Marcassin and La Closerie

Dinner at Gaddi's.

La Closerie fac-simile - lots of strawberries and red currants on the nose. Lovely mousse. Really fragrant, very nice and alluring. There was good depth and lovely balance on the palate, harmony among ripeness, acidity, and tartness. With time we also got savory minerals on the nose. Long finish. Lovely wine.

2013 Marcassin Chardonnay Marcassin Vineyard - first served about 30 minutes after opening, and the wine was just beginning to show. The nose was really buttery, nice and toasty, and this was really ripe and alcoholic on the palate. Drinking beautifully about an hour after opening and it was so, sooo nice.

2017 Clos Rougeard Saumur Champigny - started drinking about 1½ hours after opening. Nose was very meaty, very animal, smoky, a little pungent, slightly savory, and a little peppery. Got some fruit here, and we've got acidity peering through the tannins. Around 2½ hours after opening the nose was showing lots of capsicums, too.

2012 Ogier Côte-Rôtie - started drinking about 2½ hours after decanting, and maybe this has over-aerated a little. Lots of pine needles and potpourri, but where was the jammy fruit? There were some lovely eucalyptus on the nose, with some ripe fruit that was far weaker than I had expected. The wine had clearly softened and was now more elegant. After 3 hours in the decanter, there were a little herbal notes, almost like green tomatoes.

2000 Niepoort Colheita, engarrafado em 2018 - very ripe, very sweet, and very rich, like rum raisin ice cream.

Full post on dinner is here.

04 Maiden and more

Lunch at Caprice.

2012 Billecart Salmon Louis Salmon, myorigin 121233, dégorgée 1er trimestre 2023 - nice and fragrant nose, a little yeasty, with good lemon citrus notes. Nicely balanced on the palate, without being either too dry or too ripe.

2004 Harlan Estate The Maiden - served a little over 30 minutes after opening. Really nice nose with smoke and woodsy notes. A little savory and also leather, not too Californian and actually more French. After 1 hour this was sweeter on the palate. After 1½ hours the wine was showing stewed prunes, and with a new pour there was such huge level of concentration and richness, and even sweeter now, and minty. Finally the true Californian character was coming out.

Bought from the winery for USD 165.

1977 Niepoort Colheita, from imperial - very nutty nose as expected. Love the sweetness and the oxidation, but the nose was a little sharp in terms of alcohol.

Full post on lunch is here.

Drinking at home.

2020 Blanc Sec de Suduiraut - muscat grape, green apple, a little reductive.

Bought from Altaya for HKD 119.

Seoul pairing

Dinner in Vinho in Seoul.

2022 Txomin Etxaniz Getariako Txakolina - very floral nose, flinty and mineral. Lots of tropical stone fruit like a good lolly water. Still got the acidity on the palate, though.

André Beaufort Polisy Réserve, dégorgée en Mai 2023 - a bit toasty on the nose, more lean with some metallic notes, and perhaps a bit of sulfur? Acidity was on the higher side with a long finish. Later on with aeration this started to show more caramel on the nose.

2021 Stadt Krems Ried Wachtberg Grüner Veltliner - refreshing, a little ripe on the nose. The palate was slightly grippy and clears the fishy flavors of the caviar, and the acidity made its presence felt.

Paul Prieur Sancerre Rosé Perpétuel - lots of juicy red fruits like cranberries. Acidity was high but at the same time, this could get grippy on the palate.

2020 Trimbach Riesling Vieilles Vignes - lots of petrol and polyurethane, or "white truffle". A bit more sharp with acetone, with a surprising resemblance to insecticide...

Rodenbach Alexander - obviously very fruity with cherries. Good acidity and not bitter.

2021 Histoire d'Enfer Petite Arvine Réserve - a little bit of toast on the nose, some buckwheat, almost a little savory. Very dry and grippy on the palate, with a long and sharp finish.

2020 Ravaut Ladoix 1er Cru Le Bois Roussot - very fruity and jammy, like a cassis or blackberry jam. Very fragrant.

1995 da Silva Presidential Colheita - nutty, honey, medjool dates, and orange blossom water. So lovely.

Full post on dinner is here.

Parker 90s for gala

Dinner at the Michelin Hong Kong / Macau gala 2023.

2021 Quinta do Vallado Branco Reserva - flinty with nose of tropical stone fruits.

2010 JL Chave Selection Côtes-du-Rhône Mon Coeur - very mineral, minty, lots of leather, a little farmy and stinky.

2020 Vietti Roero Arneis - some flint here, not very interesting.

2020 Penfolds Bin 311 Chardonnay - nice and toasty. Beautiful.

2017 Niepoort Charme - sharp nose of alcohol, very ripe but not in the way I like.

2009 Larrivet Haut-Brion - minty, very ripe and fruity with cassis, tons of oak, some smoke. Pretty nice.

2017 Domaine Franco Chinois Petit Manseng - a little metallic like pear which has oxidized, a little rusty. Syrupy. Very one-dimensional on palate.

Remy Martin XO - about as expected.

Full post on the day is here.

Soalheiro, GPL, and Turley

Dinner at a friend's home.

2021 Soalheiro Alvarinho - green apple, a little flinty. Very light and fresh.

2010 Grand-Puy-Lacoste - drank about 30 minutes after decanting. Very ripe fruit on the nose, so sweet and rich on the palate. Drinking very well now.

2004 Turley Zinfandel Dragon Vineyard - drank about 20 minutes after decanting. Nice and fragrant on the nose. Ripe and jammy on the palate.

Taichung wine pairing

Dinner at JL Studio in Taichung.

2012 Huré Frères Instantanée, dégorgée le novembre 2019 - pretty lean on the palate, since it is, after all, extra brut.

Robert Moncuit Rosé Les Romarines, dégorgée le février 2021 - an interesting rosé made by adding 8% still red wine to 92% chardonnay, hence the color of the final product. A bit flinty on the nose, and nicely balanced on the palate.

2018 Fire Gully Sauvignon Blanc Semillon - much more flinty than expected, with a little muscat on the nose.

2020 Oliver Zeter Chenin Blanc aus Versuchsanbau - very, very floral and fragrant, with white flowers and tropical stone fruits.

2016 Les Vignerons Parisiens Les Templiers - nice and ripe. Sweet and pretty fragrant.

Fang-Tsao Pale Ale (芳草艾爾啤酒) from Taiwind Beer (台風酒造) - really fragrant, light and refreshing. Abso-fucking-lutely my kind of beer.

Caldas White Porto - honey and some apricot on the nose. Amber color was much darker than expected.

Full post on dinner is here.

Henri Bonneau Marie Beurrier

Drinking at a friend's home.

2018 Niepoort Douro Charme

2003 Henri Bonneau Cuvée Marie Beurrier, en magnum - decanted 30 minutes after opening. Nose was a little rubbery, a little leather, with fragrant dried herbs.

2015 Boa-Vista

Lunch at Club Lusitano.

2015 Boa-Vista Reserva - very minty, sweet and ripe on the nose. Very fragrant after opening up a little, with lots of cedar and potpourri notes and some spices.

Full post on lunch 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.