mara.  Fruity but a bit more heavy and firm, with a little potpourri.

2016 Béat-Louis Bujard Villa Novara - a blend of merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and syrah.  Sweet nose like bubblegum, with lots of sweet sugar and very exotic.  Unfortunately the palate was just so-so and light.

Lunch at Là-Haut in Chardonne.

2016 Gantenbein Chardonnay - decanted prior to serving.  Very big nose of toast, more ripe and mature, more buttery, more coffee, and more open and flamboyant. Very delicious.

2015 Coche-Dury Meursault - initially very restrained, showing toasty notes and lots of flint.  Thirty-minutes after decanting the toasty notes got much stronger, but the palate also remained lean with higher acidity.  This was obviously more complex, with lemon citrus notes.  One hour after decanting this became more elegant.

Dinner at a friend's home.

2005 Cheval Blanc - decanted for 1½ hours prior to serving.  Pungent and very bretty, a little dirty, smoky.  Lots of concentration here, with decent amount of fruit underneath the smoke.

Full post on the day is here.

Couralt and Montcalms

Dinner at Le Bologne in Geneva.

Benoit Courault Gilbourg, vintage unknown - initially muted, later flinty and steely.

2014 de Montcalmes Les Terrasses du Larzac Rouge - fragrant nose with woodsy and eucalyptus notes.

Full post on dinner is here.

Italian wine pairing

Dinner at La Bottega in Geneva.

Clandestin Les Semblabes - very fresh and vibrant.  Later some marmalade notes.

2015 Bandini Villa Pomona Chianti Classico Riserva - lots of sediment here.  Really fragrant, with lots of herbs and potpourri nose, also a bit fruity.  Nose was beautiful about 2 hours later.

2016 Villa Guelpa Sizzano - minty with eucalyptus notes.

2014 San Lorenzo Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore Campo delle Oche - flinty, a little stinky, but really ripe on the palate... almost polyurethane.  An hour later it was really like a Bordeaux Sauvignon Blanc, toasty, almost coffee.  Stinky but not quite pipi de chat.

2015 Riccardi Reale Cesanese di Olevano Romano Càlitro - ripe and pruny, a little peaty and bretty, woodsy, smoky, almost a little peppery.  Later on after aeration pretty tannic, and really medicinal. Not a fan.

2018 Marabino Moscato della Torre - lots of Anjou pear, flinty, mineral, and acetone.

Full post on dinner is here.

Krug and Ramos Pinto

Lunch at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in London.

Krug Grande Cuvée, 167ème édition, ID 218020 - can't go wrong with the Grande Cuvée.  Always that lovely, toasty nose.

Ramos Pinto Adriano Porto White Reserva - more complex than expected, but still a relatively simple drink. Honey and ripe raisin notes. Color was much darker than I had expected.

Full post on dinner is here.

Dagueneau and Boekenhoutskloof

Dinner at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in London.

2010 Dagueneau Silex - the first glass I was poured didn't seem fresh, and the staff poured me another glass from a different bottle which was nice and fresh.  Surprisingly ripe and sweet on the nose, almost candied pineapple, a little muscat.  Later the nose was more flinty.  Good acidity on the finish, and a little grippy.

2006 Boekenhoutskloof Cabernet Sauvignon - nice nose of graphite, some ripe fruit, smoke, cedar, and woodsy notes.  A little sweet on the palate.  Drinking well now.

Yamazaki 18 Years - very sweet, and almost honey-like on the nose... with some nashi notes. Not too smoky and peaty, with almost a hint of bee pollen.

Full post on dinner is here.

2005 Gangloff

Dinner at The Ledbury in London.

Bérêche et Fils Brut Réserve, dégorgée le juillet 2019 - beautiful, nice and yeasty, with good ripeness and yet some acidity in the back.

2005 Gangloff Côte-Rôtie La Sereine Noire - this started to show after 30 minutes in the decanter.  Beautiful nose.  An hour after opening this was really lovely with plenty of woodsy notes.

Full post on dinner is here.

2008 Léoville-Barton

Dinner at Claudi Bosi at Bibendum in London.

2008 Léoville-Barton – nice smokiness here with graphite notes. Nice and woodsy with pretty decent fragrance.

Full post on dinner is here.

2018 François Crochet

Lunch at St. John in London.

2018 François Crochet Sancerre - nice and dry overall, but there was some ripeness on the back end.

Full post on lunch is here.

2013 Georges Vernay

Dinner at Sushi Saito Hong Kong.

2013 Georges Vernay Condrieu Coteau de Vernon - initially served too cold, and showed lots of flint and minerals.  There were some aromatics but less floral than I had hoped.  There was roundness and ripeness here, but also kinda lean on the finish.

Full post on dinner is here.

Krug Grande Cuvée and Rosé

Krug x Pepper dinner.

Krug Grande Cuvée, 167ème édition, ID 118012 - nice and toasty nose, with delicious ripeness.

Krug Rosé, 21ème édition, ID 316033 - fruity with lots of strawberries.

Full post on dinner is here.