1997 Clos Apalta

Dinner at Octavium.

1997 Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta - decanted for 30 minutes prior to serving.  Sweet fruit, a little inky, with grilled meat notes.  Surprisingly tannic.

Full post on dinner is here.

Wines for Central pop-up

Pop-up dinner by Virgilio Martinez at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental.

2012 Ulrich Langguth Riesling '3 Terraces' Trocken - mineral and toasty on the nose.  Full-bodied, ripe on the palate and dry on the finish.

2010 Tement Gelber Muskateller Steirische Klassik - completely muscat grape... pretty ripe and sweet.  Love it.

2011 Jean-Philippe Fichet Meursault -a little oaky, ripe on the nose, and also ripe mid-palate with a dry finish.

2009 Aristos Baron d'A - very fruity and sweet, jammy, fragrant and woody.  A little alcoholic on the nose.  Still kinda tannic here but there's enough acidity for balance.

2011 Château des Fines Roches Rouge - very fruity with nice leather notes.

2011 Joh.Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese - classic nose of petrol and plastic.  Surprisingly not too sweet on the palate.

Demonio de los Andes Pisco - some tropical and banana notes reminiscent of some sake.

Full post on dinner is here.

1998 Casa Lapostolle

Hotpot dinner.

1998 Casa Lapostolle Merlot Cuvée Alexandre - kinda disappointing. Only a bit of fruit, mostly covered by a grassy nose which took a while to fade.

Bought from Manly.

Casa Lapostolle

Dinner at Gaia.

2001(?) Casa Lapostolle Sauvignon Blanc - not bad at all.

1999(?) Casa Lapostolle Cabernet Sauvignon Cuvée Alexandre - pretty good and easy to drink, as expected.

97 Clos Apalta

Dinner at Annexx.

1997 Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta - pretty nice. Nose of caramel, coconut, mocha, strawberry. Very New World and forward. Very Michel Rolland. Acidity was a bit high, still very young so full-bodied and there was a good amount of tannins. But surprisingly lots of sediment here.

Bought from Shinanoya for JPY 7,350.

1997 Chileans

Chilean wine tasting at Manly Wine City.

1997 Le Dix de Los Vascos - surprisingly sweet. Tannins were heavy for the young cab.

1997 Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta - this was much lighter with a sweeter nose. The berries were more prominent, and shows the characters of merlot. Finish was a it spicy and turns tannic on the tongue. Very nice but too young.

1997 Almaviva - this was not anjoyable at first. It was so typically Bordeaux, very weedy and earthy. Could not taste much fruit. However it opened up more after another half hour and fruit was more evident.

1997 Carmen - not enjoyale

1997 Los Boldos - not enjoyable.

Alkoomi, Torreon de Paredes and Reignac

Dinner at brown.

1997 Alkoomi Cabernet Sauvignon - good body and structure.  Nice nose.  Berries, slightly sweet.  Fairly tannic since it's so young, but nice.  Sweet after taste.

Brought by wine merchant.

1995 Torreon de Paredes Reserve - this was opened along with the first bottle, and by now it had an awesome nose.  I took one whiff and it was "wow"!  Incredible how it opened up.  Very smooth and velvety tannins.  Good concentration with lots of sweet fruit.  Yum!

Brought by wine merchant.

1996 Reignac en demi-bouteille - the nose showed obvious signs of earthiness and vegetal character, something I usually don't like.  But overall it was OK, with good concentration.  Funny how you can always tell a Bordeaux Cab...

WOMAD

Second day of WOMAD at Fort Canning Park.

1996 Trimbach Riesling - delicious and reliable as ever.  Crisp but without the oak.  Bought at Tanglin Marketplace for SGD 29.

1995 Casa Lapostolle Merlot Cuvée Alexandre - drinking out of a plastic cup wasn't ideal, but oh well... Very nice and smooth tannins.  Medium sweetness.