Dinner at Ming Kee

This was a rather disappointing dinner. We were really looking forward to visiting an old favourite where we have had some memorable meals. Unfortunately, the restaurant seems to have spruced up a little, but the food was nowhere near as good as we remembered. I am not sure if the management has changed hands, but we did not recognise any of the staff and the menu, while still offering the same items, yielded dishes that lacked the "wow" factor that made this place one of our regular haunts. It was so disappointing in fact that we adjourned to next door for supper immeidately after. Thankfully, we had some really interesting wines on the night - unusually for a blind, BYO set-up, not a single varietal was repeated!

• 2009 Michel & Stéphane Ogier Condrieu Les Vieilles Vignes de Jacques Vernay 92 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Condrieu

  Very enjoyable. This had a lovely nose to it, with an enchanting waft of white flowers, honeysuckle, chamomile almost, underlined with some stony mineral scents and then ripe tropical aromas of lychee, chiku and rambutan fruit, some fleshy melons, even a whiff of fuji apples - a veritable fruit basket, laced by floral perfume and a minerally undertow. A really complex, lovely bouquet. With the nose giving an almost sweet impression, the palate was actually surprisingly dry, with a really earthy, minerally feel on attack. The acidity was not the highest, but balance was still very decent, with the wine unfolding across the midpalate into a creamily textured mouthful of slightly honeyed white fruit and beeswax underscored by that tremendous stony minerality. There was lots of depth, tremendous length, and wonderful integration into the finish. This was a wine of some presence and power, yet without the heaviness on the palate that more ponderious Rhone whites sometimes show. Already delicious, but it needs some time for the more primary flavours palate to catch up with the complexity on the nose. Otherwise, this was a really nice wine - one of my favourites on the night. Not unexpectedly, it was a very nice companion to a range of seafood dishes.

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• 1995 Domaine Jacques Prieur Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes Flawed

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Corked. A bit of a pity. Apart from a distracting whiff of wet cardboard on the nose, it showed notes of cream and mushrooms, flowers, a touch of earthy minerality, some apples and a touch of honey - classic middle-aged Puligny aromas. The cardboard was also there on the palate, although it did seem a bit less afflicted by the TCA than the nose, with nice flavours of ripe apples, touch of earth and sweet lemon at the background. It was only the sense of the wine being a little muted, a bit short of breadth and depth, that confirmed the flaw. It finished quite decently, with some hints of mineral, spice and flowers of a bed of ripe lemons and honey. There was a strange touch of bacon on the back-end apart from that. I think this may have been quite enjoyable if not for the corkiness. It was still noticeably a Puligny, but unfortunately, a rather mediocre one the night.

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• 1995 Ridge Geyserville 91 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County

  A yummy Zinfandel, fully mature, perhaps even just on its way down, but still a nice drink. It had a very inviting nose, with meaty, earthiness to its sweet notes of blackberries and blueberries and a typical hint of stewed tomatoes touched by minty, herby accents. The palate was fully resolved. The tannins had softened almost to the point of disappearing into a velvety mist, so that the wine was supported instead by a decent bit of acidity sprinkled amidst rich flavours of blue and blackberries with just a hint of mint and herb at the finish. Rather soft, very plush, this was yummy, but we got a feeling that this may have been better a few years back, with the structure just starting to fail now. I must say that it went very well with a dish of pork ribs stir-fried in a Guiness Stout sauce though.

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• 1971 G Siffrein Châteauneuf-du-Pape Tête de Cuvée 85 Points

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  I found this interesting, but very tired and rather overdeveloped. A bit of a disappointment when unblinded, given the strength of the 1971 vintage and the fact that the maker actually lablled this a "Tête de Cuvée"! Nevertheless, quite a fascinating wine - it split the opinions on the table, with some actually enjoying it a lot more than I did. The nose smelt really old, with a heady mix of herby, menthol notes - very reminiscent of Chinese medicine - drifting out of the glass along with suggestions of dried longans and sour plums, and then some smoke and ash. It could almost have been an old Rioja if not for the very distracting herbiness. This was even more so on the palate, which really tasted like of mouthful of bittersweet Chinese herbs swirling around a more drinkable core of sweet red dates, preserved plums and dried longans. These were in turn swathed in a wash of smoke leading into an ashy finish. Surprisingly enough, the structrue and fresh balance of the wine has held up pretty well - it is just that the flavour profile has developed into something that I would call "interesting" rather than "enjoyable". Overall - drinkable, but not great. A good experience though.

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• 2000 Woodlands Cabernet Sauvignon Saint Peter 91 Points

  Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

  Still good, but a lot less impressive than the last bottle we had two years ago. This bottle seems to have lost its footing a bit and is threatening to start slipping downhill. The nose was still quite compelling with its right-bank Bordeaux pretensions, from a touch of funky, barnyardy accents, almost a whiff of sweat there, to its loamy earth, smoke and spice notes floating around deeper aromas of plums and cassis. The palate was more clearly new world than I remembered it from the last outing though. It had the same barnyardy notes as the nose, almost a suggestion of chicken droppings someone said, but these were accompanied by a sense of extraction and ripeness that I did not quite remember from the last bottle, with an almost preserved note to its rich flavours of sweet cassis and ripe blackberries. It was perhaps telling that most of us had not hesitation guessing Australian Bordeaux-blend this time round, in contrast to the St Emilion and Pomerol guesses that this elicited two years back. What I did really liked about the wine though was its impeccable sense of balance and structure, with fresh, juicy acidity and firm but well-built tannins forming a pleasing frame for the ripe fruit. Into the finish, little complex notes of tobacco and capsicum and a twist of orange peel starting drifting out. It could almost be a Bordeaux again here, save for a telltale hint of eucalytus right at the very end. I am not sure whether this bottle suffered from poorer provenance or whether the wine is aging faster than expected, but this was clearly a notch down from the last outing. If this is the aging curve that the wine is following in general, I would say drink up sooner rather than later.

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• 2008 Giacomo Fenocchio Barolo Bussia 89 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Decent, but not fantastic. This was rather simple in its youth, with a dusty nose with hints of dried earth and dried herbs alongside some savoury meaty aromas, some smoke and a nice whiff of red cherries. It was just a bit on the shy side though. The palate was still extremely primary, with a simple expression of cherries playing on a background of earthy herby nuances. These flavours were laced with some super high acid and a layer of still rather teeth-coating tannins, especially towards the finish, which showed a touch of rather bittersweet, woody, herby notes. With all that acidity, I actually thought it may have been a Sangiovese instead, but the tannins, that smokiness and the lightness to its cherry notes really should have pointed further North and towards Nebbiolo. All in all, decent, but nothing special.

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• 1975 Château Climens Flawed

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac

  From a lightly-corked 375ml. A real pity - this bottle seemed to have really nice underlying material. It had a super honeyed, caramelly nose, with drippings of sweet orange marmalade and lemon curd wed to a bit of coconut and some really nice mushroomy, earthy undercurrant. It would have been a stunning nose if not for a little touch of iodine and cardboard that hinted at TCA. That seemed to fade a little with time on the nose, but unfortunately kept haunting the wine in patches. The palate, much like the nose, showed a lot of richness, with treacle and honey, lemon candy and marmalade, dried apricots and peaches along with a touch of sultanas, all powerful, ripe flavours, but nicely held in perfect balance by a good touch of Barsac acidity. It was only towards the long finish where the flaw seemed to reassert itself, stripping the wine of some of the power it showed on the attack and across the midpalate. It finished just a bit lighter, with the acidity standing out more alongside some honey lemon flavours. Still a really pleasurable drink that paired really well with deep-fried crispy tripe. Pity about the TCA though.

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