Tok Hong's 40th

Tok Hong put together a fantastic dinner for his 40th, with some great food and a stellar cast of 1970 wines. Interestingly, Spain took the gong on the night, with the Tondonia and the Vega Sicilia Unico more or less crushing the Bordeaux on their respective flights. Much thanks to Tok Hong for his generosity - this was a night to remember!

• NV Jacques Selosse Initial 93 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  Another first class bottle. Still young, this was disgorged on 6 July 2008, so it really took a bit of time in a white wine glass to open up. Lovely nose showed a whole range of smells that just developed with time, from white flowers, to damp cotton wool, ripe red apples, a little oxidative style at the edges, a bit of white meat, some nuttiness. Very serious, and quite lovely. Palate was really fresh, watering the sides of the mouth with lots of ripe lemon flavours, some preserved limes and slightly oxidative specks again, just hinting of apple cider and muscat juice. Lots of power, plenty of depth, just lacked a little in terms of breadth of flavours across the mid-palate without the benefit of food I thought. I am nitpicking though. This was a really solid Champagne. Amazingly persisitent finish as well, bone dry, and just going on and on and on in the mouth, swirling in gentle circles of lemon zest and zingy acid with little inflections of ferrous mineral. I thought it was darn good when had on its owned, but when the food came, this was just an absolutely incredible pairing with a seared blue-fin tuna dish. Quite, quite perfect really, with the acidity on the wine cutting through the fat of the tuna, and the flavours on both ends just resounding in the mouth. A real treat.

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• 1970 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia 95 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  We had two bottles of this. Night and day when compared with the last time I drank a 1970 Tondonia. The last bottle a year or so ago was disappointingly on its last legs. These, one the other hand, were alive, kicking and extraordinarily good. A really superb wine. Nose was mindblowing - pure Rioja seduction. Dusky figs, plums, plush cherry scents, strawberry jam, earthy soil notes, a little Tempranillo smoke and spice, a little bloody note, a whiff of wild flowers. With time, it was positively Barolo-like, with roses galore wafting out the glass along with smoky accents, and then some meaty, beefy, smoky scents started floating out as well. Almost mesquite BBQ like. Wow. I could just smell this all night - it was one of the most complex, shifting bouquets I have ever come across. The palate was glorious too. Fully resolved tannins and fresh integrated acid formed a backdrop for wafting flavours of strawberries and dark cherries that just caressed the palate with a silky glide. Little hints of smoke lingered at the edges of the wine, as plums, figs and earth notes filled in the mid-palate. The finish was still going strong - trailing away with a long linger of red fruit, gentle woody ash notes, haw flakes and even wet stone. Not a weighty wine, in fact it seemed a little too ephemereal at the midpalate at times. But this was all lacy mouth-filling perfume - super refined, supremely elegant. May not be a wine for everybody, but I absolutely loved it. Why such a difference from the last bottle? Provenance? Storage? Who knows? But boy, I am not complaining. This was a knockout on the night, only bested by an even more extraordinary magnum of 1970 Vega Sicilia Unico.

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• 1970 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  Lots of positive reviews on CT, but the two bottles we had on the night just did not show well. Vegetables on the nose at first - asparagus, green wood, with some of Ducru's signature flowers and black tea in the background, along with sweet cassis scents underneath. A bit off-putting at first, but it did thankfully open up somewhat, with the green notes subsiding and the flowers and black tea notes coming to the fore - quite Oolong-like here. Palate was still going strong on the attack, with sweet cassis flecked with more green notes. Very nicely resolved too, with plush velvety tannins. Unfortunately, it nosedived after the mid-palate, going hollow quite fast. It filled up just a little with time, with red fruits and haw flakes emerging, but still remained a little empty at the finish. This still tasted very alive I thought, but I was not quite sure where it was going. Pleasantly drinkable, but not great. This was like a Bordeaux beast to the 1970 Tondonia's ravishing Rioja beauty. An unusual experience for a Ducru, which is often the belle at the party. Slightly off bottles maybe?

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• 1970 Château Léoville Las Cases 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  From an ex-Chateau magnum. A little disappointing. This was decent, but not great. Rich, deep nose showed some promise, with a long pull of cassis, a bit of spice, earth, loam, some gentle white pepper, integrated oak notes and some wafting capsicum notes that gave the wine a little green edge. Just a little TCA there? Some thought so, others did not. If anything, the palate was rather thinner, leaner and slimmer than I expected from a Las Cases. There was really nice balance and focus though. Sweet cassis on the attack, more capsicum on the mid-palate, and floating smoke and cigar box notes moving into the finish. Nice, lots of liveliness, but just lacking a bit of oomph at the back-end. The green notes from the nose haunted the wine on the palate as well, quite refusing to blow off. Overall, a goodish left bank, very representative of St Julien, but not a fantastic Las Cases by any stretch.

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• 1970 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único 97 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  From a magnum. I was floored by this one. A profound, profound wine that quite belies any description. The nose showed deep, deep reservoirs of dark fruits all tightly wound together, earth, vanilla, and a spike of orange fizz, pepper, menthol, smoke. Deeply brooding. A world away from the exuberant, seductive '70 Tondonia, but no less impressive. A pause, on to the palate, and woah! This was something else. Mindblowing, show-stopping - everyone on the table went speechless for awhile as they took their first sips. It was just absolutely seamless, with mouth-coating flavours of black fruits, spice, smoke, a little tar, a touch of chocolate, all so wonderful integrated that it came across as one glorious beam of deep flavours just sweeping majestically across the breadth of the palate, with a pull of wood and spice streaming along below. Bordeaux like at points with its fine structure and dark fruited depths, but it reminded me more of a top-end Musigny than anything else in the way it carried such elegance and complexity, yet somehow still coming across as a powerful, almost monolithic wine. An archetypal iron fist in a velvet glove. The finish just sealed the whole deal. Awesome length, incredible integration again, it just filled the mouth with plums, cassis and dark cherries, all wrapped in a little grip of the finest tannins that refused to release their hold on the palate. Great power, pitch perfect balance, and silky smooth elegance. A complete wine. Incredibly young for a 40 year old too - this could go on for another 40 easily. This one was a real experience. Far and away the best Unico I have tried, and one of the best wines I have had for a long time. I can only imagine what this will taste like in a decade or two.

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• 1970 Dow Porto Vintage 90 Points

  Portugal, Douro, Porto

  Pretty good, but a bit disappointing for what it is. There was plenty of alcohol on the nose at first, so that the otherwise pleasant raisin scents took on a distinct rum and raisin character. With time, the alcohol mellowed somewhat and some violets emerged, along with savoury sweet figs, plum and red cherry notes. Rather high toned and quite vibrant. The palate was rich and thick, with more of the alcohol on the attack, chased by more rum and raisin flavours, dark cherries, lots of molasses, and reams of spice and floaty smoke notes on the finish. I expected more though - it just seemed a little narrow on the palate, and the alcochol more or less hulked over the rest of the wine. Thankfully, time in the decanter and more time in the glass helped somewhat. The acid came out, the wine became more rounded, more luscious, it took on some savoury port-wood notes and genreally became a whole lot more pleasant. Still though, I would expect more from a Dow of this age.

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