2018 Gantenbein

Dinner at Neighborhood.

2018 Gantenbein Pinot Noir - showing big and toasty nose right off the bat, with lots of juicy red cherries. Young and powerful.

Bought from Swiss Wine for HKD 1,121.

2022 Alex Foillard Beaujolais-Villages - fresh and lively, nose of eucalyptus and cool fruit. Good acidity on the palate but tannins are obviously still around.

Full post on dinner is here.

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.

Charmes and friends

Dinner at Forum Restaurant.

2018 Emidio Pepe Trebbiano d'Abruzzo - pretty fragrant nose, a little acetone with a little flint, and kinda on the lean side.

2018 Gantenbein Chardonnay - served 2 hours after opening. Already showing beautifully with toasty oak that definitely reminded one of Meursault, but more elegant. Four hours after opening this was still showing flint and toast. Drinking so, so well.

2010 Joseph Roty Charmes-Chambertin Cuvée de Très Vieilles Vignes - decanted 15 minutes after opening and served 1 hour after opening. Nose was definitely oxidized, showing a little stewed fruit, and more savory notes on the nose. Improved a little 1½ hours after opening, but still off.

2002 Claude Dugat Charmes-Chambertin - served 2 hours after decanting. Very nice and elegant, with a good mix of fruit and leather notes.

1992 Bryant Family - served 2 hours and 15 minutes after decanting. Nose was soooo fragrant, with mint, tobacco, pencil lead. Soft and rounded on the palate, with a touch of sweetness. Opened up to show a huge nose with leather and a hint of green pepper. Absolutely fantastic.

Full post on dinner is here.

2009 pinot and more

Dinner at Andō.

Egly-Ouriet Les Vignes de Vrigny, dégorgée en juillet 2021 - pretty nice, lovely and toasty nose. Good balance with some acidity, which is noticeable but not too sharp.

2019 Moron-Garcia Marsannay Clos du Roy - decanted for 30 minutes before back in bottle, and decanted a second time 1 hour after initial opening. Very sweet on the nose like candy, very fruity, a little oak, with some dried herbs. Improved a little after 15 minutes, and showed even better after another 1-2 hours. This wine needed time.

2009 Gantenbein Pinot Noir - showing pretty nicely after about 30 minutes in the decanter. Nice and fragrant, a little woodsy, but kinda unstable on the finish. Second pour about 1 hour in was showing more leather and animal, and after 1½ hour in the decanter the nose was big and toasty. Damn nice, even if the palate couldn't keep up all the way.

2005 Lucien Le Moine Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes - served more than an hour after decanting. A little eucalyptus on top of some toasty notes. Tannins were till kinda grippy.

2009 Lucien Le Moine Clos de Vougeot - served 1½ hours after decanting. A little eucalyptus on the nose but more muted than expected. Pretty smooth on the palate but kinda flat. After more than 3 hours in the decanter this showed more body. Kinda disappointing.

2009 Jean Grivot Clos de Vougeot - served 1½ hours after decanting. This came with a huge toasty nose, and I definitely did not expect this to overpower the Lucien Le Moine.

Full post on dinner is here.

Kistler and Studach Pinot

Drinking at home.

2003 Kistler Chardonnay Vine Hill Vineyard - nose was very, very sweet with marzipan and acetone. Palate was ripe and slightly bitter, but still drinkable.

2017 Thomas Studach Pinot Noir - tasted 1 hour after opening. Nose of leather and black cherries. Not much body, though... and color was on the light and cloudy side. A little more toast, and quite fragrant about 1½ hours after opening.

Kususa, Gantenbein and more

Dinner at Ta Vie.

Jacques Selosse Initial, dégorgée le 22 mai 2014 - very yeasty nose, really floral and fragrant.  Great depth on palate.

2015 Gantenbein Riesling - white flowers, a little tropical stone fruit, and flint.  Riper on the palate than expected.  With more aeration, petrol notes became more prominent. 

2008 Petitjean Montrachet - what a surprise!  The nose was soooo fruity and tropical like pineapples and peaches, with some acetone.  I couldn't believe this was a chardonnay.

2013 Kusuda Pinot Noir - lovely nose with plenty of sweet fruit.  Very clean, cool fruit.  Eucalyptus and roses, very floral.

Full post on dinner is here.

La Colombe Féchy

Drinking at home.

2018 La Colombe Féchy - nose of tropical fruits, riper on the palate than expected, but still got acidity here.  A hint of pungent nose.  A little grippy on the palate.

2014 Gantenbein Chard

Lunch at Petrus.

2014 Gantenbein Chardonnay - decanted just prior to serving.  Beautiful nose with toasty notes that wasn't overwhelming, like roasted corn with butter on top.  Creamy and buttery for sure.  Good acidity on the palate.  Beautiful and opulent.  Got more toasty as it opened up.

Full post on lunch is here.

Daishichi and Ducru

Dinner at Nikushou.

Daishichi Kimoto Junmai Daiginjo Shizuku Genshu Tamayori Gozen Ginkan (大七  生酛純米大吟醸雫原酒  玉依御前  銀漢), 2013 - a limited edition of 1,200 bottles released to celebrate the 1,200th anniversary of the founding of the monastery on Mount Koya (高野山) by Kobo-daishi (弘法大師).　With a seimaibuai (精米歩合) of 50%.  Nose of banana, sticky rice, a little sharp alcohol, kinda like paint thinner.  A little bitter on the palate.  Later this softened up after more aeration, and got sweeter on the palate.

2001 Arnaud Ente Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Referts - oxidized nose, almost Chinese licorice, with lovely lemon citrus.  Acidity was not too high.

1986 Ducru-Beaucaillou - Served 1½ hours after decanting.  Smoky with a hint of grass.  Actually it was TCA and the wine was lightly corked.  Some graphite and mint, leather.  Pretty nice after 3 hours when the wine has fully opened up, and the TCA faded into the background.

1997 Dubois Chasselas Réserve de la Famille - oxidized nose, sweet like Chinese licorice, but flat on the palate with zero finish.  A little later showed a little flinty notes, and also grassy and green notes.

Full post on dinner is here.

Swiss wine day

Tasting at Lavaux Vinorama.

2017 Jacques et Aurelia Joly Lavaux Pinot Gris - very floral, beautiful, just like an Alsatian pinot gris.  Notes of stone fruits like peaches, tropical, flinty.

2018 Robert et Vincent Chevalley Rivaz Sauvignon - more flint here, leaner on the nose, but interestingly ripe and rounded on the palate.

2018 Jean-Marc Favez Chardonne Viognier - really floral and perfumed, ripe and sweet on the nose, with some sweetness on the palate but also a bit of flint and stone fruit.

2016 Pinguet St-Saphorin - a blend of 70% pinot noir, 20% diolinoir, and 10% mara.  Fruity but a bit more heavy and firm, with a little potpourri.

2016 Béat-Louis Bujard Villa Novara - a blend of merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and syrah.  Sweet nose like bubblegum, with lots of sweet sugar and very exotic.  Unfortunately the palate was just so-so and light.

Lunch at Là-Haut in Chardonne.

2016 Gantenbein Chardonnay - decanted prior to serving.  Very big nose of toast, more ripe and mature, more buttery, more coffee, and more open and flamboyant. Very delicious.

2015 Coche-Dury Meursault - initially very restrained, showing toasty notes and lots of flint.  Thirty-minutes after decanting the toasty notes got much stronger, but the palate also remained lean with higher acidity.  This was obviously more complex, with lemon citrus notes.  One hour after decanting this became more elegant.

Dinner at a friend's home.

2005 Cheval Blanc - decanted for 1½ hours prior to serving.  Pungent and very bretty, a little dirty, smoky.  Lots of concentration here, with decent amount of fruit underneath the smoke.

Full post on the day is here.