"Eagle's Nest" Dinner

An impromptu casual dinner "just the four of us" at Greg & Sayo's where we test drove the idea of dinner on their very top terrace on the 45th floor looking out over the South China Sea on a perfect Autumn night....just room for 4 of us but it worked so well.

• 2004 Louis Carillon Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Perrières 89 Points

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

  Light straw gold colour. Nose is very nice lifted fresh lemons and lemon rind, some mineral flintiness. Palate is quite rich and concentrated lemon with a soft balancing acidity then a very soft lemony fruit-driven back end overlaid with very light acacia honey. Some rounded and ripe canteloupe melon emerged wth more time...very fruity and refreshing. Medium weight and enjoyably mellow. Moderate length. Nothing wrong here but not the best that a 1er Cru can deliver.

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

• 2010 Gaja Langhe Chardonnay Gaia & Rey 91 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC

  Very light steely green-gold colour. Nose is light and steely...like a Sauvignon Blanc....too young to sense much....especially as I was drinking it semi-blind as "a white wine from Gaja". Palate is very buttery but also extremely elegant and multi-folded in taste and mouthfeel. Something I described as "buttery pomelo", which is definitely a first for me! Some length. Actually, this is excellent.....it reminds me of an Araujo Eisele Sauvignon Blanc but with more elegance and finesse. Definitely worth seeking out if you like low-oak, low malo Chardonnay....which I do.

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

• 1985 Château L'Evangile 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  Velvety plush ruby translucent colour. Nose is OMFG.....plush, velvety, elegant and alluring soft fruits, light wafts of eastern temple smoke....whisperish (a new word there)....it has that beautiful "at point" 27 year old top Bordeaux specialness.....hmmm, and then there's the pencil lead and all that interplay between precision and plushness (and we're still on the nose here). Palate is beautiful.....rich, precise, belly-warming, deep fruit still, so rounded and perfectly formed. Good length and resonance but not quite enough to take it into higher "reveries" territory for me. But this is perfect in its own way.......and drinking perfectly now. One day a counter-revolution will happen and people will realise that this is finer, more elegant and way better than 1990, 2000 or 2005 will ever be in that respect. Vive le revolution! (Note: Compared to when last drank from the same case back in June 2012...this time we opened for several hours then decanted for an hour and served slightly cooler...... this time worked better).

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

• 1993 Chateau Musar 91 Points

  Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

  Double-decanted roughly 9 hours before serving via a quick splash in the decanter. Colour is dusky transparent ox-blood. Nose is sweet, sweaty, ripe strabwberries (the big ones), lots of high but well-balenced acetone notes.....really rather Burgundian. Palate is bright, tartish strawberries....a light and unusually primary bottle. Amazing bottle difference from previous times from the same case....this is very young and unevolved. Light on the finish. Burgundian... unevolved....kinda weird.......that's Musar! A previous bottle drank with Serge Hochar in June 2012 from the same case (see my tasting note) was much more characteristic of the vintage.

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

• 1986 Château d'Yquem 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Decanted for an hour or so before serving. Light copper-gold colour. Nose is WOW!...an Andy Warhol painting BLAM! of confit apricot and confit peach and smoke from a burned taper....and botrytis....so alluring. Palate is medium-bodied great purity of ripe fresh apricot then a follow-through of plums and apricot stones...then a finish of dry somoky gunflint and acacia honey......so beautiful and mesmerising. Endless light and honeyed resonance on the finish...but actually very deep. A lovely deep and pure burnt caramelly quality comes out with extended time in the glass which adds an extra dimension to the final resonance. Stunningly good. I could have scored this higher.

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

• 2007 Coche-Dury Meursault Les Rougeots 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault

  Light straw gold colour. Nose is very rich, almost milky minerality and classic Mersault weight. Palate is sharp, rich, golden, hints of Lyon's Golden Syrup from my English childhood (Brand slogan: "from sweetness came forth strength")...backed by a firm and lean citric backbone.....very citric and with slate-ish minerality. Rich and full finish......a bit too rich and ripe for me, even after the D'Yquem 1986. Probably a bottle too far on this particular evening..... should revisit. I imagine this would pair brilliantly with a Foie Gras starter at a great restaurant.

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

Wow...so nice.....thanks guys!