Dinner with Sasi at Binomio

There are few better ways to spend a Monday night than having a nice meal with good friends over a few nice bottles of Burgundy. Sasi was back in Singapore for a short trip, and we gathered at Binomio for some yummy tapas and paella along with a handful of blind BYO bottles. As often is the case, we had a serendipitous symmetry with the wines but, more importantly, they were all delicious. A great dinner - I am looking forward to the next one already.

• 2010 Domaine Bernard-Bonin Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  This remains consistently impressive. While not quite as breath-catchingly beautiful as the last bottle in the domaine's cellars in Burgundy, this was still a lovely wine that really captured the table's imagination when served blind. It had a really exuberant, very enticing nose, with a promise of ripeness in its sweet lime and honeyed, yellow-fruited pineapple aromas, yet also shared a solid Burgundian undertone of mineral and a nice waft of white flowers. Lovely stuff, and quite the perfect introduction to the wine's delicious palate, which itself showed a lovely balance between sunny ripeness and bright balance - something that is so characteristic of these 2010 whites. This had ripe Meursault fleshiness as suggested by the nose, with pineapples, stone fruit and sweet limes, all glowing with a sunny sweetness, but this also really bright and zippy, with lots of limey, citrus energy that kept the wine well-focused and delineated. It did not have the most powerful finish, but it did linger nicely with a tang of sweet lemon sherbert and a nice stream of mineral. A very friendly, forward wine, drinking wonderfully now, but it is still primary and has the balance to develop beautiful over its first decade and more.

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• 1970 Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Latricières-Chambertin 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Latricières-Chambertin Grand Cru

  It was such a treat to have this for the second time - this bottle was hand-carried back from Burgundy by William without any of us knowing. It had a lovely mature nose, with wafts of tea leaves, smoke and dried rose petals, nice meaty, earthy undertones and a patina of dried fruited aromas. With time, some fragrant spice notes floated out as well. Nice. The palate started out with a charming blush of sweet dried fruit on the attack - cherries and dark berries - all nicely round and surprisingly fleshy for a 1970, before it slowly mellowed into a nice, gentle, loamy presence on the midpalate. It was somewhat leaner at the finish, with smoky, earthy mineral and little powdery linger of tannins at the fore. But for all that, this was still very alive, with a fine-boned structure and a nice amount of acidity to it. This was quite a delight.

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• 2002 Domaine Charles Thomas Chambertin-Clos de Bèze 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru

  Last bottle, and this was consistent with the first two - a decently good wine, but not good enough for a Clos de Bèze. It had a nicely perfumed nose, with ripe notes of dark berries and cherries, perfumed, violets and spice, with a little minerally earthiness running underneath. Over time, the fruit aromas seem to get brighter, more high-toned, opening up into red cherry notes. Really lovely. The palate was rather surlier, less elegant than the nose suggested unfortunately. It was certainly on the riper, more extracted side, with slightly bittersweet tannins forming a muscular structure under a layer of dark cherries and blueberries, and bassy meat and earth notes. There was good mouthfilling depth here, and this was also nicely balanced with a decent amount of acidity that lent the fruit a good ring of clarity. It was a bit mono-dimensional for a Grand Cru though, and the finish was just a bit on the lean, mean side, pulling away on a spicy bramble note. A pretty nice wine, but a bit too clumsy and uninspiring for a Clos de Bèze.

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• 2000 Alain Hudelot-Noëllat Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

  First of a pair of lovely 2000 Vosne 1er Crus, this was a classy, elegant wine. It had as typically Vosne a nose as one could imagine, with lush, loamy, undergrowth aromas - lots of mushrooms and meat and damp soil, then wafts of black cherries and plums, a hint of violets and a lovely wash of woody spice - all dark and lovely. I loved the palate too. This was at a beautiful place for drinking, showing a lovely marriage of lush dark fruit, in the shape of black cherries and plums, with deep depths of earth and spice. This was so elegant, really clean, bright and clear - all very in-2000. Velvety tannins and supple acidity then carried the wine into a long, slinky finish that glowed with dark fruit, and drifts of violets, spice. A very fine wine indeed for its vintage, this was a truly elegant expression of Suchots. It was telling that quite a few on the table were trying to figure out which Vosne Grand Cru this came from when we were told it was a 2000.

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• 2000 Jean-Jacques Confuron Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

  Another remarkably good 2000 Vosne 1er Cru, this was a world away from the elegant, Chambolle-like Hudelot-Noellat Suchots that preceded it but, in its own way, was every bit as impressive. By the time we got to it, the wine had been sitting in a decanter for just shy of 3 hours, and it needed it too. This was rather a big wine. It certainly had an assertive nose, with dirty earth, toasty spice and a touch of funk swirling around a core black cherries and dark berries. A nice, masculine expression of Vosne. It was the palate where this wine really shone though. It had lovely structure, almost muscular, but still somehow elegant, with fine tannins and bright acidity running through juicy black-fruited notes of sweet black cherries and berries. There was rather modern fleshiness to the fruit, but this was punctuated with a very un-2000 freshness and energy, with a high-toned, citrussy bite on the mid-palate and lovely finish too - lush, earthy, with a layer undergrowth playing against bright fruit, spciy bramble, and a little kiss of orange peel. Delicious stuff. While clearly drinking well now, especially with the time in the decanter, this has the chops to go one aging for a long time yet.

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