97 Insignia and more

Dinner at a private dining facility.

2004 Kistler Chardonnay McCrea Vineyard - still plenty of flint and minerals here, along with toast.  Surprisingly fresh and vibrant.

2004 Henri Giraud Argonne - savory minerals, a little salted plum.

2002 Ruinart Rosé - sweeter and more fruity.

2013 Ganevat Grusse en Billat - a little flinty with lemon notes.

1998 Vogüé Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses - opened for 3 hours prior to serving.  Sweeter on palate than expected, although not quite jammy.  Nice fruit.

1989 Grand-Puy-Lacoste - unfortunately corked.

1997 Joseph Phelps Insignia, from magnum - minty, a little coconut, smoky with grilled meats.  Drinking beautifully.  Smooth and well-balanced on the palate.

Full post on dinner is here.

Foillard Morgon and Leflaive

Drinks at Neighborhood.

2014 Foillard Morgon Côte du Py - forest and exotic spices, and floral notes.

Supper at Hidden.

2010 Domaine Leflaive Mâcon-Verzé - ripe and sweeter than expected on the palate.

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.