2009 Massandra

Drinking at home.

2009 Massandra Alushta Red - decanted for 1 hour before drinking. Definitely still has fruit here, although the wine is showing signs of advanced aging, and the palate was getting pretty flat. Nose showing plummy notes, but clearly oxidized and showing woodsy notes. Savory like soy sauce and black olives, with a reasonable fragrance after additional aeration. Past its prime.

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.

Drunken mix

Dinner at The Chairman.

2013 Jean-François Ganevat Grusse en Billat - good acidity with a little ripeness and some flint.

2010 Roxanich Milva - very oxidized and sweet on the nose.

2009 Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia - smoky nose.  Some ripeness but dry on the palate.

Charles Dufour Avalon, dégorgée le 11 Juillet 2017 - really strong and yeasty, a little tart, like aged tangerine peel.  A little pungent.

1999 Louis Latour Bâtard-Montrachet - really ripe... possibly over-ripe.  So oxidized and caramelized with sugar cane notes.

Pagoda Brand 20-year old Huadiao (塔牌二十年陳釀花雕) - of course this was served warm and paired with the crab...

1955 Massandra Sherry - savory and very nutty.  I didn't notice the sweetness but apparently others thought it was sweeter than the Huadiao.

Buran Junmai Ginjo (不染 純米吟釀) - clearly oxidized.  Slightly sweet on the palate with fermented rice flavors.

2009 Chapoutier Châteauneuf-du-Pape Croix de Bois - still kinda young and a little sharp.

2009 Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino - very fragrant, with eucalyptus and a bit of smoke.

2009 Rutini Felipe Rutini - concentrated on the palate, with ripe fruit, eucalyptus, and smoky notes.

Full post on dinner is here.

"Not too serious" wines

Dinner at Locanda dell'Angelo.

2010 Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Perrières - nice acidity here.  Flinty with a little lemon on the nose.

1985 Faiveley Chambertin Clos de Beze - served without decanting.  Very clean, with sweet fruit and a little leather.  Nice and mature, very smooth.

2015 Guigal La Doriane - really ripe, flinty, with tropical banana and stone fruits.  Very rich and sweet on the palate - almost chewable.  14.9% alcohol, supposedly...

2000 Branaire-Ducru - smoky with leather notes.  Solid with no surprises.

1975 Massandra Rose Muscat - having tasted some of Massandra's dessert wines before, I knew that this was gonna be deathly sweet.  At 24.3% sugar, this has easily 50% more sugar than something like Yquem...  Pure honey and sugarcane, with a hint of savory notes like salty plum (話梅).

In glass.

Full post on dinner is here.

Wines from ex-Soviet bloc

Teliani Valley Extra Sec - this ain't no 'extra sec', given how sweet this tasted... A hint of dryness here.  A little rich and bitter on the finish.

French Boulevard Special Edition - this was noticeably smoother, but the palate was still on the sweet side.

2007 Massandra Sherry - definitely oxidized nose, nutty with a little salty plum.

2008 Massandra Surozh White Port - sweeter on the palate, with medjool dates, a little Chinese licorice, honey, and marmalade.

8 + 2 for birthday

Dinner at Wagyu Kaiseki Den.

1980 Dom Pérignon Rosé - nose of raspberries, minerals, a little plummy, savory, fruity.  A lovely wine.

1998 Haut-Brion Blanc - decanted, of course.  Surprisingly sweet, like marzipan.  Oxidized nose but still wonderful, like cooked sugar cane drink (竹蔗茅根水), dessicated coconut, Chinese licorice (甘草) and toast.  A beautiful wine!  Interesting that the accelerated oxidization has produced such an orange color in a 15-year-old wine.

1955 Massandra Collection Sherry - dry on the palate, straw, plums, caramel, savory and mineral.  Very much like Chinese yellow wine.

1979 Rousseau Chambertin - really lovely wine.  Animal, farmy, bacon notes.  Sweet fruit, plummy, fragrant and beautiful.  There's an elegance that belies that masculinity here.

1970 La Mission Haut-Brion - old and over the hill.  Nose a little cooked, dusty and chalky, brett, wet cardboard, and savory soy sauce.

1983 Jaboulet La Chapelle - surprisingly sweet creamy corn, straw, and a little toasty.  Drinking nicely.

1982 Latour - WOW!  What a beautiful bottle of wine!  Classic pencil lead, smoke, black tea, cassis and minty.  Slightly savory on the palate.  When was the last time I saw such perfect balance between power and elegance?  Amazing condition.

1971 Günther Mehrlein Mittelheimer St. Nicolaus Riesling Spätlese - marmalade, salty plum (話梅),  savory, desiccated coconut.  Flat and dead on the palate, acidic.

Kokuryu Hachijyu-hachi Go (黒龍 八十八号) - classic banana, tropical fruits.  Soft and elegant.

1983 Margaux - another lovely wine but would have benefited from additional aeration.  Sweet fruit, grassy, toasty.

Full post on dinner is here.