Years of the Horse

Dinner at Andō. Wine theme was Years of the Horses.

Drappier Quattuor - the nose was very moussy, also nice and toasty. Overall pretty nice and easy to drink.

A year ago I ordered and received the Riedel Clos Sainte Hune decanter, which is limited to 100 pieces and has the iconic label sketch etched on the glass. As a big fan of the wine, I just had to get one for myself. What I should have done was the get two...

1990 Trimbach Riesling Clos Sainte Hune - the nose was definitely flinty, with classic petrol notes, and tonight there was plenty of white truffle as Jean Trimbach would insist, along with dried fruits like apricot. Rich and rounded on the palate. The finish was a little on the bitter side when the wine got a little too warm. Drinking beautifully as one would hope.

Purchased from Sotheby's for HKD 5,682.

2002 Coche-Dury Meursault - at the beginning this turned out much more elegant than expected, as the nose showed some of the expected toasty notes but they were milder and more muted. After about an hour the lemon citrus was still delivering nice acidity on the palate. The nose got more flinty, and almost lean like Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, although there was some ripeness here. About another 15 minutes later the palate started to get a little bitter, but the nose was also getting more open and alluring.

Purchased from Acker for HKD 1,627.

2002 François Lamarche La Grande Rue - opened for an hour before stoppering, started drinking after another of aeration. Nice and fragrant nose with lovely fruit, with a hint of stewed or dehydrated fruit. Also nice and toasty.

1978 Trotanoy - started drinking about 1½ hours after opening. Smoke nose with savory notes like black olives, minty, capsicum, so fragrant. Almost 2 hours after opening the coffee notes showed up, so that was really nice and toasty, to. Naturally this was very light and smooth on the palate.

Full post on dinner is here.

La Grande Rue and Jolivet

Dinner on the beach at Princess D'Ân Nam Resort and Spa.

2013 Pascal Jolivet Sancerre - mineral, almost green apple notes.

2001 François Lamarche La Grande Rue - decanted and served 70 minutes later.  The nose seemed fine while decanting, but clearly this was a wine that did not need much aeration.  When we drank it the wine had lost its freshness, and had gone a little soft on the palate.  There was some astringent tannins along with the acidity, and showed a little smokiness as well as some stewed fruit.  The wine died quickly in glass.  A little disappointing, but not too surprised.

Full post on dinner is here.

Hodgepodge day

Drinks at a friend's studio.

Sorelle Bronca Prosecco di Valdobbiadene PARTICELLA 68 - very floral nose, with white flowers, tropical fruits and flint.

Full post is here.

Drinks on Stanley Beach.

2009 Blanc de Doisy-Daëne - I loooove this wine, especially at this price point.  A pure and classic expression of Sauvignon Blanc, showing pipi de chat, minerals, lemon and oaky notes.

Dinner at a private kitchen.

Kikuhime Kukurihime from isshobin (菊姫 菊理姫 一升瓶) - the top-of-the-line Kikuhime I carried back from Tokyo.  Seimaibuai (精米歩合) of 50%.  Sweet with strong rice flavors at first, but became very dry and spicy (辛口) after warming up a little, with a long finish.  Unfortunately, we did not finish this bottle...

Kaiun Daiginjo Den Hase Shohiki (開運大吟醸 伝 波瀬正吉) - seimaibuai (精米歩合) of 35%.  Sweeter on the attack, softer on the palate and not so dry.

2007 Hospices de Beaune Clos de la Roche Cuvée Georges Kritter mis en bouteille par Domaine Ponsot - nice and fruity, with a very fragrant nose.  A little animal and forest notes, too.

1996 François Lamarche La Grande Rue en magnum - higher acidity, more astringent on the palate.

2011 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spätlese - slightly sweet on the palate, with classic nose of polyurethane and plastic, along with floral notes.

Full post on dinner is here.