Pre-Burgundy Dinner

Kelvin, Elsa and I met with Desmond at Asia Grand for a nice Chinese dinner before the three of us left for two weeks in France. Food was really good - better than usual I thought - and wines were very interesting. There was another, a Vin Pierre Vin France from the Perrin family, but I could find absolutely no information on it, so I shall post the notes on the other wines we had.

• 2006 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese 93 Points

  Germany, Nahe

  I am a bit sore that I popped this bottle - I had reached for an Oberhauser Brucke instead, but accidently opened this, my one bottle of 2006 NH instead. As would be expected, this showed a trememdous amount of quality, but was far, far too young. I knew there was something wrong when we started nosing the wine. This had all the coiled-up depth of a young NH - lots of chalky mineral, tons of white flowers, ripe lemons, mangosteen, sour-sop, grapefruit - a whole panoply of sunshiny fruit. Not overtly tropical, but very luscious scents. Lovely stuff, but it was somehow a lot thicker and richer on the bouquet than you would expect an OB to be. Checked the bottle, and realised my mistake. Too late. On to the palate then. Beautiful stuff here. It had superb balance with melting acidity framing lovely rich flavours of sweet lemons, peach, apricots. Lots of lovely layered depth and complexity on the mid-palate, and then a seam of mineral carried the wine into a long defined finish. This shone like a un-polished diamond, many facets - crazy minerality, incredible nascent complexity - but all in one whole, just that the flavours were just a bit on the diffused side. I thought it was bit sweet and primary at the very end as well, some pineapple candy and grape sugars here, perhaps both speaking of the vintage and the youth of the wine. Overall, it was perhaps not as sharp and defined as some of its 2006 Mosel cousins, or even Donnhoff NHs from cooler vinatges, but this did have a wonderful drinkability. Soft, melting, yet with a lovely precision that belied the easyness on the palate. Super young, but this is really solid stuff.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2005 Domaine Harmand-Geoffroy Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes 85 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin

  Wow - this was even worse than the last bottle. It was as unlike a Burgundy as any pinot I have tried. The nose was full of smoky notes - smoked meat, ash, wood spice, tons of earth and a gamy meatiness on dark fruited background. A huge bouquet with lots of in-your-face richness. The palate carried on where that left of. Rich, thick, with lots of dark plummy fruit. There was a good sweet transparency to the fruit on the attack, some attractive florals, but what stood out past that was the tons of extraction on the wine, so that it was more or less dominated by its firm, chewy, almost rustic structure, with slightly clumsy tannins making their presence felt on the finish. A disappointingly steroid-fueled wine and yet for all that it did not have the presence of a good 2005, going a bit thin with the duck dish we had. Not nice.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2004 Marc Sorrel Hermitage Blanc 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  This was absolutely lovely. It had a very attractive nose, with a little layer of oak, then beeswax, honey, spiced pear scents and lots of rocky mineral. No mistaking this for anything other than an Hermitage blanc really. The palate was really nice too, with tons of character. Some damp earth notes, mushrooms, wet stones, just lovely minerality layered over some more beeswax and gentle yellow fruit moving into a very respectably long finish with lemon zest, a hint of honeysuckle and a touch of bittersweet almond skins. Lots of lovely complexity in a really well-integrated package. This benefitted from the freshness of the vintage as well, coming across very nicely alive. With time, all sorts of lovely Provencal notes started emerging on the nose and palate - garrigue, wild lavender, marigold, dried earth. Beautiful stuff. It was an absolutely perfect pairing with braised scallop vermicelli, with the 2004 acid on the wine cleansing the palate with each mouthfull, and the seafood in the vermicelli bringing out a wonderful nutty length on the wine that just went on and on.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue