2006 Clos des Papes

Dinner at Sun Tung Lok.

2006 Clos des Papes - double-decanted 1½ hours before drinking. Still tannic at first, but smoother on the palate after the soup course. A bit of smoke on the nose.

Full post on dinner is here.

2003 Pax Castelli-Knight

Drinking at home.

2003 Pax Syrah Castelli-Knight Ranch - drank after 2½ hours in decanter. Still very fruity with cassis, blueberries, and cedar notes. Beautifully fragrant with eucalyptus and some stewed prunes. Acidity was on the high side and then showing smoky and leather notes. Aerated for too long and needs to be drunk with less time in decanter.

Coco Toaru and Yanma

Drinking at a friend's home.

Yanma Tokubetsu Junmai Nakatori (山間  特別純米  中採り), R3BY - seimaibuai of 60%. Sweet on the palate but also dry and spicy.

2020 Coco Toaru Series Pinot Rose Kimura Vineyard - a little pungent, with plenty of toast and some sulfur on the nose. Definitely a bongwater. More than half an hour later this was a bit more fragrant. Good acidity, nice and fruity on the palate with red fruit notes.

BOND and Bollinger

Lunch at Matsusaka Tei in Taipei.

2002 Bollinger R.D., dégorgée 9 novembre 2015 - nice balance with the acidity, savory on the palate like salted plum. Nice and toasty more than 1 hour after opening.

2012 BOND Vecina - decanted around 40 minutes after opening and served after more than 1 hour in decanter. Soooo sweet on the palate. Lots of vanilla oak here and still lots of tannins.

Paillard NPU and Krug

Dinner at T+T in Taipei.

1995 Bruno Paillard Nec Plus Ultra, dégorgée octobre 2006, bouteille 6,252/9,393 - nice nose of salted plum, definitely very savory. Beautiful and a little nutty. More savory almost an hour after opening but this warmed up a little so it was slightly bitter on the palate. About 1 hour and 45 minutes later this was more elegant, and more than 2 hours after opening there was a bit more toast on the nose and lots of marmalade. A little sweet and ripe on the palate, along with lots of savory minerals. Drinking so beautifully.

Krug Grande Cuvée, 170ème Édition, ID 221035 - very fresh with lots of mousse. Pretty floral, good amount of acidity that was above average but acceptable. Later on showing savory minerals. Around 2½ hours later there was a lot of toast that showed up.

Full post on dinner is here.

70 Mouton and Gewurz

Dinner at Orchid in Taipei.

2019 Moltès Steinert Gewurztraminer Bio - nice and floral, with lovely lychees on the nose. Definitely on the ripe and sweet side in terms of palate.

1970 Mouton-Rothschild - served without decanting. Nice nose with some sweet grass, some cigar smoke, a hint of earth, which was just as it should be. Also leather and grilled meats on the nose. Acidity was a little higher now.

Full post on dinner is here.

Grange des Pères and Sabon

Lunch at One Harbour Road.

2016 Tellier Les Massales, dégorgée en mai 2022 - pretty lean with acidity on the high side.

2009 Hospices de Beaune Corton-Vergennes Cuvée Paul Chanson, elevé et mis en bouteille par Lucien Le Moine pour El Bulli, en magnum - nice lemon citrus notes, with the typical flint and a slight hint of toast. Later on this showed more buttery notes.

2009 Roger Sabon Le Secret de Sabon - a little savory, still a little tannic and somewhat tight. A little sweetness showed on the palate.

2014 Grange des Pères Rouge - this was beautiful! Fragrant and floral.

Full post on lunch is here.

Mortet and Bonin

Lunch at Yong Fu.

2018 Bernard-Bonin Bourgogne Initiales B.B. - nice with a bit of toast, flinty, with some nice lemon citrus.

2001 Denis Mortet Gevrey-Chambertin - beautiful with lots of sweet fruit, lovely notes of toasty popcorn, and also pretty floral.

Full post on lunch is here.

2012 Cazals La Chapelle du Clos, en magnum - good acidity and ripeness balance. Some flint on the nose.

2004 Blankiet Cabernet Sauvignon Paradise Hills Vineyard - drank 30 minutes after decanting. Lots of wood, plenty of sweet cassis, smoky, cedar. Very fragrant and floral.

Tatsukiri Fat Tiger

Drinking at home.

Tatsuriki Daiginjo Komenosasayaki Year of the Tiger (龍力 大吟醸  米のささやき  干支), 2021 - nose of predominantly fermented rice, more savory and fermentation notes on the nose. Dry on the palate but ends up softening to bring some sweetness, while still a little spicy. Feels more founded on the finish.

Lynch-Bages and Cos Blanc

Dinner at the Chairman.

2016 Cos d'Estournel Blanc - oily on the nose with a little kerosene. Acidity was nice as always but not too sharp.

1995 Hospices de Beaune Corton Cuvée Charlotte Dumay, élevé par Dominique Laurent - a little stewed fruit, with black olives and leather notes. Good acidity here. More animal and not too much fruit, so this was a little more lean and less alluring.

1990 Lynch-Bages - decanted and served about an hour after opening. Not a lot of fruit left, but lots of graphite, smoke, grilled meats, and cedar. Soft on the palate by now.

Full post on dinner is here.

Silver Heights Emma and more

Dinner at Rùn.

2015 Roebuck Blanc de Noirs - a little bit of minerality with some acidity here.

Bernard Lonclas Blanc de Blancs, dégorgée le 14 novembre 2022 - floral on the nose, or was it the perfume from the room? Medium-bodied, kinda simple on the palate. Showed more sweetness on the palate with the spicy fish maw.

2020 Domaine de Bila-Haut Les Vignes de Bila-Haut Blanc - too over-ripe although there is still some acidity. Showing polyurethane and a little petrol.

2020 Bachelet-Monnot Santenay Blanc - nice and toasty, showing some coffee notes, and very savory on the nose. Lots of popcorn in the really big nose. Very nice.

2019 Craggy Range Pinot Noir Te Muna Road Vineyard - very New World in style, showing lots of new wood with good amount of fruit. Fairly sharp on the nose.

2019 Silver Heights Emma's Reserve, from magnum - very ripe fruit, with lots of forest, very heavy oak, very minty. Actually this was not too tannic for such a young wine.

2018 Domaine de Souch Cuvée Domaine - good acidity but a little bitter.

Full post on dinner is here.

Dujac and Trimbach

Dinner at Estro.

2000 Trimbach Riesling Clos Sainte Hune - served almost immediately after opening. Good nose of petrol, but more oxidized than expected. Acidity was not so sharp here. Second pour around 40 minutes after opening, and the wine was colder and showed more polyurethane. Still more sweet and rounded than expected. Pretty nice.

2001 Dujac Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Aux Combottes - served almost 1½ hours after opening. Nose of leather and animal. About 2 hours after opening the wine was lean and grippy. Pretty decent, but not enough luscious fruit to make me love it.

Full post on dinner is here.

Latin wine pairing

Andō x Manu lunch at Andō.

Sparkling Blood Orange Roaste Mate Tea - definitely very fruity and citrusy, but can certainly taste the mate.

Miolo Cuvée Brut - very easy-drinking. A slight hint of bitterness, decent acidity, very moussy and lively.

2021 Garzón Pinot Rosé de Corte - nose of red fruits, a little flinty. Pretty light and refreshing.

2005 Catena Alta Malbec - TONS of vanilla oak, really sweet on the nose, with notes of grilled meats. Still grippy on the palate after all these years.

Full post on lunch is here.