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.

Inemankai and Tengumai

Dinner at Sushi Sase Hanare.

Inemankai Red Rice Sake (伊根満開 赤米酒), from isshobin (一升瓶) - surprisingly a little tart and bitter, given that this has a Nihonshudo (日本酒度) of -18.  Very rounded and smooth on the palate.  It was, obviously, a little sweeter than your average sake, which is why it is popular with the ladies and even the female winemaker suggests that it be served on the rocks or mixed with soda water.

Tengumai Yukanpaku (天狗舞 有歓伯), from isshobin (一升瓶) - seimaibuai (精米歩合) of 35%. Sweet on the attack but slightly drier later, with very strong, fermented flavors.  Later on this became much drier on the palate.

Full post on dinner is here.

Meursalt and Hermitage

Dinner at Neighborhood.

2005 Vincent Girardin Meursault 1er Cru Les Charmes-Dessus - kinda ripe, a little toasty and flinty.

2014 Arnaud Ente Clos des Ambres - a litte toasty, leaner, with flint.  Ripe on the palate but there is acidity on the finish.

1996 Chapoutier Ermitage "L'Ermite" - decanted 1 hour prior to serving  Somewhat muted at first, with forest pine and some sweet fruit.

Full post on dinner is here.

1990 Champagne and Burgs

Dinner at Derby Restaurant at the Hong Kong Jockey Club with Virgilio Martinez as guest chef.

1990 Louis Roederer Cristal - very caramelized nose, with savory minerals, fragrant, sweet grass.  Nice and still plenty of acidity on the palate.

1990 Salon - higher acidity than the Cristal, also caramelized nose, but more flinty.  Still got some fizz here.

2007 Etienne Sauzet Batard-Montrachet - initially served too cold so not very open.  Very dry on the palate, a little toasty at first.  Worked wonderfully with the dishes.

2007 Armand Rousseau Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques - fruity, minty, dried herbs, a little floral, lots of eucalyptus, really beautiful.

2004 Domaine Leroy Vosne-Romanée - this was fucking beautiful.  Soooo sweet and fruity, with leather notes.

Full post on dinner is here.

2003 Torbreck Descendant

Dinner at Frantzén's Kitchen.

2003 Torbreck Descendant, from magnum - sweet and jammy as expected, with lots of fried herbs.  Actually good acidity here, and the wine has softened enough while retaining concentration.  Lots of oak and eucalyptus.  Very fragrant.

Full post on dinner is here.

2 Montrachets and a Van Berg

Dinner at Uwe.

2001 Vincent Girardin Le Montrachet - popped and poured.  A little toasty, kinda muted at first, definitely good acidity here.  Minerality came out with the oyster.

2009 Lucien Le Moine Montrachet Cuvée "C" - one hour in bottle, 2 hours stoppered, 45 minutes in the decanter, 20 minutes back in the bottle, then 1 hour in decanter on ice prior to serving.  Minerals came out, sweet and caramelized nose, and more toasty later... but rather short on palate.  5½ hours after first opening the wine started to improve.  Six hours after opening the wine opened up nicely.  This wine definitely needs lots of air.

2009 Bernard Van Berg Les Echalas, bottle 21/121 - 1 hour and 15 minutes in decanter prior to serving.  Surprisingly very clean on the nose, a little oaky, powerful on the palate and very alcoholic.  Softened in glass and became a little sweeter.

2000 Comte Georges de Vogüé Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses - fruity, minty, dried herbs, very fragrant.  Drinking pretty well.  After sitting in glass for a while, the nose became similar to Chinese ginger tea with brown sugar.

1997 René Engel Clos Vougeot - initially lots of black olives and stewed prunes, with leather notes.  There is sweet fruit underneath which showed up after a bit more swirling.

1990 Angelus - an hour in the decanter prior to serving.  So beautiful!  Smoky, minty, pencil lead.  So smooth on the palate.

Full post on dinner is here.

MNSC dinner - Derby

MNSC dinner at Derby Restaurant, hosted by Lord Rayas.

1973 Bollinger - no bubbles whatsoever by now.  Very oxidized, heavy salty plum nose, a little stinky even, with a little sugar cane.  Interesting on the nose but not on the palate.

Flight 1: opened 1 hour without decanting prior to serving.

1973 Ridge Monte Bello - a little sweet grass, smoke, a little banana, some fragrant wood notes.  Acidity showed up on the palate on the second pour.  95 points.

1973 Vega Sicilia Unico - a little burnt rubber at first, with some coffee and sweeter notes later.  Still a little tannic but fairly smooth overall.  94 points.

Flight 2: opened for 2 hours without decanting prior to serving.

1979 Rayas - sweet and fruity, some leather notes, but very clean.  95 points

1981 Rayas - a little burnt rubber?  Sweet fruit here, too.  93 points.

Flight 3: decanted for 2 hours prior to serving.

2004 Rayas - sweet fruit, minty, fragrant, floral and potpourri notes.  A little grippy on the palate.  94 points.

2004 DRC Grands Échézeaux - a little stinky at first but lovely.  Sweet fruit, stemmy, dried herbs, leather notes, a little soapy and floral.  Beautiful!  98 points.

Flight 4: decanted for 1 hour and 15 minutes prior to serving.

1990 Tertre Roteboeuf - stinky, with leather and animal notes, smoky, and a little stewed prunes.  Sweet on the palate.  93 points.

1990 Troplong Mondot - smoky, a little stinky.  Also a little sweet on the palate.  90 points.

Full post on dinner is here.

2003 Arietta Variation One

Dinner at Neighborhood.

2003 Arietta Variation One - very ripe and sweet on the nose.  Later on really fragrant and oaky, and jammy and rich.  Tannins still strong.  Wine held up for more than 3 hours after opening, but after 3½ hours tannins felt more astringent and became more prominent.  After 4 hours, showed some coffee notes on top of smoke.

Full post on dinner is here.