Mooncake Party at Brian's

Quite delicious irony that we had out first mid-autumn festival celebration as a group at Brian's place in the very aptly named Moonbeam View. Brian really pulled out the stops here. Apart from the now customary great food, he treated the gang to a lovely outdoor mooncake and lantern after-dinner sitting in his garden, complete with traditional candle-lit lanterns (a few of which caught fire). A memorable night all round, with some really nice and very interesting wines peppered throughout. The wine theme was "flowers". All blind as always, while some were clearly on-theme when unveiled, others got us scratching our head in puzzlement. All was forgiven though, given that the wines were very nice indeed.

• 2006 Domaine des Malandes Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  A good wine in its own right, but not quite delivering a true Grand Cru experience such as one would expect from a Les Clos from a strongish vintage. I liked the nose here very much it must be said. Nothing showy, almost gentle, but certainly persistent and full of character with its earthy mineral scents, gentle toast and apple flesh spiked with a touch of citrus. The palate was nice too, though not quite as impressive as the nose - here I got slightly hot notes on the attack that distracted a bit from the overall quality of the wine. Past that, it came across as rather fat, rather modern for a Chablis, with fleshy apple, pear and almost melony fruit at the fore. There was still good acidity, but I thought it lacked some of the minerality and structure of a top-notch Les Clos, ending more with a Cote de Beaune-like lemon rind note and a touch of chalk rather than the beguiling stony, earthy mineral notes picked on the nose that were so very Chablis. Like so much that that this Domaine produces, good without being great.

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• 2008 Domaine Bernard Gripa Saint-Péray Les Pins 91 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Saint-Péray

  I actually enjoyed this quite a bit. The nose showed some earth, a bit of beeswax, some waxy white flower notes, a touch of green apple perhaps. Difficult to place, but nice. The palate was not easy to put a finger on either, chiefly because it had really surprising acidity for a St Peray, almost lemony on the attack before the fattier, fleshier white fruit that I would normally associate with a white Rhone set in over the midpalate. Still thoughl, it remained fresh and lively in spite of its creamy weight all the way into a long, nicely integrated finish. Here, a nice bit of spice sprinkled the fruit notes back-palate, making for interesting and very drinkable wine. Good stuff.

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• 2009 Domaine J. Chamonard Morgon Le Clos de Lys 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon

  Solid stuff - this was every bit as good as I remembered it from the first outing. It had an absolutely beautiful nose, tumbling out of the glass with fresh cut flower scents, rose and violet petals and lovely raspberry and strawberry notes - ripe, almost candied at the edges, but certainly not sickly sweet or overtly confected. So pretty. The palate was no slouch either. It had heft and weight given the vintage, yet it was a lot more balanced than some 2009 Cru Beaujolais, with a lovely spine of integrated acidity running through clear flavours of strawberries and dark cherries before moving into an earthy, herby, spicy finish. Lovely stuff. Needs time still (it could probably go on for easily a decade or more) but this was a lovely drop. As a side note, it was an especially good pairing with the fabulously caramelly Char Siew from Oversea Restaurant.

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• 2007 Johanneshof Reinisch Pinot Noir Reserve Grillenhügel 91 Points

  Austria, Niederösterreich, Thermenregion

  This was obviously a Pinot, and a pretty good one at that - we just could not figure out where on earth it came from. It had a beautiful nose, all dark, slightly drying violet petals, petit fruits noir, like black and blueberries, and then shades of spice and earth and metally mineral with just a little rim of rubber at the edges. Very pretty, somewhat straddling the old and new worlds. The palate was really fresh, very lively, with zippy acidity running through more dark berry tones on the attack and some deeper cassis notes on the mid-palate. Past that, there was a rooty, earthy, minerally, almost slightly bitter finish that was such a nice counterpoint to the sweet, slightly candied fruit. There was still quite a layer of fine tannins on the wine, but it was drinking quite nicely at this stage of its evolution. I thought it did not quite have the depth or complexity of the very best Austrian pinots we have had, this punched pretty impressively at the weight-class of a very good Burg village. A pleasure. Plenty of upside yet, it would be interesting to revisit this in 6 to 7 years' time.

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• 1987 Servelle-Tachot Chambolle-Musigny 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny

  Quite unbelievable - a village from an unknown maker in a very unfashionable vintage, yet it showed ever so well. All of us enjoyed it, so much so that when blinded, we all thought it was a 1er Cru and, while obviously not from a strong vintage, no one would ever have guessed 1987. It still had a good nose, starting to thin out maybe, but it retained a charming bouquet of earthy, metally mineral, dried flowers and slightly preserved cherries. Tell-tale Chambolle to my mind. The palate was predictability not the richest nor the most persistent, but it performed stunningly well for a village in an off-year. It was beautiful balanced, fresh and lively, with velvety tannins framing brightly delicious flavours of red cherries, dates and sour plums along with some fruit tea mingling amidst bits of orange peel and dried longans at the finish. Really nice. Lacks presence and depth, but the wine more than made up for it with a lovely amount of Chambolle charm. An unexpected treat.

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• 2000 Dominio Pingus Ribera del Duero Flor de Pingus 92 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  Still young, but a very good wine. The strange thing is that I have almost always been impressed by the Flor de Pingus but yet have never really truly enjoyed a bottle. In all previous tries, they just came across as very technical, very big, very "made". This was the first bottle that was very enjoyable as a bottle of wine. Perhaps because it was also the first one that has shed enough of its overt fruit, oak and structure to show some terroir. I am actually quite humbled to say that I enjoyed this a lot more than I might have if it was unblinded. Of course, it was still young, still a bit tight, but it clearly had a lot of quality, starting with a really attractive nose. Not terribly expressive, but it had a nice character with hints of smoke and ash hanging around a core of dark fruit, which in turn was overlaid over a pat of earth. Nice. The palate was rich, but not quite as rich as I would have expected given the previous vintages that I have tried. Here, black fruit remniscent of cassis and black cherries were streaked through with wonderfully fresh acidity and fine tannins. This lent to the wine both a sense of purity and focus as well as a lovely fine structure. The finish was good too, with both decent length and nice integration, exiting with another hint of smoke. This was a very complete, balanced wine. Nice to drink now, but it will be really lovely in 10 years' time.

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• 2006 Two Hands Shiraz Lily's Garden 92 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

  Another big wine that was good, but rather too young. Unlike the Flor de Pingus though, this still had a lot of oak and a ton of fruit, all shading the wine towards territory that I have tried to avoid in the past few years. Still though, there was no doubting that this was a well-made wine, and one that was pretty nice to drink. On the nose, vanillin-laden French oak aromas framed rich plum and blueberry pie scents, with just a tiniest hint of eucalyptus making for a really attractive, if rather modern bouquet. The palate was completely in line with the nose. Plums, prunes, blueberries, all rolled into a lush, delicious whole. Rich, weighty and big as would be expected, but still very nicely balanced and focused. Even though it is not quite my preferred style these days, this was a good wine. Nowhere near peak too - another 4-5 years would do this a world of good

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• 1985 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  At peak, and immensely enjoyable. In a night of many very good, but previous few truly great wines, this stood out for me by a country mile. It was such a classic claret, with capsicums, eucalyptus, mint and plenty of tobacco leaf on the nose, pure left-bank aromas that danced alongside scents of undergrowth lined with lots of graphite and cedar wood, all undergirded with a lovely lush cassis note. A beautiful Pauillac nose that made me guess GPL. Got the vintage wrong though. The palate was so beautifully resolved at this stage that I thought it may have been a 1983. Here, silky tannins framed lovely cigar ash and tobacco smoke flavours which wreathed themselves around a core of pure cassis and dark cherry notes. Beautiful stuff and wonderfully integrated, it glided away in a whole, seamless and very classy mouthful. The finish rounded the wine off as deliciously as it started, with more of that beautifully pure fruit wed to little floaty bits of cassis, tobacco and stewed tea. Beautiful, this was at peak - I enjoyed every last drop.

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• 1999 Castello di Monastero Vin Santo del Chianti Lunanuova 94 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Vin Santo del Chianti

  I am so glad for a chance to drink another half-bottle of this wonderful Vin Santo. In slightly more relaxed settings and paired with white chocolate champagne truffle mooncakes from Raffles Hotel, this was very bit as good, or perhaps even better than I remembered it to be. It had a beautiful nose, with earth, mushrooms, cocoa flakes, caramel and toffee drizzled over dried figs and sultanas. Lush, layered and just lovely. The palate was remarkable too. Beautifully balanced, it had a stream of fresh, almost citrus acidity flowing through deliciously rich fllavours of molasses coated over tangerine peel, sultanas and figs. Absolutely yummy, and quite perfect with our dessert. Past that, the finish snaked away in a long, lovely mouthful of chocolate, earth and raisins. Yum. Such great stuff.

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