2020 Larrivet Haut-Brion Blanc

Drinking at home.

2020 Larrivet Haut-Brion Blanc - fairly big on the nose, with some notes of muscat grapes. A little ripeness on the palate but not too sweet, and still got enough acidity. Later the nose showed some nice and toasty oak, with a little flint.

Bought from HK Wine Vault for HKD 345.

Cabs and Tuscany

Dinner at Carna.

2006 Casanova di Neri Cerratalto - double-decanted at home. Very big and oaky nose, with tons of sweet fruit along with sweet vanilla. Very concentrated on the palate, and a really lovely wine in the prime of its drinking window.

1985 Antinori Solaia - decanted an hour after opening and started drinking after 1½ hours in the decanter. A little too soft by now, although 20 minutes later this was more fragrant with some woodsy notes. Very soft and supple on the palate. Probaby should have started drinking earlier as the wine may have had too much aeration.

1994 Haut-Brion - decanted an hour after opening and started drinking after 2 hours in the decanter. Big nose of smoke and green pepper, tobacco, and a bit earthy. Really fragrant after about 2½ in the decanter. Still very much alive and going strong.

Full post on dinner is here.

90 Montrose and friends

Dinner at Flower Drum.

2020 Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc - nose of green apple and muscat. Drinking well with a little ripeness to balance the acidity.

Bought from Altaya for EUR 112.

1981 Guigal La Landonne - all sediment poured into decanter. Started drinking around 40 minutes after decanting. Kinda meh. With the char siu the after taste was pretty metallic and a little funky. Got better after 1 hour in the decanter, and now I could smell the acidity, and the acidity also started to show on the palate. Still got sweet fruits like plum on the nose. After 1½ hours the nose was now better than the palate. Just kinda disappointing.

Bought from Sotheby's for GBP 195.

1990 Montrose - all sediment poured into decanter. A little bretty just after decanting. Started drinking about 1 hour and 45 minutes after decanting. Very lively. Around the 2-hour mark the nose was very smoky, showing lots of tobacco, leather, mineral and savory notes. Really nice and fragrant. Maybe not performing as a 100-point wine tonight but very delicious nonetheless.

Full post on dinner is here.

Smith Haut Lafitte and Jyuyondai

Dinner at Sushi Fujimoto.

2020 Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc - despite the relative young age this was already very ripe on the palate, and was hot and alcoholic. The nose showed some rubber and plastic notes, along with flint and some lemon. With more aeration the rubber dissipated and the nose got more fragrant, kinda oily. After 1½ hours of being on ice the palate was grippy and some of that lean acidity came out.

Bought from Altaya for EUR 112.

Jyuyondai Ranbiki (十四代 蘭引酒), 2013 - a shochu that had been aged in barrel for 10 years. The wood was very much front and center, along with sweet caramel and tons of vanilla on the nose. So interesting as it kinda tasted like a Japanese whisky...

Full post on dinner is here.

Roses and Lodovico

Dinner at Chef Tam's Seasons in Macau.

2012 Roses de Jeanne La Haute Lemblé, dégorgée en Avril 2016 - by now this was pretty nice on the palate. Still got the acidity thanks to the chardonnay, but already a little rounded. Showing some marmalade on the nose.

2018 Latour-Martillac Blanc - a bit of lemon on the nose, but also some sharp acetone... and not in a way that I enjoyed. With time the wine opened up and got better in the glass, showing more depth on the palate, but I never liked this.

2007 Lodovico - started serving around 1 hour and 15 minutes after decanting. The nose was beautiful, showing tobacco smoke, lots of cedar, really woodsy and nice, minty nose. Also showing a good amount of sweet fruit and exotic spices. There's a nice degree of richness here, not quite so much that I would describe it as jammy. It was actually very elegant yet still had the power and concentration, reaching a fairly beautiful balance at this point in time.

Full post on dinner is here.

La Mission Blanc and Lachaux

Dinner at Estro.

2013 La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc - beautiful nose with flinty and mineral notes, along with lemon. Nice ripeness on the palate but still got the acidity, with good depth.

2005 Pascal Lachaux Clos Saint Denis - drank around 1½ hours after opening without decanting. Very nice and fragrant, lots of fruit here, very sweet, with strawberries and red cherries. Started to go a little downhill 2½ hours after opening, perhaps. Drinking very nicely right now.

Full post on dinner is here.

Wine pairing at MONO

MONO x Toyo Eatery dinner.

Krug Grande Cuvée, 170ème Édition, ID 221042 - more toasty on the nose than I remembered, but that's very, very classic Grande Cuvée. Pretty popcorn. Wonderful.

Black Kite Theobroma Blonde - OK la... pretty nice on the palate, at least it's not bitter. Some honey and a little caramel.

2019 Roda I Blanco - nose was very alcoholic initially and kinda fragrant. Very ripe on the palate, but grippy mid-palate with an acidic finish. Gained more body as the wine warmed up.

2018 Leflaive Mâcon-Verzé Les Chênes - a little toasty, with reasonable acidity balance.

2016 Bouchard Corton-Charlemagne - a more elegant wine. Later on this was much more buttery after enough aeration.

2019 Catena Zapata Malbec Argentino - very, very ripe and jammy, a little metallic almost, with lots of vanilla oak. Really sweet on the palate but the tannins were surprisingly soft. Showing some blueberries later.

2012 La Chapelle de la Mission - unfortunately this was very chalky and dusty so not too enjoyable. Pretty savory with lots of soy sauce.

Full post on dinner is here.

Toro Albala and more

Dinner at MONO.

Krug Grande Cuvée, 170ème Édition, ID 221032 - nice and toasty nose with nice acidity on the palate.

2020 Garzón Albariño Petit Clos Block 27 - not so aromatic, but not bad. A little ripe on the palate now.

2012 La Chapelle de la Mission Haut-Brion - initially very dusty and chalky, a little unpleasant. Smoky. Unfortunate.

1929 Toro Albalá Don PX Convento Selección, bottled November 2014 - a bit smoky, a little savory, with soy sauce. Sooooo rich, sooo thick and viscous and unctuous, almost like drinking honey. What a beautiful wine!

Full post on dinner is here.

Champagne and Haut-Brion

Dinner at Ta Vie.

2008 Mumm RSRV Cuvée Lalou, dégorgée en août 2021 - pretty fragrant like a perfume, very elegant.

Jacques Selosse Version Originale (?) / Contraste (?), dégorgée 04 fevrier 2008 (?) - the nose was sooooo beautiful! This was toasty, mature, with marmalade. Very perfumed, too. The problem here was that the front label says this is a V.O. but the back label is for Contraste. So which wine did we drink?!

2019 Dauvissat Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons - nice and toasty, nice and lemon with a little lemon. Kinda smooth but got the acidity still. The nose was a little more ripe than expected, and very fragrant.

1995 Haut-Brion - served a little more than an hour after decanting. A classic claret, minty and smoky, lots of tobacco. So fragrant and almost a little savory. Drinking beautifully!

Full post on dinner is here.

Whites and rosé

Dinner at Hoi Wan Restaurant.

Henri Giraud MV15, dégorgée le 12 novembre 2020 - nice and yeasty, with some toast on the nose but not overpowering. A little floral and marmalade. Wonderful balance on the palate.

Henri Giraud MV Rosé, dégorgée le 2 juin 2021 - more red fruit notes. Lovely.

1994 Laville Haut-Brion, en magnum - served 45 minutes after opening. Very fragrant, ripe on the palate but still got the acidity. Drinking very well right now.

2003 Sine Qua Non Sublime Isolation - 44% chardonnay, 37% roussanne, 19% viognier. Served 1 hour after opening. Fragrant and buttery, and that's the chardonnay. A little metallic, ripe and alcoholic with some vanilla. It's too bad we didn't give the wine enough time.

Full post on dinner is here.

2018 Larrivet Haut-Brion Blanc

Drinking at home.

2018 Larrivet Haut-Brion Blanc - more ripe on the palate than expected, with green apple, flint, pipi de chat, and muscat grapes.

Bordeaux and Dom

Dinner at Roganic.

2003 Dom Pérignon Plénitude 2 - very toasty but also very floral and fragrant. Really opened up an hour after popping.

2010 La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc, en magnum - some 2 hours after opening, starting to open up and get buttery and toasty. A little ripe on the palate but still got the acidity. Drinking really well just around 3 hours after opening.

1986 Lafleur - decanted and served 2 hours and 45 minutes after opening. Smoky nose, almost pencil lead, woodsy and fragrant. Drinking wonderfully.

2010 Ausone - decanted for 1 hour and served after another 2 hours in bottle. Big, big nose with lots of mint and smoke, with some ripeness underneath. Alcoholic on the nose. Showing some coconut butter some 5 hours after opening.

2000 Lafon-Rochet - popped and poured. Very fragrant nose with cedar, woodsy notes, smoky, but still have some fruit underneath it all. Pretty nice.

Full post on dinner is here.