Weekday Treat at Asia Grand

Another dinner with Alex, Fiona, Elsa and Ming. This was quite a night. We were all tired after a pretty long day of tasting, yet the wines were so good, and the food so on form that I enjoyed every single moment of it. It was a great opportunity to taste the two Bouchards side-by-side. Both were great, but it was the 1989 Beaucastel though that truly stole the show on a Burg-filled day. One of the few truly great wines I have had the pleasure of tasting in my life, certainly one of the handful of the very greatest CdPs. Thanks Ming!

• 2006 Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières Domaine 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  From a 375ml. This was absolutely lovely. Certainly more open and giving than the Perrieres on the same flight. Nose showed chalky mineral along with hints of flowers, peaches and deep whiffs of white fruit, served up with a touch of toastiness and dollops of creme fraiche. On the palate, I found this more open than the 2006 Perrieres on the same flight, with lots of great juicy acidity running through happy flavours of rich yellow fruit was matched with lots of flinty minerality. I thought this had a little greater weight too, yet there was just fantastic balance keeping it light on its feet. It just seemed to fade quietly at mid palate before more chalky mineral notes rushed in, carrying the wine into a very impressive finish, which was at once creamy and buttery, and flowery and fruity, with hints of peaches and cream, and a serious mineral in-seam, all pushing the wine into a back-end with some solid juicy length and a long stony linger that just floated around the mouth. Poised and elegant, and very classy. A delicious wine without the stern aristocracy of the Perrieres, but with just that much more that somehow managed to stay just that little more charming at the time we tasted them.

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• 2006 Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  From another 375ml. A superb wine. At once very similar, yet subtly different from its 2006 sibling from the Genevrieres vineyard. While the earlier was the more immediately delicious and charming, I think this has just that little bit more definition and structure to edge it over the long haul. Lovely nose showed a touch of cream, butter, and lots of flinty, chalky minerality running through flowery scents and dollops of peachy stone fruit. Really attractive, superbly integrated. Palate had tons of mineral on it, running through rich white fruit, which was at once rich and buttery, almost oily in texture and weight, yet showing ever so linear, clean, and precise, all superbly integrated. Incredible length here, again with great defintion, minerally lines and superb balance - all chalky, flinty, stony mineral wed to rich, weighty depth of pure fruit expression and fresh, perfectly percise structure. Painfully young, but really excellent.

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• 2004 Frédéric Magnien Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru La Perrière 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

  Very decent, but it took some time to get there. When first opened, it was frankly quite terrible. Strangely smelling overwhelmingly of roasted peanut candy when first opened, it was really tight on the palate, showing 2004 green herbs and lots of acidity with nothing much else. 3 hours later, it had opened up incredibly and quite transformed into another wine. Still not a world-beater, but this was a very pleasant Burg, certainly by Magnien's standards, rather more elegant than usual. Sweet smelling on the nose, with the peanut all but gone and replaced by pretty red fruit notes, flowers, a little funk and a layer of earth. Nice. Palate showed more of the reddish sweet cherries, very nicely balanced with fresh acidity, a touch of iron, a touch of flowers and a little dash of spiciness. Not the most complex, but it tasted pretty good. Finish was okay too. Shortish to mid-length, it showed a nice structured feel and only a slight herbaciousness at the very end. Quite enjoyable.

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• 1990 Mommessin Volnay 1er Cru Taillepieds 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru

  Incredibly tight and tannic when first opened, rather punishing to drink, it took a full 3 hours in the bottle to start opening up. When it did, it was a good wine. Not as strong as the producer, terroir and vintage would suggest, but a nice drink nonethless, especially when paired with Peking duck. I really liked the nose, which was quite wonderful even on first pour, showing lots of sous bois, plenty of truffly scents, some bacon-like meaty whiffs, dark fruited plums, cherries and blackberries, some beancurd skin and and a sprinkle of peppery spice. With time, it opened up even further, and wood spice scents along with high-toned flowers emerged from the malange. The palate was another story though. Super tight, extracted, high acid, tannic for a Pinot when first poured, it really needed the time left in the bottle. We only got subtle tones of blackberry and a hint of mushroom and little else, so the bottle was set aside. When we got to it again hours later, it started showing a thick, dense, palate, which rich, sweetish flavours of raspberry curd, spice and, towards the finish, a sweet flowery undertone with hints of chocolate and vanilla. Very pleasurable at points. Although, this was still tight at spots, still with some drying tannins, ot was one tough wine that needs quite a bit of time yet. The fruit certainly is there in force, but I do hope there will be enough to see through the softening of the structure.

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• 1990 Domaine Laleure-Piot Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Les Vergelesses 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru

  Very good, but only after three hours left open in the bottle. Before that, this showed as yet another 1990 Burg that was far too young to pop and pour. When first opened, the nose was nice enough. A bit of toast and walnut, some rich red cherries and redcurrants, along with meaty scents, with shades of sauteed mushrooms and a hint of flowers. With time, it started taking on positively Bordelais characters of funky leather and meat, sous bois and some tea notes to go along with slightly dried strawberries and umami tones. Pretty nice. The palate had some ripe, fleshy fruit with a nice red cherry gummy expression, some spice hints and nice juiciness and balance to it. Yet for all that, it seemed like someone had hit the mute button on the flavour-profile of the wine when we first poured it out, so that most of what came out seemed stuck to and rather overwhelmed by a tight, sternish backbone of teeth-coating tannins. It softened out quite a bit and became a whole lot more drinkable a few hours later, with a more open, giving expression of dark fruit emerged. A patina of rather drying tannins remained, especially at the finish, where the wine seemed to thin out a little. All in all though, still plenty to derive pleasure from. I enjoyed this. Not sure it is going to improve much, yet the tannins on this still remain rather harsh - I would say it is probably time to pop these and to start consuming them either with a good decant or a nice long rest in an open bottle.

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• 1989 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 96 Points

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

  One of the greatest CdPs I have ever tasted. This was incredible. We poured it out after an hour or so in in the decanter, but it really only hit its stride about half an hour after that. It was unmistakably CdP, and quite unmistakably Beaucastel when first poured, although I guessed it as one of the more unheralded vintages in the 1980s when first poured. It had a beautiful nose from the get-go.Absolutely seductive dried cherries, strawberries wreathed with a whiff of smoke, stewed fruit tea, plum jam, deep scents of meat, leather and garrigue, some cigarette smoke hints. Amazing. Palate had a rich attack, with a wonderful pure burst of sweet dark cherries, damson plums, earthy notes, leather, and reams of spice - pepper, anise, cloves - all wrapped in melting tannins. The finish seemed a little short at first, with a burst of spice and a whiff of smoke rounding off the rather truncated wine, making me think 1985 or 1986. However, with a bit of time and air, the wine just took off from the mid-palate, opening up into a profound panpoly of flavours just unfolding in a gloriously smooth, silky, cherry-laden, dark chocolate peppered length, with earthy, smoky, meaty depths and long draws on a good cigar, then orange peel, and more juicy, gorgeous natural fruit sweetness with a final show of pure cherries, all perfectly integrated. Woah. I found the wine just so charming, so seductive, so delicious. Awesome. Like a flawless gem, it beautiful from every aspect. A great experience. Far and away the best wine on a day of many good wines.

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We finished the dinner off with the remiander of the wonderful 1971 Rayne Vigneau Sauternes that we enjoyed over lunch. What a day!