A "Blended" Birthday Dinner

We celebrated three birthdays at a go - Kel, Marlene and Joyce's. And what better way to do that than with a "blended wines" theme - no mono-varietals. That nicely did away with the dominance of Burgundies, red and white, at most of our dinners. Wines were all blind as usual and, guess what - nobody missed the Burgs at all. This was one of the most enjoyable line-ups we have had for some time, with the wines falling into a nice symmetry. My theory is that our cellars are so Burg-dominated that when it comes to other regions, we are extremely selective with what we buy, and therefore what we bring to dinners like that when Burgs are outlawed. Whatever the case, this was a great night - topped up by a marathon karaoke session after dinner.

• NV Françoise Bedel Champagne Dis, "Vin Secret" Brut 91 Points

  France, Champagne

  86% Pinot Meunier, 8% Pinot Noir and 6 Chardonnay. One of those weird grower bottlings. This was actually a pretty good Champagne, but in a bit of an awkward place at the moment, with an austere body that did not quite match up to its expressive nose. I must say I really likedt he nose though - this smelt very much like the Pol Roger Winston Churchill on the same flight, with very nice notes of truffle and white fruit - think apple and pear aromas - that dollops of cream, some toasted bread and a soupcon of spice and mineral. The palate had a full, powerful feel to it, with more citrusy lemon and grapefruit notes dominating the attack. It was certainly not as attractive or generous as the nose suggested though, with super-high acidity and a vigorous mousse giving the wine a real sense of tightness and structure. Thankfully, it fanned out a bit into a wider midpalate, with more white fruited notes, and then into a long, powerful finish with a little streak of minerality. However, this was clearly still very primary, very tight. There was a lot of substance on this and a taut muscular structure underneath, all of which bode well for the future. But it is so young and acidic now that it was not the easiest to drink until a nice dish of seared scallops in a creamy mousse came along to tame its sharp edges somewhat. Still though, this is a quality wine with quite a bit of character on it. Give it 5 years in the bottle, and it should be a lot better.

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• 1999 Pol Roger Champagne Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill 93 Points

  France, Champagne

  Still a really solid Champagne, but 5 bottles in, this is clearly shutting-down somewhat and should be left alone to age for some time to come. It had a typically big, broad bouquet, with chalk and cream and rich bread-like aromas floating around a core of white fruit. With time and air, it opened up with deep scents of red apples, high-toned lemons and a draw of flinty mineral. The palate was very full-bodied, almost muscular, with satisfying depth to its broad-shouldered flavours of sweet red apples and lemons - a lot fuller and more pleasing on this aspect than the slightly emaciated bottle I had last. Somehow though, this seems to have lost some of the great focus and zip that very early bottles showed. While it was still clearly well put-together, with the ripe sweetness of the fruit well-controlled by a great sense of structure, it somehow did not seem as precise. Almost as if its great core of energy and freshness has started to slumber a little, leaving just the depth of fruit behind. To its credit though, the wine did open up with time, showing more and more of its underlying minerality and structure and a great depth, finishing in a long, effortless finish that curled around the mouth with little motes of spice. I would give this a few years of sleep before approaching it again. Hopefully, this is just an awkward phase rather than the wine starting on a downhill trajectory. Still though - a really good Champagne even on the night.

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• 1983 Château Doisy-Védrines 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  I thought this was quite brilliant. It had one of the best noses of any wine I have had in recent times, with a soaring perfume that rose from the glass in beguiling wafts of dried apricots and flowers and nectar, all woven together in wonderfully feminine melange. The palate was very true to its vintage - it had neither the richness nor with great bortytis depth, but was instead marked by its freshness and balance. And what balance too - with a wonderful grace and just pitch perfect poise that tied the wine's lovely flavours of loquats, dried apricots and malt honey together with a lovely savoury undertone in such wonderful fashion. Unusually for a Sauternes, I could actually drink buckets of this and not have palate fatigue. It was still sweet, but somehow what came across was more the pristine purity on it than anything else. Lovely finish too, with a lingering kiss of orange blossoms and mandarin peel drifting away on the back-palate. Not one for those (like my friend Alex H) who appreciate unctuous depth and richness in their Sauternes, but I thought it was a brilliant wine quite at the perfect place for drinking now.

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• 1981 Château Latour Grand Vin 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  As one would expect from a Latour, this was remarkable for an off-vintage wine. I have had numerous bottles of 1981 wines from great properties (courtesy from a few friends born in that year), but this was far and away the best wine I have had from Bordeaux or anywhere else. It started out with a bit of funky wet leaf and chicken poop on the nose, but this faded with time to allow more and more classic Pauillac notes of cassis and dark plums, tobacco and cedar wood, then loamy earth and boiled herbs to slowly uncoil until we had a typical Latour bouquet in all its understated attractiveness. The palate was classic Latour as well, starting from its noble structure of fine tannins and lovely acidity, and then going on to its wonderfully pure cassis notes. This was gorgeously put together, with a real mouthfilling fullness to it, yet one would not quite call it expressive; it had real depth, and yet powerful would not quite be the right way to describe it. Like any good middle-aged Latour, it was still reined in by the slightest edge of austerity, especially as that wonderful transparent fruit melded into meatier notes past the midpalate and then into a beautiful finish that slid away with an almost creamy texture, showing the lightest hints of cedar wood and a nice earthiness trailing behind. This is one wine that truly shows how a youngish Latour can shines on an off-vintage. If one were searching for a weakness, I would say that there was just a touch of softness on the midpalate where there would normally be more muscle. But that really would be nitpicking. This was a great wine. And while seemingly at peak now, I expect it to last for a long time yet; it got better and better in the glass even on the night, with more chew from the tannins and a nicely masculine leather and meat tone coming out with time. I was very taken by this.

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• 1980 Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia 93 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Vino da Tavola

  This would have been a really good wine in its own right, but it had the tremendous misfortune of sharing a flight with a beautiful bottle of 1981 Latour. Still though, it is a testimony of how good this was that it was not completely overshadowed by the great Bordeaux. This had a lovely nose on it, with ripe scents of dark plums and sweet cassis patted down with damp earth, some slight floral hints and a curl of sweet oak. It was a riper, sweeter nose than the Latour, almost hinting at a certain voluptuousness - something that had most of us guessing this as an Italian Super-Tuscan. The palate more or less confirmed that. It had really high acidity, almost tomato-ish, with a lovely fresh liveliness running through sweet cassis and ripe plum flavours. On the night, it seemed a bit narrow, lacks the sheer breadth of the Latour. But I am really not knocking the wine. It was great in its own right, with a nice full depth and luscious sweet fruit held in lovely balance, with fine tannins still lending the wine a nice bit of structure. Very enjoyable indeed. It finished very nicely too, with spice and flowers and chocolate notes pulling away in a beautifully generous backpalate. This was a warm, welcoming wine that still seemed so youthful even after 33 years. A real achievement, and one of the better wines I have had from my birth-year.

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• 1990 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 95 Points

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

  Wow. Every now and then I come across a wine that captures my imagination, and the taste of it lingers in the memory for years after. Coming back to another bottle of a wine like that always runs the risk of real disappointment - of bottles not stored as well, with food pairings being not quite right, of taste not quite living up to the memory. With this bottle though, it was as if the cobwebs of prevailing time swept aside and I was brought back almost to the place where I was when I first tasted it. It was perhaps not quite the perfect CdP the last bottle was, but boy this was a gobsmackingly good. Opened a couple of hours before service, it still had lots of Beaucastel funk on the nose when poured, with leather and game meat and hints of barnyard swirling around a beautiful core of dark cherries and berry aromas, and then bits of spice and garrigue and drifts of gun-smoke trailing behind. Quite wonderful stuff. It was on the palate where the wine really hit the ball out of the park though. This was crazy good, with wonderful complexity unfolding across the mouth in layers of earth and spice and meat and dark-fruited plums and blackberries, seasoned of spice and garrigue, menthol and wild flowers - all this couched in fine-boned tannins and laced with a beautifully fresh, lively acidity. Wow. Open, elegant, soaring - this almost had the silken structure of a Burgundy, but wed at the same time to the moreish depth of a great CdP. When paired with a gamey duck ragout, fireworks just went off in the mouth. Great finish too, with funky meat and smoke and a hint of garrigue filling the backpalate with effortless length. Amazing, It may not have been quite as ethereal as the ex-Chateau bottle that the Beaucastel folks brought down to Singapore a couple of years back, but this still ranks amongst the best CdPs I have ever tried. I always hate to vote my own bottle as WOTN, but this bottle really stood out for me amidst some sterling reds on the night. Wow. I have one last bottle of this squirreled away - while this was singing on the night, I would be interested to see where that goes in a couple of years' time.

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• 2000 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 91 Points

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

  I have previously had 2 fabulous experiences with this wine and 1 disappointing one. Unfortunately, this bottle goes into the later camp. 5 years on from the last time I last enjoyed it, it seems like the 2000 Beaucastel is passing its peak and making its slow, long way into oblivion. This was actually a decently good wine in its own right, but put next to the youthful, energetic 1990, it just seemed flat, clunky and uninspired - almost as if it came from the hands of a different producer. The nose was a case in point - this seemed a lot warmer and ripe, with sweet scents of stewed tomatoes and cooked cherries with a bit of meat, earth and garrigue. Pretty nice, clearly a CdP, but so different from the soaring, effortlessly complex nose of the 1990. The palate was also very advanced, very mature, with a soft, low acid feel and mellow tannins wrapped around a round, ripe core of tomato stew and cooked cherry flavours leading into a thickish finish that showed notes of burnt earth and dried herbs, with a rather pronounced licorice accent right at the end. Don't get me wrong - this was a decently nice wine, and I know it is unfair serving it next to the 1990 (which is one of the best wines Beaucastel has ever produced). Still though, this was clearly a good rather than great wine and, looking at the trajectory its has been heading in, I would say about time to start drinking up.

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• 2002 Le Petit Cheval 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  This has developed over the past 5 years since I last tasted it into a pleasant, easy-to-like St. Émilion. It is never going to be a wine that stands out from the crowd though. The nose was quite classic right-bank, with plummy aromas along with tobacco and spice and a hint of capsicum pointing towards some Cabernet Franc in the cépage. The palate was a bit on the lighter, certainly lighter than even a second wine normally shows in than greater vintages. Saying that though, there was still decent substance in the wine's flavours of cassis and plums held in a light chew of tannins and decent acidity. The midpalate showed a bit earth and some spice trailing into a pretty good finish with a little kumquat, orange peel twang. A very pleasant, even pretty drink. This was still quite youthful in terms of its primary fruit, but structure-wise, it was a bit on the soft-side, almost taking on the velvety of a rather older wine, and I do not think there is enough acidity here to last the long-term. It should make good drinking over the next few years though.

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• 1979 Le Bahans de Château Haut-Brion 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  This just shaded the battle of the 2nd wines I think - all the more remarkable given its age. I liked the nose on it with its lovely Graves notes of smoke and tobacco and spice, and then cassis and black cherries, slightly dried fruit raisined tone and a good drift of cedar wood aromas. The palate had matured into a nice velvety feel, with bright acidity well-integrated throughout its soft flavours of cassis and plums with, once again, the slightest hints of dried fruit at the edges. There were nice touches of mature complexity as well, with more cedar accents, some orange peel and a dash of wood spice on the finish. This was very yummy, if perhaps lacking some depth and length. That being said, it was quite remarkable for a 35 year-old second wine from a last than heralded vintage.

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• 1996 Antinori Tignanello 91 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  A decently good wine, but not in the same class as either the 1980 Sassicaia in the earlier flight, nor the 1970 Graud-Larose that this was put next to. The nose had a mature feel to it, with a woody note along with dusty earth and dried herbs and flowers and aromas of dried plums and cherries. Not bad. The palate took on much of the same tones - it was very woody and spicy, with dusty tannins wrapped around cassis and dark cherry flavours, with a little touch of tomato at the edges. This was speared though with very bright, almost citrusy acidity that drove the the wines into a high-toned finish, where dark cherries were tied to dried herb, orange peel and more woody spice notes. Not fantastic, but it was a decently good drink. Very Italian in terms of its flavour profile, but a bit one-dimensional for a "premium" wine. It should improve over the next 6-8 years though.

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• 1970 Château Gruaud Larose 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  A beautiful wine in fine form. This was classic Gruaud Larose, with lots of funky wet earth, meat and leather aromas on the nose, along with lovely deep wafts of cassis and menthol and tobacco - a real knockout of a bouquet. The palate was lovely, full of bright acidity lending a lively, energetic feel to yummy flavours of cassis and dark cherries, some orange peel, and more of these earthy tones on the mid-palate and finish. This was nowhere near as funky as the nose though. It was almost elegant at points. It lacked a bit of fullness I thought, but that did not prevent it from being downright delicious. Good finish too, with more of that fresh, almost citrusy acidity and some licorice spice mingling with black cherry and plum notes, and then a dusting of still chewy tannins right at the very end. Lovely stuff, drinking quite wonderfully.

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