Italian and French

Dinner at Estro.

2019 J.M. Boillot Puligny-Montrachet - a little toasty, flinty, pretty decent with good acidity and not too ripe. Later on this turned buttery.

2007 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Le Rocche de Falleto Riserva - triple-decanted, with 1 hour and 15 minutes in first decanter, followed by another 45 minutes in the second decanter prior to serving. Fragrant with some stewed prunes and dried herbs. Still tannic. Later on minty notes showed up.

1998 Antinori Solaia - served after just under 1½ hours in decanter. Initially this was a little dusty but still got enough red fruits underneath. After the dustiness cleared up this showed smoke and pencil lead, and was kinda sweet on the palate. Drinking very well right now.

1998 Latour - triple-decanted, with 40 minutes in the first decanter and 2 hours in the second decanter. Smoky and minty, this was classic Pauillac.

Full post on dinner is here.

Infanticide night

Dinner at Caprice.

2017 Roses de Jeanne Blanc de Noirs Presle, dégorgement 2021 - nice and toasty notes, soooo floral. Nice and soft on the palate, soft and elegant, so alluring and almost ethereal.

Ulysse Collin Les Maillons Rosé de Saignée, bouteille n° 932, dégorgée en mars 2021 - very moussy at first, a bit too yeasty. Almost a little like cherry cough syrup. Unbelievably, I could swear that was coconut butter in the nose. Much more punchy and powerful.

2017 Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux - served 3 hours after opening. A little rounded on the palate than expected, with some acetone, a little lemon, and flint on the nose. Initially served too cold so not revealing much, but the acetone remained even after warming up. Least favorite wine of the night.

2019 Bernard Bonin Meursault Les Tillets - served 3½ hours after opening, and again too cold at first so only showing some flint. 4½ hours after opening this was much more open, with big, toasty nose, but sweeter on the nose.

2017 Bernard Bonin Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières - served 3½ hours after opening. Bigger toast on the nose, a bit on the lean side, with good acidity but not too sharp. Once it opened up further it was really nice, with a huge nose of toast around 5 hours after opening, along with flint.

2019 Moron-Garcia Corton Cuvée Baie Par Baie, bouteille n° 225/898 - back in bottle after 2½ hours in the decanter, and served after another 1½ hours in bottle. Fragrance of roses, black cherries, really sweet on the nose and really nice 30 minutes after serving. Palate finally went downhill 6½ hours after initial opening.

2019 Pedres Blanques - served 1½ hours after opening. Lots of very ripe fruit, with leather and dried herbs. Very minty some 2½ hours after opening. Apparently this needs 12 hours of aeration...

Full post on dinner is here.

Dewazakura Puppy and Ohmine 2grain

Dinner at Wan Wan Xiang.

Ohmine 2grain (大嶺2粒 山田錦) - seimaibuai of 35%. Soft on the palate.

Dewazakura Junmai Ginjo Dewasansan Muroka Nama Genshu Puppy (出羽桜 純米吟醸 出羽燦々 無ろ過生原酒), from isshobin - seimaibuai of 50%. Much rounder and sweeter on the palate, very easy to drink.

Full post on dinner is here.

2019 Mont-Olivet Lirac

Drinking at home.

2019 Clos du Mont-Olivet Lirac Rosé - nose of red cherries and red currants. Initially short on the palate but improved with aeration.

2003 Mitolo Savitar

Drinking at home.

2003 Mitolo Shiraz Savitar - drank right after decanting. Pretty smoky nose and pretty sweet on the palate. Lots of vanilla and cassis. More open 30 minutes later, more hot and alcoholic on the palate, with bigger nose of vanilla oak. More than 2 hours after opening this became a lot softer on the palate, with more eucalyptus and lavender notes.

2013 Cayuse Syrah Armada

Dinner at La Maison.

2013 Cayuse Syrah Armada Vineyard - initially stinky when opened. Back in the bottle after 30 minutes in decanter, and started drinking 1 hour after opening. Showing ripe and sweet fruit, leather, grilled meats. Very fragrant. Ripe on the palate and possibly a little too hot.

Mumm RSRV 4.5

Drinking at home.

Mumm RSRV Cuvée 4.5, dégorgée septembre 2021 - good depth on the palate at first, kinda firm. Lots of lemon and some toast, with a hint of green apple later.

Krug and only Krug

Dinner at Ando.

Krug Grande Cuvée, 170éme édition, ID 221030 - nice and toasty, really fragrant and floral, very beautiful and alluring.

2008 Krug, ID 120005 - nicknamed "classic beauty". Pretty perfurmed on the nose but leaner on the palate with sharper acidity.

2004 Krug, ID 218024 - nicknamed "luminous freshness". Definitely got orange notes. Certainly more mature than the 2008, more rounded on the palate. Really elegant and lovely.

2006 Krug Clos du Mesnil, bottle No.7266, ID 319030 - decanted an hour prior to serving. Already a little rounded, pretty open and fragrant, and very elegant.

1988 Krug Collection, bottle No.954 - the nose was soooo alluring. Acidity was very prominent on the palate, but we've got the aged salted plum, straw, sugar cane, and Chinese licorice. Very complex, and beautiful.

Full post on dinner is here.

2004 Turley Dragon

Dinner at Sagrantino.

2004 Turley Zinfandel Dragon Vineyard - decanted and back into bottle 1 hour later, and drank 20 minutes after. Still very tannic, grippy on the palate. Sweet on the palate but the fruit was perhaps a little cooked.

2020 Balland Sancere Rosé

Drinking at home.

2020 Jean-Paul Balland Sancerre Rosé - very fragrant with cranberries and raspberries.

2000 Conseillante

Lunch at Bâtard.

2000 La Conseillante - served 50 minutes after decanting. A little astringent on the palate at first. About 10 minutes after we started this was really fragrant and open, with smoky and woodsy notes, but still grippy on the palate thanks to the tannins. Some black fruits here underneath the smoke and wood. A very alluring wine.

Full post on lunch is here.

Bass Philip and Arioso

Dinner at Écriture.

Charles Le Bel Inspiration 1818 - nice notes of lemon citrus, toasty, and yeasty. Good balance with roundness and ripeness, very smooth.

2016 Bass Philip Chardonnay Premium - a little reductive some 45 minutes after opening, perhaps too toasty? Got the buttery corn on the palate, and the nose improved with further aeration.

2010 Rotem and Mounir Saouma Châteauneuf-du-Pape Arioso Rouge - served 1½ hours after decanting. A little oxidized and slightly stewed nose. Smoky 15 minutes later, and drinking pretty nicely after opening up. Obviously evolved a lot since I last tasted it in 2011.

Full post on dinner is here.

2001 Torbreck RunRig

Drinking at home.

2001 Torbreck RunRig - drank 30 minutes after decanting. Definitely animal notes along with a little dusty chalk. Lots of vanilla with fruit that's a little on the ripe side. After an hour in the decanter this was pretty fragrant and almost jammy, with lovely eucalyptus.

2007 Bass Philip

Drinking at home with the new DR3 decanter.

2007 Bass Philip Pinot Noir Premium - drank 10 minutes after decanting. Nose showed very prominent leather notes, a little grilled meat, a little stinky and pungent. Sweet fruit on the palate. Pretty nice after 45 minutes in the decanter with no more funk, just showing dried herba and floral notes.

With the St. Hugo x Daniel Ricciardo DR3 decanter

Champagne and Haut-Brion

Dinner at Ta Vie.

2008 Mumm RSRV Cuvée Lalou, dégorgée en août 2021 - pretty fragrant like a perfume, very elegant.

Jacques Selosse Version Originale (?) / Contraste (?), dégorgée 04 fevrier 2008 (?) - the nose was sooooo beautiful! This was toasty, mature, with marmalade. Very perfumed, too. The problem here was that the front label says this is a V.O. but the back label is for Contraste. So which wine did we drink?!

2019 Dauvissat Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons - nice and toasty, nice and lemon with a little lemon. Kinda smooth but got the acidity still. The nose was a little more ripe than expected, and very fragrant.

1995 Haut-Brion - served a little more than an hour after decanting. A classic claret, minty and smoky, lots of tobacco. So fragrant and almost a little savory. Drinking beautifully!

Full post on dinner is here.