MNSC - Caprice

MNSC dinner at Caprice, hosted by me.

1992 Bollinger Vieilles Vignes Française, bouteille N°626 – definitely showing its age, with marmalade on the nose, almost a little oily. The body was fine but not too powerful, which fades quickly to a soft finish that seemed to last for a while. The nose was almost a little like Japanese umeshu.

Flight 1: opened 1 hour before serving.

1986 Lafite-Rothschild – stoppered right after opening and served without decanting. A bit more ripe and advanced, with clear oxidation. Higher acidity on the palate. Certainly savory on the nose. This bottle that I originally took from dad’s office – which did not have a wine fridge - more than 25 years ago is clearly not showing at its best. 92 points.

1986 Mouton-Rothschild – served without decanting. This was very elegant, smoky, woodsy, and exhibiting a classic nose for the region. Also green capsicum. Two hours after opening this was showing some lovely sweet fruit along with coffee. 95 points.

Flight 2: opened about 2 hours before serving without decanting.

1996 Colgin Herb Lamb Vineyard – this was really ripe and sweet, with a hint of metallic nose along with eucalyptus. I love it. My kind of shit. 97 points.

1996 Masseto – this was also ripe and sweet, but a bit more smoky. So lovely now and drinking so well. 96 points.

Flight 3: I had been wanting to do this pairing since 2016, when Foursheets found the bottle of "Château Le Pin" in her neighborhood Wellcome supermarket. Foursheets says it cost around HKD 70, but I thought it would be hilarious to serve it in a blind tasting together with the "real" Le Pin. You should have heard some of the guesses from the boys about what they thought this was...

2014 Le Pin – served without decanting 2 hours 45 minutes after opening. This was showing a beautiful nose, so ripe and sweet but not quite to the level of a Californian. Smoky, leathery, minty, and fragrant eucalyptus. A little young, perhaps. 94 points.

2014 Château Le Pin – served without decanting 1 hour and 15 minutes after opening. This was definitely more lean and rustic. Not very interesting and clearly a couple of steps down. 88 points.

2024 Clos Mao Light (理光) – decanted for more than 30 minutes before serving. Very big and toasty popcorn nose, reductive, flinty, with lovely lemon notes. Nice and round on the palate. 96 points.

2024 Michel Naddef Marsannay Chardonnay – also showing big, toasty nose. Flinty, lean, and slightly reductive. 95 points.

Full post on dinner is here.

2013 L'Evangile

Dinner at Gyu+bar by Miyoshi.

2013 L'Evangile - decanted and poured. Pretty nice nose with sweet, black fruit, smoke, and almost a little coconut. Some vanilla oak here, and the nose got pretty smoky as it opened up. Still concentrated and tannic, but drinking well.

Full post on dinner is here.

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.

2020 Ginkgo

Dinner at Roucou.

2019 Le Puy Marie-Cécile - this was riper than expected on the palate, and pretty soft and round. The nose was still kinda on the mineral and flinty side, but we also had tropical fruits and it was a little reductive.

2020 Ginkgo - minty, earthy, mineral and leather nose, with nice notes of black figs, cedar, and oak when it opened up.

Full post on dinner is here.

Clinet and Starting Point

Dinner at Neighborhood.

2022 The Starting Point Riesling - the nose was a little flinty. There was good acidity on the palate, leaner but with a bit of ripeness and roundness.

2009 Clinet - this was very lovely and classic. Smoky and woodsy nose that was fragrant and minty. Drinking so well.

Full post on dinner is here.

Anything but SQN

Dinner at a friend's home with Julia and Nik Krankl as guests of honor. Theme was "Anything but Sine Qua Non (and Fingers Crossed)". Magnums were requested.

2018 Robert Faivre L'Experte - light on the palate, acidity level was OK.

2023 Agnès Paquet Chassagne-Montrachet Les Battaudes - nose was very oak-oaked with tons of vanilla.

1966 Gruaud-Larose, en double magnum - definitely got that sweet grass on the nose, with smoke and leather, too. So classic.

1994 L'Evangile, en magnum - this had a much bigger nose than the '66 Gruaud-Larose, and it was nice and smoky, with pepper and green capsicum.

2018 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett, from double magnum - there was a nice bit of sweetness on the palate balanced by the acidity. Huge nose of petrol and white flowers. So nice.

2002 Torbreck RunRig, from magnum - this was showing so beautifully, with lots of coconut butter, leather, and smoke on the nose.

1983 Auguste Clape Cornas, en magnum - tasted right after opening and decanting. Toasty nose with leather. Very smooth on the palate now, but a little less lively than expected. Not so much juicy fruit.

1995 Lafleur-Petrus, en magnum - nice and smoky on the nose, with more sweet fruit. A bit savory on the palate.

2006 Torbreck The Laird - tasted a couple of hours after opening. Very ripe and jammy on the nose, really big and so sweet on the palate. Just an amazing fruit bomb that has aged for 20 years. So nice.

1996 Cos d'Estournel, en magnum - still got the sweet fruit on the nose, as well as smoke and fragrant woodsy notes.

2006 Napa Valley Reserve, from magnum - very fragrant on the nose, without too much vanilla, but still got the lovely oak. Still so tannic after almost 20 years.

2006 Dal Forno Amarone della Valpolicella, from double magnum - this was double-decanted at 3pm yesterday... and showing lots of coconut and plenty of ripe fruit. This was such a big wine.

2014 FX Pichler Riesling Smaragd Dürnsteiner Kellerberg, from magnum - definitely got the white flowers and polyurethane, and also some flint.

2010 Alain Voge Cornas, en magnum - obviously fresher than the '83 Clape.

2011 Antinori Tignanello, from magnum - this was OK la...

2015 Eisele Vineyard Syrah - still really young after 10 years, a bit sharp and tannic.

Grange and Jubilation

Dinner at Yong Fu.

2017 Darviot-Perrin Meursault 1er Cru Genevrières - this was initially served too cold and needed a little warming up with the hands. There was good ripeness on the palate, with lemon citrus, and also got those flint and toasty notes, but thankfully not too heavy.

1991 Penfolds Grange - this was opened prior to arriving at the restaurant. Showing that classic coconut butter and jammy nose. With aging this has developed tertiary notes on the nose, and was now so fragrant with spices and this lingered in the mouth. Also prunes but not unpleasant nor too acidic on the palate. Finally showing some notes which reminded me of hawthorn. Drinking nicely.

2004 Colgin Jubilation - started drinking after 1½ hours in the decanter. This was much riper and much sweeter on the nose as well as palate. Pretty fragrant on the nose, and so soft on the palate now... but not diluted or weak. Pretty elegant and feminine.

Bought from Winebid for USD 284.

1999 Hugel Gewurztraminer Sélection de Grains Nobles, en demi-bouteille - the nose was so floral, so much lychee, so much honey here... and definitely nutty, too.

Bought from Hong Kong Wine Vault for HKD 495.

Full post on dinner is here.

MNSC dinner - Ami

MNSC dinner at Ami, hosted by Dr. Poon.

1990 Moët et Chandon Cuvée Dom Pérignon Rosé - a little flinty on the nose, with Chinese salted plum and marmalade. A little grassy, perhaps? Very soft of the palate after 35 years.

First flight: served without decanting around 2 hours after opening.

1995 Armand Rousseau Chambertin Clos de Beze - very fragrant nose, the fruit was just so sweet. 96 points.

1995 Leroy Clos de Vougeot - the nose was just so explosive, so fragrant, so floral, and just FUCKING GOOD. A little farmy, with leather and eucalyptus. Lots of ripe fruit. 98 points.

Second flight: served without decanting 1½ hours after opening.

1982 Cheval Blanc - smoky nose, minty, and a little stinky. More concentrated on the palate. After another 20 minutes the mint was more obvious, with a little capsicum. Still very lively and sweet on the palate, and even came with a hint of coconut butter. 97 points.

1982 L'Evangile - the nose was so perfumed, also a little smoky and bretty, with nice sweet fruit but slightly leaner. After another 40 minutes the nose was still very perfumed but now came with more leather. 96 points.

Third flight: served without decanting around 2½ hours after opening.

1926 Haut-Brion, acquired from Baghera/wines and reportedly reconditioned at the château - very ripe and jammy on the nose, so interesting with lots of spices and stewed prunes. 92 points.

1982 Haut-Brion - the nose was minty but a little muted. Also a bit alcoholic, and a hint of farmy, bretty notes. 93 points.

Since we had questioned the condition of the 1926 Haut-Brion - while tasting it blind and not realizing its age - Dr. Poon very generously opened up his "back up" wine for this flight. Just popped and poured.

1959 Haut-Brion - the nice was so sweet with lots of vanilla, so beautiful, and a little grassy. 96 points.

Somehow we ended up popping a bottle of Moutai at the very end, which isn't really my thing...

2019 Kweichow Moutai (贵州茅台) - not too bad as far as baijiu goes...

Full post on dinner is here.