Hitting the Big 3-0.

What a blessing it is to have good friends. I celebrated my 30th with a blast on Saturday, with some great food, excellent wines and lovely company. Together with Fiona and Peter, who are both also April babies, we had William and Gina, Chad, KG, Martin and Joyce, Lawrence, Kelvin, Hsien Min, Alex and Elsa make up a great table. Amazingly, all three birthday boys / girl had a birth-year wine: 1975, 1980 and 1984! What a night, with an incredible line-up of outstanding wines.

All wines were served blind except for the bubbles and the sweets.

• NV Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Cuvée Rare 91 Points

  France, Champagne

  Fresh, elegant Champagne. Very pleasant. Sweet nose showed ripe lemons, red apples and apple rind, along with some toasty spice, a bit of earth and just that touch of umami. There were little scents of herb and pepper floating around on top as well. Palate was crisp, clean and balance, with a nice sense of fruity sweetness and clean, crystallined fruit flavours - green apple shading into pineapple notes. Finish was mid-length, with touches of spice. Nice, almost too "nice", so that it almost lack a sense of personality. Still though, great elegance and very nice balance. Yummy start to the meal.

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• 2001 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Incredibly lovely. Sweet perfumy nose, with aromatic white flowers, almond oil, lemon zest, a touch of beeswax and just the purest peach scents - so pure I could almost imagine the fuzziness on the peach skins. Palate just hit all the right spots. Lovely, lovely freshness and impeccable balance, great sense of structure, superb delineation. The wine just hit the palate in a laser-like beam of foucs, from the attack that showed more peachy fruit, ripe lemons and touches of nectar and beeswax, to the little trickle of mineral that followed, all the way into the super-long and mouthwatering finish that was laden with crystalline fruit, lovely minerality and a touch of vanillin-laced oak. A brilliant white Bordeaux drinking absolutely brilliantly after a short decant. I thought it outshone a Leflaive Pucelles on the same flight - no mean feat.

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• 2002 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

  In a rather sullen adolescent phase I think, but the quality of the wine really shone through. Thought it was a Puligny 1er Cru, but this could only be a Pucelles or Demoiselles from a good maker, given the quality. Nose took awhile to show, but when it did, there was a nice melange of yellow fruit, some boiled herbs, like angelica root and tree bark, plenty of flinty mineral, a sweet vanilla and caramel background and, with some time, scents of white mushroom and some waxy fruit. Lots of weight and density on the palate, with plenty of ripe yellow fruit. Very young too, with some awkward bits showing here and there at the attack. But even so, there was clearly some elegance on the wine, along with a real sense of structure and a very minerally undertow. I thought there was a nice sense of delineation and integration in the way the fruit, acid and structure was starting to come together past the midpalate. This was even more so at the finish, which really was quite beautiful. Long, with flecks of spice, some beeswax and a lingering flowery touch, all overlaid with that nice minerality. Should make a really, really nice wine in another 7-8 years. Patience needed with this one.

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• 2006 Remoissenet Père et Fils Bâtard-Montrachet 95 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Wow. This was rather incredible. Gorgeously expressive nose - all perfumy white flowers, soap suds, almond nut, pineapple gummies and a layer of oaky vanillin. Very integrated, super-aromatic, all just swirling around the glass. Gorgeous palate too. great weight, great concentration, with just a little seam of glycerol running around the wine. Big flavours too - perfumy stone fruit, peach, sweet tropical inflections, some almost bubblegum fruit at points. Yet for all that density, there was just a wonderful sense of delineation and focus all through the wine. The finish was just absolutely astounding. I was quite stunned. Past the midpalate, the wine just unpacked and unfolded in layer after long layer of super-focused flavours in the mouth. Yellow fruit, spice, tons of mineral, on and on and on. Hedonistic, show-offy, but Wow. A really, really good wine. I was bowled over. Quite easily the match of the 2001 Leflaive Batard in the same flight. It may choose to shut down some point in its evolution, but on the night, it was absolutely opened for business.

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• 2001 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

  This was the second half of what was certainly one of the best white wine pairs I have had in a long time. Glorious nose, just bursting with "wow" factor - it showed great depths of toasty nut scents, banana, some tropical fruit, flowers and still quite a bit of fragrant oak. Palate was no-holds barred Grand Cru. Rich, powerful, inexorable, yet balanced, clean and juicy. This creamily texture wine was just full of hedonistic flavours of ripe red apples, yellow fruit, preserved kumquats, spice, savoury undergrowth and just that touch of menthol. Finish was long, powerful and intense, but superbly integrated, with hints of mushroom added into the long, long tail of fruit that just stayed in the mouth. A really nice wine that seems to be just about hitting its stride. Still a long way to go before peak drinking, but boy was it impressive.

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• 2001 Domaine Follin-Arbelet Romanée St. Vivant 95 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru

  An excellent, excellent bottle of wine. Probably my WOTN amongst many outstanding bottles. Incredible RSV nose, clearly Vosne yet with a seductive edge that was faint-inducingly good. Just tons of flowers, roses and violets, wed to pure dark cherries, orange peel, Vosne spice and savoury earth - all hearty, rich, integrated and seductively perfumed. Palate was a little tight at first, but with time, it opened up to show just beautiful depth and richness, with a density that belied the super slinky structure of the wine, which had just the finest tannins and a lovely integrated acidity - all giving the wine lovely texture, along with an incredibly energy, focus and delineation. Lovely flavours too. Dark cherries, an underlayer of earth, and more of that beweitching Vosne spiciness, especially when moving towards the finish, which just showed incredible length as it unfolded in a show of dark fruit, plum powder and orange peel. I have never been a big fan of Follin-Arbelet, but this bottle was incredible. Great now, it should be even greater when it really hits it peak, perhaps in 5-6 years from now.

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• 2000 Nicolas Potel Romanée St. Vivant 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru

  Beautiful, but just paled a little in comparison to the 2001 Follin-Arbelet RSV. Very different wines though. While the later was all feminine elegance wed to fine structure, this was more down-to-earth charm. Every bit as attractive, if just that little less refined. Gorgeous nose, got my writing "woah!" in my notes. Earth and leather scents were paired with deep tones of dark cherries, flowers, orange peel, a dusting of toasty cocoa and anise-led Vosne spiciness. Super balance on the palate, especially for a 2000, with fresh acidity and firm, but beautifully resolved tannins forming a wonderful backdrop to complex high-toned flavours of dark cherries, orange peel and more of that lovely spice, along with lower, bassy notes of earth and leather. Finish was long, open and seductive, with a silky glide of flowers and a linger of tobacco and cocoa powder. It was here that the wine seemed the most feminine. A lovely experience. Perfectly open for drinking now, especially with a short time to sit in the glass.

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• 1984 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape 92 Points

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  Very nice, but time to drink up. Not quite at its last legs, but this is clearly in senior citizen category. Really nice nose - sweet kirsch, red cherries, some sweet winter-melon like tones, a touch of dried flowers, a touch of mushrooms, some funky earth, plenty of meatiness and a little whiff of incense and menthol. Very Burg-like. Palate still had a patina of firm tannins and a good backbone and and nice balance. Still plenty of sweet ripe fruit in the shape of dark cherries too, augmented by orange peel flavours, a touch of plum powder and a little bit of ginseng around the edges. Some nice flowery touches shaded the wine at the mid-palate, moving into a longish finish with a touch of drying tannins, some spice, some dried fruit, a little touch of rubber and a seam of ferrous metal tones. Thought it started to unravel a little bit in the finish, but still a really nice wine for those who like their reds with plenty of age.

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• 2004 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir Laurène 92 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  I thought this was a really good new world pinot. Clearly new world, but clearly very good. Nose was sweetly attractive, almost hedonistic, with sweet flowers and vanilla pods mixed with winter melon and lovely, pure, sweet red cherry smells, along with whiffs of mineral and a touch of spice. Palate had more of that beautiful pure cherry fruit, some clean strawberries flavours and a touch of flowers. Quite astounding purity of expression I thought. Very nicely packaged too, with good concentration, beautiful balance and a nice sense of elegance. The long, lingering finish showed just that shade of drying tannins, along with plenty of white flowers, more sweet fruit, vanilla and a long, lingering kiss of spice. Maybe lacking just that edge of complexity, but this was very good indeed.

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• 2002 Domaine Chevillon-Chezeaux Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Aux Champs Perdrix 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  This was the surprise of the night for me. An excellent wine. Apart from a ferrous edge, the nose seemed more Chambolle than NSG, with beautiful wafts of liquified flowers, sweet cherries anise and vanilla and just that pad of earth added to the iron smells. I thought it had a beautiful fragrance, all seductive and voluptuous. The terroir came out a bit more on the palate, with showed firm, fine tannins and wet, stony minerality at the edges, along with a bloody iron hint. Still though, it was not the structure of the mineral that captured the attention, but rather the lovely freshness, the nice ripe dark cherry expression, and the little touches of black stewed tea and orange peel. Really nice length on the finish as well, with a long, satisfying pull of dried plums, orange peel and more of that rather haunting floweriness. Yums.

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• 1980 Prunotto Barolo Riserva 92 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Strangely enough, my very first birth-year wine, and a pretty good one at that. Very aged Burg-like on the nose, like an old Volnay, with dried fruits, plums and raisins wed to a dusty, earthy funkiness, some meaty notes, lovely spicy anise tones, plenty of flowers and a little peaty smoke. Not that much tar or roses, but there was a little whiff of dried Italian herbs at the edges. Palate was still very fresh, with lots of acid, and structured by firm, fine tannins. Very charming flavours here - lovely dried fruit, dried plums, dark cherries, a touch of raisins and plenty of orange peel. Finish was just starting to slip I thought, drying out a little, but still had a nice kumquat, plum and orange peel nuance to it, along with just that little hint of tar. Thanks William for fishing this out - a real treat!

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• 1975 Château Calon-Ségur 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  Elsa really loved this. I was not quite as sanguine, but still thought it was a really good bottle of aged Claret. Nose was just en pointe. Lovely sweet cassis and cherries wed to flowery violets, lots of tobacco, a layer of funky earth, sous bois and a whiff of Indian incense. Lovely. More lovely sweet fruit notes on the palate, yet with plenty of clean, clear cherry and cassis notes. Fine tannins were a little dry, a little tough, which made be guess 1975. Mid-palate had a nice black tea tone, along with a touch of dried figs and some savoury minerality. Finish was still surprisingly long. Again, more of those fine but firm tannins, but with a lovely sweetness, more whiffs of tobacco, spice and some orange peel. Very charming, but it is high time to drink up I think.

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• 1985 Château Mouton Rothschild 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Very nice and, unlike the 1975 Calon Segur on the same flight, this has some way to go yet. Lovely Pauillac nose. Tobacco, undergrowth, some meatiness, dark fruits, sweet cassis tones, some plums, a touch of winter melon. Very nice. Palate was rather decadent. Lovely lushness, with ripe sweet cassis caressing the mouth in layers, yet with superb balance. Lovely, clean acidity and really fine, firm tannins provided a great sense of structure and backbone without ever being intrusive. Lovely integration I would say, and lots of complexity too, with some tea, tobacco and spice notes moving past the mid-palate and into the long, smoky finish. Especially lovely here, with delicious flavours of tobacco, dried tea, dried cherries and lots of fresh cassis. This lacked some of the rustic charm and idiosyncratic je nais sais qouis of the older Calon Segur, but was to me quite clearly the superior wine. Not one to go down the annals as a world-beating Mouton, but this was very, very good.

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• 1986 Château Guiraud 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Often forgotten in the shadows of the trio of great Sauternes vintages ('88, '89 and '90), but there were plenty of really nice stickies coming out of 1986. This was a great example. Maybe lacking the density and richness of the better vintages, but this had a really nice cut and freshness to it. Golden yellow in colour, not quite amber yet. Very nice nose of caramel, honey, dried apricots and figs, orange peel and flowers. Palate was not sticky sweet, but still had a nice layer of botrytis to show. I really liked the balance on this wine - it was fresh, dancing, almost sparkly in its acid, with nice flavours of dried fruit, spice, orange blossoms, burnt sugar and just that little distracting rubbery scent. Other than that, very nice, all the way into a long finish with nectar, orange peel and more burnt sugar, all underscored by a nice dry structure and a lifted spiciness. Very nice.

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• 1979 Banara Muscat Swan Valley 92 Points

  Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

  Deep golden brown colour. A real charmer of a wine. Deep and rich on the nose, with liquered cherries, dried figs and apricots, creme brulee, Gula Melaka (brown palm sugar with coconut) and whiffs of funky mushroom and earth, this was extremely interesting. Very yummy on the palate too. Ripe and rich, with lots of dried figs and raisins, peaty, single-malt whisky like shades, and touches of oxidised, Sherry notes. Finish was not altogether memorable, but did have a nice spiciness and more of that sweet dried fruit. A real idiosyncratic charmer!

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