Remirez de Ganuza

Dinner at Steak House Winebar + Grill in InterContinental Hong Kong.

1995 Remírez de Ganuza Gran Reserva - ready to drink upon opening and decanting.  Smoky, earthy notes with perhaps a little black olive.  Medium bodied.  Later some leather and a little more fruit.  Drinking very well now.

2003 Remírez de Ganuza Transnocho - decanted at the same time as the Gran Reserva but drank about an hour later.  Much more concentrated as a press wine. Still plenty of fruit left.

Full post on dinner is here.

1970 Ygay

Drinking at home.

1970 Marqués de Murrietta Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial, from magnum - not decanted.  Acidity a little higher than expected, but the nose was beautiful with wood and cedar notes.  Sweet on the attack.  Drinking beautifully.

Von Schubert and BOND

Dinner at Écriture.

1996 von Schubert Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Riesling Spätlese-trocken - nose was much more oxidized than expected, and almost seemed like the wine was over the hill.  But palate was not as aged as expected, with strong marmalade notes and a good amount of acidity.

2001 BOND Melbury - decanted for more than 1½ hours prior to serving.  Beautiful!  The palate clearly had ripeness and sweetness that was above the levels of a traditional claret, but the nose learned towards French rather than Californian.  Lovely fragrance from the oak, some smoke, pencil lead, and later on some coffee notes.  Plenty of sweet fruit more than 2½ hours after opening.

Full post on dinner is here.

Leflaive and Lécheneaut

Dinner at Yi in Macau.

2013 Domaine Leflaive Bourgogne Blanc - rather high acidity, with a little lemon marmalade.

2015 Lécheneaut Gevrey-Chambertin - nice and floral nose, with fragrant dried herbs.  Structure is there and the palate was more masculine.  Perhaps a little simple.

Full post on dinner is here.

Georges Laval and Ca' d'Gal

Lunch at Lung King Heen.

Georges Laval Doux, dégorgée le 31 Mai 2018 - with a dosage of 50g/l, this was noticeably sweeter on the palate, but with some acidity on the back.  Certainly more viscous, and a little mineral.  Very nice and easy to drink.

Mystery Germany chardonnay - big and toasty nose with lots of flint.  Good acidity on the back end.  After a while when the wine warmed up in glass, the flinty notes were even more pronounced.

2012 Ca' d'Gal Moscato d'Asti - very viscous... could definitely feel the wine swirling around the tongue.  One or two minutes after pouring, a big, floral nose with small white flowers hit me.  This was so refreshing, and such a pleasure to drink.  The sweetness didn't bother me one bit.  On the contrary, it goes so well with Cantonese cuisine.

2014 d'Arlay Vin de Paille - very oxidized nose with lots of salty plum, minerals, and definitely hospital disinfectant.

2005 Kongsgaard Cab

Drinking at home.

2005 Kongsgaard Cabernet Sauvignon - very sweet on the nose, alcoholic, minty, very fragrant.  Very ripe and sweet on the palate, not quite jammy.  An hour later jammy, metallic rust, smoke, potpourri, and woody.  Tons of tannins still.

Ente, Rayas, and Kongsgaard

Dinner at Neighborhood.

2000 Billecart-Salmon Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon - lovely and caramelized, very toasty, almost like a brioche.

2014 Arnaud Ente Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champ-Gain - very toasty nose, nice minerality, almost tropical stone fruit, with high acidity on the palate.

2004 Kongsgaard Chardonnay The Judge - opened about 50 minutes prior to serving.  Very caramelized and sweet nose, with vanilla.  Overripe as I had feared and hot on the palate.  Mineral and flint notes, with almost a little acetone.  After 1½ hours the nose turned really buttery.

2002 Rayas - popped and poured, just sooooo beautiful right off the bat.  Strawberry jam, roses, almost lychee of course... just amazing and floral.  And as close to Pierre Hermé's Ispahan as a wine could come.

1989 Suduiraut - rich and grapey.  Like a good ol' Sauternes.

Full post on dinner is here.

1940 Haut-Brion and Jacquesson

Dinner at Épure.

Jacquesson Cuvée n° 739, en magnum - nice and a little yeasty, almost like bread.

1940 Haut-Brion, rebouchée en 1999, ex-château 2013 - served 30 minutes after opening.  Nose was really nice and smoky... a classic claret, with pencil lead and graphite notes as well as lovely woody fragrance.  Not surprisingly the wine didn't last long in the glass.  Still got some body here even after almost 80 years, and actually gained a little weight in glass with aeration.  After 1 hour the wine was still fresh and lively, with some sweetness.  The peak was clearly between 1 and 1½ hours, after which it started to go downhill.  As an ex-château bottle, the condition was clearly better than the bottle we opened last year.

Full post on dinner is here.

Il Pino, Kongsgaard and rosé

Lunch at home.

2007 Biserno Il Pino - very minty, potpourri, lots of dried herbs, and smoky.  Ripe and sweet on the palate with good concentration.

Dinner at Tasting Court.

Lelarge-Pugeot Rosé de Saignée, dégorgée le 20 juillet 2015 - nose was a little strong and pungent, but definitely a lot of red fruits here.  A little bitter on the palate.

2002 Kongsgaard Chardonnay - totally oxidized, a bit sugary and candied orange peel, marmalade on the nose.  Short and flat on the finish, with some acidity and lemon citrus.  Second pour about an hour later was better, but the palate was still short.

Full post on dinner is here.

'82 Latour à Pomerol

Dinner at Tenku RyuGin.

1982 Latour à Pomerol - served about 70 minutes after opening without decanting.  Initially not quite open and showing only some smoke.  Two hours after opening there was more acidity on the palate after 20 minutes in glass.  Showing better by now with tobacco notes and reasonable length on the palate.  A little more than two hours in and the nose was really fragrant, showing more wood notes.  Strangely showing metallic rust about 2½ hours in, and after 3 hours this became really fragrant, and showing some earthy notes.  Not quite as good as the bottle last year, but still very nice.

Full post on dinner is here.