Lafite 1905 - 2005

Dinner with Caprice at Château Lafite-Rothschild in Pauillac, hosted jointly by Antoine Granger from the château and the Caprice team.

1979 Krug, en magnum - lovely toasty and nutty nose, with a little bit of straw. This was very much alive with thrilling acidity. What an amazingly wine! The third magnum was even better, with a huge, toasty nose that was also reductive at the same time. Sooooo amazing, and I love it!

2005 William Fevre Chablis Le Clos, en magnum - flinty nose with notes of stone fruit. Pretty round and ripe on the palate.

First pair: opened and double-decanted, then stoppered for 5½ hours and aired for 30 minutes prior to serving.

2005 Lafite-Rothschild, en magnum - smoky nose that was a little ripe, not so open right now. More tannic on the palate, even at the ripe old age of 21 years.

2000 Lafite-Rothschild, en magnum - WOW! This was soooo fresh! Nose of smoke, graphite, cigar box, and mint. Sooo smooth, soooo elegant. Pretty savory on the palate, and I hate to describe it as brett but there seemed to be a touch of it, along with leather. Another 30 minutes in the savory, bretty notes were pretty obvious.

Second pair: opened and double-decanted, then stoppered for 6 hours and aired for 30 minutes prior to serving.

1990 Lafite-Rothschild, en magnum - softer on the nose but more minty, a little woodsy, smoky and slight dusty, savory, leather, and was there also a touch of brett? Obviously this was more mature on the palate. About 30 minutes in this finally opened up further, and the nose was pretty fragrant. The nose kinda died about 1 hour and 20 minutes in, but the palate was still going.

1986 Lafite-Rothschild, en magnum - the nose was soooo fragrant and woodsy. Also savory, but much less brett. A real lovely wine.

1955 Lafite-Rothschild, en magnum - beautiful, fragrant nose, with lovely notes of cedar, smoke, graphite, and pencil lead. The nose still got the fruity acidity. The palate was savory and very much oxidized now.

1905 Lafite-Rothschild - the color was pretty light and not quite pink. The nose was so, so, soooo fragrant, with the red fruits and a little peppery, along with some coffee and toast. So elegant. What an amazing treat!

1976 Rieussec - lots of honey, botrytis, marmalade, and honeydew melon. Beautiful. So sweet and unctuous.

Cognac Très Vieilles Réserve Lafite-Rothschild - really sweet with lots of caramel on the nose.

Full post on dinner is here.

Nice pair of 1979s

Dinner at Ta Vie.

1979 Ramonet Montrachet - took the first sip a few minutes after opening, and some 15 minutes in the wine was showing beautifully. The nose was savory like salty lemon, marmalade, or vin jaune, with mineral, flinty, toasty, and nutty notes. This was so sweet, so floral, and so alluring some 45 minutes after opening. There was bitterness on the finish, but that wasn't a surprise. Honestly, the nose was just so fucking beautiful.

1979 Rayas Rouge - first tasted some 45 minutes after opening, which was probably a little later than we should have. Lots of savory soy sauce on the nose, with minerals and some sweet fruit underneath. Some smokiness, too. Surprisingly sweet on the palate. Pretty nice, but I had hoped for a little better.

Full post on dinner is here.

Pinot noirs and a cab

Dinner at Neighborhood.

2000 Dom Pérignon P2 - nice and toasty, mineral, flinty on the nose. Good maturity now, pretty nice and rounded on the palate.

Bought from MHD for HKD 3,120.

1979 Bouchard Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Aux Perdrix - nice and toasty on the nose, with red fruits. Very soft and light and not much there left on the palate, with a short finish.

2009 Méo-Camuzet Corton Les Perrières - nose of blueberries and vanilla, with lots of toast.

1996 Gruaud Larose - tasted almost 2 hours after opening. So soft and supple on the palate. Smoky and a little brett, with leather, ripe stewed fruits, savory minerals and mint.

Full post on dinner is here.

Gaja, Lodovico, and Shiba

Dinner at Yixin Restaurant.

Dewazakura Junmai Ginjo Dewasansan Muroka Nama Genshu (出羽桜  純米吟醸  出羽燦々  無ろ過生原酒), from isshobin - nice, starchy rice flavors, with a little banana.

1971 Gaja Barbaresco - nose of stewed prunes, nice, woodsy notes, and savory black olives.

1979 Gaja Barbaresco - served 3½ hours after opening. Woodsy, plum notes.

1996 Gaja Barbaresco Sorì San Lorenzo - drank about 2 hours after opening. Smoky and leather notes. Still pretty fragrant.

1996 Gaja Barbaresco Sorì Tildìn - drank about 2 hours after opening. Sweet on the nose, with coconut butter. Dry on the palate and not quite savory. Pretty fragrant, minty, with a little orange almost.

2007 Tenuta di Biserno Lodovico - drank more than 2 hours after opening without decanting. Really fucking fragrant nose, with lots of dried herbs, potpourri, exotic spices, coconut butter. This was fucking beautiful about 2½ hours after opening. Sweet and ripe, with lots of vanilla in the nose.

Full post on dinner is here.

Wines at Smyth

Dinner at Smyth in Chicago.

Charles Heidsieck Rosé Réserve

2009 Añada de Baladiña - thanks to 10 years' of aging, this was not at all fruity on the nose, but it was ripe on the palate.

Ichinokura Junmai Daiginjo Kuranohana (一ノ蔵  純米大吟醸  蔵の華) - lots of banana in the nose, which was also a little sharp and showing slight fermented.  Palate was middle of the road, neither too sweet nor too dry.

2005 Huet Vouvray Sec Le Mont - very toasty, a bit of green apple.  Good acidity.

2014 Dublère Chablis Bougros - the nose was really weird, not like a chard at all... but rather more like pear cidre.

2012 Bruno Clair Vosne Romanée Les Champs Perdrix - WOW!  This was really sweet on the nose, with vanilla and coconut butter.

Billecart-Salmon Demi-Sec - flinty with a hint of anise.  Sweet-ish on the palate.

1979 l'Archiviste Rivesaltes, mis en bouteille le Decembre 2018 - pretty savory.

Full post on dinner is here.

Old Champagnes and Burgs

Drinks at Le Quinze Vins.

Anne et François Ganevat J'Y Aime - first whiff showed much more metallic notes than expected, mineral, kinda ripe fruit, almost jammy, and a little sharp.

Wine dinner at Uwe hosted by Sotheby's.

1979 Krug - beautiful.  Sweet and caramelized with some Chinese licorice, also coconut butter along with some salty plum.

1971 Moët et Chandon Cuvée Dom Pérignon - savory and mineral, initially almost not 'clean', but fresher and more lively with more acidity.  Second pour showed more nutty notes.  Two hours later more Chinese licorice and some marmalade.  So caramelized and sweet.

1982 Moët et Chandon Cuvée Dom Pérignon - much more toasty and nutty, very lovely.  Second pour showed more acidity, a little Chinese licorice, marmalade.  More than 3 hours later this was still very beautiful, and dominated by marmalade.

2007 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Perrières - nice and lean on the nose, a little plastic and pungent, but ripe and rounded on the palate, with citrus notes.  Lively and fresh but not too young, has some maturity to it.  After a few minutes toasty notes started to show, and the ripeness on the palate began to emerge after warming up a little in glass.  This was clearly the better wine of the pair tonight as it was more voluptuous.  Second pour was colder, but more ripeness on the palate along with some bitterness.

2008 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Perrières - more ripe than expected, with a little toastiness but otherwise the nose was mostly shut.  Later on the nose was almost dusty and chalky.  Second pour showed some beeswax and ripeness on the palate.

1985 DRC Echézeaux - beautiful, floral, elegant, with lovely fruit, and leather notes.  Served slightly too warm for my taste, but this made me so, so happy.

1966 Maison Leroy Echezeaux - more leather and animal notes, with a whiff of toasty oak.  A bit of nice fruit here, too.

1988 Guigal La Landonne - green pepper, a little bit animal, a light hint of medicinal notes, and certainly more tannic.

1988 Guigal La Mouline - initially the nose was very dusty and not clean at all, but got better after I changed to a different glass.  More toasty and animal than I expected, and a lot more muscular, but still more open than the Landonne.  Second pour was much more open and a lot better.

2005 Kweichow Moutai - nose a lot more refined than expected, and almost lovely.  Still tastes like paint thinner, though...

Full post on dinner is here.