2002 Da Party

Da Party at Conrad.

199x Jaboulet La Chapelle en magnum - drank very well.

1992 Chapoutier Barbe Rac en magnum

1992 Chapoutier Le Pavillon en magnum - this was OK.

1990 Chapoutier Le Pavillon en magnum - this needed more airing time.  It was clearly too powerful and not ready.  I was little bummed about having to bring this wine and commit infanticide.

1994 L'Eglise-Clinet en double magnum - OK but nothing to write home about.

Pol Roger White Foil - drank for the countdown.

1993 Ridge Santa Cruz

1993 Ridge Cabernet Santa Cruz Mountains - drank over dinner at Napa Valley.  My last bottle from the case.  Very good stuff.  Powerful, fruity nose.  A hint of spicy peppers.  Full-bodied, round tannins.

1994 Haut-Marbuzet + 1990 Rieussec

1994 Haut-Marbuzet - not interesting.  We had two bottles and neither really opened up.  Smooth tannins, yes, but not exciting to drink.

1990 Rieussec - lots of honey, nuts, orange, apricot in the nose.

1994 Beaucastel

1994 Beaucastel - drank over dinner at Au Trou Normand.  Pretty decent, but needed breathing time as it was too sharp when first opened.  Fruity, spicy nose opened up later.  Grilled meats, smoke, saddle, cherries, nose sweet but palate remained relatively acidic.

1996 d'Arenberg Riesling the Noble

1996 d'Arenberg Riesling the Noble - good stuff and reliable.

40th birthday party

Friend's 40th birthday party.

Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve Mis en Cave en 1996 - pretty good.

2000 Chapoutier Crozes-Hermitage Blanc Petite Ruche - very light-bodied and refreshing.

1997 Les Carmes Haut-Brion - very smooth, light to medium-bodied, easy to drink.

1989 Climens - sweet enough with honey, caramel, apricot nose.

1992 Mondot

1992 Mondot - still very good.  Very sweet, fruity nose.

1998 Barde-Haut

1998 Barde-Haut - drank at Wolf.  This was pretty good.  Sweet nose with caramel notes, sweet on the palate.  Very approachable now.

MNSC Dinner - 1982 Right Bank

MNSC dinner at the Board Room in Grand Hyatt.  The last of the series of '82 dinners and the theme was 1982 Right Bank.

Pol Roger White Foil - not so impressed.  A little too sharp and young for me.

1982 Trotanoy

1982 Lafleur - what a beautiful wine! Started with a little bit of fruit in the nose, while being strong and powerful on the palate.  Opened later to a very sweet nose with loads of ripe fruit, grilled meat and mint.  Second favorite wine and almost on par with Petrus.

1982 Latour à Pomerol - drinking beautifully and almost on par with the big boys.  The best value of the evening given its fractional cost compared to the big guns.

1982 L'Evangile - very ripe fruit in the nose.  A bit of Chinese medicine and smoke.  Later on sweet grass emerged in the nose.  On the palate, the tannins were pretty rounded, with a good, long finish.

1982 L'Eglise-Clinet

1982 Petrus - you just can't say anything bad about this wine... This was absolutely amazing.  Very, very sweet nose.  Finish was long.  I was blown away by this wine.  My favorite wine of the night.  Everyone agreed that this was a great bottle.

Altaya Annual Tasting

1999 Falesco Vitiano - minty, a bit acidic.  Very drinkable wine, especially for the price.

1998 Falesco Montiano - ripe and fruity, marshmallow nose.  Also a bit minty.  Pretty concentrated and tannic.  Excellent wine and my favorite of the evening.

1999 de Colombier Hermitage - sharp, kerosene-like nose.  Not very pleasant.  Full of animal blood.  Nose actually reminds me of cheap Côtes-du-Rhône from Guigal or Jaboulet.

1999 de Monteillet Côte-Rôtie - open nose and a bit floral.  Not bad.

1999 de Font-Sane Gigondas Cuvée Futée - very solid.  Medium bodied.  Good effort.

1998 Les Cailloux Châteauneuf-du-Pape - nose a bit like grape juice.  Full of red fruits and stewed prunes.  Probably the best Rhône of the evening.

1998 Balestard-La-Tonnelle - oaky nose with stewed prunes.

1998 La Vieille-Cure - nose of tobacco, bacon, animal, leather and coffee.

1998 La Griffe de Cap d'Or - nose of roasted ground coffee, also a bit of "shit" nose, not very good.

1998 de Chambrun - pretty tannic on the palate.  Not pleasant drinking.

1998 Franc-Mayne - very flat and uninteresting.

1998 Haut Villet Cuvée Pomone - dry, tannic on the palate.  Nose of nuts, oak and some ripe fruit.

'93 Ausone + '62 Haut-Brion

Dinner at Plats.

1993 Ausone - this was a pretty good wine.  Nose of tobacco, minerals, earthy tones, and ripe prunes.  High alcohol and acetone in the nose at first, but faded after a little while.

1962 Haut-Brion - nose of sweet red fruit with tobacco overtones.  Pretty good stuff.

1988 Silver Oak Napa

1988 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley - what an amazing wine!  Big bouquet of sweet, extracted, jammy red fruits.  Very smooth tannins, medium to full-bodied.  This can definitely age for some more years.

Overture

Overture - drank at Hotel Kajikaso in Hakone.  This is the non-vintage second wine of Opus One.  Opened in the morning and breathed for most of the day, so it was actually very drinkable by dinner time.  Pretty smooth, but not an amazing wine.

100-point '86 Paullacs

Dinner at Brian's in Tokyo.

1983 Dom Perignon - brought this bottle.  Very nice.  Crisp acidity, full of toasted oak and caramelized sugar.  Not many bubbles due to the age.

1973 DRC La Tâche - H-man brought this bottle.  Very good wine.  Another fine example of old, mature Burgundy.  Initially the color was so faded it looked like I was decanting apple juice!  But the nose opened up nicely with ripe red fruits, bacon, grilled meats.  Hmmm....

1986 Lafite-Rothschild - I brought this bottle.  Pretty sweet nose of red fruits, minerals, tobacco.  A bit of sweet grass.  Very good wine overall and glad it wasn't cooked while being stored in Taipei.

1986 Mouton-Rothschild - from H-man.  Very powerful.  Big, smoky cigar nose dominates everything.  Very full-bodied and long finish.  Minerals and grilled meats nose.

MNSC Dinner - '82 First Growths

MNSC dinner at Toscana.  Theme was '82 First Growths.

1982 Haut-Brion - very sweet nose, with grilled meats & leather.  A bit acidic at the end.  Pretty log finish.  Very good wine.

1982 La Mission Haut-Brion - nose of ripe, sweet red fruits, melon, with a long finish.  Turns acidic on the palate after 3 hours.

1982 Latour - my contribution.

1982 Lafite-Rothschild

1982 Mouton-Rothschild

1982 Margaux

A pair of '97 Right Banks

1997 La Gomerie - opened up after 40 minutes.  Sweet nose with vanilla notes.

1997 L'Evangile - minerals, blood, earth, grilled meats and bacon.

Unico, Pichon Baron and Pride

Dinner at Grissini.

1962 Vega Silicia Unico - Wow!  Amazing wine.  Very open, sweet and powerful.  I would say it's better than the '70 I opened for my birthday.

1989 Pichon-Baron - classic Bordeaux nose.  Very good.

1997 Pride Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon - powerful as usual.  Wow!  Total fruit bomb.  The nose blows everything else away.

1996 Trio

1996 Rosemount Syrah Balmoral
1996 Torres Grans Muralles
1996 d'Arenberg Riesling the Noble

MNSC Dinner - Fortune Room

MNSC dinner hosted by Lord Rayas, held at the Fortune Room in the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

1988 Krug
1998 Showket Cabernet Sauvignon
1998 La Sirena Cabernet Sauvignon
1987 Guigal La Mouline
1987 Guigal La Turque
1982 Petit Village
1982 Calon-Ségur
1982 Beychevelle

1993 Peter Lehmann Stonewell

1993 Peter Lehmann Shiraz Stonewell

A trio of '89s

1989 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Rochioli Vineyard
1989 Bahans Haut-Brion
1989 Palmer

1996 Les Carmes Haut-Brion

1996 Les Carmes Haut-Brion - drank at Fook Lam Moon.  Very nice and pleasant.

1998 Alter Ego

1998 Alter Ego de Palmer - the very first vintage for this wine.  Fairly forward and easy to drink.

1996 d'Arenberg Riesling the Noble

1996 d'Arenberg Riesling the Noble - same as it ever was when first opened.  Orange rind, glycerin, a bit of honeydew, very very sweet on the palate.  At the same time it was sharp on the palate.

1993 Dugat-Py Cœur de Roy

1993 Dugat-Py Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes Cœur de Roy - pretty bad when first opened.  Very acidic, nothing good in the nose.  Got a bit better with time.  More fruit and mushrooms, black olives, more Pinot-like.  After 2½ hours sweet honeydew emerged from the nose.  Pretty nice, but acidity was high throughout, and tannic.  Pretty disappointed with this.

1992 Sarget de Gruaud-Larose

1992 Sarget de Gruaud-Larose - still as good as it was the last time.  After airing the nose was very sweet, big nose of honeydew.  Very smooth on the palate.  Perfect for drinking right now.

1997 La Strada Pinot Noir Reserve

1997 La Strada Pinot Noir Reserve - pretty bad when first opened.  Really strong, alcoholic nose (14%!) that was sharp and like gasoline.  Took a long time to open up and soften, gradually fruit emerged, but this was nevera good bottle of wine.  Won't be buying this again.

1996 Syrah vs Shiraz

Dinner at Cine Citta.

1996 Kay Brothers Amery Shiraz Block 6 - I guessed it was a Californian Syrah, since it had the leather and game meat nose of Syrah but nose was too sweet to be Rhône.  Thought it was overpriced although it was a very good wine.

1996 Tardieu-Laurent Côte-Rôtie - nose was so typical Côte-Rôtie, especially like Guigal.  Amazingly perfumed nose of lavender, rose, stewed prunes, bacon fat, leather.  Wonderful stuff.  A bit light in body compared to the Block 6.

MNSC Dinner - 1982 Super-Seconds

MNSC Dinner at Golden Leaf.  Theme was 1982 Bordeaux Super-Seconds.

1982 Ducru-Beaucaillou - this was just like the last few bottles I had - relatively flat and unexciting.  Nose of sweet grass, medium-bodied.  After a long time, it opened up and was a bit better, more fruit in the nose.

1982 Léoville-Las Cases - this was much better and my favorite of the night.  Nose of jammy plum, coconut, with a hint of straw, and smoke/tobacco.  Full-bodied.  Very nice, but none of us felt that this deserved 100 points.

1982 Cos d'Estournel - this wasn't bad and well-received.  Nose of sweet berries, moss, pepper, smoke and veggies.  Pretty good but not as good as what we had at the Cos dinner.

1982 Pichon-Lalande - this was a bit acidic at first, especially when drunk with food, producing a sour after palate.  After a bit of time, became very fruity, also a bit of mint in the nose.  Pretty good, but again, not worth of "100".

1982 Gruaud-Larose - this was OK, but bad.  Nose of Chinese medicine, leather and smoked meats dominate.

1974 Gaja Barbaresco

1974 Gaja Barbaresco - drank at Grissini's.  This was pretty good.  Nose was very sweet and fruity, and pretty youthful and powerful.  Acidity was relatively high as expected, but not distracting.  Definitely worth buying.

Dinner at Brian's

Dinner at Brian's in Tokyo.

1983 Salon - really awesome stuff!  Nose of caramel was immediately apparent, plus yeast, sugar, honey, minerals and pineapple.  Even long after the wine was gone, the perfume remaining in the glass was wonderful and lingered.

1964 Leroy Echezeaux - Wow!  What else can be said about this wine?  Quite simply the best Burgundy I ever had, on par with the '70 La Tâche.  Powerful nose of cinnamon, leather saddle.  Amazingly sweet and still vibrant at the ripe old age of 38!  Need to get my hands on more of this wine!

1992 Kistler Cuvée Catherine - very powerful and sharp, a little too young at age 10!  Nose of mint, leaves, cherry, lead, plus gasoline, alcohol content was a bit high.  Has great potential and will improve with another 10 years!

1993 Harlan - unfortunately this proved to be disappointing.  It showed like a Bordeaux, like the last bottle of '93.  However there really wasn't much fruit, but rather earth, minerals and lead in the nose.  Maybe the wine had been decanted too long?  Hmmm...  It was better one year ago!

1992 Dalla Valle Maya - this was also disappointing, since it was 100 points.  Fruit was fairly faded and unimpressive, except for the roasted macadamia nuts (!)

MNSC Dinner - 1982 non-First, non-Super Second Left Bank

1982 Pichon Baron - sweet nose, with stewed prunes, ripe fruits, smoke, cedar and grass notes.  Pretty long finish.  Very good stuff.

1982 Montrose - very sweet and fruity nose, with heavy overtones of earth and minerals.

1982 Grand-Puy-Lacoste - nose of sweet red fruits, sweet grass and green veggies.  A bit disappointing.

1982 La Lagune - opened with nose of earth and "shit", but improved dramatically when opened up.

1982 Lynch-Bages - good with a sweet nose.  Overall very good... classic Bordeaux.

My favorite wines were the La Lagune followed by the Lynch-Bages.

1995 Carbonnieux

1995 Carbonnieux - drank over dinner at Plats.  This put all of our other wines to shame... Pretty good stuff!

1995 Philip Togni

1995 Philip Togni - drank at Brasserie on the Eighth.  The nose continues to be very sweet and powerful, but not as much of a fruit bomb as I remember.  A bit more acidic, I think, than past tastings.  Pretty good effort!

1993 Guigal La Turque

1993 Guigal La Turque - surprisingly good given the poor vintage, but that's a testament to Guigal's quality.  Throughout the night the perfumed nose was very powerful, with classic Côte-Rotie nose of strewed prunes, floral, lavender stemming from the Viognier.

MNSC Dinner - Sine Qua Non

MNSC Dinner at Cine Citta.  Theme was a selection of wines from Sine Qua Non.

1997 Sine Qua Non Imposter McCoy

1997 Sine Qua Non Twisted & Bent - this interesting blend of 60% Roussanne and 40% Chardonnay was amazing.  Nose was so sweet, buttery and complex... Dayliao thought it could be a Burgundy Grand Cru.

1998 Sine Qua Non Veiled - a pretty decent Pinot, but the label was what really impressed everyone.

1998 Sine Qua Non E-raised - a pretty awesome Syrah... very sweet and powerful.

A real eye-opener about the quality of these wines.

1996 Virginie de Valandraud

1996 Virginie de Valandraud - definitely a Thunevin wine... more sweet, fruity and forward in style.  I think it's good but for the price there are probably many New World wines which offer better value.