Dinner with Monthly Group at the Laws

Allen and Shin hosted a Peng Chai and Lo Hei dinner at their place this time round. Fabulous company as always, we had a great time of catching up over conversation, good food, games and, of course, a few bottles of interesting wines.

• NV Laurent-Perrier Champagne Cuvée Rosé Brut 90 Points

  France, Champagne

  This on was of the better bottles of NV Rosé Brut I have had from Laurent-Perrier in recent times. Always decent, but rarely spectacular, at least this bottle showed quite nicely. Strawberries and raspberry scents on the nosed were met with a touch of mineral and some earthy undergrowth notes. Pretty pleasant. Much the same could be said about the palate. Really fresh, with a pretty fine mousse and pretty solid balance, it showed middle-weighted flavours of strawberry and raspberries spiked with a squeeze of citrusy lemon. It had a good finish too, showing decent length with a touch of spice. Nothing overly complex, but this was a very solid, if rather unexciting, Rosé. Not surprisingly, it went beautifully with fresh Korean strawberries as well.

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• 2006 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  A really good wine, but once again, rather an unusual Les Preuses. While it is usually amongst the most linear and minerally of the Chablis Grand Crus, and indeed of the Fevre line-up, the 2006 drank more like a Cote d'Or Burgundy with its ripe fleshiness than a Chablis. It had a lovely nose though, with sweet motes of vanilla and cream, fleshy pear and melon notes, a bit of peach at the background, and just a hint of sea-salty, saline mineral notes that hinted at its origins. I thought it may have been a 2006 Les Clos on that nose before taking a closer look at the bottle. If anything, the palate was even more atypical. It had a lovely fleshy feel to it. Again, not altogether classic Chablis with all that luscious white fruit from the attack moving into lemon curd flavours on the midpalate, but this was undercut by a wonderful juicy acidity and a nice bed of minerality pulling away at the finish. Very yummy. This had lovely depth wed to effortless poise, focus and balance. I really enjoyed this. While good now, it should continue improving over the next few years too.

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• 2009 Domaine Ludovic Belin Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Lavières Très Vieilles Vignes 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru

  I could properly savour a bottle of the wine at a more leisurely pace this time round, and I must say that I was equally, if not even more impressed by it. It had a very pretty nose of violets, strawberries, red cherries on a little layer of damp earth. The palate was really nice as well, opening with ringingly clear red fruited notes, think strawberries and raspberries, which were laced on the midpalate with a nice earthy minerality and a whiff of florals, before a long finish set in with touches of meat and spice. There was lots of depth and beautiful balance too, with firm but fine tannins and juicy acidity giving a solid sense of structure to the sweet, sappy 2009 fruit. A lovely young wine which should age quite effortlessly. At its price, a solid value buy.

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• 2007 Domaine de Ravanès Grande Réserve Les Gravières du Taurou 89 Points

  France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Vin de Pays de Coteaux de Murviel

  An unsual right-bankish Bordeaux blend from the Languedoc, this was clearly a bit too young, but pretty impressive and enjoyable nonetheless. It was tight as nails when first popped, but after 3 hours in the decanter, it had opened up sufficiently to show a rather pretty nose, with plenty of Merlot character in its earth and spice, plums and black cherries and a touch of flowers riding on a slightly funkier background with hints of a bit of barnyard, leather and earth. It could almost be an Italian Merlot on that nose. Lots of character, it must be said - a world away from new wordlish equivalents. The palate was a bit weaker at first, showing a bit lean and reticent, but it too opened up with notes of sweet plum and dark cherries cosseted in a cloak of soft tannins and acidity. I really liked the sense of clarity and balance here. There was a nice bit of spice, earth and leather towards a plush finish that added a bit of complexity too. My only issue was that it was rather shortish and a bit lacking in depth at the back-end, but that seems more a symptom of a weaker vintage than poor winemaking. All in all, really too young, but pretty pleasant.

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