To celebrate a dear friend's birthday, we prepared 3 bottles of 1990 Bordeaux for our meal at Nur Restaurant (the restaurant normally only permits 2 bottles brought in from outside, but we were granted an extra bottle on this special occasion - thank you!). We weren't sure if we were going to need 3 bottles, as two of our group were still a little under the weather (plus we had ordered a bottle of 2005 Thienot Cuvée Stanislas and a 2011 Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet Clavoillon from the wine list!). So we first had the 1990 Lafite and Mouton which had been decanted for about 30 minutes plus the additional aeration in the glass! The Mouton was much more subdued and showed more savoury tertiary character (much more evolved), and seemed more delicate. One of the dishes was a mushroom broth with Maitake mushroom.....it paired perfectly with the Mouton!
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| Maitake mushroom, goji berries and mushroom broth |
There was a very attractive fruit character that's still present in the Lafite, which showed a firmer structure than the Mouton. With silky tannins and a remarkable freshness, the wine showed a very harmonious presentation and a gorgeous bouquet of graphite, cedar and tobacco. There was a very admirable level of energy. I loved it with the barbecued goose course.
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| Barbecued goose, Tokyo turnip and myoga |
With still 2 more savoury courses to go, we had almost reached the end of those 2 bottles. So we decided to open the Petrus as well. The Petrus was a bit muted at the beginning, and with aeration, it revealed a powerful character, with rich nuances and a voluptuous frame of ripe firm tannins just beginning to become integrated, befitting of a great vintage....with almost a burnt-cream, stewed fruit like character, with notes of coffee, Black Forest cherry and sweet tobacco. Much more youthful in its evolution than the other two wines, I feel that with 5 or more years, it would start flaunting its seductive powers to become a truly compelling wine. So powerful that not even the chocolate dessert could diminish its lingering superior qualities!
But for this evening, I loved the Lafite...it was the wine of the evening for me. It showed harmony and balance, and an exalted elegance that belied its powerful structure. So hard to score....I would give both the Lafite and Petrus 19/20 with a 'plus' sign for the Petrus. For the Mouton, I would score it 17/20. The Mouton would be the wine of the trio that would not win the long distance race - best enjoyed over next 8 - 10 years in 750 ml format, while the Petrus would have at least 25 - 30 years ahead and the Lafite somewhere in the middle!
And the food, we're once again convinced that it's one of our top 3 restaurants in HK! Each course was so thoughtfully created and artistically executed, with the contrasts and pairings of flavours and textures perfectly calculated. We were as excited about the last course as we were about the first!
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| An irresistible platter of delightful amuse-bouches |
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