Lawrence's Birthday Dinner

There was no better way to have our first wine dinner back in Singapore than to celebrate Lawrence's birthday. A wonderful night for a great guy. The food organised by William was spot on, and the wines were very nice, except for the Indian one, which was interesting. The highlight was of course a 1959 Leoville Barton, which was still very much alive and absolutely wonderful. A great gift for a midweek dinner.

• 2002 Gatinois Champagne Grand Cru Brut Millésimé 93 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  Brilliant stuff. Lovely nose showed lots of red apples, yeasty aromas, some earth, distinct bak kwa, or Chinese roast pork meat scents, a hint of oxidative accents, really nice and inviting. If anything, the palate was even better. Rather idiosyncratic, it was front- loaded with pinot flavours, with dark cherries on the attack, but that quickly moving into layer after layer of more Chard-like rich red apple fruit on the mid-palate. Tons of weight here, but buttressed by a very soild core of depth and lovely, grippy, minerally notes that spread over a long stony finish that just went on and on and on. For all that stern minerality though, there was a nice juicy balance kept the wine really drinkable. Very solid stuff all round - this was an absolutely lovely Champagne.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2008 Clonakilla Viognier 92 Points

  Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District

  Took awhile to get going, then it was really good. A lot of oak on the nose at first, with nutty, salty, slightly toasty notes layered over ripe yellow fruit aromas with a little floral top-note. Hard to tell it was a Viognier under all that oak, until some honey, beeswax and spice scents floated out with time. No mistaking it on the palate though. Very nice here, with lightly honeyed and beeswax flavours hanging over ripe stone fruit - peach and aprioct I thought - and a nice backdrop of mineral and spice. Rich, weighty, but there was a nice freshness for a Viognier, with a lemony citrus note that lifted it into a lengthy finish. I really liked this - could well have mistaken it for a modern styled Condrieu if it was served blind. I thought it went well with a variety of different Teochew dishes but, rather surprisingly, it seemed to go best of all with a roast suckling pig. Good stuff.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2008 Lake's Folly Chardonnay 91 Points

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  A really nice effort. This was another wine that started out a little awkwardly, but bloomed as it warmed up and took on some air. It had a subtle nose, showing bits of mineral, a bit of spice, a light toast and some white fruit wed to a touch of cream and a nice flowery tone that hung around in the background. Nice stuff, if a bit reserved. The palate showed very freshly, a result of incomplete malo perhaps, with ripe lemons, some green apples and just that little bit of fizz that disturbed the mouth-feel a little at first. Thankfully, that toned down to show a nice, fleshy mouthful of white fruit paired with a goodly amount of minerality. There was quite a bit of oak showing in a nutty macadamia note at first, but this was pretty well integrated. I must say that the wine got much better with time, with the oak going down and more lovely white fruit and mineral notes emerging, all framed by mouthwatering acidity in a nice long finish. A little straightforward perhaps, but well-balanced and drinking ever so well. I would give my remaining bottle either a bit more time or a good longish decanting before serving the next time, but this was nevertheless a very nice wine.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2008 Sula Vineyards Shiraz Dindori Reserve 86 Points

  India, Nashik

  Not great, but surprisingly drinkable. Lots of sweet spices on the nose, sandlewood, cloves, nutmeg, along with some dark berries, blueberry aromas and a touch of preserved plums along with a backdrop of little Jasmine flowers. Might be imagination, but this reminded vaguely of Indian spice. The palate was unfortunately less interesting. A bit bland, a bit thin, but it did have a lot of freshness in its dark fruit and sour plum flavours which were again sprinkled with some spice and a touch of tobacco smoke that rounded out the finish. Drinkable but not great - this was the only bottle left half-full at the end of the night.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2001 Moondarra Pinot Noir Conception 92 Points

  Australia, Victoria, Gippsland

  Pretty similar impressions to the previous outing, except that this seemed just a tad more developed - this was a very nice wine. Lovely nose showed plenty of sour plum scents, fresh cranberries, a touch of orange peel and a little floral perfume playing on the backdrop of earthy aromas. Could almost be Burgundian. The palate was quite pretty as well. Cherries, red berries, mulberries, with a nice matured earthiness and a touch of dried fruit peppered with orange peel and fruit tea nose. Ripe, but not at all hot or big, and it had a nice finish too, exiting with a bit of sweet spice and some of that dried earth picked up on the nose. Very nice indeed, as well lovely with a braised duck dish.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1959 Château Léoville Barton 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  Top-shoulder fill and crumbly cork, so we were a little worried, but that was really quite unnecessary. The bottle was absolutely brilliant. Hands down the wine of the night, but it really was not that fair - this was like bringing a .45 caliber magnum to a knife-fight! It had an absolutely brilliant nose, one of the best things I have stuck my nose into all year - dried flowers, rose petals, preserved plums and cherries, fruit tea, orange peel, some earth, a bit of old wood, tobacco, spice and worn leather. Dropdead gorgeous stuff just slowly wafting out of the glass with each gentle swirl. The palate was not quite there unfortunately. Still alive, still super fresh, still with a patina of sweet dried cherries and red dates, a bit of tobacco and spice - a whole mouthfull of lovely flavour really. However, you could just about feel the wine starting to go a bit thread-worn at the mid-palate and coming just that bit unravelled at the edges. The finish was starting to flag too, but it did have a nice linger of sweet preserved plums, dried grapes and fruit tea. This might have been better a decade back, but on the night, it still remained a lovely, haunting expression of St Julien. Brilliant stuff, and a great experience. It was a treat to have a bottle like this grace the table.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue