Symmetry Dinner

Theme for the night was "Symmetry" - which meant that we were supposed to bring wines showing some sort of symmetry, either in vintage, name or some other way. Lawrence kicked us off with a "99" vintage Champagne, William brought two halves of a Corton Charlie, Joyce and Martin brought a "2002", as did KG, Chad brought a Margaux from Margaux, PJ brought a wine from "JJ" Christofel Urben, we had a pair of 2002 and 2000 St Henri Shiraz from Alex and Kelvin, Hsien Min popped a "1991" Coutet, and I followed up a "Blancs de Blancs" with a "Blanc de Noir" dessert.

Interesting theme, and as always, plenty of good wine. Apart from the Laurent Perrier, the wines were all served blind. Food was pretty decent. Some dishes were great, others not so, but overall pretty okay for the price.

• 1999 Laurent-Perrier Champagne Brut Millésimé 92 Points

  France, Champagne

  Much better than the last bottle I thought. While still very young, this had really opened up to show quite a bit of quality and potential. Extremely vigorous, but fine bead bubbled away in the glass. Nice nose. Started off with straw, nuts and caramel, along with fruity citrus tones of grapefruit and pomelo, before more typical Laurent-Perrier toffee-nut and burn caramel and earthy mineral started emerging. Palate was juicy, with plenty of bright acidity running through more lemony, grapefruit notes. A bit tight, with a dry, structured spine rather dominating at first. However, with time, it unfurled to show some complexity with dried fruits, kumquats and limes, and a longish finish with plenty of earthy, chalky mineral. A bit rough at the moment, this needs some time yet, but it has all the right elements to make a really nice vintage brut in years to come.

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• NV Ville de la Reine Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut 91 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  Very nice, elegant Champagne. Not quite the complexity and depth of the vintage Laurent-Perrier, but this was delicious and very fun to drink. Nose was rather attractive, with earthy tones, yeast, white mushrooms, white fruit, sweet flowery notes and flecks of nuttiness and stony mineral. Lots of elegance on the palate, with a pleasantly frothy mousse and beautiful balance in the mouth. Not the most complex with its white fruit tones, sweet ripe lemons, green apple and little sprinkle of mineral, but very yummy, with lots of friendly charm. A real crowd pleaser. Finish was decent too, with a little minerally linger. This was just a beautiful pairing with the smoked salmon and caviar canapes that we ordered. It would benefit from more time in the cellar I think. Just a single bottle left. Will keep that for awhile hopefully.

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• 2006 Louis Lequin Corton-Charlemagne 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

  A pretty decent wine, but you know something is not quite right when 10 out of 12 people in a table full of Burg lovers called this either a Alsatian or Rhone varietal. Nose was very attractive, in a Alsace-like way, with sweet banana, pineapples, lots of sweet spices and beeswax, along with very modern inflections of ice-cream soda, vanilla and a dose of varnish. The only nod to its origins was a saline, chalky minerality. Palate was very rich and creamily textured, almost oily but not quite there. Lots of ripeness, lowish acidity, but balance was still pretty decent. Again, I got sweet bananas, along with beeswax, lots of sweet spices, and a touch of peach melba. Finish was mid-length, with lots more vanillin-laced oak and spice. I kinda enjoyed this, but have marked it down slightly for not tasting anything like a Corton Charlie, or even a Burg at that. The 2005 iteration of this particular bottling was far better in my opinion.

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• 2002 Cullen Wines Chardonnay 93 Points

  Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

  Fabulous. Second time I've had a Chardonnay from Cullen, and I have been bowled over both times. Age has somewhat blurred the distinction between old and new world here, so this could well be a very ripe Burg. For one thing, this was a lot more Burg-like than the Corton Charlemagne we had alongside. Lovely nose, full of nutty, toasty scents, along with almond skins, a saline, sea-spray accent and some ripe yellow fruit all buttressed by some chalky mineral. Lowish acidity on the palate, but still very well balanced overall. Plenty of structure and grip too. Lots of richness here, but also plenty of layered depth, with sweet lemon notes, ripe red apples, yellow fruited peach tones and a bit of savoury button mushrooms. Finish had a nice length, with sweet flowers, slightly candied pineapple and some spice and mineral hints. A lovely wine, very full and complete, and extremely delicious. Drinking nicely now, but I can see this going strong for some time yet.

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• 2007 Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Kabinett 92 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  This wine had been opened and left in the bottle by PJ for a good 6 days, and it was a completely different experience from the last bottle I had. Far better I would say. Nose was almost like a Gewurztraminer or a Scheurebe in its lifted, perfumy lilt, with tons of flowers, jasmine, rose-water and soap suds just wafting out of the glass. Tremendously aromatic, with just that hint of spice and mineral floating around in the background. Palate was far more Riesling like, but really rather sweet for a Kabinett, with a panopaly of sappy lychee and sweet pear flavours with the same hints of mineral and spice. The only thing that marked it out as a Mosel was the lovely dry balance and mouthwatering acidity in the backdrop. Finish was mid-length, with a nice linger of floral and fruit tones. A really nice Kabinett, but on this experience, I would say either keep it in the bottle for another 7-8 years, or leave it opened in the bottle for a good 5-6 days if you are planning to open one anytime soon.

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• 2002 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Chambertin-Clos de Bèze 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru

  This was a big ripe monster of a Clos de Beze, almost shading in new world territory. Really excellent though - my red WOTN. Lovely nose, full of earth and animale tones - furry, foxy, a little leathery - yet mixed in with sweetly fragrant flowers, dark cherries and just that bit of varnished wood. Thankfully, the varnish dissipated a little with time, leaving just a woody linger. Tons and tons of power on the palate, with great depths of dark cherries, rich red fruit and layers of spice and flowery notes. Beautifully balanced, lovely texture from fine tannins, lots of concentration, this was one solid wine. The Gevrey profile only showed up right at the finish for me, which showed decent length in its bacon bits, meat and cherry tones. Drinking well now, but this is really a wine in its adolescence. It may not be the longest lived of Clos de Beze, but I think another 3-5 years in the bottle would do it a world of good.

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• 1993 Château Margaux 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  A nice wine, especially given the context of the vintage, but rather disappointing for a Chateau Margaux. Nose was great - toasty little bits of spice and anise were sprinkled over a bed of earth, ripe cherries, hints of tobacco leaf and lovely floral tones. Almost right-bankish. Palate lagged quite a far way behind though. Supremely elegant, nice clean tones, lovely freshness, good balance, pleasant flavours of sweet cherries and a light layering of cassis, nice flowers - all just a bit thin on the ground though, with no real depth or structure to speak of. This showed especially on the finish, which was straddling the thin line between weak and decent, with just a little linger of spice to perk things up. All in all, a very pleasant wine that gave quite a bit of pleasure, but certainly far from great.

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• 2002 Penfolds Shiraz St. Henri 87 Points

  Australia, South Australia

  Alex had decanted this for half an hour before serving - it probably needed a lot longer. I did not like it very much. Uncharacteristically for a St Henri, it showed like an alcohol bomb. Pretty notes of blueberries and cream, damson plums and pepper on the nose were more or less overwhelmed on first sniff by tons of glycerol and varnish. Just whiffs of that wafting into the nose. Same thing on the palate. Alcohol laden, it really carried a knock-out punch, showing much, much bigger and more alcoholic than the Girardin Chambertin Clos de Beze, the other 14.5% wine we had on the night. This tasted more like 16%! Underneath all that, there were again nice flavours of sweet berries and plums, with a nice purity and a good sense of balance between acid, fruit and structure. Finish was decent enough, with more berry flavours and a dry, almost port-like touch to it. It was all rather primary and monolithic though, and very much buried under all that alcohol. Horror of horrors, I have a bottle carefully packed away in the cellar - I really hope it comes good with time.

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• 2000 Penfolds Shiraz St. Henri 91 Points

  Australia, South Australia

  Much, much more drinkable than the 2002, which was supposed to be a better vintage. I actually rather liked this. Lovely aromatics on the nose, with plums, prunes, sweet ripe blueberries, haw flakes, and bits of chalk, pepper and flowers. Very rich palate, with strong cassis overtones and prunes and plums riding underneath. Lots of mouthcoating flavours, but I thought they were nicely back-up with some acidity. Finish was decent as well, with a touch of woodiness mingling with the fruit. Just a bit too much glycerol-haze for my liking, but otherwise, a pretty delicious wine that should get even better with time.

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• 1991 Château Coutet Barsac 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac

  Pretty decent wine, very interesting too. This had the nose of a Sauterne, but the palate of a Loire. Golden yellow colour showed its age. Nose was very nice, with honeycomb, nectar, sour plums, preserved olives and nuts in a sweetly packaged melange. The creamily textured palate could not quite keep up though - there seemed to be little botrytis, with whatever sweetness the wine used to have having faded into the background. In its place, the wine showed lots of spice, clean preserved kumquat and sour plum notes, a touch of nectar and just a hint of desiccated coconut moving towards the shortish finish. Very pleasant to drink on its own, but this could not quite stand up to some of the desserts thrown at it. Better as an aperitive or with foie gras I would think. Time to drink up if you have any in your cellar.

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• NV Henri Giraud Ratafia de Champagne 92 Points

  France, Champagne, Ratafia de Champagne

  This surprised everybody. A nice way to end the evening. Nose showed rather Marc-like, with apples, cherries, spice, plums and a bit of savoury olives laid over a mahogany wood base. Very nicely balanced on the palate, with more sweet plum and apple flavours, along with chocolate and spice notes. It finished with a touch of rhubarb - rather McDonald's apple-pie like. Lovely pairing with chocolate desserts.

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