Peyre Rose and Charles Dufour

Dinner at Caprice Bar.

Charles Dufour Bulles de Comptoir #11 Terrine et Jardin, en magnum, dégorgée Mars 2023 - pretty smooth. The color made it look like it has some age on it, but the base vintage was actually 2020. A little metallic on the nose, somewhat like Anjou pears, along with a little flint. Drinking pretty well and rather elegant on the nose.

2018 Jourdan Les Trois Quartiers - the nose was really fragrant, very nice notes of dried herbs, pine needle, potpourri. After more than half an hour there were some light savory notes around the edges.

2006 Peyre Rose Marlène N°3 - drank after about 1 hour in decanter. Nose was very meaty, smoky, grilled meats, with a little leather, along with black fruits. After years of aging this was now pretty smooth on the palate.

Full post on dinner is here.

La Croix DB

Dinner at Papillon in Kaohsiung.

2020 Couly-Dutheil Chinon Les Chanteaux - very, very ripe on the nose, with a little acetone. Really aromatic and starting to cross over into viognier and gewurztraminer territory. Pretty full-bodied on the palate, actually, and sweetish with a slight bitterness on the finish.

2017 La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou - definitely showing black plums, mint, cool fruit with some ripeness, smoke, and almost a little earthy. Very classic Left Bank profile.

Full post on dinner is here.

A taste of Loire Valley

Winetasting at Clarence, hosted by Winetastic.

La Taille Aux Loups Triple Zéro - a little metallic like Anjou pear, definitely kinda fruity and refreshing, clearly a pet nat with not a lot of small bubbles. Acidity was not too sharp, and almost a bit grippy on the palate.

2020 Domaine 7 La Guimardière - nose came with a little bit of heavy toast, smoky, almost like smoked meats. A little flinty. On the palate there was more depth, with acidity and some grippiness on the back end.

2020 Domaine 7 La Nouette - riper and much more metallic on the nose, with more oxidized pear. Also riper on the palate without much acidity.

2021 Simon Batardière Au Rocher des Quarts - flinty and apricot, not sure I was getting the lychees that some others were talking about. Was there a hint of honey? Ripe-ish on the palate but also a little lean on the finish.

2018 Nicolas Réau Victoire - tasted blind. Initially served very cold, but even then I could smell the toasty popcorn, along with lots of flinty minerals. Started to be like a Meursault but this was very ripe on the palate, so it must be Loire. Finally after a while, the wine got grippy on the palate and the acidity finally came out after warming up. Quelle surprise!

2019 Le Clos des Treilles La Décente Aux Amphores - really fruity and sweet on the nose, almost like mango. Really sweet like sugar or a very ripe honeydew melon. I actually like it! Wow! Good balance between the acidity and ripeness. Almost a little pungent sulfur and savory notes on the nose at the end when sniffing the empty glass.

2019 Sylvie Augereau Peaux - surprised that I didn't hate it! Very aromatic, a bit flinty. Good acidity but not too sharp, and grippy on the palate.

2021 Nicolas Réau Enlèvement Demandé - lots of spices on the nose, much more exotic than I expected. Meaty, almost like tomato juice with that savory nose, along with some herbs.

2019 Le Clos des Treilles Pompois - A little more open, meaty, fragrant, with some bacon and kinda like Châteauneuf-du-Pape. A bit toasty and more savory, and starting to show a hint of barnyard. Then surprisingly turned pretty ffragrant with some eucalyptus.

2019 Nicolas Réau Garance - decent fragrance on the nose with a hint of savory notes, a bit meaty. Pretty smooth and easy to drink.

2019 Sylvie Augereau Les Manquants - nice and smoky, a bit meaty, with a little bit of exotic spices and savory notes. Soft on the palate.

2018 Jousset Montlouis-sur-Loire Trait d'Union - initially pretty cold and didn't give too much on the nose. Not too sweet on the palate but still refreshing, with good flavor profile. There was definitely a hint of tartness and bitterness on the finish. This was OK... neither here nor there. At the end there was a bit of apricot and honey on the nose.

2011 Clos Naudin Vouvray Moelleux - smoky with petrol, very much like a riesling but with more sugar. Got some of that citrus peel notes, and almost came with a little bit of white flowers.

Wine pairing with Indian food

Dinner at the Gaggan pop-up at the Landmark Mandarin.

Frozen Bite - pineapple juice, coconut water, lime juice, coconut and lime (?) foam.  Definitely very tropical.

Paradise - coconut water, coconut milk, lime juice (?) and a sprinkle of tonka bean powder on top.  A little too rich for my taste...

2012 Pascal and Nicolas Reverdy Sancerre Blanc Terre de Maimbray - nose of flint, mineral, and slightly ripe, very aromatic.  Dry on the palate, which was a perfect match with oysters.

2012 Sebastiani Chardonnay Sonoma Coast - as New World as it gets when it comes to Chardonnay... tons of vanilla, tropical and floral notes.  Very ripe on the palate.  I first commented that this was "very Cali", but that puzzled My Favorite Cousin because to her, it tasted just like an Aussie Chard...  I guess many New World Chardonnays all taste like this...

2009 Nevis Bluff Pinot Noir - interestingly this seemed to be mostly cool fruit, with lots of forest and dried herb notes, perhaps tasting a little bit of stem.  There was also some ripeness in the fruit.

2011 Couly-Dutheil Chinon 'Domaine Rene Couly' - a little smokiness, almost like Chinese medicine along with exotic spices.  Kinda tannic still... Paired well with the pork.

2010 Fattoria di Petroio Lenzi Chianti Classico - slightly higher acidity here.  This was OK, but in reality my taste buds weren't exactly operating at full capacity after the lamb chop...

2007 Schlumberger Pinot Gris Spiegel - a little ripe and slightly tropical.

Full post on dinner is here.

Whites and Pinot with cheese

Cheese dinner at Caprice. Jeremy and Sebastien arranged the wine pairings.

2007 Albert Mann Auxerrois Vieilles Vignes - pretty sweet, ripe nose with minerals and ripe pear notes. Also ripe on the palate.

2005 Prager Grüner Veltliner Achleiten - nose was very floral, a little mineral, with ripeness like apples in the fall.

2007 Jacques & Nathalie Saumaize Saint-Véran La Vieilles Vignes des Crèches- made from old vines that are more than 50 years old, this was ripe on the nose of honey, marmalade and grass notes. Sweet on the palate but a little tart with some acidity at the same time.

2007 Couly-Dutheil Les Chanteaux - this beautiful golden wine was not paired with cheese after Jeremy decided it wouldn't stand up to them, but we got a taste of it anyway. Ripe nose with honey and orange marmalade notes.

2000 Rolet Arbois Blanc - grassy and nutty nose, with a bit of ammonia on top of the marmalade. Heavily oxidized nose typical of vin jaune.

2005 Albert Mann Pinot Gris Hengst - pretty sweet on the palate as one would expect from this wine and the ripe vintage. Definitely honey notes in the nose.

2005 Geantet-Pansiot Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes - drinking pretty nicely, with plenty of fruit, iron and minerals.

2008 George Hansen Vineyards Pinot Noir - one of my friends really liked this wine, and why not? It WAS drinking very, very well... Very typical Cali Pinot, with tons of sweet fruit, caramel, orange and berries. Very small production of 999 bottles.

Full post on dinner is here.