2003 and friends

Dinner at Neighborhood.

Jacques Selosse Exquise, dégorgée le 2 Octobre 2017 - lovely nose with some oxidation.  Lots of salty lemon.

2008 Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux - riper than expected, but still showing some leanness and green.  Full-bodied with good acidity.

2003 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne, en magnum - mature now, with sweet vanilla notes, ripe and buttery.  So sweet on the palate.

2000 Grange des Pères Blanc - ripe on the palate but not too sweet.  Flinty with a hint of acetone.  A beautiful wine that is very big on the palate with a long finish.

2003 Henri Bonneau Cuvée Marie Beurrier, en magnum - unfortunately we forgot to remind our guy to decant this... and he didn't think about all the sediment that would be splashed around... So for me the wine was ruined by all the tannins coming from the sediment.

1995 Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon - initially not quite open, showing minty, smoky, and very cool fruit.  After a while it showed very nicely with a little violet.

2003 Ausone - opened 3½ hours prior to serving.  Ripe fruit, smoky, sweet vanilla.  Pretty smooth on the palate with silky tannins, but still got the concentration.

Full post on dinner is here.

Araujo, Bonneau, and Penfolds

Lunch at Jade Dragon in Macau.

2013 Araujo Sauvignon Blanc Eisele Vineyard - prominent notes of green apple.  Still kinda fresh, but already showing signs of ripeness with a hint of bitterness.  A little alcoholic on the palate after warming up.

2009 Penfolds Yattarna - toasty, very open, and beautiful.

2007 Henri Bonneau Châteauneuf-du-Pape - nice fruit, animal and leather notes.  Tannins are still here.

Full post on lunch is here.

Les Pavots, Egon, and Heidsieck

Dinner at Wing Lei Palace in Macau.

2004 Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires - maybe disgorged in 2018?  Pretty nice and toasty.

2012 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett - nice sweetness but balanced by crisp acidity.  Nose of polyurethane, minerals, and white flowers.

2012 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett Alte Reben - riper on the palate and with more depth.  Longer finish.  Mineral notes.

2002 Lucien Le Moine Corton Bressandes - lots of banana, and specifically banana peel notes, with wonderful leather and animal nose.

1997 Peter Michael Les Pavots - decanted for almost 3 hours prior to serving.  Smoky, minty, ripe and beautiful.

Full post on dinner is here.

La Dominique and whites

Dinner at the Royal Garden Chinese Restaurant.

2015 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon - nice citrus nose, a little flint and toast.

1990 La Dominique, en double-magnum - earthy, smoky.  Pretty smooth now.

2008 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese - good acidity here with some sweetness, white flowers and flint on the nose.

Full post on dinner is here.

Eikun Ichigin

Dinner at Ronin.

Eikun Junmai Daiginjo Ichigin (英勲 純米大吟醸 一吟), 30BY - seimaibuai (精米歩合) of 35%.  The fermented flavors on the palate were a little strong.  Slightly dry but elegant, so definitely tanrei (淡麗).  Banana notes in the nose for sure.  Serving it colder meant it became more elegant and less of the fermented notes.

Full post on dinner is here.

El cheapo white Burgs

Lunch at Roganic.

2015 Leflaive Bourgogne Blanc - good, crisp acidity, but also with nice ripeness on the palate as well as on the nose.

2012 Dujac Morey Saint-Denis Blanc - surprisingly very ripe on the palate, almost over-ripe.  Big and toasty nose with flint.

1973 Batailley - decanted just prior to serving.  Smoky and grilled meat notes, with a little sweet grass.  This was meh.

Full post on lunch is here.

2015 Clos des Papes

Drinking at the Sotheby's auction.

2015 Clos des Papes Rouge - lots of exotic spices and forest notes, ripe fruit, eucalyptus, caramelized and sweet.  Waaay too young, alcoholic and sharp.

Old Champagnes and Burgs

Drinks at Le Quinze Vins.

Anne et François Ganevat J'Y Aime - first whiff showed much more metallic notes than expected, mineral, kinda ripe fruit, almost jammy, and a little sharp.

Wine dinner at Uwe hosted by Sotheby's.

1979 Krug - beautiful.  Sweet and caramelized with some Chinese licorice, also coconut butter along with some salty plum.

1971 Moët et Chandon Cuvée Dom Pérignon - savory and mineral, initially almost not 'clean', but fresher and more lively with more acidity.  Second pour showed more nutty notes.  Two hours later more Chinese licorice and some marmalade.  So caramelized and sweet.

1982 Moët et Chandon Cuvée Dom Pérignon - much more toasty and nutty, very lovely.  Second pour showed more acidity, a little Chinese licorice, marmalade.  More than 3 hours later this was still very beautiful, and dominated by marmalade.

2007 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Perrières - nice and lean on the nose, a little plastic and pungent, but ripe and rounded on the palate, with citrus notes.  Lively and fresh but not too young, has some maturity to it.  After a few minutes toasty notes started to show, and the ripeness on the palate began to emerge after warming up a little in glass.  This was clearly the better wine of the pair tonight as it was more voluptuous.  Second pour was colder, but more ripeness on the palate along with some bitterness.

2008 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Perrières - more ripe than expected, with a little toastiness but otherwise the nose was mostly shut.  Later on the nose was almost dusty and chalky.  Second pour showed some beeswax and ripeness on the palate.

1985 DRC Echézeaux - beautiful, floral, elegant, with lovely fruit, and leather notes.  Served slightly too warm for my taste, but this made me so, so happy.

1966 Maison Leroy Echezeaux - more leather and animal notes, with a whiff of toasty oak.  A bit of nice fruit here, too.

1988 Guigal La Landonne - green pepper, a little bit animal, a light hint of medicinal notes, and certainly more tannic.

1988 Guigal La Mouline - initially the nose was very dusty and not clean at all, but got better after I changed to a different glass.  More toasty and animal than I expected, and a lot more muscular, but still more open than the Landonne.  Second pour was much more open and a lot better.

2005 Kweichow Moutai - nose a lot more refined than expected, and almost lovely.  Still tastes like paint thinner, though...

Full post on dinner is here.