2011 Election Party

A historic day in Singapore. Aljunied GRC falls to the opposition.

• 2006 Louis Lequin Bâtard-Montrachet 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Pretty good. Ferrous mineral, beeswax, spice and yellow fruit scents accompanied by some soap suddy floral notes. Lots of freshness on the richly textured palate, with more lemons, pineapples, a serious seam of almost savoury minerality and more honeyed beeswax notes along with a spicy finish. This was so mouthcoatingly rich and waxy that I suspected it may have been a white Rhone. However, with time, some buttery Batard notes started coming out. Lots of depth, but this was very balanced, with finely judged acidity lending a tingly sense of life and energy to the whole package. Very young, and this should improve with time, but even right now it was quite impressive, especially given Louis Lequin's less than stellar reputation.

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• 2002 Château La Fleur de Boüard 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Lalande de Pomerol

  Not bad. Nice nose. Classic Bordeaux with a modern spin - ripe plums, spicy tobacco accents, earth, some musky flowers and leathery notes in a nice melange. The palate showed a lot more of the merlot spiciness alongside more ripe plums, slightly gummy fruit on the attack, moving into an earthier mid-palate and a decent-length finish that had a linger of sweet dark fruit and dried flowers coated with a layer oak. A bit on the thin side on the palate, but there was enough here to hold the interest. Pretty nice and drinking well.

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• 2005 Smidge Zinfandel The Tardy 88 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, Langhorne Creek

  Pretty decent, interesting stuff as far as Zins go. Very forward nose – blackberries galore, dark cherries, some spice, earth and a little minty, eucalyptus accent. Sweet, modern, new wordly. The palate was rich, ripe, very fruit forward, with tons more blackberry and cherries – a busty wine, but rather well-proportioned with a nice fresh balance. I would have liked a bit more structure, this was a bit on the soft side, and rhe finish leaves a bit to be desired. It was shortish, with some heat and a blast of spice nestling amidst brambly notes. Still, overall a pretty decent effort. Enjoyable and very interesting.

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• 2009 Keith Tulloch Shiraz Viognier 90 Points

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin

  Very nice. Lovely deep nose – sweet dark cherries, plusm, cracked back pepper, funky, loamy earth and a nice floral lift. Palate, quite full-bodied but superbly balanced, with sweet cherries and plums with hints of spice and a long floral finish. Simple, but very yummy! Great QPR.

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• 1996 R. Dumont et Fils Champagne Blanc de Noirs Grand Millesime 92 Points

  France, Champagne

  Very nice. Certainly better than the last bottle I had - this was a serious Champagne. Very meaty nose, with lots of umami chicken stock scents alongside with dried cherry and ripe stone fruit accents. Lovely 1996 balance on the palate, with fine acidity lending the wine both a great freshness and sense of precision and focus. The delicious lemon zest and cherry pith flavours seemed a bit more developed than the last bottle, with more depth and breadth alongside a very attractive mushroomy umami undertone. Most importantly, there was a sense of structure and extract here that was missing from the last bottle. With time, a juicy apple note started coming out. Nice detailed finish too - with a mouthfull of meaty flavours laced through with a serious stony minerality and sprinkled with a nice yeastiness. Still young, still a bit tight, but this was far better balanced and integrated than the previous bottle. I found this both an intellectually interesting and very yummy bottle which should get better and better with time. Bravo.

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