'No Masks' Hong Kong Dinner
Table, 8th Floor, The Pemberton, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
Tasted February 18, 2020 by Goldstone with 181 views
Introduction
Time for 8 of us to abandon Coronavirus masks and general gloom to enjoy our company and drink some super wines. Thanks for organising, Joseph, and a great choice of venue!
Flight 1 - Aperitif (1 note)
An interesting start...thanks, Eric!
White - Sparkling
1987 Bonnaire Champagne Grand Cru Brut Collection
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Copper gold colour. No bubbles. Nose of burnished copper and dried hay. Palate is immediate petillance not noticeable in the glass plus copperish Pinot driven fruit and a low dosage that gives a dry finish. Interesting as a first wine of a long dinner. A curiosity piece that has just about survived a forgettable vintage.
Flight 2 - White Burgundy (2 notes)
Both these wines were way too cold to begin with but really improved for those of us who kept some in reserve....drank with fabulous NZ Steamed Clams (shared) and really good French Langoustine Carpaccio starter (for me).
White
2013 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Gouttes d'Or
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru
Light silver gold colour closer to a NZ Sauvignon Blanc... clearly young. Nose is reticent... too cold. Palate is beautifully precise lemon juice and lime juice and oyster jus. Very young but outstandingly pure and precise. Too young to have any length. It improved kept aside for 3 hours to re-visit at the end of the dinner. 90 for now but possibly biased by the chilly opening. I associate Meursault with having a lot more 'oomph' but I really liked this and it definitely has upside over the next 3-5 years whilst it should retain some of its lovely freshness.
White
2006 Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
Nicely gold colour but still freshly jewelled. Nose is too cold but definitely a youthful bottle. Palate has an immediately gorgeous light honeysuckle and acacia honey character with a little bit of lemon and vanilla creme brulee. Really good deceptive length. Resonant and rich. Drop dead gorgeous. Quite feminine for a Criots-BM. The best bottle from my case so far. So fresh and vibrant. It had improved when drank again at the end of the meal 3 -4 hours later but hadn't basically changed character. I scored it mid-point.
Flight 3 - Lighter Reds with Suckling Pig (2 notes)
Dominik educated us with a French 'left of field' wine and Joseph generously provided a definite contender for Wine of the Night'. Thanks, both!
Red
2017 Domaine du Pélican Poulsard Arbois
France, Jura, Arbois
Transparent light red cherry colour. Nose is reticent, bright, fresh strawberry Burgundian style fruit. Palate is bright, tight, almost peppery strawberry. Bright is the operative word. I don’t see this ageing. Nice light and elegant but not especially memorable and surprising lack of anything to identify as Jura typicity, which is so evident in the Jura whites.
Red
1997 Gaja Barbaresco
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Briefly decanted but then many of us kept this back for 2-3 hours to savour it...that paid dividends, for sure. Opaque purple red. Nose is a perfumed rose. Palate is really beautifully velvet on entry, powdered tannins. Stunning. Beautiful confit strawberry. Quite ethereal in its in your head resonance and reverberance. So more-ish. Absolutely gorgeous. Probably ‘at point’ and certainly no need to wait. 95 easy. Thanks, Joseph!
Flight 4 - Pinot Noir (3 notes)
Thibault and Erik did well to help us corral these together into a flight....which went brilliantly with a shared plate of Roast Iberico Suckling Pig and some main courses (mine was a beautiful Spaghetti with Sea Urchin).
Red
1993 Calera Pinot Noir Reed Vineyard
USA, California, Central Coast, Mount Harlan
Slightly musty velvet colour. Nose is confit strawberry, some musk and undergrowth. Palate is acidic and past it. Past its prime and its remaining enjoyment window.
Red
1997 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Dark opaque ruby colour. Nose is nicely lifted more black fruit than you’d normally expect in a Cali Pinot. Palate is deep, rich and unctuous. Very rich. Still very fresh and alive but with some great secondary and near-tertiary elements. Great length and a deeply resonant reverberance. One of the most impressive Cali Pinots I have drank.
Red
2008 Domaine des Varoilles Charmes-Chambertin
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru
Transparent jeweled ruby colour. Nose of violets, fresh thyme and tart redcurrants. Palate is dry, medium tannins, quite tart red and black fruit with some spice of dried star anise. Medium finish. Very well made but still short of its proper drinking window. Would like to revisit this as I didn’t pay it enough attention because it was surprisingly overshadowed by the 1997 Williams Seleyem (and I don’t normally like Sonoma Pinot).
Flight 5 - Big Boys (3 notes)
We saved these deliberately to pair with a large platter of superb cheeses. Keith's 'Old Bastard' was a noble effort to challenge two of the night's best wines (for me). Thanks to Thibault for the glorious Flor de Pingus, which really hit the spot for me....a great example of people from the wine trade knowing the best 'super seconds'.
Red
2001 Ridge Monte Bello
USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains
Decanted for 3 hours before serving than drank slowly over the next 2+ hours. Black-purple totally opaque. Nose is perfect graphite purity. Black fruit taken to a modern art painting level...impossible to put into words. Palate is oh wow.... purity and linear attack of ‘black slab’ fruit and stern but somehow tactile tannin. The resonance and reverberance is a deep, low toned hum that is almost ‘ohm’. Wow, this is so young but so beautiful. The purity of the fruit and its slightly confit aspect is stunning. Silence creating....which is my greatest compliment of a wine. Can only improve with age. My first of a case and I think I have timed this right. Almost everyone's WOTN against some similar drop-dead competition that I scored almost as highly. 96+
Red
2006 Dominio Pingus Ribera del Duero Flor de Pingus
Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero
Decanted for several hours before serving. Still purple-red young colour. Nose is gosh... deep, mesmerising 'Alice down the rabbit hole' black fruit. Palate is absolutely drop-dead gorgeous pure linearity but still really tightly coiled. All dark 'black slab' intensely concentrated but pure black and red pastilled fruit at the moment and a graphite-stiff but not overly tannic backbone. Mesmeric length and resonance but in a very muted tone. This is really great winemaking, especially for a 'second' wine. It really needs another 5-10 years to unfurl but I happen to love this very linear and pure style just the way it is. Oh, wow! 95+
Red
2005 Kaesler Shiraz Old Bastard
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
Decanted for a couple of hours then finished soon after towards the end of a long dinner. Totally opaque black-purple. Nose is surprisingly restrained despite its power. Palate is quite muscular but well-proportioned. No more notes but this was very good. Needed a longer decant or 5 more years in the cellar.
Flight 6 - Joseph's 'Special Crab Fried Rice' (1 note)
A great traditional way to finish a dinner and a 'masterclass' from the chef who prepared it at the table. Thibault's 'boutique producer' 2008 Champagne matched it really well....together with anyone who had saved some of the two white Burgundies.
Closing
Overall, the Ridge 2001 and the Gaja 1997 came out as favourites but they masked (sorry for the pun!) some other great wines...for me the Flor de Pingus, for example.
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