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.

Dame de Montrose

Drinking during hotel quarantine in Hong Kong.

2019 Le Petit Marand eXtra Ordinaire Chardonnay - very ripe and rounded on the palate, but the acidity was still there.

2014 La Dame de Montrose - drank 1 hour after opening. Smoke and grilled meats on the nose. Classic.

Full post on the day is here.

2019 Le Petit Marand

Drinking at home.

2019 Le Petit Marand eXtra Ordinaire Chardonnay - very oaky, sweet and ripe on the palate.

Pairing for Chinese banquet

Dinner at a friend's home.

2004 Bollinger Vieilles Vignes Françaises, bottle No. 0960 - very rich, very deep flavors.

2010 L'Extravagance de Doisy-Daëne, en demi-bouteille - orange blossom water, honey, later some apricot. Really rich and viscous.

1983 Trimbach Clos Sainte Hune - first pour 15 minutes after opening. Soft on the palate and slightly bitter. An hour after opening this was much more flinty and steely, with polyurethane... and starting to cross over to German riesling territory.

1983 Guigal La Mouline - decanted 2½ hours after opening. No more fruit left, only animal and leather, savory and almost bretty. Double-decanted 30 minutes after the first decanting, but there still wasn't much fruit on the nose, only some fruit on the palate. Also showed some smoky Chinese preserved pork. Very disappointing.

1946 Massandra Sherry - served 1 hour after opening. Very oxidized and savory as expected, with lots of salty plum, but still has some sweetness on the palate.

1989 Guiraud - opened a few hours earlier. Nice and sweet with honey, a little marmalade.

1914 Croizet Grande Réserve - with vanilla sweetness. Much softer and more elegant than expected. Apparently this was due to the fact that this vintage was made by ladies when the men went off to war, hence the softer style.

60-year-old Taidiao wine (太雕酒) - really savory, showing lots of salty plum. Sooo rich and so much depth in flavors.

2016 Guiberteau Saumur Brézé - HUGE nose of toast, with plenty of acidity as expected. Was this wine trying to pretend to be a Meursault?

Full post on dinner is here.

Magnums and some oldies

Dinner at a private dining facility.

1989 André Beaufort Grand Cru Brut, en magnum, dégorgée en septembre 2011 - very sugarcane and water chestnut 竹蔗茅根 with straw notes. Good acidity in spite of the ripeness, and acidity still pretty high which is typical of Beaufort.

2004 Domaine Roulot Meursault Les Vireuils - beautiful and buttery, toasty, flinty, without being overpowering.

1999 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Fuder 9, from magnum - huge, huge, nose of petrol and polyurethane. Some white flowers. Palate was definitely sweeter than expected and without the acidity to counter balance.

1950 Lhéraud - so fragrant with lots of vanilla.

2009 Louis Roederer Cristal, en magnum - drank after having been opened for some time. Good balance between acidity and ripeness, and relatively mild and elegant on the palate.

2009 Marcassin Chardonnay Marcassin Vineyard - very buttery, definitely more ripe and Californian.

1996 Armand Rousseau Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St Jacques - lovely and elegant, with a little more smoke than expected, showing black cherries and dried herbs.

2008 Dugat-Py Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Vieilles Vignes - very toasty even after having been opened for a while. More acidic and lean on the palate than expected.

1900 Barbeito Malvazia - lots of nuts, medjool dates, plum, and honeydew melon. Needed time to open up.

Full post on dinner is here.

Burgundy and more

Dinner at Softbank Kitchen.

2004 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne, en magnum - initially kinda closed, with a little mineral, flint, toast, and lemon.  Opened up well after about 40 minutes.  Still alive after 3 hours, with a little Chinese licorice.

2011 Joseph Drouhin Clos des Mouches Blanc, en magnum - very elegant and buttery.

Tesseron X.O. Exception Lot N°29 - pretty nice stuff from 1929...

2011 Arnaud Ente Meursault La Sève du Clos - much bigger and more toasty, with higher acidity.  Showing buttery notes 3½ hours after opening.

1998 Jacques Prieur Musigny - opened for 6 hours prior to serving.  Really sweet with black fruits. elegant, almost a little tea leaves.

1996 Royal Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos Blue Label - nutty, marmalade, dried tangerine peel, honey, sweet on the palate but comes with plenty of acidity, too.

Full post on dinner is here.

German riesling and Cali cabs

Dinner at Sheung Hing Chiu Chow Restaurant.

2000 von Schubert Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Riesling Spätlese-trocken - nice acidity, with petrol and flint in the nose.

2011 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Kabinett - almost a little green apple.  A hint of fizziness, and slightly sweet on the palate.

2012 William Selyem Pinot Noir Coastlands Vineyard - lots of sweet strawberries in the nose.  Very ripe and lovely.

Drinks at a friend's house.

1997 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red - opened for more than an hour prior to drinking.  A hint of sweet grass, very minty, with cedar and some sweet fruit.  Sharp alcohol in the nose that finally dissipated after about 2 hours.  Smooth on the palate, but still very powerful and full-bodied.

Tesseron Lot 29 X.O Exception - floral, raisins, a little nutty.  Elegant but still powerful finish.

Remy Martin Louis XIII, believed to be from 1980s - very fragrant, floral, very sweet, very smooth on the palate with a slight kick on the finish.

Full post on dinner is here.