Five Shooters and more

Dinner at Man Ho.

2006 Jean-François Ganevat Les Vignes de Mon Père, en magnum - drank about 40 minutes after decanting. What a beautiful nose, with lots of toast and floral notes. The acidity was still crisp. Such an amazing wine!

1978 Antinori Solaia - drank about 40 minutes after decanting. Very big nose with lots of smoke, grilled meats, leather, and maybe a hint of green capsicum. Showed some sweetness on the nose after 1½ hours.

2010 Sine Qua Non Five Shooter Grenache, from magnum - decanted 50 minutes after opening, and started drinking more than 1½ hours after decanting. Initially the nose was a bit muted, but still got some sugary ripeness. This opened up and was soooo sweet and ripe on the palate.

2010 Sine Qua Non Five Shooter Syrah, from magnum - decanted 50 minutes after opening, and started drinking more than 1½ hours after decanting. Of course this was ripe and sweet as we would expect it to be. Some of the tannins have been shed after 15 years, so this was tasting fairly smooth on the palate, but clearly showing the concentration of the syrah and obviously a bigger wine compared to the grenache. Beautiful.

Full post on dinner is here.

Sommelier wine pairing

Dinner at Caprice Bar.

2019 Les Poëte Argos - the nose showed mineral and waxy notes, and was a little more oxidized with smokiness. Overall this was really nice and fragrant. This was rounder and riper on the palate, but still had good acidity without being sharp on the long finish.

2018 François Rousset-Martin Perle du Village - showing a very fermented and savory nose, maybe almost at the Chinese fermented beancurd 腐乳 level. Surprisingly this was very clean on the palate. Getting a taste after some lobster made this a little sweet on the palate.

2015 Contrà Soarda Breganze Torcolato - for a sweet wine this was certainly on the light side and not too sweet on the palate. Showing some citrus orange, a bit of acetone, manuka honey, orange blossom water. After opening up a little more this showed more complexity on the nose. And after warming up a little this got bigger on the palate, giving a little more sweetness as well as some bitterness on the finish. With a little more time the nose got pretty intensely sweet, with really ripe honeydew melon.

Full post on dinner is here.

Luminance and Matriarch

Dinner at Roucou.

2023 Jonathan Didier Pabiot Pouilly-Fumé Luminance - nice notes of minerals and flint, but the nose was still very fruity and tropical. Good acidity level on the palate, which was what I wanted.

2007 BOND Matriarch - started drinking 30 minutes after opening without decanting. Very ripe and intense fruit on the nose, very concentrated on the palate. After another 20 minutes we started getting coconut butter and vanilla oak on the nose. Drinking so well.

Full post on dinner is here.

Egon Múller dinner

Dinner at Palco with wines from Egon Müller, organized by ORD Fine Wines.

2021 Château Belá Štúrovo Riesling - nice, classic nose of petrol and white truffle. A little sweetish on the palate but still got the acidity.

2023 Le Gallais Wiltinger Braune Kupp Kabinett - classic nose with polyurethane and white flowers, a hint of honey, and more elegant. Good acidity on the palate making it more crisp, but also a little more grippy.

2022 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett - this was bigger on the nose, with more flint and petrol. So fragrant and lovely.

2023 Le Gallais Wiltinger Braune Kupp Spätlese - very nice, sweeter on the palate than the kabinett, of course... with some acidity for balance.

2022 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Auslese - this was sooo floral, soooo alluring. Pretty sweet on the palate now. These days auslese are made with 100% botrytis grapes thanks to climate change.

2019 Château Belá Rulanské Modré - the nose was sooooo sugary, and actually a bit sharp and definitely a bit overripe and oxidized. Not great.

2017 Château Belá Cabernet Sauvignon - minty and fragrant nose, with a little bit of pepper and nice fruit that was kinda ripe.

1989 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Beerenauslese - honey and marmalade notes on the nose. Nice and viscous on the palate, but this was kinda weak mid-palate. The finish was long and nice.

Full post on the evening is here.

Trimbach and Bain

Drinking at home.

2022 Trimbach Riesling Vieilles Vignes - FUCK! This was just so ripe on the palate! What happened to the acidity? Where is it? Lots of petrol, polyurethane, and truffle on the nose, but even the nose was much too ripe and sweet. There was a touch of vanilla, along with lemon confit, marmalade, and lanolin. OK, so there was some acidity on the finish, but not nearly enough. Not what I wanted from this wine at all.

2018 Alexandre Bain La Levée - the nose was freakishly ripe, with lots of apricot, ripe peach, and a bit of acetone. Very ripe on the palate, but at least this had the biting acidity along with some grippy tannins.

Penfolds and Wendouree

Dinner at Neighborhood.

1999 Howard Park Chardonnay - this was really nice and buttery. Ripe on the palate but still got a good amount of acidity, with a little bit of bitterness on the finish. Drinking so well now.

1996 Wendouree Shiraz Mablec - the nose was so fragrant, a bit smoky, with exotic spices like anise. Very nice and soft on the palate now, very silky, and not at all diluted or weak. So happy I got a chance to taste this.

1981 Penfolds Grange - started drinking 1½ hours after opening without decanting. This has opened up nicely, showing the coconut butter along with oak, leather, and gamey notes. So classic. Drinking so well at 45 years of age.

2002 Penfolds Bin 707 - started drinking more than 2 hours after opening without decanting. There was a slight hint of metallic nose, sweet fruit, some green capsicum, and a hint of savory notes. Very nice and smooth on the palate.

1996 d'Arenberg Riesling The Noble, from half-bottle - classic honey, honeydew melon, marmalade, saffron, orange blossom, and even a hint of coconut butter.

Full post on dinner is here.

Dufour and Ganevat

Dinner at Hoper's Base.

Patagonia Yamamori (パタゴニアやまもり) 2024 - seimaibuai of 85%. Initially served under-chilled, and both the nose as well as the palate was showing fermented notes.

Bulles de Comptoir par Charles Dufour #13 Cuisine du Dimanche, dégorgée Octobre 2025 - this was bit metallic, kinda like French apple cider. Very strange.

2018 Ganevat Les Varrons Vieilles Vignes - served 20 minutes after opening. This was much riper than expected, with the nose more caramelized, but still a bit flinty and mineral. This, too, was approaching cider level, but not quite.

2002 Kongsgaard Syrah - this was in the decanter for about 10 minutes before pouring back into the bottle. The nose was very ripe and sweet while decanting, which was just as I expected. But some 50 minutes after initial opening the nose was more stewed fruits, showing more maturity than expected. We still got the leather on the nose, and surprisingly still kinda alcoholic on the palate.

Full post on dinner is here.

Yquem tasting

Tasting of wines from Château d'Yquem at Hong Kong Wine Vault, with Thomas Robert and Louis Valette from the château.

It was a great chance to taste the trio of recent vintages. We were told that the 2021 was on the lighter side, 2022 on the rich side, and the 2023 was a nice balance between the two.

2023 Yquem - very floral, lots of lychee, so much saffron and honey, as well as apricot. This was so fragrant and beautiful.

2022 Yquem - more acetone and a bit sharper on the nose at first, maybe even a little waxy. Still got the floral, saffron notes. It was also very much richer and sweeter on the palate, very big on the palate, and sooo unctuous.

2021 Yquem - this was a bit leaner on the nose, with some vanilla and bubblegum, orange blossom water, saffron, honey, and a hint of acetone. Not so sweet on the palate and came with a little bit of bitterness on the finish, like marmalade.

2017 Ygrec, en magnum - very flinty on the nose, plenty of pipi de chat. Good acidity on the palate with a long finish. This was a little on the warm side, and tasted thick and tannic on the palate.

2007 Yquem - nice and rich, but not as big as the 2022. I do love that classic honey, saffron, and apricot blend.

Prüm and Pontet-Canet

Dinner at The Chairman.

2007 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese - nice, classic nose with petrol and "truffle". Just a tad of sweetness to make the palate rounder.

2009 Pontet-Canet - decanted just before serving. Minty and smoky nose, with sweet and ripe black fruits. The became very nice and open after an hour in the decanter, with more fragrant, woodsy notes.

Full post on dinner is here.

Isojiman Tokubetsu Honjozo

Dinner at Torikaze.

Isojiman Tokubetsu Honjozo Tokusen (磯自慢 特別本醸造特撰) - seimaibuai of 60%. Nose with a little rich rice starch with some banana notes. Definitely more dry on the palate, with sharper alcohol.

Full post on dinner is here.