Bordeaux red, Paillard and more

Dinner at On Lot 10.

2004 Bruno Paillard Assemblage Brut, degorgée en Mars 2012 - yeasty nose, with ripeness on the palate but surprisingly high acidity.

1983 von Schubert Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Riesling Auslese - very big nose of plastic and polyurethane, with white flowers and acetone.  A little sweet but still nicely balanced.

2011 Ram's Hill Sauvignon Blanc - mineral, flinty, green apple, muscat grapes.  Very ripe, and absolutely beautiful.  One of my favorite Sauvignon Blancs in the world.

1996 Grand-Puy-Lacoste - smoky and cedar notes.  Very fragrant and delish.

2008 Cos d'Estournel - very ripe and exotic nose, with vanilla and coconut butter.  Very sweet, too.

Full post on dinner is here.

Rosé and Bordelet Poire

Dinner at a friend's house.

Chartogne-Talliet Rosé - really nice to drink, with raspberries and a nice, ripe palate.

2009 Eric Bordelet Poiré Granit en magnum - huge nose of minerals, lots of flint, with very deep, intense pear flavors.  Higher acidity than expected.  Delicious.  Made from up to 14 varieties of pears from 300-year old trees in Normandy.

Wines at Pierre

Dinner at Pierre.

2004 Tattinger Comtes de Champagne - pretty ripe with a little minerality.

2009 Bouzereau Meursault 1er Cru Les Charmes Dessus - a little flint, a little ripe and a little sweet.  Initially too muted as it was too cold.

2005 Talbot - a little minty, smoky and a little sweet.

2005 François Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Moelleux - a little ripe, almost smoky but not quite.  Acetone, marmalade, musty and bready?

Roses de Jeanne Inflorescence La Parcelle Blanc de Noirs Lieu-dit "Côte de Béchalin", dégorgée en Avril 2012 - I couldn't for the life of me figure out the vintage that was stamped on the table.  Oh well... Classic Cedric Bouchard... yeasty nose, very smooth on the palate, a little ripe and actually somewhat bitter on the finish.  Always happy to drink anything from this man...

Full post on dinner is here.

GPL, Solare and Grange

Dinner at Chiu Tang.

2003 Grand-Puy-Lacoste - minty, a bit smoky.  Classic Left Bank that never goes out of style.

2001 Capanelle Solare - a little smoky, some tannins here, and I could smell the acidity.

1981 Penfolds Grange - very obvious coconut butter, sweet, vanilla, a little leather, and minty.  Smooth on the palate now but still full-bodied.

Full post on dinner is here.

Wine pairing with Indian food

Dinner at the Gaggan pop-up at the Landmark Mandarin.

Frozen Bite - pineapple juice, coconut water, lime juice, coconut and lime (?) foam.  Definitely very tropical.

Paradise - coconut water, coconut milk, lime juice (?) and a sprinkle of tonka bean powder on top.  A little too rich for my taste...

2012 Pascal and Nicolas Reverdy Sancerre Blanc Terre de Maimbray - nose of flint, mineral, and slightly ripe, very aromatic.  Dry on the palate, which was a perfect match with oysters.

2012 Sebastiani Chardonnay Sonoma Coast - as New World as it gets when it comes to Chardonnay... tons of vanilla, tropical and floral notes.  Very ripe on the palate.  I first commented that this was "very Cali", but that puzzled My Favorite Cousin because to her, it tasted just like an Aussie Chard...  I guess many New World Chardonnays all taste like this...

2009 Nevis Bluff Pinot Noir - interestingly this seemed to be mostly cool fruit, with lots of forest and dried herb notes, perhaps tasting a little bit of stem.  There was also some ripeness in the fruit.

2011 Couly-Dutheil Chinon 'Domaine Rene Couly' - a little smokiness, almost like Chinese medicine along with exotic spices.  Kinda tannic still... Paired well with the pork.

2010 Fattoria di Petroio Lenzi Chianti Classico - slightly higher acidity here.  This was OK, but in reality my taste buds weren't exactly operating at full capacity after the lamb chop...

2007 Schlumberger Pinot Gris Spiegel - a little ripe and slightly tropical.

Full post on dinner is here.

1940 Cheval Blanc

Dinner at STAY in Taipei.

1940 Cheval Blanc - very light in color... almost fading to a rosé... with LOTS of sediment here.  There was still some fruit here, a little prune, leather, animal, and smoked meats.  The nose improved with aeration in the bottle, and after one hour I even detected some savory minerals.  The wine drank very nicely, and even after almost 3 hours the wine had not faded.  Fantastic stuff!

1940 Sisqueille Rivesaltes - I brought the leftover from last night and finished it off, offering some to the chefs at the end of the meal.  Nose has softened up a little, but the alcohol was still a little sharp.  Still got the marmalade, nutty, and apricot notes.

Full post on dinner is here.

1940 Sisqueille

Drinking at home.

1940 Sisqueille Rivesaltes, mis en bouteille 2010 - nutty, fragrant, apricot, marmalade, medjool dates.  A little alcoholic.

Ginsberg + Chan party

Drinking at Ginsberg + Chan opening party.

Krug Grande Cuvée - can never go wrong with this.

2011 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Puligny-Montrachet Le Trezin en jeroboam - initially a little dusty, then it faded and revealed toasty oak, toasted corn notes.  Kinda ripe on the palate.

1999 Ceretto Barolo Brunate from magnum - savory with a little cedar.

2010 La Dame de Montrose - very fragrant nose, with cedar, woody notes.  A little alcoholic.

2004 Clos du Caillou Reserve Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve - very ripe fruit and a little alcoholic.

2009 Maison Leroy Bourgogne Rouge - nice fruit, lovely forest, mushroom, and dried herbs notes.

2010 Didier Dagueneau Blanc Fumé de Pouilly - classic green apple and muscat grape, with some mineral and flint.

1982 Duhart-Milon en imperial - a little smoky, brett, very classic Left Bank.  Very smooth on the palate.

Dinner at Sushi Kuu.

Dassai Junmai Daiginjo 39% (獺祭「純米大吟醸」磨き三割九分) - pretty decent.