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...

1992 Clerc Milon and 1993 Ridge

Dinner at Morton's in Hong Kong.

1992 Clerc Milon - smooth with good balance of tannin and acidity, but still no fruit left.  A bit of smoke.

Bought from Sinolink for HKD 308.

1993 Ridge Cabernet Santa Cruz Mountains - still very good, with enough fruity sweetness and concentration, and tannins are shedding as evidenced by sediment on the cork!

Bought from BBR for HKD 368.

1993 Pavillon Rouge

Dinner at Hunan Garden in Hong Kong.

1993 Pavillon Rouge de Chateau Margaux - this was alright.  OK.  Decent amount of fruit and concentration.

94 Louis Latour Vosne-Romanée

Drinking at home.

94 Louis Latour Vosne-Romanée - very diluted even for Pinot Noir.  High acidity level.  Nose of glycerin.  Kind of disappointing.

Bought from Remy for HKD 219.

Millenium Party

Millenium Party at brown.

1996 Greg Norman Cabernet Merlot - great stuff!  This is a classic example of how the Cab blends well with Merlot, with Merlot adding sweetness and softening up the tannic Cabernet.  Wow!  No wonder critics like it.

Bought from DFS Singapore for SGD 35.

Tattinger "2000" en magnum - opened just before midnight.  It was a pretty good cuvée, and I got very drunk on it!

Bought from Ponti at the Tattinger tasting, with bottle signed by Pierre-Emmanuel Tattinger.

96 d'Arenberg The Noble

Drinking at home.

1996 d'Arenberg Riesling The Noble - wonderful stuff.

Müller-Burggraef Auslese, Chevalier and Don Maximiano

Drinks at 向日葵 in Taipei.

1996 Müller-Burggraef Reiler Mullay-Hofberg Riesling Auslese - not my favorite as it's very like the Phelps Late Harvest Riesling.  Basically it's slightly sweet and weak, a funny balance with the inherent acidity in white wine.  Also a little bit bubbly.  It's OK, but I wouldn't buy lots of Auslese any time soon.

Contribution from the restaurant owner.

1985 Domane de Chevalier Rouge - decanted for more than an hour.  It was medium-bodied.  The nose was still excellent with good fruit, but really a bit light.  A friend thought it might be over the hill, and I would agree although Chevalier normally is light.  Parker rated it 86 and noted it lacked concentration.

Bought from Eslite for TWD 2,360.

1996 Errazuriz Don Maximiano Founder's Reserve - this was understandably tannic since it's a young Bordeaux blend with lots of Cab, but it has a pronounced earthy nose which I tend to dislike.  Fairy fruity and concentrated.

Contribution from the restaurant owner.

Hudelot-Noellat Clos de Vougeot

Dinner at the Landmark Club in Taipei.

Hudelot-Noellat Clos de Vougeot (vintage forgotten) - very light, not a lot of body and definitely sediment floating around.  A shame it wasn't decanted.  Good acidity balance and OK fruity, but I wouldn't learn to appreciate Pinot Noir from this wine.

Bought from Tatung Atherton.