8 + 2 for birthday

Dinner at Wagyu Kaiseki Den.

1980 Dom Pérignon Rosé - nose of raspberries, minerals, a little plummy, savory, fruity.  A lovely wine.

1998 Haut-Brion Blanc - decanted, of course.  Surprisingly sweet, like marzipan.  Oxidized nose but still wonderful, like cooked sugar cane drink (竹蔗茅根水), dessicated coconut, Chinese licorice (甘草) and toast.  A beautiful wine!  Interesting that the accelerated oxidization has produced such an orange color in a 15-year-old wine.

1955 Massandra Collection Sherry - dry on the palate, straw, plums, caramel, savory and mineral.  Very much like Chinese yellow wine.

1979 Rousseau Chambertin - really lovely wine.  Animal, farmy, bacon notes.  Sweet fruit, plummy, fragrant and beautiful.  There's an elegance that belies that masculinity here.

1970 La Mission Haut-Brion - old and over the hill.  Nose a little cooked, dusty and chalky, brett, wet cardboard, and savory soy sauce.

1983 Jaboulet La Chapelle - surprisingly sweet creamy corn, straw, and a little toasty.  Drinking nicely.

1982 Latour - WOW!  What a beautiful bottle of wine!  Classic pencil lead, smoke, black tea, cassis and minty.  Slightly savory on the palate.  When was the last time I saw such perfect balance between power and elegance?  Amazing condition.

1971 Günther Mehrlein Mittelheimer St. Nicolaus Riesling Spätlese - marmalade, salty plum (話梅),  savory, desiccated coconut.  Flat and dead on the palate, acidic.

Kokuryu Hachijyu-hachi Go (黒龍 八十八号) - classic banana, tropical fruits.  Soft and elegant.

1983 Margaux - another lovely wine but would have benefited from additional aeration.  Sweet fruit, grassy, toasty.

Full post on dinner is here.