Full notes on dinner is here.
June 19, 2008
2004 Teliani Valley Teliani
Full notes on dinner is here.
June 18, 2008
2005 Marani Kindzmarauli
Full notes on dinner is here.
June 14, 2008
A trio of Baltikas
May 30, 2008
MNSC Dinner - Amber
MNSC dinner at Amber, hosted by Dr. Poon.
Theme of the evening was to pair a grand vin with its second wine.
First flight:
1982 La Tour Haut-Brion - first impression was a hint of sweet grass, with plenty of alcohol in the nose, along with a bit of brett and smoke. With time the nose became a bit sweeter. I rated it 93 points while the Parker score was 99.
1982 La Mission Haut-Brion - nose was smoky, more open than the La Tour Haut-Brion. Good amount of sweet fruit on the nose, and there was more power here. Still plenty of tannins here but the finish became a bit acidic. I rated it 94 points against the 99-point Parker score. Quite disappointed in the wine, actually.
Second pair:
1986 Léoville-Las Cases - a very open wine with lots of sweet fruit on the nose. Powerful and concentrated. I rated this 94 points against the 98 points given by Parker. Oh and I did guess the wine's identity correctly...partly due to luck.
1986 Clos du Marquis - amazing amounts of sweet fruit, powerful and very open. There was good length on the finish, but after a while it was clearly fading in the glass. I rated this 96 points. No Parker score given.
Last pair:
1990 Montrose - what a wine! Amazing power and an explosion of sweet fruit. There was also a bit of smoky grilled meats and bacon fat. What else can you say about this wine? A few of us were able to immediately identify this wine from the memory of its sheer brilliance. This is a wine that never fails to impress. I rated it 96 points against its perfect Parker score, because the wine faded a little in glass at the end.
1990 La Dame de Montrose - I thought the Montrose was a great wine, but this was actually better! Once again an explosion of sweet fruit, with more smoky cigar and a large dose of "farmy" nose of grilled and gamey meats. This wine just blew me away. I rated it 98 points against Parker's score of 90.
We were utterly amazed by the result of this blind tasting. In general we preferred the second wines to their grand vin counterparts, and all of these wines have had enough time to evolve and reach their drinking plateau. In the case of the last flight, the two wines had a 10-point difference in Parker score, and we preferred the second wine that cost about 1/8 of the price of the grand vin!
Theme of the evening was to pair a grand vin with its second wine.
First flight:
1982 La Tour Haut-Brion - first impression was a hint of sweet grass, with plenty of alcohol in the nose, along with a bit of brett and smoke. With time the nose became a bit sweeter. I rated it 93 points while the Parker score was 99.
1982 La Mission Haut-Brion - nose was smoky, more open than the La Tour Haut-Brion. Good amount of sweet fruit on the nose, and there was more power here. Still plenty of tannins here but the finish became a bit acidic. I rated it 94 points against the 99-point Parker score. Quite disappointed in the wine, actually.
Second pair:
1986 Léoville-Las Cases - a very open wine with lots of sweet fruit on the nose. Powerful and concentrated. I rated this 94 points against the 98 points given by Parker. Oh and I did guess the wine's identity correctly...partly due to luck.
1986 Clos du Marquis - amazing amounts of sweet fruit, powerful and very open. There was good length on the finish, but after a while it was clearly fading in the glass. I rated this 96 points. No Parker score given.
Last pair:
1990 Montrose - what a wine! Amazing power and an explosion of sweet fruit. There was also a bit of smoky grilled meats and bacon fat. What else can you say about this wine? A few of us were able to immediately identify this wine from the memory of its sheer brilliance. This is a wine that never fails to impress. I rated it 96 points against its perfect Parker score, because the wine faded a little in glass at the end.
1990 La Dame de Montrose - I thought the Montrose was a great wine, but this was actually better! Once again an explosion of sweet fruit, with more smoky cigar and a large dose of "farmy" nose of grilled and gamey meats. This wine just blew me away. I rated it 98 points against Parker's score of 90.
We were utterly amazed by the result of this blind tasting. In general we preferred the second wines to their grand vin counterparts, and all of these wines have had enough time to evolve and reach their drinking plateau. In the case of the last flight, the two wines had a 10-point difference in Parker score, and we preferred the second wine that cost about 1/8 of the price of the grand vin!
May 28, 2008
2004 Frédéric Magnien Gevrey-Chambertin VV
2004 Frédéric Magnien Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes - drunk over lunch at Pierre. Initially the wine was all sweet fruit, very forward and just the new style that I like. Gradually the wine softened a bit and the structure, complexity and acidity came out, making it more balanced and classic. Finish was a bit short but hey, it's only a village wine after all.
May 26, 2008
Meeting François Mauss
Dinner at the Fortune Room of the Jockey Club with François Mauss of Grand Jury Europeen and Cecilia Roger from Morgassi Superiore.
2001 Ramonet Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champs Canet - a very elegant wine with toasty oak, sweet grass, sweet butter on the nose. Medium acidty on the palate. This wine is fresh and showed lots of finesse.
1983 Leroy Meursault Les Narvaux - another great wine. The nose was very sweet with honey, apricot and pear notes. The palate had a touch of sweetness and not much acidity compared to the Ramonet. The nose had clearly oxidized somewhat, like a pear that had been cut open and sat around. At the end of the dinner, the few drops left in our glasses showed what a truly amazing wine this was.
2004 Rollan de By - pretty delicious for a wine that costs EUR 8 a bottle...nose of sweet fruit, a bit of smoke, lead pencil and that medicinal/antiseptic nose that comes from brett. Drinks pretty well but finish a tad short.
2002 Haut Condissas - with a much sweeter nose, also a bit of smoke, pain grille and (dare I say) oriental spices. A more complex wine with a longer finish, this is again excellent value at only EUR 15.
2001 Ramonet Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champs Canet - a very elegant wine with toasty oak, sweet grass, sweet butter on the nose. Medium acidty on the palate. This wine is fresh and showed lots of finesse.
1983 Leroy Meursault Les Narvaux - another great wine. The nose was very sweet with honey, apricot and pear notes. The palate had a touch of sweetness and not much acidity compared to the Ramonet. The nose had clearly oxidized somewhat, like a pear that had been cut open and sat around. At the end of the dinner, the few drops left in our glasses showed what a truly amazing wine this was.
2004 Rollan de By - pretty delicious for a wine that costs EUR 8 a bottle...nose of sweet fruit, a bit of smoke, lead pencil and that medicinal/antiseptic nose that comes from brett. Drinks pretty well but finish a tad short.
2002 Haut Condissas - with a much sweeter nose, also a bit of smoke, pain grille and (dare I say) oriental spices. A more complex wine with a longer finish, this is again excellent value at only EUR 15.
May 25, 2008
2005 Guigal La Doriane
2005 Guigal La Doriane - drunk over dinner at the Pawn. It showed a nose of minerals, citrus lemon and a bit of butter; with a medium sweet palate and a "hot" and spicy finish. It was a yummy wine, but disappointing to me because it did not taste like a Condrieu. Where was the overpowering floral nose that comes from the Viognier? Frankly this wine tasted like a Chardonnay from a ripe vintage - in fact it tastes like a 2005 white Burgundy. I cannot help but feel a little cheated.
May 16, 2008
Mixing things up for a Chinese meal
Dinner at Fook Lam Moon (福臨門).
2005 Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Turckheim - everyone identified the intense lychee nose immediately, and there was also a hint of minerals. The wine was so sweet on the palate, more than I expected, and tasted a bit "hot". I checked the bottle and found that it was 15% alcohol. No wonder! But given that this came from 2005 I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised. They obviously picked from very, very ripe fruit.
1999 Clos Mogador - the first whiff of the nose showed lots of power, with sweet vanilla and fruit. Taking the first sip, however, I was a little disappointed. The acidity struck me, and I thought that this wine would turn out to be more traditionally Spanish than I had hoped for. Fortunately the acidity faded, but the wine was still tannic on the palate with a long finish. Not what I had hoped for.
2003 Hugel Gewurztraminer Jubilee - this was much lighter and more floral than the Zind, and still with a hint of lychee.
1997 Pahlmeyer Red - plenty of sweet fruit and vanilla in the nose. The tannins were round and smooth on the palate, and I liked it better than the Mogador.
2005 Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Turckheim - everyone identified the intense lychee nose immediately, and there was also a hint of minerals. The wine was so sweet on the palate, more than I expected, and tasted a bit "hot". I checked the bottle and found that it was 15% alcohol. No wonder! But given that this came from 2005 I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised. They obviously picked from very, very ripe fruit.
1999 Clos Mogador - the first whiff of the nose showed lots of power, with sweet vanilla and fruit. Taking the first sip, however, I was a little disappointed. The acidity struck me, and I thought that this wine would turn out to be more traditionally Spanish than I had hoped for. Fortunately the acidity faded, but the wine was still tannic on the palate with a long finish. Not what I had hoped for.
2003 Hugel Gewurztraminer Jubilee - this was much lighter and more floral than the Zind, and still with a hint of lychee.
1997 Pahlmeyer Red - plenty of sweet fruit and vanilla in the nose. The tannins were round and smooth on the palate, and I liked it better than the Mogador.
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