A Japanese New Year's Day, 2014

We gathered for a Japanese New Year's celebration at Megumi, complete with traditional new year food prepared by Kondo-san and his team, and rivers of Sake poured from a fresh broken-into barrel into little pine boxes. Somehow, we managed to squeeze in a few bottles of blind wine in-between.

• 2000 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain Flawed

  France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru

  Unfortunately corked, with light notes of wet cardboard littered amongst a nose of otherwise pleasant aromas, with peach and apricots, figs and honey and a little orange blossom lilt. Pity. The palate was still a very good drink, but nowhere near the standard of the previous bottle I had. This time round, there was still an admirable depth and balance to flavours of honeyed figs and apricots, with some nuttiness and a bit of spice trailing on behind - all making for a pretty yummy package. It just was not the great wine of the past though, with the flaw somehow stripping away a layer of complexity and some of the lovely energy it had.

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

• 2004 Château d'Arlay Côtes du Jura Vin Jaune 92 Points

  France, Jura, Côtes du Jura

  I enjoyed this very much. It had a rancio, almost Fino sherry-like nose, with salted fig skins drifting over a landscape of apple and flower aromas - rather pretty. The palate was where the wine really shone though. There had a really dry, flinty feel to it, with limes and kumquats, orange peel and fig-skin tones pierced with a fresh citrus acidity that lent it a brilliant sense of balance. Lovely with fried tempura. There was plenty of complexity too, with more of those pretty floral notes and a nice lift of spice curling around at the finish. We do not drink all that much Vin Jaune in these parts, but this was very enjoyable indeed.

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

• 2010 Joseph Burrier Viré-Clessé Quintaine 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Mâconnais, Viré-Clessé

  This is a no-brainer at its price - about as good value a white Burgundy as you can find anywhere. There was a nice Mâcon character in the nose, with some Southerly sweetness in its ripe fruited aromas of apple flesh and melons, but these were nicely met by good notes of chalky mineral. The palate had that happy, sunny tone too, with sweet lemons and more ripe apple flavours. Here too though, it was nicely balanced out with a lovely amount of zip and freshness, with a nice burst of acidity and chalky mineral at the finish. Simple, but very nicely put together indeed. A very enjoyable wine.

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

• 1994 Castello di Ama L'Apparita Toscana IGT 91 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  My first time trying a Vigna l'Apparita, and from a magnum no less. It's reputation rather precedes it, but I must say that while it was a decently good wine, I was far from blown away. The nose had a ripe feel on it, with slightly roasted notes of plums and blackberries seasoned with dried herbs and spice, with a whiff of dusty earth and some sweet tobacco notes at the sides. Pretty nice. But while the palate was pretty good as well, I felt it lacked a bit of soul. Here, we had rich flavours of plums and blackberries held in fine tannins and bright tomato-ish acidity, which gave the wine a fresh, open feel. Nice finish too, with a brush of spice and herb. For some reason though, it came across as a little one-dimensional, almost as it there was more to the wine that it was just not willing to show on the day. Maybe this simply needed a lot more time, but it was not all that special on the day. One to put aside and try again in 6-8 years time I think, at least in a magnum format.

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

• 1983 Domaine Louis Remy Clos de la Roche 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru

  I was very surprised when this was revealed as a Clos de la Roche. I thought it was a pretty decent Burg, perhaps a good village or a weaker 1er Cru - not a Grand Cru thought, and certainly not one from amongst the higher echelons of Burgundy. The nose smelt old, with meat and earth and winter melon scents alongside almost preserved fruit notes of sour cherries and sour plums, and then just a curl of floral notes at the sides. Decent enough. The palate had a nice sense of character to it, with more sour plums and sour cherries along with little of earthy shades on the background. I also liked the fresh, clear feel and nicely velvety tannins wrapped around the finish. Unfortunately, this really lacked the depth and complexity that you would want in a Grand Cru of this age - it was quite a bit simpler and thinner than that. All in all, a decent wine I would say, but certainly not one to go out looking for. About time to drink up too.

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