Thailand Weekend

A super Fathers Day weekend with best friends in Thailand. As usual, it proved that it is really hard to buy properly-stored and reasonably priced wine in Thailand......fortunately we had brought a couple of saving bottles from Hong Kong.

Bruschetta, Pizzas......and a fabulous Burrata.

• 2013 Thousand Candles Pinot Noir 77 Points

  Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley

  (6/20/2015)

  Decanted for 2 hours. Semi-transparent vivid purple-red colour....vivid in a bad way. Nose is tannic, tarry, very alcoholic, bitter black chocolate, fumey...... not appealing. Palate is very bitter unripe black cherry, green Chinese bitter gourd vegetable, coca cola, throat-burning high alcohol, very dry tannic woody finish. No length. Altogether rather unpleasant fruit and alcohol bomb. A longer decant offererd few redeeming features.

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• 2012 Burn Cottage Pinot Noir 82 Points

  New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

  (6/20/2015)

  Transparent ruby colour. Nose is very pleasant hints of sheeps cheese and cow barns.....quite Burgundian, ripe raspberry fruit, hints of cherry boiled sweets.....but then it turns a bit sweet and loses complexity. Palate is a big disappointment after the initial nose - very thin, dilute cherry cola. A touch of length. Bought and drank in Thailand, so it could well be a poor bottle.

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A super fresh and simple seafood early dinner at the local fishermen's restaurant on the beach as the sun went down.......the robustness of the Kumeu River counterpointed the spice sauces and the charcoal of the prawns as well as having the acidity to quell the salted fish fried rice.

• 2012 Kumeu River Chardonnay Maté's Vineyard 87 Points

  New Zealand, North Island, Auckland, Kumeu

  (6/20/2015)

  Quite deep gold for its age. Nose of ripe new world oaked chardonnay but with some elements of above-average sophistication.....hints of Mersault. Palate has good charcoal-roasted whole lemons acidity to balance the quite heavy melted butter that is the other distinctive element....although there is some minerality here too. The finish is marred by somewhat heavy alcohol. Overall, for a wine bought in Thailand it is not bad.....it has the Mersault-style muscularity to withstand the temperatures and generally poor storage.

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Brought at 'restaurant price' from DFS at HK International Airport - but La Conseillante never disappoints even in a challenging year and even at a challenging price. It paired really well with the movie - both the wine and the movie plot unfolded gradually and pleasingly.

• 2007 Château La Conseillante 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  (6/20/2015)

  No decant but drank slowly over 2+ hours. Translucent ruby jeweled red. Nose is damp earth and raspberries, Indian spices. Palate is gloriously fresh acidity, spicy, bramble black fruit. A bit dilute compared to bigger vintages but gorgeous to drink now. The fruit is really lovely and succulent with some fresh ground nutmeg and peach stone. Quite tannic still without a decant, which gives it that peach stone element. Subtly resonant. 90+

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A lovely lunch............simple seafood from the local beach restaurant.

• NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée 90 Points

  France, Champagne

  (6/21/2015)

  A bottle brought from Greg's cellar in Hong Kong and drank over a Fathers Day lunch to accompany char-grilled Tiger Prawns and steamed Blue Crab form the local beach restaurant. I sometimes have difficulty to 'get' this wine but today was one of my best experiences - the really fresh, simple seafood really brought out an additional dimension in the wine. I am coming to conclude that this is definitely a food wine rather than an aperitif.

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Great weekend..... best to stick to simple white wines if buying them locally.