Rhône for Le French Gourmay

Dinner at Ta Vie.

1999 Pol Roger Blanc de Blancs - very lovely and fragrant nose, ripe and caramelized, very soft and alluring like a beautiful woman looking at you with a mischievous smile on her face, beckoning you to come closer. Sipping it with the taste of crab and corn still on the palate drew out lots of minerals. Almost like crème caramel some 1½ hours after opening.

2009 Chave Hermitage Blanc - started drinking 30 minutes after decanting, with a huge nose of toast and flint, along with some sweet vanilla underneath. Beautiful, buttery and silky smooth. Absolutely stunning starting from 10 minutes in and remained so for the rest of the evening.

2007 Clos des Papes Rouge - served from bottle 1 hour and 15 minutes after opening. Pretty nice minty nose with a hint of sweetness, some leather, and a little farmy with ripe fruit on the palate. Very fragrant with almost a hint of floral notes, but also a hint of pungent notes. Some 30 minutes in the nose turned big and toasty. Drinking very, very nicely tonight.

2006 Jean-Michel Stephan Côte-Rôtie Côteaux de Tupin - served 1½ hours after decanting. This was soooo fucking beautiful! So floral with lavender, plenty of red fruits. Still a little grippy on the palate. Still beautiful 15 minutes in with cool fruit and eucalyptus, then we got smoke and grilled meats about 1 hour in. I would give this 96 points, but only because the higher than expected acidity detracted from how beautiful this wine was.

Full post on dinner is here.

1995 Togni

Dinner at Nikushou.

1995 Philip Togni - decanted 1 hour after opening and served 15 minutes later. Lots of cedar on the nose with fragrant woodsy notes. The acidity on the palate was slightly higher than expected initially. As the wine opened up it showed a big nose of tobacco, cigar box, and a little graphite. The acidity subsided a little and became more balanced with some sweetness and more body.

Full post on dinner is here.

Henri Bonneau Marie Beurrier

Drinking at a friend's home.

2018 Niepoort Douro Charme

2003 Henri Bonneau Cuvée Marie Beurrier, en magnum - decanted 30 minutes after opening. Nose was a little rubbery, a little leather, with fragrant dried herbs.

2004 Turley Dusi

Drinking at home.

2004 Turley Zinfandel Dusi Vineyard - started drinking 20 minutes after decanting. Alcoholic, a little punchy, acidity was higher than expected. Ripe fruit along with acidity like stewed prunes. Drinking well 3 hours after decanting, showing fragrant spices.

2009 pinot and more

Dinner at Andō.

Egly-Ouriet Les Vignes de Vrigny, dégorgée en juillet 2021 - pretty nice, lovely and toasty nose. Good balance with some acidity, which is noticeable but not too sharp.

2019 Moron-Garcia Marsannay Clos du Roy - decanted for 30 minutes before back in bottle, and decanted a second time 1 hour after initial opening. Very sweet on the nose like candy, very fruity, a little oak, with some dried herbs. Improved a little after 15 minutes, and showed even better after another 1-2 hours. This wine needed time.

2009 Gantenbein Pinot Noir - showing pretty nicely after about 30 minutes in the decanter. Nice and fragrant, a little woodsy, but kinda unstable on the finish. Second pour about 1 hour in was showing more leather and animal, and after 1½ hour in the decanter the nose was big and toasty. Damn nice, even if the palate couldn't keep up all the way.

2005 Lucien Le Moine Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes - served more than an hour after decanting. A little eucalyptus on top of some toasty notes. Tannins were till kinda grippy.

2009 Lucien Le Moine Clos de Vougeot - served 1½ hours after decanting. A little eucalyptus on the nose but more muted than expected. Pretty smooth on the palate but kinda flat. After more than 3 hours in the decanter this showed more body. Kinda disappointing.

2009 Jean Grivot Clos de Vougeot - served 1½ hours after decanting. This came with a huge toasty nose, and I definitely did not expect this to overpower the Lucien Le Moine.

Full post on dinner is here.

Whites and bubblies

Dinner at Xin Rong Ji.

Kikuhime Yamahai Ginjo (菊姫　山廃吟醸), H9BY - seimaibuai (精米歩合) of 55%. Definitely aged and showing that big, fermented, and savory notes on the palate. Very nice and rounded on the palate.

1992 Taittinger Collection - initially served too warm but the nose had lots of marmalade and honey. Palate was originally a little flat and short, but this got much better after an hour, showing more body and more depth. Also some candied pineapple. After 3 hours still showing some straw and toasty notes.

2011 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Meursault 1er Cru Genevrières - nice and flinty. Got some ripeness on the palate. Nice and sweet on the nose, and definitely buttery.

2002 B de Boërl et Kroff, dégorgée en novembre 2011 - nice and caramelized nose with good acidity on the palate. Nose was still very big some 3 hours after decanting, with lots of savory minerals.

2003 Trimbach Riesling Clos Sainte Hune - very big nose of petrol and polyurethane. Good ripeness on the palate but still got plenty of acidity, and actually still grippy on the finish.

Full post on dinner is here.

2006 Arietta H Block

Drinking at home.

2006 Arietta H Block Hudson Vineyards - started drinking 1 hour after decanting. Minty nose, still got plenty of inky concentration, very fragrant with plenty of woodsy notes, sweet on the palate. Smoke, cassis, ripe and alluring.

Whites for Chinese

Dinner at Mian.

1999 Maximin Grünhauser Abtsberg Auslese-trocken - lots of petrol and white flowers on the nose. Not too sweet on the palate. It's clear that there is ripeness and the wine was rounded on the palate, but the acidity was still there.

2018 Blanc de Lynch-Bages - pretty ripe on the palate. Huge flinty nose with tons of toasty oak, along with vanilla and cotton candy bringing sweetness on the nose.

Full post on dinner is here.

Simple wines for spicy food

Dinner at Deng G in Wanchai.

Frederic Savart L'Ouverture, dégorgée en mars 2021 - yeasty nose, with bigger mineral nose. Good depth on the palate.

2019 Occhipinti SP68 Rosso - simple and one dimensional at first, opened up more about an hour later, showing more woodsy notes.

2015 Maison Leroy Bourgogne Blanc - flinty, a little tropical stone fruit.

Full post on dinner is here.

2007 L'Esprit des Pavots

Drinking at home.

2007 Peter Michael L'Esprit des Pavots - drank 30 minutes after decanting. Nose seemed concentrated, with a little ripeness but not quite cooked fruit. Plenty of Asian spices and new oak on the nose. Palate was more refined and silky than expected. After one hour in the decanter the nose was even more fragrant with dried herbs, potpourri, and definitely sweet fruit but not overripe or jammy. About 2 hours after decanting this hit a plateau, not getting better but also not falling apart. Still kinda OK after 3½ hours.

1997 Beringer Bancroft

Drinking at home.

1997 Beringer Merlot Private Reserve Howell Mountain - ripe fruit, stewed prunes, cassis, smoky, grilled meats, and cedar notes.

2005 Pax The Terraces

Drinking at home.

2005 Pax Syrah Alder Springs Vineyard The Terraces - first pour 25 minutes after decanting. Initially pretty alcoholic, very ripe, but surprisingly high in acidity and not too sweet on the palate. Showing smoke, wood, and a little perfumed. More than 1 hour after decanting this was more floral and almost soapy, and the palate was deteriorating. Two hours after decanting the nose got a more fragrant with cedar notes. Palate was OK, improved a little.

2004 Turley Old Vines

Drinking at home.

2004 Turley Zinfandel Old Vines - initially the nose was full of sweet and ripe fruit while decanting, showing blackberries, fragrant herbs and potpourri, with eucalyptus. Surprised at the acidity on the palate. After 20 minutes in the glass the palate was stewed prunes. Much more woodsy on the nose after 30 minutes. Second pour was much sweeter on the nose, with more vanilla oak and black cherries. Still relatively high acidity.

Whites for oysters

Lunch at Open Oyster.

2019 Billaud-Simon Chablis 1er Cru Les Vaillons - still very ripe on the palate like a few months ago, with flinty notes.

2020 Henri Bourgeois Sancerre Les Baronnes - very floral nose with tropical stone fruits, lots of toasty oak. A little lean on the palate.

2 bubblies

Dinner at Mian.

2009 Louis Roederer Brut Nature, dégorgée en mai 2016 - pretty oxidized and caramelized nose, toasty. Still got the acidity on the palate.

Ruinart Brut - very toasty nose with surprising depth on the palate.

Full post on dinner is here.

2014 Puchang Beichun

Drinking at home.

2014 Puchang Beichun - initially not so interesting. Some toast and a little bit of black fruits, a little smoke. More than 1 hour later a little more sweetness on the nose. Very smooth on the palate, but not very interesting. No complexity.

2003 Pax Keltie

Drinking at home.

2003 Pax Cuvée Keltie - lots of eucalyptus on the nose. Initially served a little warm, so it was very alcoholic on the palate and burned a little going down. Very floral nose with ripe and sweet fruit, but not quite jammy. After chilling for 45 minutes this was more fragrant on the nose, with more leather notes but still a little sharp on the nose. Around 1½ hours after decanting it was a little savory on the palate. Almost 3 hours after decanting this was still going strong and sweet on the nose, although the floral notes faded a little.

Whites and rosé

Dinner at Hoi Wan Restaurant.

Henri Giraud MV15, dégorgée le 12 novembre 2020 - nice and yeasty, with some toast on the nose but not overpowering. A little floral and marmalade. Wonderful balance on the palate.

Henri Giraud MV Rosé, dégorgée le 2 juin 2021 - more red fruit notes. Lovely.

1994 Laville Haut-Brion, en magnum - served 45 minutes after opening. Very fragrant, ripe on the palate but still got the acidity. Drinking very well right now.

2003 Sine Qua Non Sublime Isolation - 44% chardonnay, 37% roussanne, 19% viognier. Served 1 hour after opening. Fragrant and buttery, and that's the chardonnay. A little metallic, ripe and alcoholic with some vanilla. It's too bad we didn't give the wine enough time.

Full post on dinner is here.