Henri Bonneau Marie Beurrier

Drinking at a friend's home.

2018 Niepoort Douro Charme

2003 Henri Bonneau Cuvée Marie Beurrier, en magnum - decanted 30 minutes after opening. Nose was a little rubbery, a little leather, with fragrant dried herbs.

2004 Turley Dusi

Drinking at home.

2004 Turley Zinfandel Dusi Vineyard - started drinking 20 minutes after decanting. Alcoholic, a little punchy, acidity was higher than expected. Ripe fruit along with acidity like stewed prunes. Drinking well 3 hours after decanting, showing fragrant spices.

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.

Whites and bubblies

Dinner at Xin Rong Ji.

Kikuhime Yamahai Ginjo (菊姫　山廃吟醸), H9BY - seimaibuai (精米歩合) of 55%. Definitely aged and showing that big, fermented, and savory notes on the palate. Very nice and rounded on the palate.

1992 Taittinger Collection - initially served too warm but the nose had lots of marmalade and honey. Palate was originally a little flat and short, but this got much better after an hour, showing more body and more depth. Also some candied pineapple. After 3 hours still showing some straw and toasty notes.

2011 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Meursault 1er Cru Genevrières - nice and flinty. Got some ripeness on the palate. Nice and sweet on the nose, and definitely buttery.

2002 B de Boërl et Kroff, dégorgée en novembre 2011 - nice and caramelized nose with good acidity on the palate. Nose was still very big some 3 hours after decanting, with lots of savory minerals.

2003 Trimbach Riesling Clos Sainte Hune - very big nose of petrol and polyurethane. Good ripeness on the palate but still got plenty of acidity, and actually still grippy on the finish.

Full post on dinner is here.

2006 Arietta H Block

Drinking at home.

2006 Arietta H Block Hudson Vineyards - started drinking 1 hour after decanting. Minty nose, still got plenty of inky concentration, very fragrant with plenty of woodsy notes, sweet on the palate. Smoke, cassis, ripe and alluring.

Whites for Chinese

Dinner at Mian.

1999 Maximin Grünhauser Abtsberg Auslese-trocken - lots of petrol and white flowers on the nose. Not too sweet on the palate. It's clear that there is ripeness and the wine was rounded on the palate, but the acidity was still there.

2018 Blanc de Lynch-Bages - pretty ripe on the palate. Huge flinty nose with tons of toasty oak, along with vanilla and cotton candy bringing sweetness on the nose.

Full post on dinner is here.

Simple wines for spicy food

Dinner at Deng G in Wanchai.

Frederic Savart L'Ouverture, dégorgée en mars 2021 - yeasty nose, with bigger mineral nose. Good depth on the palate.

2019 Occhipinti SP68 Rosso - simple and one dimensional at first, opened up more about an hour later, showing more woodsy notes.

2015 Maison Leroy Bourgogne Blanc - flinty, a little tropical stone fruit.

Full post on dinner is here.

2007 L'Esprit des Pavots

Drinking at home.

2007 Peter Michael L'Esprit des Pavots - drank 30 minutes after decanting. Nose seemed concentrated, with a little ripeness but not quite cooked fruit. Plenty of Asian spices and new oak on the nose. Palate was more refined and silky than expected. After one hour in the decanter the nose was even more fragrant with dried herbs, potpourri, and definitely sweet fruit but not overripe or jammy. About 2 hours after decanting this hit a plateau, not getting better but also not falling apart. Still kinda OK after 3½ hours.