MNSC dinner - Jackson Room

MNSC dinner hosted by Dr. Poon.

1993 Michel Niellon Chevalier-Montrachet - high acidity here but not too sharp.  Mature and very ripe on the nose, with toasty notes.

First flight: opened for 1 hour prior to serving.

1982 DRC Grands Echezeaux - beautiful and floral nose, fruity and elegant, with intense sweetness almost like honeydew.  Slightly less elegant after a few minutes in glass, but still great.  97 points.

1993 DRC Grands Echezeaux - more powerful with a much bigger nose of leather.  Stemmy and almost a bit stinky.  A hint of savory black olives, then a bit of green pepper.  95 points.

Second flight: opened 2 hours prior to serving.

1993 Lafleur - classic and smoky nose, with spicy green peppers.  Dry on the palate.  Very nice.  95 points.

1993 Screaming Eagle - rich and open, sweeter on the nose, with oaky notes and a hint of rubber and eucalyptus.  Sweet and ripe. A bit sharp and alcoholic, and some acidity on the palate.  98 points.

Third flight:

1937 Latour - opened 30 minutes before decanting and serving. 60 minutes after opening, showed a really minty nose, almost medicinal, savory, funky, and almost like fermented shrimp... with a hint of coffee? 93 points.

1949 Latour - opened 2½ hours prior to serving. So beautiful!  So smoky with cedar, oak, and tobacco notes.  Pretty sweet at first and showed a little higher acidity later.  97 points.

1959 Latour - opened 2½ hours prior to serving. Much leaner, greener, grassy, green pepper, smoky.  High acidity on the palate with some tannins.  93 points.

Full post on dinner is here.

1937 and 1976 German riesling

Lunch at The 8 in Macau.

1937 Anheuser Schloßböckelheimer Muhlberg Riesling Feinste Auslese - soooo beautiful!  This was nectar-like on the nose, with honey, a little polyurethane, medjool dates, raisins, and wonderful marmalade notes.  So smooth on the palate, with a good acidity balance. What a privilege to have tasted this wine!

1976 von Schubert Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Riesling Beerenauslese - at first a little bitterness on the palate, and the nose initially had some metallic notes.  Polyurethane notes were pretty prominent.  Good acidity on the palate here, with marmalade made from bitter orange.  In fact that bitterness continued to be very prominent on the finish.  Nice, but I had hoped for a little more.  Surprised that this BA was not as sweet as the feinste auslese.

Full post on lunch is here.

Quinta do Noval Masterclass

Co-hosted by Corinne Michot of AXA Millésimes and (Gérard Basset?).

2000 Quinta do Noval Colheita - still really alcoholic, very sharp nose, with lots of red fruits, very grapey, still got the tannins.  Later this opened up more and showed nutty notes like hazelnuts, and prunes.

2011 Quinta do Noval - forest pine notes.  Obviously still tannic, the alcohol wasn't so sharp.  Very sweet on the palate but not so bad on the finish.

2004 Quinta do Noval - exotic nose, with acetone, and this was a little weird... maybe with some banana?  Not what I expected.  Can feel the tannins softening.

2000 Quinta do Noval - nose was very closed, just as Corinne said.  A little paint thinner, with maybe a teeny bit of leather and a hint of forest.

1994 Quinta do Noval - much more developed, with exotic nose that was sweet like sugarcane, Asian spices.  Really lovely, and wonderful on the palate.

We then moved on to the Nacionals - the rarest of Ports made from a small plot of ungrafted, pre-phylloxera vines.  Production is extremely tiny - about 200-250 cases per year, and these days the practice is to release it slowly over 10 years while keeping about 20% stock at the quinta.  It's an incredible privilege to be drinking any of these wines, and especially the older vintages.

2011 Quinta do Noval Nacional - lots of forest pine, much bigger and more intense than the vintage.  Definitely licorice and spices, with a hint of smokiness.  More tannic because the berries are smaller.  Good sweetness on both the nose and on the palate.

2004 Quinta do Noval Nacional - nose was a little closed, somewhat stinky, with a little animal and hospital disinfectant... I think Christian Seely was right in not releasing this wine earlier, because I'm one of those who don't really "get it", at least not right now.

2000 Quinta do Noval Nacional - just like the 2000, I didn't get much out of the nose... only shoe polish, as the nose was pretty closed.

1994 Quinta do Noval Nacional - a lot more smoke, pencil lead, a little green.  Not showing as well as the vintage.

1963 Quinta do Noval Nacional - more alcoholic, with paint thinner, a hint of dustiness, but oh-so-beautiful on the palate!  Very nutty, soft and beautiful, with candied fruits and prunes.  What a privilege to have tasted this wine!

1937 Quinta do Noval Colheita - the oldest colheita from Noval, and these were bottled only 2 months ago from pipes.  With savory notes and very alcoholic on the nose.  This was simply stunning!  Soooo rich and unctuous on the palate.  Wow!

Unbelievable to have drunk 3 (or was it 4?) glasses of this tonight.

2009 Quinta do Noval Duoro - nose of potpourri, and still kinda tannic.