2003 Carruades

Drinks at Hong Kong Club.

2003 Carruades de Lafite - a little smoke, cedar, dried herbs, minty, plum, black fruits.  Sharp and alcoholic at first but faded with time in decanter.  Full bodied, tannins still there but not heavy.  Sweeter on the nose and on palate, especially compared to 2000.

Sugandake Hokuetsunokaze

Dinner at Tenzen.

Etsugosenzan Sugandake Hokuetsunokaze Ginjo (越後泉山 菅名岳 北越の風 吟醸) - very smooth on the front palate, soft and sweet.  Mid-palate to finish was actually a little dry and spicy, especially with more aeration.  60% seimaibuai.

94 Chapoutier L'Orée and 95 VCC

Dinner at Fook Lam Moon.

1994 Chapoutier L'Orée en magnum - a bit vegetal, grassy, straw notes.  A little sweet from ripeness but not what I had hoped for.  Over the hill.  No real palate and no finish.

1995 Vieux Château Certain en magnum - a little spicy, exotic spices, smoky, black fruits.  Medium bodied.

Full post on dinner is here.

1995 Remirez de Ganuza Reserva

Dinner at Upper Modern Bistro.

1995 Remirez de Ganuza Reserva - pretty ripe, plummy, a little smoky.  Very smooth on the palate.

Full post on dinner is here.

270 Years of Moët & Chandon

Moët and Chandon and Sotheby's pre-auction tasting at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.

2004 Moët and Chandon Grand Vintage - made with 1/3 each of the 3 cépages.  Acidity slightly high  Pretty toasty nose, a little heavy but in a good way.  Easy to drink with a long finish.

1990 Moët and Chandon Grand Vintage Collection, disgorged October 2003 - released in two batches - in 1995 and 2008.  The bottles tonight were from the 2008 batch.  How beautiful this was!  Yeasty, bready like a fresh baguette.  Toasty and big nose, with coffee, a little dried apricot, caramelized, starting to turn into Chinese salty plum (話梅).  Soooo lovely.  Wonderful acidity balance, soft and voluptuous.  It's hard to imagine a more gorgeous wine.

1985 Moët and Chandon Grand Vintage Collection en magnum, disgorged November 2002 - nose was bigger, heavier and toastier compared to the 1990.  Toasty corn, with higher acidity in the nose, and some coffee.  Powerful and ripe on the front palate, but there's acidity on the back palate.

1975 Moët and Chandon Grand Vintage Collection en magnum, disgorged June 2002 - an interesting vintage in that it was 70% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay with no Pinot Meunier.  Very heavy toast in the nose, with what I thought was a hint of cumin.  Turning nutty with some coffee notes.  Smooth on the palate and pretty nice.

1962 Moët and Chandon Grand Vintage Collection en magnum, disgorged February 2013 - surprisingly vibrant, thanks to the very recent disgorgement.  Very nutty, with heavy toast, coffee and perhaps a hint of coconut.  Really lovely nose, and very smooth on the palate.

1990 Moët and Chandon Grand Vintage Rosé Collection - more red fruits, and fuller on the palate.  I was getting pretty buzzed by this point…

It was interesting to learn the philosophical and stylistic differences between Moët and Chandon Grand Vintage and Cuvée Dom Pérignon.  The former is made in the style which is representative of the Champagne region and also of the vintage, while the latter is only produced in years where it is possible to follow the specific Dom Pérignon style.

Full post on the tasting is here.

Cave drinking

Dinner at a friend's man-cave.

Delamotte Blanc de Bancs - surprisingly ripe on the palate and not that acidic.  Pretty enjoyable.

2010 Colin-Deléger Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Demoiselles - pretty ripe and sweet on the nose, with citrus, a bit of orange and minerals.  Ripe on mid-palate with acidity coming up on the finish.

1999 Gaja Costa Russi - smoky, ripe fruits, a little stewed, a hint of spices.

2009 Geantet-Pansiot Charmes-Chambertin - big nose of forest, pine needle, sweet but very cool fruit.  Still a little sharp and will need more time to soften, but pretty enjoyable.

Full post on dinner is here.

Vogue, Fourrier and Clinet

Drinks at Watson's Wine Cellars.

2003 Vogüé Bourgogne Blanc - pretty sweet on the nose, bubble gum, oxidized, cane sugar, very much like a Marsanne, ripe with straw notes.

2004 Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint-Jacques - farmy, pretty open nose, nice and sweet.  Nose of forest, black cherries, cool fruit.  Very lovely.

1988 Clinet - animal, smoky, earthy, some fruit, pencil lead.

90 Clos Ste Hune and 01 Maiden

Dinner at the Workers' Stadium branch of Da Dong in Beijing.

1990 Trimbach Riesling Clos Sainte Hune - nose of polyurethane, petrol and minerals.  Surprisingly fresh and not oxidized at all.  Very nice acidity balance.  Nose wasn't as big and powerful as I expected, but this was very elegant with a long and lovely finish.  The 14% alcohol was hardly noticeable.

2001 Harlan The Maiden - aired in the decanter for a while.  Still a little alcoholic on the nose.  A little smoky, which worked well with the smoky flavors of the Peking duck.  Could use a little more aging, but starting to drink pretty well.  This may not be a classic Pauillac, but in a blind tasting I'd be hard pressed to pin it as a Californian, as there's none of that extracted, super-ripe fruit or heavy oak.  Much more French than your typical Cali Cab.

Full post on dinner is here.