When Cheval Blanc impresses........

20 May 2013:

We have recently found some excuse to open a few nice bottles from the Saint Emilion commune. At a dinner just over a week ago, we cracked open 2 bottles from the 1982 vintage: Cheval Blanc and Ausone, followed by a war-time production of Ausone (1943). I had served a braised short rib in mustard and red wine sauce, with a celeriac and butternut bake à la dauphinoise, and buttered local organic carrots.

1982 Cheval Blanc: A medium to deep ruby core. An intense and opulent bouquet of plum, blueberry, cassis, complemented with sweet spices, graphite, leather and cedar notes, wafting up to the nose. The palate flaunted velvety tannin, vibrant acidity and harmony in every sense, leading to a fresh, spicy and long finale, defined by exotic opulence, layered complexity, remarkable freshness and youthful vigour. A very memorable symphony of perfectly pitched notes. Drink now and over next 12 – 15 years. 19/20

1982 Ausone: More of a hint of garnet at the rim. The nose was less opulent than the Cheval Blanc, exhibiting notes of blueberry, cedar, animal, coffee with some herbal and herbaceous notes. There was a certain degree of elegance and style on the palate here, but erring more on the lean and ungenerous side, compared to the lush Cheval Blanc. Drying on the finish, with a slightly disturbing green note. Finishes a little short. Perhaps this was just a below-par bottle….but probably drink now! 16.5/20

1943 Ausone: A very good level (into neck) for this age. Despite being marred by a touch of volatility, this bottle displayed an elegance and fine structure. This bottle might have seen better days and the wine seemed to be lacking in energy. Drying finish. More interesting as a remnant of a time of turmoil and disruption. 16/20

1959 Cheval Blanc: Very good level (into neck). Medium garnet core. A very distinct and mature bouquet of blueberry, fig, cedar, cigar box, graphite and leather notes, layered with an earthy ‘perfume’ of the soil. It was lush and velvety, with a lovely freshness caressing the palate. The smallest perception of slightly maderised note of caramel and fruitcake did not detract from the enjoyment of this wine, and probably added to the complexity on the earthy and farmyard finish which showed a hint of dryness. This exuded flamboyance, sheer opulence and class. Drink now for the 750 ml formats! 18/20

1949 Cheval Blanc (half bottle): Quite closed on the nose initially. Medium garnet core. There was a strong whiff of rusty nail that never quite went away. Notes of decayed leaves and black tea, with an elegant structure of underlying acidity and fine tannin. Nevertheless, this seemed a little austere/ungenerous after the opulent and flamboyant 1959. Drying finish. Probably saw better days. 17/20


We also enjoyed recently the 1996 Cristal. Very fine aged champagne, with plenty of poise and elegance. Mature bouquet of ripe pear, toffee apple, candied fruit, liquorice, coffee and acacia notes. Creamy mousse, with plenty of richness and intensity on the palate, but this bottle seemed a little evolved to us. Long spicy finish. 17.5/20

By contrast, the 1996 Corton-Charlemagne Bonneau du Martray was full of energy and tension. A great Corton Charlemagne, with signature bouquet of honey, citrus, pear, spice and smokey character. Plenty of vibrant minerality on the palate, leading to a long finish. A gorgeous wine with plenty of life ahead. Drink now and over next 8 – 10+ years. 18.5/20

2001 Climens was as expected a sensational wine. Bright golden core. Nose of orange marmalade, quince, apricot, honey and nutty notes. Richness, without the heaviness. Intense and superbly balanced. A beautiful wine that has a very long life ahead….drink now and over next 20+ years. 19.5/20

A pre-40th Birthday Celebration

5 May 2013: What do you do when a good friend's shipment of wine got delayed for his 40th birthday celebration?  So we decided to take on the hosting of a small pre-celebration.  A good excuse for a wine dinner with some more than decent 1973 champagnes (generously provided by birthday boy!) and a surprisingly delicious bottle of 1973 'Hunter River Burgundy' (that has nothing to do with Pinot Noir!)!

1973 Mumm Cuvée René Lalou: Medium gold colour, with some amber highlights. A mature bouquet of ripe pear, hazelnuts, acacia and coffee notes, with a hint of caramel and liquorice.  Rather delicate mousse.  Intensely flavoured on the palate. The finish featured a hint of acidic kick.  16.5/20

1973 Ruinart Blanc de Blancs: A medium lemon colour.  Expressive bouquet, with pear, almonds, frangipane.  Some mineral notes on the palate, still brimming with energy and tension.  Creamy mousse, persistently fine bubbles.  A very fine aged champagne indeed!  18.5/20

1973 Krug: Again a fine golden colour.  Mature bouquet of brioche, pear, hazelnuts, acacia. More creamy texture on the palate, good intensity and complexity on the palate, and the finish. I found this just a little bit more harmonious than the Mumm.  17/20

1973 Chevalier-Montrachet Les Demoiselles, Louis Jadot: Afraid this one did not quite make the cut!

1973 Lindemans Hunter River Burgundy Bin 4810: A deep ruby colour, with no sign of bricking at the rim.  An intense bouquet of black pepper, blackberry, plum, tobacco and violet notes, with animal, savoury and leather character permeating through the bouquet.  Very supple on the palate, velvety texture, perfectly well balanced, still holding its structure at this age, with fully-integrated ripe tannin and just enough acidity, giving a nice lift to the opulent juicy fruit!  Finishes almost sweet. We are still trying to find out if this was a 100% Shiraz or a field blend with other grape varieties. An admirable effort and what a great discovery that Hunter wines can age so remarkably well! 18/20



1978 Clos de La Roche, Rousseau: Garnet core. Beguiling aromatics, with notes of dried raspberry, rose petals, pot pourri, autumn leaves, pomegranate, layered with savoury and mushroom nuances. On the silky palate, the intensity and complexity was of a superior class and displayed much finesse. Long finish.  Drink now. 17/20 (I would have scored this higher had it not collapsed after about an hour.) 

1976 Clos Saint Denis, Dujac: (thank you birthday boy!) This was a bottle that came directly from the domaine via a recent auction in HK. Medium ruby core, with some garnet at the rim.  The nose was initially a little closed and needed some aeration.  Redcurrant, forest berries, spices make up the rather youthful bouquet (considering the age), with no hint of tertiary notes. The palate was initially very tight and showed a firm, sinewy structure, delivering energy, verve and concentration.  Not the most charming wine of the evening but the energy and youthfulness was rather amazing.  17.5/20 

1966 Clos de Tart: The perfume was headturning here, floral and candied fruit notes overlaying the leather and sous-bois characteristics, almost sweet to the nose. The palate was as seductive as the nose, as the wine disappeared rather effortlessly between sips. There was a distinct hint of sweetness on the finish. Silky and delicious, delivering a most harmonious act. Very impressive!  Drink now!  18.5/20 



All the bottles had very good levels, given their age

 1991 Clos Saint Denis, Dujac: A lovely bouquet. Totally sumptuous on the palate, with a mid weight frame of well-integrated elements. An understated wine that speaks of elegance, finesse and pedigree.  Finishes long.  Drinking beautifully now and over the next 10 - 12+ years. 18/20 


1976 Rieussec: Deep tawny colour.  A nose redolent of orange marmalade, apricot and rye.  Utterly unctuous, bolstered by firm acidity.  Perfect now (and perfect to be paired with my orange marmalade cake and the Portuguese egg tarts personally delivered from Macau!).  I did detect a slight dryness on the finish, so I would probably prefer to drink this over the next 5 - 6 years.  18/20




What a treat to have all the bottles behaving themselves!  During the evening, our conversations turned to the topic of what sort of wine really made the earth move for us......and it was no surprise that Bourgogne invariably featured at the top of the list......closely followed by Rhone! 

1982 GPL and Figeac



Chicken with pumpkin and chick pea stew!

 1 May 2013:  We were given a huge pumpkin so I had a pumpkin day on Labour Day.....chicken with pumkin and chick pea stew, served with couscous and lightly curried pumpkin soup.....enough to feed an army.  Also joining this exotic theme was some smoked baby lamb from Patrick's stone oven and a Moroccan style chicken cooked sous-vide with confit of lemon and bay leaves....the wines were less exotic though.......!

2006 Pavillon Blanc du Chateau Margaux (in magnum)

Very expressive nose of fig, nutty, guava, mango, lemon, honeysuckle, with a lanolin note. Rich and viscous on the palate, but deftly balanced by vibrant acidity. Finishes long. 18/20

1982 Grand Puy Lacoste (in magnum)
A marvellous example of the classiness and ageability of 1982 Bordeaux. Cassis, blueberry, cigar box, cedar and leather notes. Medium body, with velvety texture and beautifully integrated tannin. Long complex finish delivering freshness and complexity. There is no hurry in drinking this up at all.  Drink now till 2030+. 18.5/20

1982 Figeac (in magnum)
Plum, blackberry, dried fruit, cedar with chocolate and liquorice nuances. Medium body, with mouth-coating texture. Almost liquoreux on the finish. Drying finish. 17.5/20

Our surprise wine was a 2009 Yao Ming!  (Thank you, Debra!)  Well-balanced wine, elegantly crafted, with a bouquet of cedar, blackberry, and some jammy notes.  Good level of acidity keeping the wine in harmony and balance. It did benefit from aeration, but I was too busy in the kitchen to have the opportunity to come back to this.  Would be interesting to try this again.   

And we topped up the red wine selection with a 2006 Pontet Canet.  We did not have time to decant this but it was already very expressive with lovely aromatics of cedar, cassis, blueberry, plum, blackberry, violet, liquorice with some graphite and leather notes.  Medium level of firm and ripe tannin, velvety and mouthcoating texture, medium acidity - just enough to give the wine a lift of freshness. You could tell there's a very robust structure in the wine, but totally enjoyable now and would continue to evolve over the next 20 - 30 years!  18/20

Then we finished with a 1992 Noble One, Botrytis Semillon from Australia.....the colour of which was an orange-tawny, but the palate still tasted fresh.

2002 Chambolle-Musigny, Hubert Lignier and 2008 Doisy-Daene Sec

6 May 2013: A few days ago, we opened a bottle of 2002 Chambolle Musigny, Hubert Lignier.  The wine immediately reveals an expressive nose with good intensity of aromas: red cherry, plum, dried rose petals, rosemary herb, with spices nuances of nutmeg and cinnamon, and notes of sous-bois.  On aeration, there were animal and coffee aromatics on the palate. There was a sense of purity on the front palate, with the flavours elegantly coating the middle palate. Silky texture.  Finish, while not long nor complex, was lovely and carried a certain persistence. This is a very charming Chambolle village, at its apogee. Simply moreish.  17/20

The same evening we also opened a bottle of the 2008 Doisy-Daëne Bordeaux Sec that came with the recommendations of a Bordelais friend.  A very approachable Bordeaux dry white, perfect for drinking in its youth.  Honey, passion fruit, dried mango, candied fruit, with a hint of limey Turkish delight and chocolate praline, slightly smokey.  The mid weight palate delivered zesty acidity. Nice crisp finish.  Lovely aperitif, or serve it with a light seafood salad.  And what was even better, was the relative lightness in alcohol, at 12.5%!  So refreshing to actually taste fresh fruity flavours in a wine, without the alcohol in the way!!   16/20

That Gorgeous Rousseau Nose!

3 May 2013: A casual evening with friends.....and a couple of Rousseau magnums!

2002 Millésime de Collection, Gimonnet (in magnum)
Lovely pale golden hue. An enticing bouquet of white blossom, fig, apple, pear, toast, ginger and grilled almonds. On the palate, the layered flavours taken around the mouth by very fine and persistent bubbles, delivering a lingering finish with crisp precision and wonderful complexity. Drink now or keep for 10 - 15 years! A fabulous champagne! 18/20


1999 Chablis Montée de Tonnerre, Raveneau
Pale lemon colour. An expressive bouquet of lemon, nutty and toast, with smokey, flinty nuances. Plenty of freshness, with zesty acidity. Rather delicious, but just short of persistence on the palate. Classic saline finish. It did a wonderful job marrying with my Hokkaido King Crab timbale with a yuzu and wasabi dressing. 17/20


1985 Chambertin, Rousseau (in magnum)
Garnet hue. Gorgeous tertiary aromas still greet the nose: spicy, sous-bois, leather with hints of red fruit. Mid weight palate. The aromatics on the nose unfortunately led to a rather disappointing palate, that is light on persistence, concentration and intensity of flavours, with a shorter than expected finish that is beginning to show some dryness. A wine that is probably just past its peak. Given recent experience of other 1985 bottles, 1985 seems like a vintage that can do with drinking up! 17.5/20


1990 Chambertin, Rousseau (in magnum)
Garnet core. Beautiful aromas of dried rose petals, raspberry, sous-bois and leather......lifted by a hint of sweet spice and a savoury note. Mid weight frame belies an intensity and persistence of rich ripe flavours, bolstered by perfect acidity. A wine that speaks of harmony and elegance that promises a subtle core of power and depth in the lingering finish, with that lovely sweetness that comes from mature Burgundies! A very perfect accompaniment to the slow-roasted lemongrass infused chicken...18.5/20


NV Oloroso Bota No. 14, Equipo Navazos
Tawny hue. A pungent and aromatically savoury bouquet of grilled hazelnuts, coffee, balsamic, dried figs, milk candy and caramel. Medium body, searing acidity, with such intensity of flavours that explode on your palate. 19/20 A perfect marriage with Epoisses! One of the most oustanding food and wine pairings!


2003 Yquem
Bright and limpid, golden robe. Intense flavours of apricot, dried pineapple with honey, hazelnut and smokey notes. Unctuous on the palate, but perhaps a little lacking in the botrytis notes and balance of firm acidity for a great Sauternes. Nevertheless, a sublime drink. Probably better young given the lower level of acidity. 17.5/20

(And sadly the 1955 Fonseca went by so quickly that I missed it completely!)